July was a lovely month for the most part. Some rain days and cooler weather than last year with no smoke and honestly just an all around beautiful month. The first week of July was my last week of work for the season at the asparagus/strawberry stand I’ve worked a couple years at. It’s such a lovely job, outside on a hill surrounded by pines overlooking the valley. A good way to begin July.

Morgan was asked to have two talks at the Mcveytown teacher prep on June 15 and 16 so on June 12 we flew out to Washington DC and were planning to spend the 13th and part of the 14th there cruising around but of course, WestJet had other plans and we didn’t arrive until late the night of the 13th. We drove around and saw some of the main DC highlights and even some Mennonites we talked to that were from Kansas. Shout-out to Fredonia Mennos!  We spent night in the city and left early Monday morning headed for McVeytown. Disappointed we couldn’t spend our planned time in DC but blessed are the flexible. My Grandma Joyce had passed away in Michigan on the 8th so our plan was for Morgan to get dropped off at the airBnb in Mcveytown early Monday morning and I would drive up to Michigan for Grandma’s funeral on the 15th so that’s what we did. I got there in time to eat supper by Jason&Nicole, Uncle Mike’s, and Mom and Rhoda on Monday evening and caught up with family and friends at the viewing in the evening. So good to go back and see people but I was sad not to have Morgan along with me to see all his students and friends. The funeral was Tuesday and I spent the day and then left around midnight to drive back down to Pennsylvania. Morgan was giving his 2nd talk Wednesday at 1 pm so I really wanted to be back in time to hear it and be with our friends at the teacher prep. I arrived in time to eat lunch there and spend the rest of the day around. Another disappointment that I couldn’t be there the whole time with everyone. We had an airBnb with Tucker&Anna, Mariah, and Shawnell and two other girls so it was very fun to spend at least Wednesday evening hanging out with them all. We flew out for home Thursday morning. Blessed are the flexible.

Our in-between weeks were full of being with friends. Went to Johnson Lake with Coles and Henrys, swam at Kaitlyns a couple times, worked on my Little Crow Collective issue for September/October and did some garlic delivery runs. Morgan was busy with garlic harvest or at the ranch so we worked at school whenever we could.

A real highlight of the summer was Justin&Lindsey and children coming and spending time at our place with us the weekend of the 26th. Farmstrong supper and lazy brunch and lots of catching up and our house was full and we loved it.

Morgan and I left the 29th of July to make our way to Manitoba. We stopped at Grandpa Garys and spent an evening and night at their place on the way. We got to Micahs Wednesday and spent a day and a half there with Morgan’s family before we all drove to Roblin on Friday for the Bronson reunion of 2025. We met Nathan&Madison for breakfast Friday on the way out- sad we couldn’t be with them for awhile too but decided this trip was for Morgans family. We had a great time at the reunion held at Uncle Calvin’s farm in Roblin from Friday night to Monday morning. So great to catch up and I caught a cold so I missed some fun stuff which was annoying. Singing and late night bonfires and delicious food so I’d say it was a success.

Morgan left to drive with Eric back to Enderby and I drove back to spend a day and a half with Madison at her cute little house in Altona. We did some thrifting and had some supper plans and it was a lovely time. Then on Wednesday the 6th Madison and I drove down to Basin together and arrived at Dillon&Renaes in the evening, where I still currently am! Madison spent 5 or so days here and then flew home and I will be leaving here Saturday to drive home to BC. Mom is here too. We have been having such a fun time being together but missing Nathan and Morgan who are home winning the bread. Mom, Madison and I took the boys swimming the other day- we had Shawn and Kenny’s over for supper one night- went to the mountains with assorted friends for a camp supper one evening- last night I watched a tremendous lightning storm from Dillon’s lovely back deck and was in awe of creation. Enderby doesn’t have thunderstorms like this that roll across the sagebrush and ravines and that you can watch move across the desert. Lightning skittered across the mountains and then in Dillon’s backyard which scared the hooey out of me and I watched the rest of the storm from inside the house. Then the last of the sunlight lit up hidden canyons in the Bighorn range and it was just beautiful. We also spent a few days camping right outside of Yellowstone in a nice spot by a river in the pines while Madison was still here. We spent one day driving with Dillons and touring around Yellowstone which was so interesting. Lots of different springs and thermals and whatever else comes out of the ground there and waterfalls and of course the buffalo roaming around. A very good weekend.

Tomorrow I will be mailing out my first official Little Crow Collective magazine, September/October issue so if you were so kind as to subscribe, you will hopefully be receiving it in time for September 1:) I am very excited and grateful for each of you who subscribed because it is helping to support my infertility doctoring and medications. Thank you♡ I can’t wait to hear your feedback and constructive criticism:)

So this morning I will drive home to Enderby and Mom will drive to Kansas. And I am excited to go home because I miss Morgan dearly. But it means saying goodbye to Mom and Dillons and my little nephews and that makes my heart ache because my family is the best thing and I really am sad every day I don’t live by any of them. I am overly blessed to have them as mine. Wishing you all a happy weekend.

Xoxo. CheyenneLinn

Good morning from the sunny Okanagan!

