Hayden Lake (Which directly translates to "Heaven on Earth.")

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We know it's been a while! Here is what we did the 20th through the 22nd.

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{Hanging out in REI in Spokane}

When we first talked with Sue on Sunday afternoon about coming to stay with her, Mike and Jeff, we had no idea how much of a blessing we were about to receive.  While we were on the phone, Sue offered for us to use their family cabin that they own (with another family as well) on Hayden Lake. Hayden Lake is just North of Coeur d'Alene. We were blown away by her offer and graciously accepted.  After a couple of days at the Livingston's, we headed to Hayden Lake. Of course, Sue came out with us because she is awesome. The cabin is a little difficult to find if you've never been, so she led the way. We stopped for lunch a few miles before the cabin; once we arrived, we headed straight to the dock, dropped our feet in the water and enjoyed our sandwiches and pasta salads. It was a glorious, warm and sunny day- it was perfect.

{View of their dock from the upper deck.}

We had great conversation with Sue and quickly decided we needed to get on the boat. We headed up to the house to changed into our suits, get the wake board, and headed out on the boat. 

{Heading down to the dock}

Sue was nothing short of amazing and guaranteed-good-time-fun. She started up the boat and we headed out on the water. David immediately got his feet in the wakeboard and got in the water. His tattoo was still really fresh so we were concerned about the water, but he really wanted to wakeboard- so he did.  

{Such a happy guy}

After having a great time on the boat, Sue needed to get home to her boys. We spent the evening at the cabin, watched a couple movies, had some dinner and spent good time together. Being at the cabin was so relaxing- it felt like we were on vacation.

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The next morning we went out on the boat. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was no one on the lake, the water was glass. We stopped in the middle of the lake and read together. The Lord led us through an amazing time together. We were able to reach a place of complete forgiveness in our hearts over some things that have been going on for a while. We felt free. It was a humbling experience... and we were really thankful for the presence of the Lord and His grace in leading our hearts. Here we are praising Him,

We then sang a song of worship together- God is so good.

The lake was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time. We went on the boat everyday, soaked up the sun, slept a lot, and relaxed together. Thank you Livingstons for such an amazing gift.

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Before reading one morning/afternoon, we decided to go swimming. We didn't plan accordingly.... in regard to bring a bathing suit so... we made do with what we had ;) It was a blast.

Here are some photos of what the cabin looked like. Just so quaint and darling.

Again, we had a wonderful time. We left Thursday afternoon and headed to Spokane to meet up with Sue and Mike! 

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Next blog will explain the last few escapades of the trip.

Spokompton

We came to Spokane, Washington last night. Who knew we were headed there? Sue (who we are staying with) barely knew either. But we went to Spokane. We were going to head to Flathead Lake in Montana to visit Samuel Hartenstein (who is now living at the YWAM base), but we didn't have a place to stay and wanted to continue heading West- Sorry Samuel. Some pictures from our drive... of course...

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So we came to visit the LIVINGSTONS! Sue went to college with my Mom at University of Oregon. They have been best friends since first meeting at U of O. Sue is married to Mike and they have two boys, Grant and Jeff. They are a great family; hilarious, so easy to be around, and incredibly hospitable. We have been so blessed to be here spending time with them.

We arrived later in the evening and they were so welcoming. Immediately asked us if we wanted food, what drinks we needed and if we needed help carrying things in. Grant is at Whitworth and Jeff was already in bed. Sue and Mike sat with us and asked about our trip, it was so nice to talk with them. We are having a bit of a tough time not having a home and being on the road... We keep wanting to "go home", but we don't have a home. We are waiting to move into our house at The Washington Family Ranch (The Canyon) on October 5th... so until then. 

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We woke up this morning and Sue was ready and willing to make us breakfast, so she did.

{Sue- which means domestic and Spanish}

It was delicious. And then she became Spokane's greatest tour guide. She took us ALL AROUND town and told us about so many wonderful things. We didn't realize how cool of a place Spokane is! We visited Whitworth and saw Grant and his dorm room.

{David, Grant & Leann}

Then we walked around and said "hello" to everyone- because when you're on the "hello walk" you're supposed to apparently. Leann got some information regarding the graduate program at Whitworth. Sue continued to drive us around town, showed us where Jeff goes to high school (such a rad building), a beautiful church, GORGEOUS/adorable neighborhoods, down town- oh my gosh, and we went to this AMAZING home decor store. It's the best store I have ever been in. They sell furniture and decor and just the most wonderful things. I bought this awesome owl "sculpture" thing (I am kinda into Owls right now...) and a soap dish! It was pretty exciting. Thank you, Sue.

