The von Steinblogs: September/early October 2011

What an amazing year we had living in Falls Church, VA with our Aunt Priscilla Ann Hoppe and cousins Deb and Cameron Hoppe! It was such a joy and privilege to care for our sweet cousin and godson, Cam! During our time in Falls Church, a grad school colleague/friend of Bethany’s, offered us both a shared pastoral position with Peoples Church in Fresno, CA. Our position was not to start until mid-December, so we made big plans for time of transition. On September 10, 2011, we departed Falls Church for Wisconsin, the long way…heading south.

Our dear friend, Matt Aldag, saw us off from our Northern Virgina/DC home.

What a blessing it was to spend a year living near him!

As we were packing, to leave Falls Church, Jed and Hosea got flattened by a severe stomach bug that had already made its way through Aunt P. Ann, cousin Deb, and cousin Cam. Bethany thought she was going to escape with her breast-feeding super-immunity, but alas!, not so. At our first stop in Durham, NC (near Duke University), visiting Sarah Stacke, Bethany got taken down by the vicious bug. We spent an extra day in NC, so Bethany could recover, and Sarah was so gracious to open her home to us in this state. We were sad to miss her husband, Bryan, who was traveling for work.

After leaving NC, we headed west to Cordova (Memphis) Tennessee to visit friends, Kathryn & Bobby Jordan. The drive was beautiful through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We also enjoyed a short visit with Bethany’s Uncle David and cousins Abigail & Anna, before meeting up with Kat & Bobby.

Family pit stop in North Carolina

Kat & Bobby Jordan - Thanks for opening your home to us!

From Memphis, we headed north to St. Louis, Missouri, where we spent the night. Before heading out of town, we visited the Gateway Arch. Jed had never been there before, and of course, it was Hosea’s first time. We continued north from St. Louis to Bethany’s parents’ home in southeastern Wisconsin. On the way to WI, we stopped at Lambert’s Café, “Home of the Throwed Rolls”, which is a legendary restaurant Bethany’s grandparents introduced her to in the early 90’s. It is just as epic as Bethany remembers it from childhood!

Under the Gateway Arch - St. Louis

Feels good to be back on Midwestern soil...corn field next to a Culver's

Little does Hosea know, at this time, that he is allergic to corn...we were in the middle of a food elimination diet.

After recouping for a few days at Bethany’s parents’ home, Team vS departed Milwaukee for a three-week trip to Ireland and Portugal. “Why Ireland and Portugal?”, you may ask. Well, Ireland because our dear friend, Daniel VanHoff, was getting married in Ireland on September 22, and we were thrilled to not only be invited, but to be asked to read Scripture in the ceremony. Portugal because Bethany’s parents gifted us a week of their timeshare for our wedding, two+ years earlier, and it was time to use it! We wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been before and Portugal happened to be a place both of us wanted to go, neither of us had been, and where RCI had timeshares. The timeshare we chose was actually on Madeira Island, in a Portugese archipelago located 300+ miles from the African coast and 600+ miles from the European continent. Madeira is an hour and half plane ride from Lisbon, Portugal’s capital city.

We spent four days in Ireland before visiting Portugal: celebrating Daniel & Lydia’s wedding and visiting friends in Galway (west coast of Ireland). We so enjoyed the gorgeous Ireland countryside and the breathtaking views from the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin. From Galway, we headed to Dublin and flew to Lisbon, Portugal, taking a train to Coimbra, the second oldest university town in Europe. Bethany had connected with a fellow Bethel alum and friend, Kim (Salewski) Almeida, over Facebook, while in the car on the way to the Milwaukee airport! We had not finalized any plans in Portgual , for the front or back end of visiting Madeira Island (two days each). We made all these plans, minutes before boarding the plane to Ireland, via Facebook, email, and international phone call. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of technology. Our time in Coimbra is a highlight in both Jed and Bethany’s traveling history. Thank you, Kim & Luis!

Daddy & Hosea photo in the beautiful Irish church

Our sweet friends - Daniel & Lydia - so happy for them!

The amazing venue! Ireland is gorgeous!

Daniel & I share a love to fine cheeses - I was pleased at the reception, to say the least.

Hosea's favorite part of Ireland was probably the sheep, goats, and cows grazing everywhere

The unique and beautiful Doolin coast - west coast of Ireland

Quaint pub in Doolin

Cliffs of Moher - this place is spectacular, even in the rain

Arriving in Coimbra to visit Kim & Luis on the fast train from Lisbon

Luis & Kim - thanks for your hospitality and for being our tour guides!

Coimbra is an amazing city - we highly recommend visiting!

One of our favorite pics of Hosea from the entire three week trip - we loved Coimbra!

From Coimbra, we headed to Madeira Island, where we spent seven amazing days in a gorgeous seaside hotel and beautiful island surroundings. This week, island, and its people deserve a blog post of their own. We have not been everywhere on the island, but “Pearl of the Atlantic”, as it is called, suits this place. We would love to tell anyone interested more about it and highly recommend they go there!

Before sharing any of the amazing places we got to go in Madeira, we have to mention these amazing friends we met our first day in Madeira, and who made our experience unforgettable - Stephanie & Fernando and their two children. Stephanie was our Madeira tour guide, giving her time, automobile/gas, knowledge of the island, and friendship to us the entire week. THANK YOU STEPHANIE & FERNANDO!

Arriving at our hotel for the week - Royal Orchid

The seaside view of our hotel

From this amazing place, we had a breathtaking view of the capital city, Funchal.

You can take a cable car or drive to the town of Monte (500 meters above the main city of Funchal). From here, you can take a "carro de cesto", their famous wicker toboggan rides. We didn't take one ourselves, but had fun watching them.

Our water baby!

Pool side snacking was a daily activity

We rented a car one day while in Madeira and drove around the entire center, northern, western, and southern parts of the island. It was one of the most memorable parts of the trip.

Natural swimming pools along the coast at Porto Moniz

The public pool, created out of the natural pools

Portugal national soccer uniform...to grow into...

Stephanie & Fernando invited us over for a home-cooked, delicious meal of authentic Brazilian food = YUM!

Hiking the cliffs at Canical - the very northeastern part of Madeira

Our friend, Stephanie, drove us up to Pico do Arieiro - Altitude of 1810 meters (3rd highest peak on Madeira)

From Madeira we flew back to Lisbon for one night. Bethany’s mom gifted us a night at an amazing hotel she researched and found online, since we hadn’t planned ahead. As a result, we got a memorable experience of the Portuguese bus system and a completely relaxing day at a nearly empty “executive” hotel, complete with poolside service, all to ourselves. We didn’t realize how much we needed this oasis in the middle of a busy trip.

While baby naps on a lawn chair, Mama & Daddy get the rare opportunity to sunbathe TOGETHER! Amazing!

We left Lisbon and flew back to Dublin, Ireland and then took a bust to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Daniel and Lydia were back from their honeymoon and it was so wonderful to get to spend some time with them and see their life in Belfast. Carlos and Andi Fernandez, missionaries with Christian Associates, and long-time friends of Bethany’s from Vanguard, graciously opened their home to us, even though they were on furlough in the States.

With all our air travel, Jed became an expert at changing Hosea in the tiny airplane bathroom - he could even take a picture while doing it...that's talent.