When Mom was out here for two weeks the beginning of June, I ran this little idea by her that I’d been simmering in my head for the last year or so. The idea went from there and Mom and I worked like crazy bringing my dream to life over the two weeks. I love writing, as you know, and I started thinking about the extra time I have as I don’t have children right now on this infertility trip we are on and the financial side that comes with that. I feel so useless sometimes and especially since I haven’t been able to teach again, I feel like I have no real mission and purpose in my life right now and my hope is to make a little extra cash on the side with this.

So that brought us to this month when I told Mom my idea, which is to send out this cute little magazine every other month- the purpose being to have a fun piece of mail to look forward to (mail is so rare these days) and an assortment of reader’s sending in their inspirations and in doing so the magazine would be full of us all helping each other along the path. I know there are other papers among us but I wanted my magazine to be my own little paper that you will sit and read in a quiet time with a coffee and hear others thoughts and real life things and you may roll your eyes and say “that sounds just like Chey” and I’m fine with that:) We all have real life things happening- grief of loss, grief of hidden burdens, married life, single life, children, teaching school, working in cafes, working on committees, youth, young couples, middle aged, in-laws, spiritual life, financial burdens, and we all are human and at the end of the day we wish we would have done better or loved more as we are on this Heaven-bound road. I crave the real life side of each of your lives where you are open and honest and other people reading your inspirations feel that too.

This magazine is going to be called “Little Crow Collective” and will be filled with whatever things YOU decide to send in. It may take a month or two to get word around and have people subscribing and so on, but I am very excited to have this little paper as my mission for the time being and hopefully bring joy to you along the way. I want to use thrifted ribbons and other things I may find to assemble the paper, and maybe occasionally send a little something in the envelope. I’m including things I have been working on for myself. Like Morgan and I have been talking about learning songs by memory, specifically ones from the Hymnal but also just in general, so I am including a monthly memory song for myself and also for you if you would like to do it too. Each issue will have monthly calendars filled with fun things, recipes, a devotional, and a very cool little spot for you who create to advertise your lovely little business. Seasonal recipes, memories of your life, lists of anything, devotional inspo, experiences in life that you learn from, cozy readings, tips and tricks on anything or any hobby you have, the list could be endless -write something up, just a little paragraph or some verses and send them to me- nothing is too big or too small. I can’t wait to start the next paper!

I have a limited amount of the first issue of the magazine as a little soft opening for the paper. Mom and I put this one together so there’s more articles by us in it than there will be in future issues obviously. This first issue will be free to the 25 of you, and you will be my guinea pigs by giving me feedback and spreading the word if you enjoy what you read. If you have made it this far and are interested in reading the first issue for free to see what it’s all about, message me promptly to claim yours at 989-534-6178. 25 ALL CLAIMED!

You will notice on the main page of this blog by the “home page” tab under the main picture, there is now a magazine subscription button. If you would like to subscribe, the magazine will come to you every other month, or 6 issues for a year subscription. The price is $50 USD or $60 CAD for the one-year subscription. There are options for Venmo or PayPal, or for Canadian subscribers I have my email on the same tab for E-transfers. I will also leave my info here for you to SUBSCRIBE, or go click the tab!

Once you have made a subscription purchase, you are signed up.

Canada etransfer customers- please whatsapp me your address after you etransfer.

Venmo: @MorganCBronson

PayPal: @cheybronson

Email: cheyzzle@gmail.com

Thank you for being here and reading through!:) have a lovely weekend. xo CheyenneLinn

     Most people probably won’t read this post, and if you do read it, that means you either love me extra, or infertility affects your life or a friend or family member’s in some way. This last week was “Infertility Awareness Week” and incidentally it was probably the hardest week I’ve had on this journey so I thought I’d share here about some of this piece of our life. I’ve written about some of our struggles with it before, but if you didn’t know this about us, here are some *Fun Facts* about our journey.  Haha. I don’t want to overshare but I also want you to know what your friend or family might be carrying.

