Nottinghill here we come

One advantage of visiting Southwest Missouri is being close to Nottinghill, which is, of course, the home of the Niednagel family. Jordan and Melissa had graciously invited us for dinner, so on Tuesday we were off on an adventure of locating the mysterious Niednagel compound and enjoying fellowship with an amazing family nestled in the woods.

When discussing how to get to his house, Jordan gave me two options: the easy, roundabout way, or the shortcut. I took directions for both routes, but naturally we took the shortcut since we consider ourselves excellent navigators fit for the challenge. As you can see in the photograph, the shortcut was pretty rural. We've traversed plenty of gravel roads in our travels, but the lack of houses made me think this area is about as sparsely populated as it gets this side of North Dakota. After a 10-mile detour due to my poor transcription of the directions, we arrived at a driveway that seemed to match Jordan's description. Jordan warned us that the house was 3/4 of a mile off the road (which was asphalt by the way), so we cautiously proceeded past the NO TRESPASSING signs into the woods. We soon noticed signs posted on the trees that gave us more confidence that we were on the right path: "The law of the Lord is perfect..." and "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." were posted as instruction that the word of the Lord is revered in these woods.

Our destination was Jeremy and Danielle's home since Jordan and Melissa are living with them while their home construction progresses. Before dinner we had time to tour both homes. That's Jordan and Melissa's house in the photo, which is mostly complete outside and in the drywall mud phase inside. Lots of windows facing the gentle meadow south of the home bring the outside into almost every room in the house making this a relaxing rustic retreat (do I sound like a realtor?). Jeremy and Danielle's daughter Kalea is as charming in person as Jordan claims she is on his blog, and in the photo you can see her leading our troop on the house tour.

Dinner was a wonderful time of good food and warm fellowship as we enjoyed getting to know both couples. We didn't realize that Jeremy and Danielle's betrothal story is similar to Jordan and Melissa's in many ways, and we came to appreciate the seriousness with which the Niednagel clan approaches each of their commitments. I think it would be fascinating to speak with Jeremy and Jordan's father someday, since what I can see through his sons is pretty impressive.

Jeremy and Danielle

Jordan and Melissa