Once upon a time we had a camper. We had bought it brand new in the middle of a blizzard (really!)….we had been eyeing it for months….and do you know what a good deal you can get when a starvin’ Trailer Sales owner is sitting staring at a zillion snowflakes pelting his office window?? =) It was super sweet – complete with a cozy little bunk room. It had lots of memories in it and we had a blast each time we would take it somewhere.
Then, while in Uganda, Dw met the most precious two babies in the world and knew that they were ours. Hmmmm….Camper or treasures? No contest. We sold that sweet camper – happily!
But we missed the memories that camper had made, so we started praying as a family for another one. Not just any one. But an RV to be exact. We really had no money, so we asked our very big God if He would provide one for next to nothing. We prayed all the time for an RV. I mean, really. All. The. Time.
So the other day I kidnapped Dw for our date morning. We went off to a neighboring town to have some coffee, browse the antique stores and spend some time talking. As we were heading there we passed an old RV with a For Sale sign. Dw was actually laughing at it as we passed. It was old. I said, “Stop! Let’s look at it.” 
We opened the door and felt such a sweet presence and the rest is history! It turns out the owner is a Jewish man who had come to know Christ as His Messiah. Such a kind man! We loved talking with him about the Lord. Then we started talking about the RV. Without asking anything, he immediately dropped the price. Within a little bit he dropped it some more. We never asked him to drop the price at all. (And we didn’t have to battle a blizzard to get it – amazing!!)
So we got the deal of the century on our sweet new wheels. (Infact the previous owner had forgot to give us the spare tire, so he brought it to Dw’s office the other day. He opened his wallet and handed Dw some more money. Dw said, “What’s this for?” “You’re going to need some repairs, this will help.”) Amazing!!
It is 26 years old – just like our oldest daughter Abi!! We have affectionately nicknamed it, “The Cottage” after the cottage that my now-living-with-Jesus dad-in-love built with Dw working alongside him as a boy on Silver Lake. Dw & I and our older 7 kids spent many beautiful summers at the cottage in Western New York playing and laughing and loving life before they sold it. It held precious, precious, precious memories for each of us and we miss it very much.
So, Lord willing, we are loading up The Cottage and embarking on a trip across the country next week. My mom-in-love is 94. We have not seen her in 16 months (you know what the last 8 months have been like). Each time Dw calls her she asks, “When are you going to bring the family and come to see me?” So mom – we’re acomin’!! Uncle Mark – get your party shoes on – you are about to meet your newest niece and nephew and we are going to make some sweet memories!! Yippee Jesus!!
Everyday Elijah talks about going in the RV……he is so stinkin’ excited!!
Graham thinks that since he cleaned the front he should get the co-pilot seat…
Nelly-belly oversees the clean-up project….
Emma and Liberty makin’ sure it looks, feels and smells really good
Headin’ across America to meet Grandma and Uncle Mark – Can’t you just feel the gleeful excitement?? And we’re going to be seeing some sweet bloggy friends (more on that soon) along the way – how stinkin’ fun is that???
Hmmmm…
I am praying about whether or not God wants us to sell our camper to pay for this adoption. It would give us the rest of the money we need. We LOVE our camper. Almost all of our vacation memories are in that thing. We wouldn't be able to afford many vacations at all without it. My hubby doesn't think God wants us to sell it. But apart from Him putting money in our mailbox (which He could choose to do) I just think it makes sense. If you have any thoughts about this for me, could you send me a message on facebook? Thanks. : )
Holly (Gilliam) 🙂
Oh How exciting!!! Wishing you all a blessed time!!! -Meg
woohoo!!! are you going to be in the kentucky area? we would love to meet you guys!
That RV ROCKS Linny! Such fun! A great family project for great family fun!
Let's pray the Griswalds never show up on your vacation!
I can't wait to hear more about your STOPS along the way!!!
OHHH so much fun!!!!!! Our God is never too busy to please us even when it seems like not an urgent request. He just loves to spoil us! Oh – just love the smiles and memories:)
What a sweet story! I hope you make many happy memories while you are visiting your family. Many blessings, aloha
If you come through Phoenix Arizona let me know! We would love to make your family dinner!
I am sooo excited for you guys and I can't wait for you to start your trip.
Oh, that picture of Elizabeth should be on the cover of a magazine or of the book you write someday.
OH, OH, OH! I live in the East! Connecticut is NEXT to NY!!!! OH, LINNY! I want to meet you guys! I will drive to meet YOU, without a qualm…on the road, at one of your stopping places….whatever!!!
Oh, my word! How precious would that be!?!?!?
