Do we miss fulltime traveling on the road and will we travel again?

Yes and YES!

We get this question a lot. Now that River is here, do we plan to hit the road again? Do we miss traveling full time?

We miss it. We miss it every day. Traveling around the country in our 300 sq ft travel trailer, fulltime, was life changing. It gave us an entirely new perspective on life, confidence to make scary and crazy decisions and a sense of adventure we never knew we were in need of. We made life long friends on the road and as we follow their adventures each day now, we crave to be on the road with them. Was it easy? No. Most thought we were on a year long vacation. As amazing as it sounds, it was work. It tested our patience and challenged us. Every thing we did was work. We still had laundry and cooking and cleaning and homeschooling, don't even get me started on home schooling. Being together as a family all day, every day was a challange in itself. But yes, we miss it terribly. We miss parking in the middle of no where, under a cloud of stars, dumbfounded that this is where we were at the moment. We miss getting into the truck, looking at one another and wondering where we were heading to next. Making it up as we went along. I miss seeing Travis every second of every day. Really I do. Funny, I was far less annoyed with him when we were together 24/7 verses now, when I feel like I barely see him. 

Will we travel again? Absolutely! Will it be fulltime? Not right now. Will it look like it did before? No, but we are so confident in our ability to pack up and go, boondock (dry camping), explore and adventure. We have a few upcoming camping trips in mind. We do need a trailer to do this in, as we have sold our previously renovated trailers. What we do have on hand is a rad trailer with a bunkhouse we are in the process of renovating to sell. With the hopes of getting that done, we may take it on a test trip. We have plans and goals and ideas and out minds are constantly creating our future. 

Why do we plan to stay put for now? The honest answer, we want to grow this business. We want the boys in school. We want a little stability. We are understanding that thats okay, this is our next chapter, as long as we feed our adventure bug and remember what we learned on the road. Family, our time together, adventures outside, are what are the most important. 

Like most great ideas, I came across this one on Instagram. I've never been big on New Year Resolutions. Mainly because I am someone who can try something a few times, feel fulfilled and move on to the next. I have a hard time committing to things over and over again, hence the long gaps between blogs, sorry, I'm trying to be better. Whatever it is, resolutions are not a big part of our New Year. Most of the time, we create a wishlist, a bucketlist so to say. The plans and dreams we see in the New Year. This year, we did that too, but I also wanted to share with our family what a fresh start means, a New Year, new things, new adventures, etc. That's when I saw others come up with a word. One single word to define what this New Year was going to mean to them. It took me a while to think of one, but once it came to me and I suggested it to Travis, we both agreed it was perfect, and simple, GROW. 

This word comes to us in many forms. We want to GROW into a family of 6. Creating a family environment where we can each become who we were meant to be, growing together and making adjustments as needed to become a cohesive NEW family of 6. We want to GROW our business. We talked to the boys about the business and made it clear that this was a family business and it would take each of us, doing our part, to help ensure its success. We want to GROW in our faith, which is something new to our family dynamic and maybe something I'll make Travis blog on one day. We want to GROW our list of adventures, National Parks visited and places traveled. We want to GROW a garden again. In our last home, we had loved the garden we grew, check it out at TheGardenboxProject. There are so many area of life we can all GROW in, this word just seemed to hit the nail on the head.

We cannot wait to see how the seeds we have planted grow this year. 
How do you plan to grow? Do you have a family word this year? I'd love to hear it! Share it in the comments below! 

I typed it. His entire birth story, the highs, the lows and everything in between. It was long and there was so much to it. Then, the screen went back a previous page and it was gone. All of it. It didn't auto save like this site usually does. Granted, I knew I was typing it all out for me. I wanted Rivers birth story typed out for my sake, who in the world would read it all anyhow. Then, just like that, it's gone.

Needless to say, with 4 boys at home, one of them being a newborn, I don't have much free time to get it all down again. It's now 5 minutes past midnight. River will be awake soon to nurse and Travis is asleep next to me on the couch. I'll share River's birth story, but, I'll share it in pictures. Heck, thats what we are good at anyway, right? Pictures we have yet to share on social media. Pictures of the moments he arrived and the moments after because these are pictures I cherish and pictures that tell the story without me having to again. 

Rivers birth was story went better than I had anticipated. With a 4th c-section, my anxiety was high and the unknown scared me. He came out perfect. 7 pounds 10 ounces 19 1/2 inches long with dark black hair (which was the most unexpected part of it all). 

We adore this little man more than words can express. Welcome to the tribe River.