• We’ve been married for 7.5 years and trying to conceive for 4 years now. Much shorter than some of my friends and much longer than many of you will have to.
• Is there a diagnosis? I don’t know. I have a chronic illness called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that can contribute to infertility but that doesn’t mean it’s causing it if that makes sense. Most of the testing has come back with normal results which has led to the term “unexplained infertility”. Sometimes I’m glad to hear there isn’t anything seriously wrong per se, but other times I wish there was something definite. We are still in the middle of doctoring so we don’t know what the end results will end up being.
• My age is against me. Even though women in 2025 are having children at much later ages than any other time in history, I constantly feel like it’s now or never, a problem when I live in Canada and the health system is so slow. Yesterday I had to move one of my appointments to a week later due to overlapping plans and it stressed me out so much that I was losing another week for the appointment that I just cried. Add to this the constant pressure of everyone else my age sending their children to Grade 4 or having another baby and time becomes more prevalent than ever. I feel stuck alot, like life and my friends are passing by us while we stay in this weird spot. Not young couple, not old couple, not toddler parents, not school parents, just sort of leftovers that don’t fit in anywhere.
• Guilt and worry are my constant friends. Guilt that the one job a woman’s body is made for, my body refuses to do. Guilt for my low energy levels. Guilt when I’m on a new medication and we can’t go to supper plans because my mental health is so low. Guilt when I don’t feel like being excited for expecting friends. Guilt for being a wife with these issues. Guilt that I won’t go to someone’s baby shower because it’s just not fair that they can be unkind and gossipy and they still get a baby while we don’t. How do we know if the door is open to pursue adoption or something else? Shall we take a break? Maybe we would be awful parents. Maybe God is punishing me for something. How long should we doctor with no results? Should we be pursuing something already so we are ahead if we can’t have a child in the next couple years? What if I drink this iced coffee and it makes me not get pregnant? Am I completely alone?
• Overwhelm Part 1. I started first with PCOS (fatigue, irregular cycles, facial hair, infertility, mood swings) and while the internet is full of useful things, it’s also full of a just so MUCH useful and useless information, for sure for something health related. Everyone thinks they have a solution and supplements for it. It’s true there are a few good ones but it has taken years for me to sort through and every day I’m overwhelmed with “better quality vitamins” and “cold plunges” and “turmeric”  and “spearmint tea for less facial hair” and “lowering stress hormones” and finally I just have to give it all to God again. I cannot make it on this infertility journey if I think God will not bless us because I’m not taking a specific vitamin or going for a massage every week for stress.
• Overwhelm Part 2. Then I started researching pregnancy and PCOS and it was another eye opening time and again I am daily overwhelmed with all the things I’m doing wrong and should change so my hormones aren’t disrupted for pregnancy. Get rid of the microwave, get rid of anything plastic, see a naturopath, see a doctor, take this powder 2x a day, don’t use scented anything, only take beef organ supplements, don’t drink plain water, drink mineral water. I don’t know what to focus on first so I’m just overwhelmed all the time instead.
• The constant advice from everyone with a lot of free time and money is sometimes exhausting. “Try this naturopath” or “you have to be taking these beef supplements” are things that are very hard for me to hear because Finances are another huge thing in infertility. I already should be on several different medications that would possibly help my infertility but we just can’t afford it. That’s not needing sympathy. It’s just life. So I love that people think I need a naturopath for $1,000 for a visit, but does it seem like if I’m skipping medications that I can afford that visit? Plus let’s not even talk about the cost of all the ovulation strips and doctor visits (not all healthcare in Canada is free!) and negative pregnancy tests.
• The constant advice can go into the next phase as well. What if we can’t have a child? Not everyone’s infertility story ends with a child and sometimes the pressure of a family gets so much with people’s well-wishes. “Well at least you can foster” and “of course you will get pregnant” and “You can always adopt” and “Why haven’t you tried IVF?” are also hard to hear. Like are we not enough as a couple that you could just love us for who we are, even if we never have a family? What if we choose not to adopt because Morgan and I have lived through a lot already and mentally maybe we can’t take that on? What if we choose not to adopt because we can’t afford it or the door simply doesn’t open how we’d like it to? Just love us for who we are. And if we are blessed with a miracle then you can love them too. But constantly feeling like we are lesser because we don’t have children is a real thing. I think there are people in our life who would visit us more if we had children for them to see and you may not believe me but it’s true. What if it’s just us? Like Morgan and I are SO.COOL. just the two of us.😎

    We know God cares and has a plan. Yesterday, on the worst day, He had a rainbow set carefully right on the mountains in my backyard view. It was there so many times yesterday afternoon when I would look out and literally (not to be dramatic) but through my tears of sad and self-pity, I would see that rainbow and feel a little warmer with His promises. That being said, I feel like often my faith is far less than a grain of mustard seed. Maybe the dust of the mustard seed would be closer. We feel completely committed to God and His will for us, but we wish you would each help us pray. Maybe not for healing if that’s not His will, but for acceptance and open doors for us going forward.

I know this all probably seems negative but I don’t feel like it is. This is a glimpse of what your sister or friend or cousin is going through or maybe I’m weird and it’s  just me. I know everyone has their burden but please, especially think of these girls who wish this for themselves. I’m on this wee group with 5 girls who are in this same battle and I love them dearly. I pray every day for them because all of these things just consume your life and it’s sometimes hard to find hope so you should pray for them too♡

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. Much love to you.

Xo cheyenne linn

I feel like a bear. Not in the way that I’m snuffly and easily startled, although that actually sounds like me too, but for the fact that I would thrive in a hibernated state for several months out of the year. Can be cranky, eats berries, growls when provoked. I’m basically a bear.

It feels like winter is quickly coming to a close here if the 50* weather here is any indication. The school yard is sloppy and the snow on our roof is melting because I can hear it as I fall asleep at night, dripping it’s way through the gutters to the earth. It’s a nice spring sound. The grey days are also lessening and the sun is shining more which in turn has inspired me to keep a blanket and camp chair by the front door. At the slightest hint of sunlight I race like a madwoman to the front porch with my chair and blanket and sit in the sun enjoying the warmth on my face for as long as possible. It’s glorious. Then I reminisce about Italy last August when Dillon, Renae, Morgan, and I were sitting in the shade of a piddly little tree in Rome. We were sitting on an oven hot stone wall drinking warm water and thinking about how we might die of the heat and my heart breaks a little bit that winter is almost done and soon we will be back into hot weather. Boo. The trumpeter swans are starting to come back thru and we saw them sitting in the mucky fields today so spring is surely coming. Morgan saw 2 moose last week early in the morning crossing the school yard out his window and we saw one yesterday from our house window so even though moose are awake all winter, it still feels like the earth is waking up a little for spring and I think I should maybe read “The Secret Garden” again.

