Our First Day of School

August 20, 2007

School is Here, once again! The dog days of summer are now coming to an end. We celebrated our first day of school today with a more relaxed and fun feel. After morning devotions, I had the kids create a poster of them and their grade level in school. I took a picture of them both individually and together. We played Math baseball to see where I should start them in their math books. Baba was in on the action too. He is starting Pre-K. I gave him some Math questions geared to his level. The kids also brainstormed some ideas for a summer vacation writing assignment. We read books about the ear. The Konos unit we are beginning this school year is Attentiveness and the Five senses. We did it years ago when Chip was in Kindergarten. I thought I would revisit it again for Baba. I will have to make it a little more challenging for the older ones.

For lunch the kids got to make their own pizzas. They had lots of fun rolling and tossing the dough. Later in the day, I had the kids make their handprints with air drying clay. I now have all the kids handprints.

Everyone is excited to begin the new school year. I am a bit hesitant and slightly overwhelmed at homeschooling all three. Chip is now in fourth grade, Coco is in second and Baba is in PreK. Just like every school year I pray that the Lord will give me direction and guidance. It is a real walk of faith to homeschool the kids each year. I have the assurance that He will, just as He has each and every year. Our Heavenly Father is faithful.

Blessings,

Amy

More about our Vacation.....

After camping for three nights in the Rocky Mountain NP. We traveled to Denver. There we visited the capital building and took in a Rockies game. Luckily the game didn't get rained out due to rain and nearby thunderstorms. We took shelter under an awning for five innings. The Dodgers beat the Rockies. The family was excited. Sadly, our Dodgers as I write this are now in fourth place. We did take a tour of the stadium. The stadium is very similar to both Padre and Giant stadium. They used the same architect.

Our next stop was Colorado Springs. There we visited Focus on the Family. The kids had fun playing at Wits End. The slide was huge and their hair was full of static when they reached the end. They had a dress up room filled with puppets and clothes for the kids to act out scenes from Odyssey. They also had a Narnia room. We couldn't resist a stop to the Soda Fountain Shoppe. The kids ate yummy ice cream sundaes and Kirk and I had root beer floats. Yes, vacations hurt those girlish figures. I think I have added on a few pounds from our vacation. Hopefully I can lose them before the holidays roll in.

From Colorado Springs we went to Canon City. We spent a whole day at the Royal Gorge Amusement Park. It was lots of fun. If you are scared of heights this place is definitely not the place for you. They are famous for their highest suspension bridge in the United states. It was scary at the middle of the bridge looking down through the wooden planks to the Arkansas river below. They have hanging gondolas that take you across as well. I had to close my eyes when we took off. It really didn't affect the kids because most of the way they had a hard time seeing over the cart out the window. Another exciting thrill that they were able to see was the incline railway. It is a basket type train that lowers you down by cable slowly into the gorge. After a day of exciting thrills we made our way back to our hotel.
The next day, we traveled into New Mexico and stayed a night in Las Vegas, NM. There was nothing exciting in this town. It was old and many of the buildings were in need of repair.

We had a chance to visit family again in Albuquerque, NM. Kirk has some cousins that live there. We were a little hesitant at first about our visit since we haven't been good about keeping in touch. Happy to say, we had a great time visiting them and their family. They are very delightful people and a Christian family too.
The two last stops we traveled many miles and spent long hours in the car just trying to get back home. Here are a few pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Blessings,
Amy

Summer Vacation

August 5, 2007

Today is my husband and I are celebrating our 12th Anniversary. Wow, how time flies! I am so richly blessed with such a great man to share our lives with.

We just got back on Wednesday from a two week trip through six states. We left here on day one and stayed in Mesquite, NV. The whole family had fun swimming in the pool. It felt like it the temperature had to have been up around 105 or more. From there we traveled trough Utah and stayed in a town just outside Capital Reef National Park called Torrey. The red rock there was beautiful and there was plenty of greenery. The kids were amazed on the size of the rocks and mountains as we traveled through the National Park (NP). We saw plenty of wild life and took a quick tour of the original Mormon homestead there at the NP and a hike by the Fremont river.

From Utah we headed for Colorado and visited Amy's cousin in Hotchkiss. We had a nice visit with family and the kids had a lot of fun with their cousins. Their kids are cute and very well behaved. Coco has now been asking to wear skirts everyday after seeing her girl cousins wearing them.

From Hotchkiss we traveled to Dillon. The drive up their was beautiful. It was green and lush filled with plenty of wildflowers. The kids had fun on brief stops along the way to skip rocks in the rivers. We saw plenty of ski areas on the mountains nearby. Our hotel was located on Lake Dillon in Dillon, CO. Before dinner we took a walk around the lake. The kids liked to watch the local dogs play fetch and swim in the lake. Baba collected many rocks and CoCo and I loved the purple flowers we saw.

From Dillon we headed up to the Rocky Mountain National Park for a three night camping stop. There we met friends and the kids had lots of fun playing with them. On July 24th we celebrated Chip's birthday with a special breakfast, balloons and presents. In the afternoon we hiked around Bear Lake and up to Alberta falls. The falls were an amazing sight to see. After a salmon dinner we had a bonfire with cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches. We had a scary experience at the end of the day. Chip lost his retainer. Everyone stepped into action searching for it. After prayer Chip found it himself on the ground buried in the dirt. We gave God praises and thanks.

There is so much more to share with you about our vacation. I hope to post pictures soon too!

Blessings