Summer2026 Trip#3A California

First things first. UPDATE on the BIG ASK. We have Keaton's first semester at Lipscomb covered. Whew! Now I'm trying to sort out the technical pieces of withdrawal from 529 plan to pay the school. I have until August 1st to figure that out. For the Spring, we lack only $9,000. How amazing is that!!! Here's the link again if you want to pray and consider a gift: CLICK LINK TO the 529 WEBSITE. We are also in the process of applying for another scholarship. Thank you SO much to all the folks that have helped us out with this. Only the Lord could work this out. Truly. Now Keaton is working to gather dorm room supplies and decide what to pack up. He turned in his resignation letter for Texas Roadhouse effective August 3rd. But they already asked if he would be able to work during school breaks. (He has been told he is "top-notch at quality control" in the dish pit!) We leave for move-in day on August 10th. Please continue to pray for us.

Secondly, it's been a summer of travel. Here we are mid-July and I finally feel like I'm back into a rhythm and routine again at home & work. We'll be here in Texas a few more weeks before our next trip. Stay tuned for more on that....

In mid-June, Keaton and I joined all of his Dad's siblings and parents in California for a group project. Cole had to stay home and work, so he missed out on this trip. The Neufeld tribe spent a couple of days working our way through clean up and clean out of the grandparent's house. They are contemplating a move to assisted living. It was a lot of work, but a fun time too. One morning I had to stay back at the hotel and work but sent Keaton on ahead to help. He was really able to soak up the love of his aunts and uncles and listen to them tell stories of Eric and his antics as a young boy. He was certainly a character! Keaton and I went to bed every night thankful for this extended family. Sure, he is related by his DNA. But I am not. Still, after 25 years with these folks, I certainly feel as if I'm grafted in as a true sister. "It is such a special thing," Keaton acknowledged after his first trip being around all of them as an adult. It was also a celebration of Grandma and Grandpa Neufeld's 65th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

After a couple of days of sweating profusely, filling a dumpster, and multiple trips to give away things at the thrift store, we all convened at the coast at our favorite beach hangout for some R&R. 

Cayucos Pier

Morro Rock

I absolutely love the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure I've said this before in this space, but I can feel my blood pressure going down any time we are here. Eric's sister told me through tears that is is hard to come back to this place because she has so many memories of Eric here. It still seems like he should be here with us. I concur. But this trip, the Lord blessed me in so many ways with a sense of belonging and deep joy, that I will cherish it forever. We spent one day at Hazard Beach in Montana de Oro state park, also a fav among the Neufeld clan. Keaton has been here before as a child. I'd say he was probably five or six. But being able to experience it with his uncles and aunts was new and different and very memorable.

Keaton, Brian, David & Tim climb to the top

Keaton and Uncle Brian - Kings of the Rock

Cole and I love Brown Butter Cookie Co!

At the last minute, David decided to rent a boat in Morro Bay. To Cindy's surprise, he was the boat captain! We got a close up view of the sea lions and Morro Rock from the water. But we made it back to the harbor in time for a Mexican Fiesta with the fam.

Kirk, Tim & Cindy

Here are a few random pics of the ones we love: Cindy (& Stella), Laurie (& Keaton with his back turned), Uncle Brian (still trying to complete his stupid human trick--balancing a drink on a nickel), Timothy & Kori

The only couple I didn't get photos of were Jonathan and Terri. I'm not sure why that is, but I am very thankful to them for basically organizing this work party and reunion. Over the past several years, each of the children and grandchildren have left California. And though all of us have moved far away, thanks to Terri's contract job placements in the Bay Area, she and Jon have been on regular visits to care for Mom & Dad (Grandma & Grandpa) and help them gracefully make this transition to assisted living.

This is only part one of our California adventure. We had another adventure coming home!

This summer I've been watching the TV show "Blue Bloods". There are 14 seasons on Paramount + y'all! It's a police procedural drama. The Grandpa was a police commissioner, the Dad is a police commissioner, the brothers are cops, the sister is an assistant district attorney. Despite their personality differences, faith and family continually bind them together. Admittedly, I am envious of the fictitious Reagan family tradition of sharing Sunday dinner together every week. IRL (in real life) we experienced  several family dinners on this California Road Trip, so it seemed appropriate to quote this Irish Blessing for my Mennonite Family from California.

"May the road rise to meet you,

may the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again, 

may God hold you in the palm of His hand."

Summer2026 Trip#2 Nashville TN

 

2nd summer trip - Keaton and Mom drove to Nashville for Keaton's new student orientation. It's a long drive, y'all!! Fortunately, we have friends we can overnight with in Dallas. It was so good to catch up with Steve and Lisa. Thanks guys for the beds, the meals, the laughs, the memories and the Dr. Pepper! 

When we finally got to Nashville we were ready to take on the day, excited to hear about what Keaton's first year at Lipscomb would be like. We found out who his roommate will be. Met his RA. Tried to orient ourselves with the student center vs. the dorm vs. the building where his computer lab is.

