Idaho and Montana

Starting on July 12th, Kyle took leave through July 29th (we still have over 60 days to use before he gets out of the Army). We decided that the main purpose of this leave was to begin our search for where we will relocate after the Army. We still have no idea when Kyle will be out, at one point it was by the end of August, and now they are saying it will probably not be until the end of the year or possibly even into January. To say the least, we have no idea when the Army will be letting him go, which makes planning a bit difficult. We will know for sure 30 days out, but nothing beyond that is guaranteed. I like plans, so this is hard for me. I find myself constantly worrying about our life after the Army.
Kyle feels that God is calling him to work with young people (teenagers) in a youth ministry setting. Not a youth minister, but his dream is to start a outdoor leadership camp that would take young people into the outdoors on adventures in which they would experience God's love, magnificent power, and His Spirit as they explore and learn about the outdoors. His cousin Jarid, is finishing up his Master's in Divinity and would love to start a church camp. We are praying and seeing if their dreams can mesh together, or exactly what God has in store for them. Initially upon getting out of the military Kyle would like to attend the National Outdoor Leadership School (which has courses all throughout the US and world) and get some formal training and certifications in things like mountaineering, and other outdoor skills.
I would either like to start working back in the public schools or begin my own preschool. Starting my own preschool would be awesome because it could allow me to be with my boys, yet do what I feel is my calling, teach. I also think it is important that I am home with the boys, so starting my own preschool really would be ideal.
So as you may have guessed, we have a lot of decisions to make and I am really working on trusting God. Some of the Bible verses that I try to remind myself of daily are: 
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Joshua 1:9
...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
 Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Back to the trip...We have heard great things about Montana, it isn't Alaska (where Kyle would love to go), it is within a days drive to all our family, it's beautiful, has prime land for Kyle's dream, good veteran benefits, and Kyle likes their gun laws (no, I'm not joking, this is something he looks up and considers in all potential areas), so we decided we wanted to check it out for ourselves. Luckily for us, Kyle's dad lives on the way. So we spent Wednesday-Sunday with his dad and his family. We went up to Priest Lake for a night, but really just enjoyed being in the company of family. Kyle's dad may be leaving for a year here soon, and we wanted to be able to spend some time with him before he left. The kids, especially Gunnar love being at their house he just can't get enough of his uncles.

 After spending some time in Post Falls, we left Gunnar with his Grandpa, Nana, and uncles and took Ryker with us and headed to Montana. We started by going up to Glacier National Park. Monday evening we got together with my old youth pastor and his family and enjoyed a wonderful visit. We camped at a KOA campground (my kind of camping) and spent Tuesday in the park. We went on a hike to Avalanche lake and took a long drive around the park checking out many amazing things. God's design is perfect...awe inspiring.

 Kyle wanted to spend another day in the park, but I really was missing Gunnar, so Wednesday we decided to head down to Missoula. On the way we stopped at Flathead National Forest and fell in love with the area. We had lunch in Missoula then headed to Jerry Johnson's Hot Springs, which we thought were just outside Lolo. Turned out they were about an hour and half outside Lolo. We spent a good hour at the hot springs (with a naked old man), then made the trip back to Post Falls that evening getting in at about 10pm.

We spent Thursday just hanging out. It was nice. Perfect actually. Then on Friday we made the journey back to Fort Lewis. We met up with my parents and sister in Ellensburg, did a little power shopping in North Bend, and got home around 10pm. Saturday we went to my cousin David's wedding. It was so beautiful. Heather's (the bride) parents have a house right on Puget Sound and the wedding was there, it was breathtaking. The best part was our babysitter watched our kids for us during the wedding so we really got to enjoy it. Sunday we went to church, then had a little family get together at my Aunt's house. That evening my parents left around 9pm as Kyle was rebuilding their computer over the weekend, and simply just never had time to work on it.

Kyle really wanted to head to Crater Lake (another place we are considering living near) for his last few days of leave, the 25th-29th. I told him he could go alone, because riding in the car for another 6+ hours one way with the kids was not really fun, and I was tired. He considered going to Crater Lake or back to his dad's alone, but in the end decided to stay with us (good choice, I might add). We had a relaxing Monday, but then took off Tuesday for a two night camping trip to the Washington Rainforest at Lake Quinault. We had a great time, and hopefully within a day or so I will be writing up about that. So July has been super busy, and crazy. I feel like we are rarely home anymore. August is looking like it could be a bit crazy too. Thank goodness our kids handle it all pretty well, they do way better with all this running around then I do!