Stories of the Heaths: North Dakota

David was assigned to the air force base in Minot, North Dakota so he and Lanae moved up there in April. They were sure no one would ever come visit them because they are in the middle of no where. It's true they are in the middle of no where but we had to prove them wrong and show them that we love them enough to make the trip.

I've also been itching to take a real road trip so we packed up and made a long weekend of it. We left around 5:00 the evening of the 22nd and arrived in Minot by 1:00 the next afternoon. By driving through the night the kids were able to sleep most of the time. When they were awake they did so well. It did take us 19 hours to make the 16 hour drive but that was due to our stops for dinner and to let Jared get at least a little sleep.

On our way we thought we were making pretty good time. According to the GPS we were only a couple hours away when we pulled off to feed Sierra and let Preston run around. At this point I was communicating with Lanae where we were and got their address so we could navigate to the base instead of just Minot.

Unfortunately I didn't realize we had used up all our roaming data and GPS would not reload without it. Now we didn't know where to go from there. We had no road signs to help us know where we were to call anyone else for directions and there was no civilization around us to ask a local.

We got to a point where there were three directions we could go. If we chose the wrong one it could have been hours before there was someone to ask directions. We had already been in the car way too long and we had all had it. We managed to get just enough service to call T-mobile and have them increase our roaming data but they informed us it would take a few hours to process. We had gone in circles several times and knocked on a couple sketchy looking doors with no answer.

I will admit we were a little scared. I was at the verge of tears when we hear sweet Preston in the back suggest we pray. I don't know what triggered the idea but it was humbling. Of course this was a moment where we needed to pray and it was our 2 year old who suggested it. We pulled off to the shoulder and said a prayer.

I was hoping our GPS would magically start working but the Lord wanted to test our faith a little more than that. We sat quietly trying to hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Eventually we just had to make a choice and have faith that it was the right one or at least the kids would be patient as we got back on track.

In the end it was the right road. We found a gas station to ask someone for directions, soon our GPS started working, we had cell service to call Lanae again, and we may have only added half an hour to the trip with our circles before praying. I am so grateful to have such sweet innocent children to keep us on track.

The resealable pouch was the best. It kept things fairly clean and helped hold Sierra off of nursing just a little longer.

They may be in the middle of no where but it was beautiful. The night Sky in Montana is stunning.

Lanae was 12 weeks pregnant and not feeling well so we did a lot of just hanging out at their house. It was perfect. Preston and Logan loved playing together. Jared and David got in a few good work outs. I was able to just relax and read without having a long to-do list nagging at me. Then of course there was a lot of good food and good conversation. We sure wish we all lived closer.

Waiting to head out to the park

It's all about trains with these two boys. They had their moments but over all they played so well together.

Notice they are basically the same size yet Preston is a year and a half younger. When we first arrived Logan asked Preston why he was talking like a baby. After we got a little laugh David had to explain that Preston is younger than him.

Of the three and a half days we were there there was one warm sunny day and it happened to be the one day Lanae was feeling well enough to get up and do something. We took advantage of it and headed to the zoo.

Petting the sheep

You may not know it by these expressions but the boys had a lot of fun. I guess they just weren't happy to have to sit still for a picture.

We didn't want Lanae to over do it so David was a perfect husband and pushed her around in a wheelchair.

I love my family

When Heaths get together there has to be some form of dessert at least once. This was Lanae's perfect creation of lemon cake filled with strawberries and lemon moose.