In case you're wondering why you haven't heard from us, we're still on vacation. We're home now so I thought I'd check in, so to speak.
- Last week Andrea's parents came into town. We went on the local Last Chance Tour Train for Helena history. We've never been on it and I found it quite interesting. I got a deep sunburn on my face, though - really red, but not blistering.
- We also went on the local Gates of The Mountains boat tour. I've been on it before, but it's still pretty neat.
- All of us also went to Yellowstone National Park. None of us have been there before (except Andrea - see photos here and here from her trip with Erica), but it's only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Helena. We saw lots of wildlife - mule deer, bison, bald eagles, squirrels, a moose, black bears, grizzly bears, and more - AND we took lots of photos. (I haven't gone through them yet, but I'll let you know when they are posted.)
- We explored the Yellowstone for two days, staying the night a hotel in West Yellowstone - very disappointing for $130. While the park experience was wonderful, I thought the drive there on the 191 past the Gallatin Gateway was absolutely stunning!
- On Friday, we all went to see Evan Almighty. I really enjoyed it. It really spoke to how God calls us away from the things we think we need and gives us what we truly need. I liked everything except the whole "random" part - I don't think our acts of kindness need to be random. There is an intentionality, a purposefulness to being a Christ-follower. (We also saw Fantastic Four: The Rise Of The Silver Surfer the previous weekend we liked it.)
- Andrea's parents left on Saturday. Thanks Don and Nancy, we really enjoyed having you. Sorry about the kids - I guess they are just at that age. By the way, the whiskey works great on them - just kidding!
- On Sunday we visited a local church that is doing a major remodel on a warehouse for their first church building. We at Hannaford have been trading technical and materials tips with them for our expansion as well. I also worked with one of the leadership there with the PK Jesus Conference. The church isn't meeting in their new building yet, but it's nice to experience how some of the other churches in town worship.
- We rented a couple of DVDs on Monday. Ghost Rider was done well and generally okay, but seemed kind of weird - a lot more demon and devil content than I expected, and it wasn't really consistent logic. It didn't work for me and I would not recommend it. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the second movie, Deja Vu. The whole time travel is a little difficult for some to follow, but I thought it worked (much better than Next, by the way).
- Today we went to the park and also went bowling. Boy, I stunk. Last past are the day when I used to league bowl with an average of 205. Of course, the boys both struggle with their scoring as well. We're still trying to instill the idea that it sun to play games even when you don't win.
- Andrea and I have also been fighting off colds. That has made vacation a bit more of a struggle, dealing with the kids, keeping active, and trying to blow our noses every chance we get.
- I've also continued reading. I finished Robert Webber's Ancient-Future Faith (really like Donald Miller's Searching For God Knows What but more scholarly), Brian McLaren's The Secret Message of Jesus (great stuff about the kingdom of God. I don't agree with McLaren on all accounts, but great!), and am starting another McLaren book he co-wrote with Tony Campolo, Adventures In Missing The Point.