Nancy & ShaoXi…who would love to have you come to CT! But will travel! 🙂
If I remember correctly Uncle Mark lives in like Mass.? that means you SHOULD probably come down the PA turnpike…if you need a rest stop in eastern PA you'd better call me!
I LOVE the last picture of Elizabeth! Congratulations on the new cottage. God is so extravagant, isn't He?!
Blessings,
Sarah
How cool!? Help us pray for a van for nothing too..will you? 🙂 We need one now that we are about to open our home to foster kids. We have pretty much no way to buy one…so we need a "cottage-sized" miracle too. God is good..all the time!
P.S. If you are headed to KY give me a wave! 🙂
Woohoo! I saw it on Sunday @ church and, somehow, just knew it was yours! That is so exciting? Are we going to have to be on the lookout for a tiny RV to put in your Memorial Box now?
That is SO awesome! All of it!
God is SO good!
If you ever make it to Ohio, I would love to see you.
Have a safe and wonderful trip. I know you will be making a lot of memories along the way.
God Bless,
Lisa
Newark, Ohio
oh what fun it is to ride…
have a blast.
xx
Whereabouts are you going, I live cross country to you! I love the cottage!
Where in NY are you headed? I'm in the Albany area. Though I'm thinking y'all are headed near Biffalo maybe?
wouldn't it be fun to do some camping in the smokey mountains?? they're not exactly the rockies. . . that's why they call them smokies!!
oh, how i would love to throw my arms around your neck and say hello and thank you for being such a sweet e-friend!
it looks like the whole lot of you are tickled!
How wonderful…I'm so glad for ya'll!
That is such a great story!! I hope you make some incredible family memories in your new home away from home. Some of my best childhood memories are from travelling with my grandparents in their beat up motor home. =)
Oh Linny, how FUN!!! Praising Jesus for the great deal, how cool . . . and a rebate to boot! 🙂
So happy for all of you that you are going to get to hit the road for a bit. I'll be looking forward to hearing all about the Saunders Excursion 2009!
Love you guys~
Tina
Praise God for this awesome "cottage!" We love using our camper – wish we could camp more often. Our first camper was a 1974 model & we purchased it in 2000 so it was pretty stinkin' old. And we absolutely loved it!! It's great fun to make memories camping with the grandchildren! One of my favorite things to do. I'm so excited for your trip and that you'll get to see Dw's mom & bro (sweet Uncle Mark – smile). I'll be praying for your trip. Will you be blogging along the way?? (hint hint hint) PLEASE DO!!
I am so happy for you guys. I know you will have a wonderful time. I love God's little blessings. Have a great time, we will all miss you while you are gone.
You have no idea how much you are teaching me about God through your blog. I can't wait to see what my relationship looks like with him in a year. Thank you for sharing your life.
Portia
wow- it's HUGE! Don't you need a CDL to drive that puppy? just kidding!
Wowzers though, I thought MY truck was big! So how does it work? The kids all pile in the back and you don't have to worry about car seats and such? Seriously, I have always wondered about that!
Do tell how it works!!
I will pray for gas prices to drop when you need gas…I'm sure that Mama can hold a TON!
Blessings,
Holly
Hi Linny,
I just found your blog through my friend Laine's blog…I love it! We want a camper, too…maybe I'll start praying for one, too 🙂 My husband, me and my sweet daughter from China are about to begin the process of adopting from Uganda…we're hoping for 2 little angels. I was wondering if you could e-mail me so I could ask you some questions since you have adopted from there. My e-mail address is kerimason@mac.com and our family's blog is http://www.trueaboutthisstory.com. Hope to hear from you soon!
So happy for you. God given surprises of joy amongsnt times of sorrow. We have a camper dream. . . someday.
Blessings!
How exciting!!! Congratulations!
My husband and I love RVing so much that we actually live in for a lot of the time – it gives us the freedom to travel and see the country!
Yours looks like it's in great shape and the kids all look really excited!
HAVE FUN!
Okay Linny, I think I'll need to borrow you and Dw to do our *bidding* (praying) for some suhhwweeet wheels like that for this large family! ;o) Congrats on finding the RV. I am sure you will be making some super memories soon.
I think it's a brilliant idea!! You guys are going to have so much fun traveling around in the cottage!!
This is just great!! I can hardly wait to hear about your first trip!!
Since you are homeschooling you can hit all sorts of fun and educational places when they aren't overly crowded! You could also visit bloggy friends, share the love of Jesus with others you meet on your travels and encourage families to adopt. Okay- I'm getting carried away- I'll stop.