In the meantime, Christmas has come and gone and I haven’t written since then. Nathan + Madison and Dillon, Renae, Max + Brett were here for a week and Mom was here for two weeks and we loved it so much. Good food, fun invitations to friends houses, a thrift day with the girls. After they all left, we had Rosemary’s wedding to look forward to the 2nd weekend in January. We were lucky enough to keep Brycen + Kayla for nights and also Anthony + Laura for a night. We had lovely evening company over a couple times as well. So many dear people to catch up with and it’s never enough time at a wedding weekend!

February brought some fun things too. Morgan ran a half marathon in Kelowna while I drank coffee and thrifted; an evening in Kelowna taking a cooking course on Southern food that Morgan had received as a Christmas gift from a student- we can make fried chicken, baked mac&cheese, and pecan pie for you now ; a weekend spent with Jennifer in Bonners Ferry, taking in the views and meeting Ensz’s and just catching up with Jenn ; a day spent in Creston for Morgan’s in-service day- he spent it at school with Mr. Hiebert and I spent it having coffee with Ash:) ; a wedding of Ollie and Josh in Othello was so fun and also Dillon + Renae and Mom were there so a good chance to meet up for a couple days- we stayed at Curt + Rease’s house and it was very relaxing for us but maybe not them!

Then the most fun thing. Morgan and I got to be lightly involved with the 500th Boys Prep Class as part of the Courtesy Committee here in Enderby. The class was from February 18-28 with Mr. Milton Jantz as the instructor and it was such an awesome two weeks getting to know him and the boys. Since church and school are on the same yard here, Morgan was able to come grab coffee break in the morning and eat lunch there at noon. By afternoon break at 300, school would be out and Morgan would come over for break and then supper and the evening so it actually worked out very well. We made lots of iced maple lattes and bought lots of elderberry gummies and put up with a lot of big talk about Canada becoming the 51st state since all 19 boys were from the states. My favorite times were in the kitchen after meals when the day’s group of 4 boys were doing dishes and we could talk about all sorts of things in between their complaints about dishes. I lost a foosball game 10-0 to Coby which was the low point of class for me:) Morgan and I always tried to sit in and listen to the 5:00 singing and sat in on a couple classes as well so I told Morgan it was like a small revival for us as we listened in and listened to the boys talk about their battles. We kept 2 boys for 3 nights, then 3 boys for 4 nights, and the last night we kept 5 boys so our house was packed and we loved it. I doubt the smell of cologne will leave those bedrooms for a very long time. Obviously I am biased but we could not have gotten a better group of guys. I was very sad to see them go but hopefully we will run into them each again here and there. I would say more about how much we loved them all but I’d better not in case they read this and get a little proud about themselves.

Now March is beginning and it doesn’t seem like things will slow down that much before summer is here. Next week the school is having a Book Fair where there will be books in a box and students dressed as characters from books so Morgan will be busy there. He’s also been working on the ranch now that it’s calving season so he’s loving that. Spring break is the end of March and we are hoping to go to Dillon’s for the week. I have all sorts of big ideas about parties I want to have and things to do this spring but who knows if we will fit them all in. Sometime this month we are going to have another Book Club meeting I think. We’ve been reading the “Mark of the Lion” series by Francine Rivers. The last couple months I’ve worked on reading some new books, mostly nonfiction, some better than others:

• “The Stranger in the Woods-The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit”-Michael Finkel
• “The Lotus Shoes”-Jane Yang
• “Nobody’s Son”-Cathy Glass
• “This Life I Live”-Rory Feek

Saturday morning the boys left for their Last Outing with the Youth day after class and Morgan was at the ranch working with calves so I thought I would enjoy a very quiet day in my pjs with a cup of coffee but of course life had other plans. Our vehicle quit driving as I was on the way home after dropping the guys off at school so I had to call for a tow truck. Let this be a reminder to always leave home with good clothes on and different shoes than moccasin slippers and also you should always have your purse with you. Unfortunately I am only six minutes from school and did not check all those boxes. Luckily my driver that I rode to Vernon with was named Andrew and very nice and he was from North Yorkshire, England, originally so we had good conversation and do you ever think that sometimes those kind of people are actually angels sent to you by God? I think Andrew was. Not that I needed encouragement or was depressed or anything. But he said partway through our conversation in his nice British accent, “You know love, life’s a funny thing. You think you know what you want and when you want it, but when you get it you aren’t happy with that either so you look to the next thing and pretty soon you’re right old and life’s gone.” Which I thought was wise even though I’ve heard the same thing before. It seemed like what I needed and we got to talk about Holdeman Mennonites for awhile too before he dropped my vehicle and I off at Nissan. So after awhile a courtesy car came back to the dealership and I got to drive home to my dishwasher that gave out this week and an espresso machine issue caused by the boys haha. So I did NOT, in fact, do any relaxing at all. This week I work 3 mornings and the rest of the week will be catch-up with laundry and floors and maybe meeting a friend for a good coffee. Probably Kaitlyn at Anvil Coffee:)

Wishing each of you a good week this lovely first week of March. My resolution for this month is to check in on friends I haven’t talked to in awhile so maybe I’ll be messaging you. xoxo cheyenne linn

Usually when I decide to write on here, it’s when I should be doing something else and the house is messy and I need to be leaving the house in 10 minutes. But today I have nothing going. Zero. It’s softly snowing outside and I have a French-vanilla-quarter coffee waiting by the couch. Yes. We finally got a couch. A mustardy gold velvet one that is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. So this morning I’m just sitting on my couch writing because it’s long overdue. Morgan is at hockey this evening which is starting to become a several times a week thing and honestly, I’m not complaining. I like being in my house drinking coffee.

