And We're Off ! Nearly....

Hello everybody,

The beginning is here. We have just over 24 hours left before we fly out for Rome and what a summer it has been. These past three months God has blessed us with much more then we could have expected. He gave us a great wedding day to bless the start of our marriage, followed by an exciting honeymoon to Australia, great jobs, and a great place to call home.

We began saying our goodbyes on Sunday with a farewell party. Above is a picture of us with the awesome group that came all the way down from Ames to say farewell. We'll miss you guys.

From Sunday up until Wednesday making sure we had all the last minute details taken care of.  Then on Wednesday we had to say our goodbyes to Rachel's family, which was tough and sad for all, we will be missing them a great deal.

A sad departure from Des Moines brought us to a happy arrival in Minnesota where we are spending 4 days with my Dad in Rochester. So far we have been running through our lists and checking them twice. 

Here is my equipment for the trip, before it's packed away (and not including any clothes).

Thats me trying to avoid the alligators in my driveway.....

Officially we fly out of Minneapolis Sunday night at 7pm, make a short stopover in Amsterdam and then end up in Rome, Monday morning 10am (Rome time). 

God Bless, and our next post will have a European flavor to it!