The campus is small, but beautiful brick buildings and trees line every walkway. People are super friendly. Reminds me a lot of the campus I lived on for 3 years in Arkansas. School colors are purple and gold. The mascot for Keaton's new school is the Bison. (My school in Arkansas was the Bison too.) So now he's part of the "herd". Odd though, the little hand signal they give each other when someone says "Go Bison!" looks a lot like the University of Texas at Austin "hook 'em horns" hand signal. I don't know where it originated, but for this life-long Texas Tech fan, it felt a little awkward for me to hold up my fist in the UT (TTU rival) gang sign.

I think the orientation is as much for the parents as it is for the student. Lots of talk about the university goals for the well being of the student, heart, soul and mind. I did get the sense the faculty and staff really do care about these kids. We even got to meet with the faculty in the animation department. And Keaton walked away from that meeting saying something along the lines of "I feel like I finally found my people." Not a direct quote, but pretty close. The head of animation spoke to the reality of how even though he wasn't always taking the jobs in animation for the exact type of work he loved, he could always find work. And that he has continually been able to support his wife and three children. That sat well with me as a parent. They are concerned that these kids don't just get a degree, but that they learn the transferrable skills to actually find a job and support themselves. Listening to this professor share his story also gave Keaton confidence that he can pursue his art as a career and still have a family someday. Hours and hours of sitting through Q&As and departmental resources and we were both pretty spent. I will be honest, it was a lot of information and not much food or drink. I was tired, dehydrated and getting a bit loopy by 3 or 4pm.

All in all, though, it was a worthwhile trip. And priceless time I got to spend with Keaton chatting in the car. We also listened to the audio book of "Project Hail Mary". Surprisingly, I liked it a lot. Okay, I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but the audio production was pretty amazing. It was so interesting and engaging and more importantly, Keaton loved that I loved the book. (He is a huge fan.) One of my friends watched the movie and was not impressed, so maybe I won't like the movie as much....will let you know once it is released to streaming.

We are still praying for the remaining funds to come in to cover the 2nd semester. CLICK HERE TO DONATE. Today Keaton turned in a scholarship application from our church's foundation. Hopefully that will come through. If not this semester, he can apply again in the spring. He had to write an essay describing what he wants to do and why. Plus he also had to explain how he is active in church and what activities he has pursued. He is realizing (and said as much to me this past week) that serving others really gives him joy. Moreso than the accolades from graduation or the achievements or certificates. This really warms my heart. My friends and I often reminisce on this - - the natural lift we feel in our hearts when we take time to serve others on a mission trip or in small ways in our day-to-day. How we have learned to be deliberate about giving to others, lest we drift in our own spiritual walk. It's good to know that I've passed some of that along to my son(s).

At the end of our time in Nashville, the school's president recited the Aaronic blessing. So I'll leave you with this also. Peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Summer2026 Trip#1 Washington DC

Roses are red, skies are blue, summer in Texas is hot, but that's nothing new....

The month of May has flown by so quickly. Thought I'd better post an update. For those that are interested in the outcome of the Big Ask, more funds are trickling in. Thank you so much! We are at $29,000 now, need $13,000 more. It's been such a cool journey. Praying. Stepping back. Letting God handle it. I've had 3 current clients ask me if I can do more work for them, plus a couple of referral calls for new work. I'm not advertising for more work. It is just coming my way. From the God who sees. Beyond that, the Lord is providing in smaller increments. I like this, because it keeps me praying. If you're compelled to give to Keaton's 529 college savings plan, here is the link to instructions: Keaton's 529 savings

13 years ago this month, my husband was a few months post op from his bowel surgery. He had started drinking a ton of vegetable juice, taking stock of his life, reluctantly began chemotherapy, while simultaneously taking in vitamin therapy prescribed by the naturopath. He felt pretty amazing on his 48th birthday (we went bowling - - SEE THAT POST HERE.) And then began his speedy journey to be with the Father in September of that year, 2013. My sweet sister-in-law reminded us this week, he would have been 61 a couple of days ago. My marriage to Eric seemed very brief compared to the marriages of my friends and my father. But I do still miss him. Faintly. Sweetly. I think that my kids truly missed out, but I know that has brought the 3 of us closer together into our little tribe. Now that Keaton will be moving to Nashville in the Fall, and my dad will probably be moving in with us, the tribe will change a little. So this summer, I feel very nostalgic and aware that the travel we do may be some of the last trips we might be able to take together.

This month, Cole and I were able to go to Washington D.C. with the Evans Family. (Keaton stayed home and manned the fort, watered the yard, and cared for the pets.) Cole and I had an amazing time. We even got to spend one evening with Uncle David, Aunt Cindy and cousin Jacob, as he lives in the D.C. area and was graduating with his MBA from Georgetown the same weekend we happened to be there. We walked and walked and walked when we weren't riding, riding, riding the Metro. Stayed in Alexandria and rode the Metro into D.C. each day for museums and monuments. Great fun. Great memories. The first day we just made our way from the airport to the AirBnB and settled in. Then....

