The ranch used to be a 7 hour drive if we kept moving and only stopped for fuel. When you add in kids, it turns into an 8 hour trip. When you potty train one of those kids it turns into a 9 hour trip. And when you stop in Grand Island to do some grocery shopping it comes in at a nice round 10 hours. We left on Monday afternoon and settled into our beds at about 1:30 AM on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning was Aunt Elaine’s funeral. It was about 1.5 hours back the way we came so we got to get up nice and early to make it to the church by 10:00 AM. The service was good – lots of family and it featured some excellent music. We got back home later in the afternoon and the relaxing was able to begin.

Wednesday was an “open day” where the kids got to live the ranch life without interruption. They are both big fans of cows now. Thursday was the Thanksgiving celebration which was met with much feasting and watching of the Style Network. Style Network? Not football? Yes, the Style Network. Friday saw more ranching and some pizza with friends. Saturday we hit the road again and made it home just in time for the KU vs. MU football game.

It was a good week with the obvious exception of the loss of a family member. We were blissfully disconnected from the cell phone and the internet which I found to be extremely therapeutic. We talked a lot with the brother in law about the pitfalls facing the church in this culture and got to sort our our long search for a church to call home a little bit. We got to sleep in, take naps, feed cows – I don’t think anyone could really ask for more.

Now, as soon as the computer at home is back up running there will be pictures. We even have one of Hayden hiding in my lunch box, so keep an eye out!