We drove with Miss Giesbrecht and Miss Friesen to school meeting in Heart Valley on the 6th. We stayed with Joel & Burnette at Carlos & Shay’s house which was so fun. All lovely people. It was another inspiring teacher meeting, even tho I’m not teaching! Lots of new faces after we skipped last year in this district since we were in Michigan, and a good amount of familiar faces too. It’s always fun to see old school board and friends from my years teaching in Linden and Pincher Creek.

While we were at school meeting, we received the news that Morgan’s great-aunt Janice had passed away here in Enderby so our plans changed a bit and we headed straight home instead of spending the weekend in Edmonton like we’d planned. We arrived home late Friday night and spent the weekend cleaning and making food. Morgan’s Mom and Grandpa Orville & Grandma Valeda (Aunt Janice and Grandma are sisters) arrived to stay at our house on Monday and were here until Wednesday for the funeral. We loved having them here except for the circumstances of course. We will miss Aunt Jan so much. It’s been a long week for us with the funeral bringing back memories for both Morgan and I and working through -i don’t know what to call it. Secondary grief? Where we grieve our Dad’s again through the death of someone else we were close with? It’s provoked several conversations between us of memories of our Dad’s which has been nice. A pleasant surprise was seeing my unit houseparents, Papa Harry & Mama Millie at the funeral! They came over for coffee Wednesday afternoon and it was so good to catch up with them!

I’ve been in full Christmas mode already so my house is decorated. Mostly. We’re going to go pick cedar boughs one of these days with Lance’s so I’ll add some of that yet but yes. The Christmas season is going strong at our house. The house has smelled like drying oranges for days because I’ve been drying them for garlands. The stockings are hung, the golden star garlands are in the windows, Grandma Jul’s glass Nativity is on a table, and the Nativity we bought in Mozambique is on a shelf. My family starts to arrive in four weeks from today and we are so excited. I’m going to make peppernuts, peanut butter balls, and gingersnaps for the freezer one of these days. If any of you come through the area you are so welcome to stop in:)

Morgan is busy at school with program songs and parent Christmas supper and report cards. The year is going well and we love his co-teacher girls and we’re grateful for them. Starbucks keeps me pretty busy so I don’t spend a lot of time at school but I occasionally help out there as needed. I helped with sewing lunch last sewing day,  and Morgan and I have gone fishing a few evenings. We went up to range a couple weeks ago and spent the day with family and cows in the forest and it was a favorite day.

We continue to request your prayers as we try to understand God’s will for us. There are so many unknowns with the financial side of teaching, our fertility, and the difficulty of Canada adoption or if we would pursue that from the USA instead if we would ever feel like that route would open to us. It’s overwhelming to say the least, and we often feel unequipped to understand and make those life decisions so please pray for us.

Wishing you all a lovely USA Thanksgiving weekend:) Xoxo Cheyenne.

What a full life it has been lately and we’ve loved all of it! I’m sipping a maple latte and watching yellow leaves float to the ground in our front yard. My favorite blanket is around me and I’m sitting in my favorite thrifted chair by the window pondering Thanksgiving since the Canadian one has happened and the American one is approaching.

September was a blur.

• Brock and Vanessa’s wedding occupied one weekend- caught up with dear friends and had Ivan for nights at our house which was so fun.
• Morgan’s school started the 10th and he is already into the swing of things and loving it as usual. He is teaching Grades 6,7,8, & 9 with 17 students so it will be a busy year. His first cousin Cheyanne Giesbrecht is teaching middle grades here, and Alanna Friesen from Fort Vermillion is teaching youngest. We couldn’t ask for better girls and they are honestly just like younger sisters so it’s fun.
• Grandpa Gary and Grandma Cathy did a big road trip to visit Nathan’s, then Dillon’s, and then us. They were here for 5 days and we had a lovely time showing them around and introducing them to our friends here. It was so good to catch up and relax together.
• I turned another year older while Grandpa’s were here so Morgan had a party for me at Marshall&Janelles one evening. What a good year this one was and I am happy to be alive and going into the next year’s joys and sorrows.

October started with changing colors and cool evenings. Some highlights this month so far:

• a yum chili supper fundraiser evening put on by the youth
• Morgans birthday supper at Farmstrong- another at Steve&Collettes for lunch- and another at Kendall&Nicole’s one evening (she made the MOST delicious carrot cake for dessert)
• book club meeting- we read Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls this month – now we are reading A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers
• we spent a day up at a lake in the mountains with Cheyanne and Alanna- fishing , kayaking, sitting in the sunshine, painting, cooking over the fire. Pure bliss.
• the Kelowna unit who for interests sake are Dominic from Kalispell, Jed from Gentry, Rick from Pipestone, and Vaughn from Dewberry and the houseparents, Taylor&Jelena from Alexandria, plus Andrew&Miranda and Marshall&Janelle were all over for lunch last Sunday and it was a lovely time. all such nice, dear people if you happen to be privileged to know any of them.
• A lovely Thanksgiving supper at Gary&Vals with Marshall’s.
• An autumn supper with 30 friends that included soups, breads, veggies, dessert, lattes, cider, and trivia hour. It was such a fun thing to host.

