In our book Love in the House, we comment on one of the biggest fears people have when considering the blessing of children: TRAVEL. Those couples who choose to restrict children from their lives very typically site travel as a main reason to NOT have children. When they think of our family, they cannot imagine what it would be like to travel for, say, 4000 miles across the midwest with 12 kids. Can you?
To us, it sounds like a blast…and that’s why we’re doing it!
We were planning a simple vacation up to Minnesota. A Larson family reunion (Wendy’s side) and the marriage of Josiah Heppner (son of the Heppners, another “Kids by the Dozen” family) made a two-week vacation to the upper Midwest a reality. Since our extended family is primarily from there, we have somewhat of a system down in our travels. The kids enjoy the 14 hours of driving (no kidding) and we have the rest areas and gas stations all mapped out.
When we found out Lydia qualified to nationals (see Big News for Lydia), we contemplated finishing our MN trip early and flying her out alone to the tournament. But then Wendy and I paused for a moment. We remembered our long trips out to Virginia in ’99 and San Diego in 2000. These trips, too, were for nationals when Alicia (now 24) qualified, and the memories they built were irreplaceable. So, why were we being hesitant to travel to Birmingham in June? Yes, heat is a factor, but the kids would love the adventure.
So, our two-week trip has turned into a four-week trip, and we’re busy making the countless amount of arrangements to shore up our plans. We will travel to Elk River, Minnesota for a book signing (more on that in a later post) first, then to my folks’ in Royalton where the reunion will be. We’ll travel further north to my sister Kate’s resort for some fishin’ and campfires, then up to Warroad, MN (borders Canada!) for Josiah’s wedding. We’ll hang some more in Minnesota before making the 1,400 mile haul down to Birmingham, AL for NCFCA Nationals. Training Minds Ministry will have a booth there, too, making the traveling somewhat of a business trip.
We are all so PUMPED about this trip! Right now we are cleaning, finding arrangements for our animals, making phone calls, etc., etc., etc. Already we’re thinking, why would we hesitate traveling thousands of miles with a van of 12 children? The kids will never forget this opportunity. We will keep you posted as events unroll, and perhaps we’ll see you along the way!
About Chris & Wendy Jeub
