Zion Family Vacation

We just got back yesterday from our mostly-annual family Zion trip. It was loads of fun, loads of work, and mostly just great to be with family!

 

Uncle Tim was able to keep the older kids spellbound for an entire hour straight telling them a story- an amazing ability that was very appreciated by us parents. :)

 

Tirzah's just waking up from a short nap in the bike trailer. We went on a 12-mile round trip bike ride one day. The 1st half was uphill so the kids and babies along with more much-appreciated relatives rode the tram, allowing Christian and I to join the "uphillers". It was probably the highlight of the trip for me, being able to concentrate on the beauty of the canyon walls while not having to worry about kids. On the downhill, when the whole family was riding down, I spent much of the time looking at the edge of the road determining whether or not Peter was likely to die or only get injured if he were to go over the edge. :) Eventually I ended up riding in front of him and was able to relax a little more. And Peter did just fine. :)

 

Don't let this squirrel fool you into trusting him. Behind those wee beady eyes is a greedy little brain that only wants food. :) These guys are so tenacious. I was scared they were going to jump on my kids to grab their snacks out of their hands (they came precariously close to doing it). I ended up hitting one on the head with a walking stick and it didn't really care. We captured it on video- it's slightly amusing. Anyway, it didn't help that on the trams they had a huge, blown-up picture of somebody's hand that had been bitten by a squirrel. Not cute.

 

This is how the twins went to sleep for almost every nap as well as well into the night, thanks to their Aunt Patricia who was willing to walk them. We got a talking-to from a ranger about how noise carries when we tried to just let them cry a little (like they do at home). Of course that ranger ignored the partyers at midnight...

 

Elijah was so wiped out he fell asleep like this one afternoon and slept through a massive downpour (we picked up his chair and moved him under an awning) that probably lasted over an hour. And he still slept great that night!
 

The babies all thought the water was too cold, but Ransom did end up braving it quite well. :)

  

One of My Life Songs

 

 Heb 12:1-2  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Being human, I tend to fail a lot. Every day of my life. The verse above and this following song by Superchic[k] have helped me keep going. Also, a quote from a great book, One Tough Mother: "You only fail if you give up, like, forever." So I get up (eventually) and try again. :)

"Get Up"

I'm not afraid to fall
it means i climbed up high
to fall is not to fail
you fail when you don't try
not afraid to fall
i might just learn to fly and
i will spread these wings of mine

[Chorus:]
If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
we get up anyway
If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
I might fall back down again
We'll just jump and see, even if it's the 20th time
we'll just jump and see if we can fly

I'm not afraid to fall
and hear i told you so
don't want to rock the boat
but i just had to know
just a greener side
or can i touch the sky
but either way i will have tried

If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
we get up anyway
If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
I might fall back down again
We'll just jump and see, even if it's the 30th time
we'll just jump and see if we can fly

i'm not afraid to fall
I've fallen many times
they laughed when i fell down
but i have dared to climb
I'm not afraid to fall
i know i'll fall again
but i can win this in the end

If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
we get up anyway
If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
I might fall back down again
We'll just jump and see, even if it's the 40th time
we'll just jump and see if we can fly

If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
we get up anyway
If i get up i might fall back down again
so let's get up come on
If i get up i might fall back down again
I might fall back down again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAhtLeP4rUk

Flood Update

Well, our area flooded again yesterday (and will probably continue to do so every rain- and this is only the beginning of monsoon season!), but we continue to be one of two houses not affected by it on our street. It was easier this time to go to sleep last night with sounds of heavy machinery and an occasional helicopter. This area has never flooded before in recorded history, so no one has flood insurance- it's pretty sad. We'll continue to stay here unless the flooding rises a lot. The neat thing about all this is how neighbors are out helping each other out, often meeting for the first time. Anyhoo, no new pictures.

Flood

Wow, this summer is full of adventures! We didn't think we were getting a beach front property when we bought our house almost 3 years ago! We have learned that land that has recently been burned does not absorb water. So the 2 inches of rain that the burn area got today made a mad rush and has taken out several houses, roads, and even one little 12 year old girl's life. We are about two houses down from the drainage stream right now. It seems to be drying up a bit right now, though more rain is predicted in the next few days. So we'll see what happens! Here are a couple pictures...

Swings and Security

Going back to when Anne was a baby... when she was 6 months old we went on a trip to visit friends at a lower elevation, which really exacerbated her cold symptoms- the poor girl was so stuffy. When we checked on her that night she had taken her dolly and propped her head up on it to use it as a pillow so she could breathe better. Amazing ingenuity for a 6 month old, thought I. Well, she never again slept without that dolly until she was probably at least 3. Seeing the benefit of having a "sleep friend" (Peter didn't have anything- as the books tell you is right, due to SIDS- and he was a terrible sleeper), I introduced a floppy white bear from Marmie (my mom) to Elijah as soon as he was sleeping in the moses basket and not the car seat (another story). Again, he loved it and was a great sleeper, as least at nap time. When I knew we were having twins I started looking for animals for them, even though I knew they would have each other to sleep with for awhile at least. But I couldn't find ANY that I liked. I looked for MONTHS. Sigh. Then one Sunday, shortly before the girls were born (or maybe shortly after- my memory is rather fuzzy these days), an older lady that I've always liked handed me a gift bag which contained the PERFECT little animals for the girls' sleep friends. See? God hears even the prayers we think are so trivial. So Berea has the sheep and Tirzah has the cow. 

And they love them. :)

 

 

And here's a cute one of the girls at church yesterday...