Mountain Camping

We decided to get out of the Texas heat and get back to a mountain for the Labor Day holiday.  We went back to Arizona to a big beautiful mountain, Mnt Graham!  It was a nice trip away, even though it was a long drive, and then 2 hours up the mountain.  There was rain right before we got there so the roads weren't that great, but otherwise the weather was beautiful and cool!  It was great to have 60 degree temps and even wear sweaters and warm up around a campfire.  

The mountain held lots of awesome experiences, including:  exploding diapers, broken glasses, mountain lions up the way, cousins, bow and arrows, football throws, injured fingers, throwing up in the middle of the night, walking around the lake, bike rides, skinned knees, roasting marshmallows,  games, church on the mountain, pretending to be cave men, waking up with the sun, star gazing, worm hunting, picking wild raspberries, being covered in dirt, starting fires, smoke, smelling like smoke, no cell reception, seeing friends unexpectedly, and many more!!

It was great to be away and we took lots and lots of photos!  I think having time away without distractions was awesome.  The kids also did really well on the drive so that was very encouraging.  Traveling with a 1 year old can be tricky.  We will look forward to trying to make it an annual event.  It was nice to be in Arizona and in cooler weather!

Bug

Daddy and Chica throwing the football

Joy catching

Mhari, Simon, Clark

Thomas and Grant

Chica

Mommy and Lorna

Clayton and Talmage

Joy and Jonathan

Ira

Abigail 

Daddy and Mhari throwing the football

Clark and Simon joining in the football fun

Grant and Thomas digging for worms

Aaron getting the game ready

The boys 

Grant and Tommy.  Grant was always shooting his bow and arrow that he made

Joy, Sandra, and Mhari

Simon and Clark being cute on the stairs

Clark

Lorna

Such a cute bug and Daddy

Ears

Mommy and Bug

Thomas, Clayton and Grant raspberry picking

Clark and his stick.  I think every kid had their own stick, or two

Lorna

Lorna sitting with Grandma while she settled down

Mhari

Talmage, Joy and Mhari

Aunt Michelle holding bug while she ate chips

Jeff and Talmage getting our own little campfire started

Sandra with her bow and arrow that she made

Lorna on a huge rock at the lake.  She is such a cutie

Mhari and Talmage trying to catch a fish (using just hands)

Grant poking at the fish

At the lake

Mhari blowing a huge dandelion

Mhari doing a funky pose on a log

Clark trying to do it too... with some help from Mhari

Talmage tried it too.  Clark decided he needed to be a part of it. 

Lorna discovering a flashlight

More football

Our last sunset

The girls picking raspberries

Grandpa

Clark

Mommy and Lorna

Roasting hot dogs

I ran from the truck to the campsite holding Lorna.  She really liked it.

Lorna dancing in the kitchen... cuteness

Mhari's thumb injury... tripped on a rock

Sad girl

Leann and me switching the babies

More lake

Talmage carving his arrows

Mhari

Talmage, Sandra, and Grant

I pulled out the cowboy hat for the last day

Sandra with her marshmallow chocolate creation

First Day of Homeschool!

This week it was that time of year for school to start again, with a twist!  We decided to homeschool.  This is also the first year having 4 kids in school.  It may seem a little crazy, OK, maybe a lot crazy, but it's been good.  We have just felt a shift in our family and we needed a change.  We want more time with our kids, teaching them, loving them, & playing with them!  It kind of felt like our time together had turned into a chore list after school: get homework done, eat dinner, get ready for bed!  Then start the rush all over the next day.  Some days may be stressful, but I really enjoy my kids and want to have the best experience we can while they are at home with us.  I have more I could say, but that kind of sums up our "Why we are homeschooling" question.  

Talmage is a 5th grader, Grant is a 4th grader, Sandra is a 2nd grader, and Mhari is a Kindergartner!

Here are just a few pictures of our first day together.  

Sandra and Grant

Talmage

Mhari

I'm sure there will be lots more photos of our fun together!  Our co-op group starts next week so that will add some weekly fun to our activities!  

Got a Spare?

A few days ago I noticed the rear tire of our truck was looking really bad.  The tread was separating and the sidewall was cracking.  I decided not to drive it that night and took my car instead.  Low and behold, Sharla texted me while I was out that night and said the tire blew up.  Yep...it blew up.  The sidewall gave out.  Our neighbor's daughter was outside with her boyfriend at the time and nearly had a heart attack.  It supposedly sounded like a shotgun going off.

Here is a picture of the sidewall.

 The funny part was that my spare looked horrible and lost its tread previously.  So no spare tire.  I ended up having the truck towed to a tire place and replaced my back tires.  It turns out that the blown tire was 18 years old.  It was the original spare to replace my treadless wonder below.  18 years is a long time.  Maybe we should check the spare a little more frequently.  Oooops.

Out with the Old

The time has come to say good-bye to our family sedan, Lightning.  We have had him 8 1/2 years!  He has been a good reliable vehicle during all of our years of schooling and having a young family.  He has been a blessing to our family.  Now that Jeff's career involves showing a professional image, conversation turned to the type of car he drives.  Now, I'm sure it was more because the car has been getting old and more prone to being unreliable (it's not, but you never know), and such.  The decision was made... time for a new vehicle. 

The search was on and we went through several different options:  Ford truck, VW Passat, or the Ford Fusion....

Yes, the Fusion won

We think he looks sharp :).  It's been fun to have a nice car.  

The kids like the name, Whiskers, and it seems to be sticking ;) 

Welcome to the family ~ Whiskers ;).  Oh, and if anyone wants a still decent sedan ours is for sale ;).