Day Two:

We toured the Museum of the Bible and the International Spy Museum. The Museum of the Bible was very interesting, lots of artifacts. As Riley poignantly remarked, "It's way harder to NOT believe all of this is true." The Spy Museum was kinda fun. You take on a secret identity and make your way through the museum completing portions of your mission. Truth is, for me the best part of the Spy Museum was how they marked the floor with percentage of completion. I am really interested in the CIA and spies and read a lot of spy novels. But I was so tired by that point in the day, I probably rushed through just so I could sit down.

at the Museum of the Bible

a guy in period garb explains the Gutenberg Press

Day Three:

We were going to hit the National Archives on the 2nd day, but apparently every school group in the D.C. area also had the same idea. They were lined up around the block with more kids coming as we stood there deliberating about our next move. Do we wait in this humongous line? Or go to the next thing on our list? We opted to move on to the Smithsonian American History museum and come back to the Archives later.

fountain right near Metro stop for Archives (Archives building in the background)

From M.A.S.H. tv show

Cole and Riley (with C3PO & R2D2)

Derek appears to give his own narration at one of the exhibits- haha!

At this point in the day, I got a call from my nephew, Jacob. So the Evans headed to the Archives and Cole and I met up with David, Cindy & Jacob at the Air & Space museum. Then we went to dinner in Alexandria at a spot Jake recommended. It was yummy! And I know it's random, but the plates were very pretty!

 Cole & Mom with Capitol Building in the background.

Cole, Cindy, Dave & Jake at Air & Space

Jake sprang for an Uber

See? aren't the restaurant plates beautiful?

Jacob at graduation

Day Four:

Monuments. We walked all the way around the National Mall and saw all the monuments. Took the Metro across town to the Library of Congress, where 5 of the group got library cards, then walked right past the Supreme Court building and all the way around the Capital Building and then back to Alexandria via the Metro. By the end of the day, we'd walked over 23,000 steps. (Whew!)

Jefferson Memorial was being restored

FDR Memorial was a series of water features

MLK also had several walls with some of his famous quotes

Korean War Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

I should point out, I've been to Washington D.C. before, in high school. But Cole never had. Actually, Ellen and I had been planning a trip to the capital the year of COVID; she'd even rented the AirBnB but had to cancel it because everything was shut down. So this trip has been a long time coming. But probably for the best we were delayed by COVID, as Emily would have been too small to remember it 6 years ago.

Cole in the Metro station

My favorite building the whole trip was the Library of Congress. Not that you can actually see the books, but the architecture and design of the interior was just vast and intricate all at the same time. 

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Ellen, Ethan, Ellicia, Riley, Cole & Ellen got library cards

Supreme Court Building

Capitol Building

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As if we needed proof of our mileage, our feet and backs were so sore from all the walking!

Day Five & Six: Over the weekend, we rested some, but also walked around Alexandria and toured an old tavern & bunkhouse (where George Washington often stayed). The building next door actually had a ballroom where inaugural balls were held. A lot of history in the town of Alexandria. Cole and I also found an ice cream shop, that I went to 2 days in a row! 

Day Seven: Weather showed it was going to be scorching hot this day. Ellicia had the brilliant idea to do indoor museums. We went through Air & Space museum in the morning and the National Art Gallery in the afternoon. As for the Air & Space museum, although it is a very interesting museum, this was my 3rd time through. And as my nephew Jake mentioned, there's the "Boeing Propaganda Wing" - we have been to the Boeing museum in Washington state and seen a lot of airplanes. And we've visited Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral in Florida too. So, sorry. No photos of Air & Space. Honestly, we were super glad to see benches throughout the National Gallery. Took advantage of the air conditioning and the respite. 

That evening, we found our favorite restaurant in the Penn Quarter of D.C. - Matchbox. Everyone got what they wanted to eat, even splurged for dessert, and then we headed back to our AirBnB.

Day Eight: We headed to the Museum of Natural History. But on the way, since we had to walk by the National Archives anyway, Cole and I took our opportunity to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other important documents on display. No lines this day. We literally walked right in, saw what we came to see in 20 minutes and headed off to meet up with the Evans at the Natural History museum. We went home and ate the rest of our leftovers, packed and headed home the next day.

I'm running out of adjectives to describe this trip. It was so nice to spend time with our friends. We've been vacationing with them for a decade. Plus Cole and I have a special memory now as this was the first trip I ever remember taking with just one of the boys. And the bonus of getting to meet up with some of the Neufelds was also amazing. More travel to come this summer. Stay tuned!

After we got home, I spent the rest of the week trying to catch up on work. Then on Memorial Day I grilled out ribs, chicken, burgers and hotdogs. Let's just say I got a little trigger happy in the grocery app on Friday before the holiday. Luckily my brother called me that night and we threw together a family meal for Monday, including my dad. It was great. We enjoyed the food and family and some (not me, still too chilly) even took the first dip in the pool for 2026. So thankful for this month of May 2026 and the many memories we made. (How about that alliteration, y'all?!)

Captain Midgey on the USS Cole

Philippians 1:3-4 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."