The Day of the Rogisip

Shortly after arriving in America, a promise was made.

And promises from Granddad aren't quickly broken or forgotten. If ever.

So one beautiful day a couple weeks after said promise, the Rogisip was made a reality.

See...when we first arrived and Granddad's tendency toward exaggeration was getting the better of him and he was listing out to Salem all of the exciting things we were going to get to do during our 5 weeks in Texas..."ride horses, drive the tractor, build a rocket ship!! ..."  he didn't realize Salem would take it all quite literally. So for a couple weeks every.single.day Salem would ask Granddad if that was the day they were going to build a rocket ship.

Ride horses. check!
Drive the tractor. check!
and still...no rocket ship.

And so, one day they headed to the garage, where I'm convinced all little boys' dreams are born.
Seriously, aren't garages one of the best rooms of the whole house?!



Not to disappoint a 3 year old, Granddad broke out the good stuff: cardboard.



And markers and scissors apparently. And then someone handed the 1 year old a pair of scissors. Yes please ignore that part of the picture above and my apparent lack of parental guidance in the moment.



Windows were cut. Wings were glued and taped. Decorations were added. And a name was born.



The Rogisip.

Gramma even came equipped with patriotism. All that was lacking was a NASA sticker plastered to the side.



Since arriving back home, Salem has asked me why I didn't pack the rocket ship.



I told him Granddad would keep it for him up in his attic.



I should have made Granddad promise that.
Because Granddad doesn't forget his promises.

Vacation ... America-style

Oh sweet blessed US of A.
When you live outside of America for 2-ish years the things that you grow to miss about "home" are sometimes very strange things.
Sure, things like donuts, sweet tea, that National Anthem being played at any and every sporting event, Chick-Fil-A, 24 hour convenience stores, Dr. Peppers, slurpees, Slurpee Dr. Peppers, and having access to your own car 24/7...those are all beautiful things.

But, unquestionably, one thing I was so ready to experience...or rather, see my children experience, was nature.
Blue skies and clean air.
Sunsets as far as the eye can see.
Birds.
Stars too many to count.
Running through grass bare foot.
Playing carefree in dirt.



And we enjoyed every single second of all of it. Even those chilly Texas-sized-windy days that blow tablespoons of dirt in your eyes. Enjoyed it.
Eden gasped the first time she saw purple and pink in the horizon one evening at sundown.
Salem was obsessed with going outside every evening and trying to count the stars.
And Caleb learned a new word while we were there: "Bird!" or rather "BUH!!!" Bird-watching became his new favorite hobby.

But by far it was the grass and dirt they enjoyed most.

At almost any given second Salem could be found outside with a large stick in his hand





or covered entirely from head to toe in dirt.





Caleb wasn't far behind him.





And even participated in an outdoor version of hide-n-seek.



Even Eden was quite taken with stirring up the ant beds.



Nature. Clean (relatively) nature. Un-"fertilized" grass (you get what I mean). Trees that aren't roped off.
I loved seeing my kids enjoy it all. I loved seeing them roll like rolly-pollies on the grass in my Gigi's backyard. Seeing my boys in such a boy-ish environment, digging in rocks and dirt, swording each other with giant branches, all brought my heart so much joy.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 

Psalm 19:1

Jet Lag X 5

And... five weeks later I'm back in the blogging world!!
But only shortly, as it's already 25 minutes past my bed time of 8:00. We've been back for exactly a week now and jet lag is beating me up sideways and then back again. And I can't seem to get in the groove yet of staying up past my children's bed time.

But slowly and surely I'll make my way back to this little space of the internet that we call home. You'll notice things are changing a bit...some changes aren't quite finished. But we figured it was time to finally show our third born in the header of the blog. (don't worry. he didn't notice that I'm 20 months late on that!)

We'll be back soon with lots of fun pictures of our time in the States.

until then....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz