For Connor's 9th Birthday...

...we took a trip up to the Coronado National Memorial in the mountains. We had a great time and the younger ones all enjoyed wearing the chain mail. :)

Here's a picture of the view on the way home...

Samuel helping Daddy look for rocks...

Tobias was thrilled when he found "Tree Stars"! If you have ever watched the Land Before Time movies you'll know what he's talking about. :)

And, here is Alyssa thinking about a dear friend we lost two weeks ago. He loved coming up to the mountains and it made her sad to be up there...

Isn't he handsome? Caleb loves having his picture taken - NOT! That's why he's not looking at the camera but I actually love the way it turned out.

Just love this one of Larry and Samuel!

And, here's another handsome young man...our little Lukie. Although, he's not so little anymore.

Connor loves his new mp3 player - my kids and their music. Just like Daddy. :)

In Honor of...

Last night we lost a dear old friend. Al Felsen was a firecracker! Always had a Japanese song for the kids, loved to be ornery and like to play fight with them, too.

Even though he lived a long (almost 90 years old!) and full life it is still a sad time. It always reminds me to cherish people in my life - not things. Life is short and we need to live as if this is our last day.

We will miss you, Mr. Felsen.

Parker Canyon Lake trip 2009

First trip to the lake this year was cut short by the wind! But as you can see...the scenery was awesome!

The younger ones enjoyed learning how to bait their lines.

All in all it was a fun time had by all. It would have been nice for them to catch something besides weeds though. Hey...the littles got really good at casting.

1st Pool Day of 2009!

We finally pulled out the pools and let the kids jump in! They had a blast, of course! This was Samuel's first time in a pool and he really enjoyed it. Mommy even joined them.

We are looking forward to many more days in the pool. :)

It's Official ~ We Are Parents of Three Teenagers!

And it is awesome!!

Alyssa turned 13 today and since I took several photos of her, I'd thought I'd share them here. She is beautiful and such a blessing to our family. We feel blessed that the Lord has entrusted us with the task of training up an awesome Woman of God. Enjoy!

Are You Blessed?

This is a good reminder to be thankful for what we have. It was written by someone named Pastor Keith.

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If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but many do not. If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know. May God open your eyes to your blessings.

Be blessed!

Becoming Self Sufficient...

It's time for gardening! The temps are "warming up" which might not mean much since we live in Arizona. :) It doesn't ever get really cold. Anyway, the days are longer which means more time to be outside in the evenings.

This year we are trying something new for growing our own vegies...Lasagna Gardening. Now, you may wonder why or how we are going to grow lasagna but it is not the what but the style of how this garden works that has anything to do with lasagna.

You start out by laying down sheets of flattened cardboard - right over the grass or weeds whichever you may have. On top of that you add layers of newspaper which you spray down to keep in place. Next comes the compost, peat moss, soil layers. And finally sprinkle some bone meal and wood ash on the tops of your mounds.

We will make sure this stays moist and allow it to "heat" for a couple of weeks and then start planting! I am very excited at the prospect of having a "real" garden this year...and hopefully, for years to come.

We have our garden plans all laid out. There will be a nice mixture of vegetables and herbs. Hopefully there will be enough to share with our friends.

Since I can't keep my hands off my camera, I have several pictures of our day in the garden. Elijah especially loved helping Daddy! Enjoy!