{Mama Sue, Leann & Grant}

{We got free ice cream from the cafeteria!}

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Then she took us to this beautiful park (gal, I am running out of superlatives...). 
There is a fabulous garden, below: 

The pictures don't show how beautiful it is, but it was just lovely. People literally sit on benches and just look at it. It is peaceful, serene and just plain lovely.

Next to the garden is this fabulous conservatory. It was BREATHTAKING. It is all done and kept-up by volunteers. It was truly amazing, here are some photos of the conservatory:

{Notice David's hair cut? Courtesy of, himself} 

{Cousin IT Cactus}

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{Driving around town}

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We came back to the house and rested, watched Friends and Hoarders and then helped make dinner. The weather was just beautiful here today, so we sat outside on the patio for dinner. Sue is so domestic and made such a wonderful meal. Yum! Thank you Mike & Sue!

{Dinner with the Livingstons}

{Cleaning up after dinner}

Spending the evening with Sue is a riot. David and Leann ate ice cream while Sue discussed what she's going to do with the rest of her life... It was wonderful conversation, filled with laughter and fun ideas. We have felt so blessed to be here, thank you Lord. Tomorrow we are headed to their family cabin on Lake Hayden (just north of Coeur d'Alene). We are really looking forward to time at a cabin on a lake...we can't wait. Of course Sue is driving with us out there to get us settled and then she'll drive back to Spokane. She is a fantastic woman who has such a heart for people, relationship, and serving others. It's beautiful and we are blessed to know her. 

P.S.
The last post said we were going to do something EPIC the next day... and it fell through. Katee is a guide for Yellowstone Zip, so we were going to go on a 3.5 hour zip line tour! But it fell through and we were unable to go! We were bummed, but everything worked out okay. Maybe next time! 


Love y'all :)

Katee Lou

Yup, we left Jackson. Left our wonderful little cabin at....

We drove to Bozeman, Montana to visit Katee Lou! Katee is David's cousin from Tennessee who is living it up in Montana. She has been here for about a year and we are the first family to visit her! 

{Grand Tetons- holler}

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The pictures are parts of Idaho and Montana. Yet again, it was a beautiful and blessed drive. Uh thank you Jesus.

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                            {Glorious Grand Tetons}

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{It's just beautiful country}

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We finally made it to Katee about an hour earlier than expected! Thank you Lord. It was such a delight to see her face and hear her laugh. We helped her take the dogs she is sitting for a walk.

{David and Cousin Katee}

{Walking the dogs Otter and Samson}

{Got to see a bit of downtown Bozeman}

Then we headed to Bridger Bowl, where Katee works in the winter. We took one of the dogs and she basically had the time of her life.

{Cousin Katee & Leann & Red Chair Lift in the background}

{All of Us}

{Otter had the time of her life}

{Us and the cool Red Chair Lift}

{Us on the cool Red Chair Lift}

{Guess who is Skiing and who is Boarding...}

{Laughing Cousins}

{Awesome Jump & Pencil Jump}

On our way to dinner, we saw this "Ellen" theater. And in honor of David's love for Ellen Degeneres, we took his photo pencil jumping in front of it. Because why wouldn't you pencil jump in front of an "Ellen" sign? Exactly.

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We headed to Bob's Burger in downtown Bozeman and it was delicious. Sorry, Uncle Ken, we forgot to take a picture of our food. But it definitely hit the spot. Thank you BBQ-bacon-cheese burgers... that may or may not hurt tomorrow.

The coloring is a little odd because all along the walls of the restaurant is a border of red lighting... Makes you crave ketchup? Coke? Goodness we don't know, but it was great food and we were stuffed. We headed back to Katee's and David shared his landscape projects and we chatted over YouTube videos and figured out where we are going to church tomorrow. Thank you Jesus that we are finally getting to go to church. We can't even remember how long it has been... we are excited.

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Tomorrow we are headed to do the most awesome, wicked, sick-nasty-sweet thing we'll do on this trip [we think]. And you will just have to come back to find out what that is....

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Hope y'all are well! We are loving visiting Katee and are so blessed that she has shared her home and bed with us. CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW.