Friday at Lake Roosevelt

Somehow CJL has been able to take off several Fridays in June and July, and we have been out on the boat! We will be taking it up to Idaho next week and saying goodbye for awhile, so we'll call it taking advantage of our time together. We have been to Saguaro Lake, Canyon Lake, and this weekend we drove up to Roosevelt. It was about a 2 hour drive, but the Lion King kept the kids happy. It was cute to hear giggles coming from the back row of boys who are sometimes not into watching a Disney movie! We really enjoyed the wide open water- Roosevelt is HUGE, and there were only a few boats out. The water was really low, and as we were exploring, we saw several large, unused boat ramps. This place has really been built up for picnics and recreation, but it is so far away from the Phoenix metro that we wondered it if gets very much use. 

Cute puffs (buns) are common on the boat!

 As well as wet drippy smiles.

 Am I right or am I right?!

Hot.

 Boat Hair!

A dam good day :)

A regular old summer's day

The last two weeks have been pretty relaxed- the kids didn't want to do another session of swim or diving, and I didn't want to fight them everyday. So we have been doing a small list of jobs each day, practicing piano and violin for a few minutes, and then… usually an iPad gets a code, or someone turns on the tv, or Eli and Jonah go to the park and play football until they get to hot and come home. Tuesday we went to Petsmart to get Surrey a claw scratcher thingy. And then we were right next to Winco so we ALL went to the grocery store together. It wasn't too bad. I only was severely embarrassed about 4 times, so actually I would call it a success! I think bribery with the bulk candy probably accounts for much of that. But I will take it!  

Movie's over. Time for a swim!

These boys swim in their undies 98% of the time.

I hope everyone brushed and flossed that night! Fun Day.

July 5, 2014- Canyon Lake with the Johnson's

Got up early for a day at Canyon lake with a super fun family that we have gotten to know since our move to AZ- the Johnsons! We found the rope swing and this time got out of the boat and did some swinging. Lots of tubing, and some cliff diving at the end! I couldn't believe that almost all the kids including little Kate jumped off the cliff! We were all sunburned and exhausted after all that fun! 

July 4, 2014

One of my favourite book series is the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read them over and over growing up, brought them to England with us and pick them up every once in awhile. Last year when we were still in the UK, I picked up Little Town on the Prairie again.  The Fourth of July really stood out and I made a mental note to include it in our celebration the next year.  Living in the UK has given me a new appreciation and perspective of the land that I call home- the USA. Here are Laura's thoughts as the little town celebrates by reading the Declaration of Independence and singing 'My Country Tis of Thee': 

     The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock still.  Suddenly she had a completely new thought.  The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America's king. 

     She thought: Americans won't obey any king on earth. Americans are free.  That means they have to obey their own consciences.  No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself.  Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn't anyone else who has a right to give me orders.  I will have to make myself be good. 

Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought.  that is what it means to be free.  It means, you have to be good.  "Our father's God, author of liberty-" The laws of Nature and of Nature's God endow you with a right to life and liberty.  Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God's law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free.  

This really resonates with me, I feel the responsibility of living in this country and want to be righteous and obedient to my father's God- so that my kids, and their kids can continue to be free. There are lots of people who will say that living in the USA is all about making choices- choices to do whatever that person feels like doing at the moment. With Laura I say that living in the Good ole USA, we have to make ourselves be good!

 New July 4 traditions this year- go to Wal-mart 3 different times, drive to Payson to get out of the heat, get caught in a rainstorm! It was actually a really fun day. We loved Payson, stopped at a little community carnival there. Then we drove north to do some hiking, which turned out to be really nice. With the kids we really pushed ourselves and went, oh, almost 1/2 mile. It was rough but we made it. The smell of the trees as the rain was pattering down was gorgeous! Paul and Jane rocked the hiking backpack! We made a stop for some icees, and decided to head home for fireworks in our driveway. Josh and Melo came over, and we all ended up in the bed of Paul's and Josh's truck driving down to the south gate on Miramar in search of fireworks we saw in the sky. Came home and CJL did some fireworks in the street. Beautiful memories in the gorgeous state of Arizona this year!