So we flew in from Belize on Friday night, spent two days at home doing laundry & packing for our cross country camping trip, and left on Monday morning for yet another adventure. I am tired right now as I type this, just thinking about it! This is just kind of how we roll, I guess...
Brian had been planning this Yellowstone Camping trip for a long time now, and he was VERY excited about it! I wasn't quite as excited about camping in a tent as he was, but I was happy to be with my favorite people on earth anyway!
Our family is used to spending lots of hours driving...but this was by far the most we have driven on any trip ever. I can't even begin to add up how many hours we spent in this van...from Oklahoma to South Dakota, then to Montana & Wyoming, and back again! Our first day drive was about 13 hours long.
Here is an overview video of our whole trip...it was definitely a fun adventure!
It POURED on us as we drove through Kansas the first day.
Can't road trip without it...
Hahaha! My kind of camping, right here...
I totally think I should have bought this shirt to wear on our trip!
It's always so much fun when you're flying home and you know there is a welcoming crew waiting for you at the airport! When Mackenzie and I landed in OKC, we were met by Madi, Jonah, G-Ma, Rex, Jamie, Taylor & Thomas! It was so sweet!! Madi & Jonah made the best signs for us & you can be sure I got LOTS of hugs and kisses! I missed my babies so much!!
The rest of the group flew in about 45 minutes behind us, so we waited there and got to welcome them back too. It was fun to talk to the parents (I recognized some of them from the morning we left) about how great their kids did. It truly was an amazing group of teenagers!
And you know what's the greatest feeling? Walking into your own house & laying down in your own bed, after being completely exhausted and spent from a trip like this!!
Praise God, for great things He has done!
We meant to take a picture of "the 3 Mackenzie's" in Belize and forgot, so we did it at the airport! I can't get over the smile on (my) Mackenzie's face in this picture...I'd say it pretty much sums up how she felt about this trip to Belize...it was pretty great!
We left bright and early Friday morning and started the journey home. It had been an amazing week, but I was missing Madi & Jonah and I was ready to be home again. Well--home for 2 days anyway--sigh!!
On our way to the airport, we stopped at the only prison in Belize and did the Freedom Drama there. That was such a neat way to end our trip!
Mackenzie and I were flying home on a different airline than the group, because we booked her flight using our air miles. So we had to part ways at the airport in Belize, which I was a little bummed about. Brian and the group left an hour or so before we did. We flew home through Houston, and I didn't realize exactly what flying back into the US from another country involved. We were practically running through the airport to get through Customs and back through security in time to make our connecting flight to OKC. It was stressful, to say the least, but Mackenzie was amazing & we made it! Our flight to OKC actually arrived about an hour before the group did, because they had a longer layover in Dallas.
It's always good to be home!!
Here is the overview video of all of the 2018 GoStudents trips...what an amazing thing to be a part of!
I was a little sad that this special time with my big girl was coming to an end! I enjoyed her so much this week!
We were starving and did manage to find a pretzel & a cookie before boarding the plane in Houston!
The sky was so pretty coming into OKC! Home, Sweet, Home!
After our fun snorkeling day, we went back to the Nautical Inn for a few hours and got cleaned up and ready to go into Placencia for dinner and shopping. I don't have a lot of pics from this, but the best part was definitely the Gelato! And we gave Mackenzie a purity ring, as a gift for going through the Passport to Purity. After picking up a few last minute souvenirs for Madi & J, and eating dinner, we headed back to pack up our stuff and go to bed!
Had to throw in this pic of the grocery store that we shopped at several times. It was just down the street from the Nautical Inn, and Kerwin took Mackenzie and me there to buy breakfast food for the group towards the beginning of our trip. It was an interesting experience, to be sure!
And one more pic of Mack's ring...she's very proud of it! And she got a little too much sun today!
You know, its funny...when people hear you're going to Belize on a "Mission Trip," there is this stigma that goes along with it...like oh yeah, you're really going to suffer for Jesus on a tropical island. I have to admit that I had some of these thoughts too, even after all these years of Brian taking groups there. But then I experienced it. Other than the few hours we spent on this private island for our "fun day," there was no tropical paradise feeling to this trip at all. I was caught off guard by how remote and poor Belize really is. I mean, cruise boats come here...but I honestly am kind of baffled by that, after being here. I guess we just didn't see the commercialized parts of Belize? This trip stretched me...I felt dirty the entire time...covered in sweat, bug spray and sunscreen...the food was hard for me to eat...our room was sticky feeling and not the cleanest...being around people in this environment for days was challenging...all in all, it was just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. And you know what, that was SO GOOD for me! It was good for me to be uncomfortable...it was good for me to be slapped in the face with the realization that I'm spoiled rotten. Phil 2:14 "Do all things without complaining or arguing..." It's good for me to be still and say...forgive me, Jesus...it's not about me.
We were hesitant and told the kids not to post a bunch of pictures from this part of our trip, because we don't want to give the impression that this is what a mission trip to Belize is like at all. All that being said, we did really enjoy a relaxing day on this private island at the end of our trip! It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen...the water was even clearer than in Hawaii.
We got to take Mackenzie snorkeling for the first time, which was both fun & awful! The water was way deep & she was worried about water getting in her ears the entire time. We pretty much swam around some and didn't really see anything very cool, and I was stressed out the entire time. (After swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii a few months ago, I'm not sure anything would have measured up!) The best part of the day was just laying in hammocks and enjoying the beauty! Mackenzie had fun swimming in the ocean and finding huge conch shells. Those were pretty cool!
The boat ride out to the island was not enjoyable for me...we were splashed in the face with buckets of water the entire time. The whole "no grumbling or complaining" thing was not working so well for me in this moment...
One of my favorite parts of the day!!!
The snorkeling might not have been the greatest, but we got some fun GoPro pics anyway!
This sweet girl reminded us so much of Mackenzie...her name was Kennedy. Its fun to be around teenagers who love Jesus!
Chicken, Rice & Beans! Yea!!
For a couple $$ you could buy a coconut and they cracked it open so we could drink the coconut juice...not a fan...at all!
Mackenzie either...haha!
But now we can say we've tried it!
It was pretty cool...we walked all the way around the entire island. It was that small!