Have tons of fun! I'm bring up this idea to my hubby!
What a blessing….I just love all the smiling faces…working! 🙂
(BTW: My Memorial Box came in the mail..lovely…then I immediately got very sick, for multiple days….just getting back. THANK YOU for it, and the sweet note on the back!)
How totally fun is that?! I love that God provided it for you! 🙂 He is so good. The kids look so adorable and excited about it!
How totally fun is that?! I love that God provided it for you! 🙂 He is so good. The kids look so adorable and excited about it!
Okay the last picture of Elizabeth is just too cute!!! I think you are headed in the wrong direction though! California is out West! Okay, I am good with seeing mom-n-love first and then your VT in CA!!!! It's all good!
Oh Linny I'm so very excited for you. That is awesome!! Our God is so good. Hugs and love
AWESOME!! I am super excited for you and now am going to work extra hard to get you to come to Canada to visit us up here!! 🙂 Our door is open and we'd love to have you! God is good, I'm SO happy for you – enjoy the much deserved break!!
James
That is sweet! What a glorious trip you're going to have. And at my favorite time of year. Fall traveling is the best. Don't suppose you'll be driving above, below or beside little old RI? We have very easy on easy off highway access, and we have great APPLES!!
Oh Linny.. how this post blesses me. I KNOW how you have been praying for this…. I am in tears, I am just so stinkin' happy for you!!!!!!!!!! This just MADE my day.. and let me tell you … I have had a day filled with so much good news… but this just brought me to tears..joy spilling over.
Sending you much love and many many hugs. I can't wait to hear about the memories you make on this trip..
btw- you better find a way to fit in a stop here on your way. I WILL hunt you down. gonna get the air matresses ready, and the oven fired up!!!!!
love to you and the gang from our gang~
🙂
Amie
Congrats on the new camper. I am sure wonderful memories will be made there. Have a great trip.
I have to say…wow, Isaiah's feet look great!
Oh….such fun! It's the only way to go. You get to see sooooo much more! Have a fun, safe trip full of wonderful adventures.
Oh Linny that is absolutely wonderful! What a sweet little blessing from the Lord just for your family. I LOVE it! Blessings from heaven 🙂
I have followed your blog since the fire, and just wanted to say how blessed I have been by reading out your sweet family.
Congratulations on the cottage, and I wish you a wonderful trip!!
I am so excited for you about your new "cottage". Seeing the pictures brings back many wonderful memories of the many trips I took with my grandparents as a child. Oh how I miss them!! I pray that you have a safe, fun-filled trip.
Linn,
I am so very excited for you! We are praying for some very big things right now also. Your story is an inspiration. Thanks for sharing!!!
PS. Thanks for praying. But please keep doing so.
CM
Jacksonville, Fl
Oh how WONDERFUL!!! I LOVE it! That's something we would do.
And if you go through OKLAHOMA, come see me!! I'd LOVE that!
Praise God for answered prayers. What an adventure you all will have!!!!!! If you find yourself in the state of New York and need ANYTHING please give us a shout!!!! God Bless! Julie
Wohoo! What a wonderful "cottage" to make new memories in! That makes me so happy for you!
Enjoy your trip!
Barb
I LOVE it! Don't you love how older things just have a story to tell…like your family will add to the story of that camper! Enjoy and be blessed!
Wow reading your blog is amazing. Look at all the love you share. It is great. I am sure that is why the man who sold you your new cottage gave you such a good price.
Hope you have a safe trip this way. Wish you luck!
–Rett's Dad, Bill
Oh, how wonderful! Praise God for answered prayers! The testimonies on your blog truly prove that God is in the midst of (and concerned about) the details of our lives.
Have a spectacular time traveling across the US. How fun! Enjoy all the sights and memories you create together. Safe travels to you!
Happy motoring, and have a safe trip…
What a cool surprise … and a trip across-country, too.
I'm leaving on Saturday morning (with 7 of my kids) for a trip through the Western & Southern states. We'll be camping in our tent trailer, as we also visit bloggy friends along the way. I'll be driving 6,000+ miles, through 12 states, in 4 weeks. We, too, are looking forward to a FUN time … and our African beauties first cross-country road trip. They will also be meeting an Auntie & Uncle for the first time … in Texas.
Blessings,
laurel 🙂
That RV is stinkin' sweet!! Nuthin' beats paneling and shag carpet! Old stuff has a soul, treat it nice and it'll be good to you. -Chris
Oh it looks like fun and you are heading this way!!! Please PLEASE have someone check the electrical wiring befor e you leave. Then have an awesome trip!!!!