It’s been cool and rainy this week and we’ve had some snow on the mountains. It’s gone today but I was happy to look at it while I drove to work and as I handed Pecan Oat Lattes out the drive-thru window at work. I’m not sure I could have a better view from a job!

Morgan is busy with school and occasionally working at the ranch. I usually work Saturdays so he often works up at the ranch then too. I work around 3 days a week so that leaves plenty of time to be with friends or be at home which I’m thankful for. My family is coming for Christmas and we absolutely can’t wait. I’m going to decorate for Christmas this week, I think:)

Have a lovely week!   Xoxo cheyenne linn

Aug. 23-

We have stayed at Meininger Hotel in several European cities so that’s where we ended our trip staying in Rome. They are a hotel/hostel so some rooms have bunk bed dorms or you can get private rooms which is what we did since we were with Dillons. They also have a big European breakfast bar with baked beans, eggs, croissants, yogurt bar, toasts and marmalades, fruit, and meat and cheese.

We left the hotel, into the messy cobblestone streets that were already baking in the sun. We arrived at the Colosseum in time for our 930 guided tour. Most places we go we don’t take guided tours, choosing rather to wander around when we want at our own speed, but last time we were in Rome we went on the guided tour of the Colosseum and it was totally worth it. I actually think you can only go into the Colosseum with a tour but I’m not a hundred percent sure. Maybe you can just go in alone. Anyways, taking an English speaking tour in a different country doesn’t mean you’ll be able to understand the English tour guide. You may in fact only catch a few words here and there that make sense. We started our tour outside the arena and worked our way from the arena floor to the second tier. For those who’ve read the Mark of the Lion books by Francine Rivers, it certainly brings those books to life. Knowing Christians like us died there for Jesus is again, so humbling, and brings a solemn feeling as you stand where they did, looking up to where the crowds waited for them to die.

After we left the Colosseum, we made one of many poor decisions to continue walking around in the sweltering streets. My life flashed before my eyes several times and eventually I quit worrying that it meant I’d die from the heat. A bonus was that because we and everyone else in the city were so sweaty, you could slip through the crowd much easier with virtually no friction. We went next to the Mamertine Prison, the place where Peter and Paul were held before their martyrdom. I believe it’s where Paul wrote 2 Timothy but if you know better let me know because I feel very inadequate when it comes to that kind of information. There is only one cell in the dungeon where many high profile people were held before they died, mainly by execution. Walking where these men walked was impressive to me.

After the prison we walked to another square where the Pantheon is. It is one of Rome’s best preserved buildings, a temple ordered by Hadrian around AD 126, now a Catholic church. Despite being built 2000 years ago, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is a beautiful building marred only by the annoying little men in the square trying to sell bouncy toys to parents whose kids have turned feral after hours in the sun. After admiring the building for awhile, we walked back to a place that had a/c and had some pasta to keep up our courage.

After lunch we wanted to see the catacombs so we took a bus out of the city on the Appian Way, one of the earliest Roman roads completed in 264 BC. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site and it’s a very neat road. Along it are lots of catacombs so we went to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, where around half a million Christians and martyrs were buried along with multiple Popes. You enter down long flights of stairs and it gets cooler the further down you go. The dirt is reddish-brown and crumbly as you walk by hundreds of cavities that once held bones. Because the ground is a type of volcanic rock, we could only go to the 2nd level and not down to the 4th level due to toxic fumes from the rocks. There are around 12 miles of tunnels in this catacomb. One of the Popes would not enter the catacombs because he felt he was not worthy to be among the martyrs for Christ, and we felt the same way as we stood there knowing we could worship freely while so many of us take it for granted. It was an extraordinary feeling and I wept a little. How small it makes things here. We were towards the back of the group, and as we were nearing the end of the tour, the four of us stopped in one of the rooms, surrounded by dirt and symbols of Jesus, and sang the first verse of Amazing Grace. One of my favorite things of the trip. Not for people who are claustrophobic.

As we climbed back up I was tempted to see if the crypts were on Booking.com because we hadn’t been so cool the entire trip. We got gelato, the Snickers kind for me obviously, and walked to the Trevi Fountain. Dillon threw in a Euro and made a wish so we’ll see what comes of that. We also walked thru lots of shops and meandered around enjoying our last day in Italy.

Aug. 24-

This morning Dillons left the hotel at 630, and we followed them 2 hours later. Unfortunately their plane was delayed a bit so we went to their gate and sat with them another 20 minutes before they boarded! Now we’re on the plane going home. I like those words “going home”. I loved this trip but it will be happy to settle into life. We’ve had this trip planned since spring so it’s always kinda been in our heads for the end of summer. Now Morgan is going to work on school stuff and I start work at Starbucks the 26th so come see me 🙂 have a good weekend!

