Missouri Fun

It's been a great week with Mom and Dad Mumm!

We've done all sorts of fun things. I was exhausted from the past three nights of bumming a place to sleep and waking up at the hours of dawn to cover some distance, so it has been truly wonderful to get some rest. What else? Holy places at Adom Ondi Ahmen, skunks, corn fields, spiders, puzzle grass, deep wells, amish, raccoons, mini horses, super cheap saver stores (like, 10 for $1 cliff bars! No kidding!), some rad ancient history, LDS history, extractions (genealogy type stuff), curvy roads, freaking AMAZING lightning storms,  thunder that shook the trailer, and some plain old good mom and dad time. 

Jedd was facing off with this skunk. It was funny, and I would have laughed my head off if he had got sprayed, because he CAN'T STAND the smell of skunks. I don't mind them that much.

There are raccoons everywhere out here, but this one was tame. We love him. His name is Buddy. We befriended him on a small amish farm that we went to visit, along with some adorable amish children who I snuck in a picture of.

The little boy is named Nathan. He is seven, and was riding this mini horse. The more time that we spent in the amish community, the more kids we saw on the roads, driving miniature buggies being pulled by miniature horses. It was seriously the gosh darn cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. I didn't want to pull out my camera and take a picture because it makes them uncomfortable and they ask us not to, but I was oh so tempted. I learned that they drive the buggies to school, and we passed their little school where they had the horse hitches in the back yard for all of the little horses and buggies. I think I am going to get one. A miniature horse and buggy for my kids. Most definitely. Or an amish kid. Either one and I would be happy.

 Nathan fed Buddie a cookie while I was holding him. Buddie was stoked. 

We are learning the true meaning of Adam Ondi Ahman, and it is amazing. There is so much history here that I had no idea about, and really, the whole world doesn't know about it. If you're interested, you should look it up and read about the past and future of Adam Ondi Ahman and its significance.

The Mumms will be Mumms, and must inspect the beans to see how they're coming. If you don't know already, the Mumm family is full of avid gardeners. Believe me when I say that I eat good this home.

The sister missionaries told us about a 5K in Galatin, a little town just down the road. Jedd and I decided to give it a try. I started running on Tuesday and am not thrilled. I am not a runner, and might not ever be, but I have to do something. I don't have my bike, there are no mountains to hike, and there are no cliffs to climb. Since I can't resist chocolate, and lately have been craving a lot of cheatos, I am in serious need of some excersize endorphins. The 5K was fun and had a lot of really steep hills, haha. Just perfect for these non-runner legs! Oh, and because of my steezy free shirt that I got from one of those amazing saver stores, I got told that I look like a professional runner! I smiled but was humbled real quick when the 50 year old man with a little extra tummy weight passed me on one of the uphills.

This woman that you see here is one very incredible lady. I have learned so much about my mother in law this week, and have loved every ounce of it. We have done dishes side by side, gone on walks, talked for hours, and truly enjoyed one another's company as the days have passed. I have been helping her create an email and blog this week, and it has been so cool to see her learn how to use the computer and internet. It made me realize how much knowledge that our younger generation has about the modern technology! The missionaries tease us here, and say that for the last 40 years we've all been up in heaven playing around on this stuff, and by the time we got here we were pros. It is fun to help them use their cameras, phones, and computers, and they make me giggle sometimes.

Jedd has been working so hard on this motorcycle while we've been here, and Dad Mumm has worked tirelessly by his side. It has been a huge project, as they had to take apart the entire engine and fix some things. Imagine one of those thousand piece puzzles, but make it like, at least 100 times harder, and there you have it! A motorcycle engine! We were planning on leaving tomorrow morning at 6 am, but as I was helping Jedd flush the coolant, we noticed a serious leak where something went wrong. One little tiny puzzle piece didn't get back in quite right, and it is threatening to give us a few more days of work. Either way, we are happy, trying to trust in the Lord, and enjoying our time together. We are anxious to hit the road though, as we have big plans to climb on the coast and try some surfing. Wooo hooo!