Many Travels

                Between birthdays, projects, travel, family, friends, and work, the last few weeks have been very eventful. Some of you know my youngest brother, Gabe. It has been a lot of fun living in the same home with him for the last 8 months. I moved to Redding when he was only two and a half, so this is the first time we have lived together in a long time. We just celebrated his 16th birthday a couple weeks ago and had blast. Last year he was at our home in Redding for his birthday, and we celebrated by getting him a princess cake. This year he opted for pumpkin cheesecake, which is fine too I guess. After dinner most of us went to see Avengers End Game. He was throwing out theories the whole way there, and some of them were right. I cried about 5 times during the movie. However, seeing my youngest brother grow into such a creative young man who pursues God makes me even more emotional. I am very proud to be his big brother and so blessed we got to be home to celebrate with him.
                The next day we left for Washington and began a weeklong get-together marathon. It all started on Sunday at First Christian church where I grew up going during my teenage years. We had an amazing time sharing our story and what God is doing in Cambodia. It was a lot more emotional then I was expecting. Seeing people who influenced me as I grew up and planted seeds for my value of family in the church. We got to see family and friends the rest of the week. We caught up with aunts, and uncles, and Megan’s grandmother; my siblings, and a ton of friends. It was such a blessing catching up, laughing, crying, and praying together.
                That Friday I found out that I would be traveling down to Redding the following week to help out with a project at work. I checked out all the different travel options and the train ended up being the easiest and cheapest. The train is the most comfortable and beautiful way to travel and I highly recommend it if you have the time.
I spent the following week and a half in Redding. The first week was mostly work, but I got to spend some quality time with tons of friends. It is a huge blessing to spend time with our community; you all inspire us and empower us to live out Gods calling.
                ​Through the midst of it, we have been processing a lot about moving to Cambodia. We have been wrestling a bit with doubts about moving to Cambodia and how the transition to living there will go. Its been really good processing together and the Lord has been revealing himself as we have been asking questions. I think it is going to be really good for us both in Cambodia. Really excited to get their and jump into family routines and language school and meeting people.
                This last weekend I went on retreat with my Dad. We went to “Big Rock”, which is a camp site near Rimrock in eastern Washington. It’s a place I grew up going to with my dad and has a lot of emotional significance for us both. Going there on retreat with my dad, spending time with God and with him was really wonderful. God brought up lots of memories and gave us the chance to really connect with Him and with each other. Thank you everyone who was praying for us.
                Tomorrow we leave Idaho and start a two-week road trip to Colorado for a month-long culture school intensive. We will be visiting friends and national parks along the way. Please be praying for safe travels, and finances as we need help paying for the rest of culture school. The school is going to be amazing for our family to prepare for moving across the world.
                Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support on this wild journey!
 
Blessings,
                Aaron, Megan, Harper, and Ember Holmes