Xo  cheyenne

Aug. 21-

We cleaned up the apartment this morning and were out and into the street by 8 ish. We walked out to the Grand Canal which was glowing and bright in the morning air, and ate our croissants sitting and watching the early morning boat traffic. Less crowds and more locals out walking and on their boats. So ended our lovely time in Venice and we caught a bus to our next stop, Florence, or Firenze as they call it here. A 3 hour bus ride that was fairly crowded but luckily we all slept a bit. Driving through Tuscany was beautiful, with hills and lots of cypress and olive trees, huge vineyards, and fields of sunflowers. We arrived early afternoon in Florence and dropped our bags at in our hotel room. We’ve had a mix of hostels and hotels and AirBnBs this time around. It’s usually cheaper to get hotels than hostels when you have 4 people like this so that’s mostly what we’re using.

Anyways, we walked first to Ponte Vecchio bridge, the only bridge in Florence not bombed by the Nazis during their fleeing in WW2. It’s a beautiful bridge over the river Arno that has little shops, and is the oldest stone bridge in Europe. Florence was lovely. Cleaner than Rome or Naples with a classier vibe. We walked to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, or Duomo, one of the largest churches in the world. The red, green, and white marble is definitely the most beautiful building we’ve ever seen.

I’d read alot about Tuscan cuisine before we went and found out that Florentine steak is a specialty there. Here’s some info from Wikipedia so you know: ” The cut of the sirloin (the part corresponding to the lumbar vertebrae, the half of the back on the side of the tail) of a young steer or heifer of the Chianina breed (one of the largest and oldest cattle breeds in the world) in the middle it has the T-bone steak, with the fillet on one side and the sirloin on the other. Two fingers thick, cooked on a grill until rare.” So of course the guys had to try it. And so did Renae and I. It was so good! The rare meat made me nervous because I’m usually a medium doneness but it was so tender that I really didn’t notice the rareness.

Aug. 22-

After another air conditioned night we packed our backpacks and took another Itabus, headed out to Rome. This time we thought ahead and brought snacks with us. Pringles and these lemon-lime drinks we discovered that are life. We also ended up with comfort seats facing each other with a table between us so it was a fun ride. Good conversations. I’m so glad to be on this trip with Dillons.

We got into Rome early afternoon and went straight to Vatican City where we had tickets to the Vatican Museums. We spent several hours wandering through artifacts and paintings. I got to check an item off my bucket-list: see the Sistine Chapel ceiling painting by Michelangelo. Absolutely phenomenal. One of the best experiences. I think I could have spent hours in there just trying to see all the details and not miss anything. As it was, we four stood huddled in the middle of the chapel with many others all taking in the walls and ceilings of the chapel. Here’s a link if you want to read more. I was so excited to be there I almost cried. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling

We found a restaurant where I had the best truffle ravioli and then headed back to hotel we are staying. We relaxed in the a/c with cold coke zeros and talked.

Ciao!  Chey

Aug. 19-

Today would have been Grandma Juls 91st birthday and I miss her so much. I always sent her a postcard when we went on trips.

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies and thunder. We quickly got around and headed to the Sorrento train station where we caught the 630 train to Naples. We went on an emotional roller coaster while we decided between renting a car: more stressful, more experiences, cheaper, maybe getting scammed like we did in Croatia when Morgan and I rented a car last time, or taking the train: less experiences, more expensive, zero stress. After a lot of going in circles we voted to take the train and get to Venice sooner so away we went. We got tickets and had lunch in the terminal at this awesome Italian place called McDonalds. We sat in the lounge under a/c and waited on our train like the Americans we are and then headed to Venice. I love the trains here. This one went around 120 mph and we just watched Italy go by the windows. Assorted homesteads with laundry on the line and sheep and cows in pens, people in their gardens, little Fiat cars cruising on the narrow pieces of road. Do the neighbors here know each other better than we do in North America? Is the peer pressure less here because of their simpler way of life? I ponder this as we drink coke Zero and eat lemon cookies.

After 6 hours on the train, we finally crossed the Venetian Lagoon and arrived at the station in Venice. We found our AirBnb and dropped off our backpacks before going out for supper to have..you guessed it. Pasta. I googled Chinese food just to see if there were options for the Italians and there actually are a couple  Mexican places and a Chinese place in Venice. Sleep felt delicious tonight, despite our apartment smelling of what I assume the sewage system of Venice also smells like.

Aug. 20-

I woke up this morning to the lovely smell of eggs and ham that Morgan was making after an early morning market run. It was the most protein we’ve had on this trip I think, since pasta and croissants and the pizza here rarely have meat involved. I saw a pigeon during supper and admired it’s drumsticks and how good they’d probably taste if that tells you my level of wanting protein so yes. Yay for eggs and ham. We spent all day cruising around Venice. It was mostly sunny and not as hot so a perfect day to wander around the shops and thru the little alleys they use as streets.

This morning we walked to a bookstore I’d read about that floods when the tide is in so the floors are stone and all books are on old wooden shelves and some are stacked in an old gondola. Its damp and musty and was more interesting than cool. But you never know. We had gelato for lunch, the best I’ver had, and walked to see the Bridge of Sighs and then around Piazza San Marco. The tide was coming in and lots of people had taken their shoes off and were wading thru 6-10 inches of water, depending where you were in the square. Apparently it’s the lowest place on the island so when the tide comes in parts of the square flood. We hadn’t seen it the other times we’ve been here so it was something new to experience! Later this afternoon we rode the water taxi for an hour seeing the town from the water. The sun setting here is so beautiful. It turns the houses and the waterways all gold and it’s so peaceful. After a delicious supper, Dillon+Renae took a gondola ride. Morgan and I did last time we were here so we watched people and rested on the cool marble steps. Another full happy day.

Saturday, Aug. 17-

Ooh dehydration headache. We are out of Rome now and water costs so now is when you decide if you want to be dehydrated, or drink normally and run the risk of being on a bus in the middle of nowhere for several hours and then needing a washroom. I have chosen dehydration.

We met Dillon+Renae at the airport YAY and quickly had pizza there before we got on FlixBus for the drive down to Naples. The drive was full of terracotta and mustard colored houses and long driveways lined with cypress trees and towns on hillsides. We also slept a big part of it:) We stayed at the same hostel we used when we were here 5 years ago, Hostel of the Sun. I washed some clothes and hung them outside on the balcony and then we walked to Pizzeria con Cucina Ntretella for supper. Most of the restaurants here are just tables and crates on the street and very few can you eat inside. We ate under string lights and with hanging laundry above us and people going in and out of their homes. We meandered around the cobblestone streets after supper, past little alleys full of motos and arguing couples and tiny shops full of cannolis and croissants. We are surrounded by ever changing smells of the city: laundry soap, garlic, pizza, cigarette smoke (the amount of people that smoke here is insane), rotten garbage, and whiffs of stink from people who have been baking in the humidity all day. I love all of it. We got gelatos before heading back for night.

Sunday, Aug. 18-

We woke up to a thunderstorm and rain drops on the windows. We left our air-conditioned room(sadly) this morning and walked thru light rain to the train station, stopping for cappuccino and croissants on the way. How do these people survive on this amount of bread, I always wonder. But everybody you see is having the same thing so they must be on to something. We took a 40 minute train ride out of Napoli Centrale to Pompeii and dropped our bags in storage before heading in. Since it had rained it was cloudy and much cooler than it has been so we were thankful.

I love Pompeii. I wish I could convey the impressiveness of it, although I get that lots of people aren’t into history like me either. As soon as you walk in you choose any direction you feel like walking and away you go. The streets are made up of uneven big stones, with little flecks of white marble scattered thru. I found out that the white marble was used as reflectors to see where the road was as you walked or drove your chariot down the streets at night.

Another interesting thing I learned about the roads was that these sets of raised stones in the middle of the road were for people to cross without stepping in the mud or muck. These are all over Pompeii and were necessary because of the constant overflow of aqueduct and rainstorm runoff and the lack of good under-street sewage. They were tall enough to keep people out of the water, but short enough that chariots could still go over them. You can see the wagon ruts all over the city too.

We also visited lots of houses, temples, restaurants, and the Garden of Fugitives where you can see the plaster casts of a group of people who died in that garden, many of them children. We spent several hours in Pompeii before picking our bags back up. There are so many more interesting facts but you should know them already and if you don’t, here you go.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii

We took a little train ride down to Sorrento and had lunch and checked into our AirBnb early afternoon. We took naps and then took a bus along the steep, windy mountain road to Positano. We took the Amalfi Coast road another time we were in Italy and it’s so crazy. Full of hairpin curves and tight corners and oh yes. A short-tempered Italian man driving the bus at ridiculous speeds. Some of the corners are so tight that people in their cars had to try to back up because the bus was taking up the curve. On one side you have vehicles so close they nearly scrape, and on the other side straight down the cliffs is the Tyrrhenian Sea, 1500 feet or so below. I remember reading a quote from an essay John Steinbeck published in 1953 that describes Italy traffic to a tee.

“To an American, Italian traffic is at first just down-right nonsense. It seems hysterical, it follows no rule. You cannot figure what the driver ahead or behind or beside you is going to do next and he usually does it. But there are other hazards besides the driving technique. There are the motor scooters, thousands of them, which buzz at you like mosquitoes. There is a tiny little automobile called ‘topolino’ or ‘mouse’ which hides in front of larger cars; there are gigantic trucks and tanks in which most of Italy’s goods are moved; and finally there are assorted livestock, hay wagons, bicycles, lone horses and mules out for a stroll, and to top it all there are the pedestrians who walk blissfully on the highways never looking about. To give this madness more color, everyone blows the horn all the time. This deafening, screaming, milling, tire-screeching mess is ordinary Italian highway traffic.”

We had seafood and pasta at a place in Positano with lovely views of the sea and climbed an obscene amount of steps back up to the bus stop. We looked later and had climbed around 40 flights. The stairs were not a high point in my life. We got back to our place around 10 after another eventful bus ride back.

Also of interest. We were asked by a lady from Kuwait, now moved to New York, if we were Mennonites and had a little discussion with her. We also visited with a really nice young couple from Long Island. They had been to Florence and we are going there in a few days so they gave us recommendations and also Morgan and the guy talked about shirts. Then on the train we heard the people behind us talking about Sacramento and connected with them over how bad Merced is. Haha. In the airport we visited with a man wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders shirt  which was disappointing but he and his wife were very friendly so yes. It’s always interesting seeing who you meet up with.

Xo cheyenne linn