Silver Dollar City

We were blessed yesterday to be invited to use some buddy passes to go to Silver Dollar City amusement park. It was such a blast (literally)! Thank you Carpenter's for a fun filled day!

This park is nestled in the beautiful Ozarks near Branson, MO and Table Rock lake. I have to say it is the most beautiful amusement park we have ever been to. The day was perfect, in the high 70's or low 80's all day. No rain, which was a blessing since it stormed like crazy for two whole days before we went. The lines were short, if there was a line at all. Fabulous! I think the kids went on Powder Keg 6 times and Wild Fire about 8 times, plus all the other rides. We were able to go on any rides we wanted, as many times as we wanted. The only things we didn't get to do were the shows. All the retired folks keep those pretty full.

Enjoy our video!



I was so sad that Mike couldn't get the day off to go. I know he was feeling depressed about it all day yesterday. He has missed out on so much since being laid-off over 18 months ago. I love you, Mike! Thank you for being such an awesome provider. We missed you!

A Drive Through the Countryside

Sam and Chris

I was talking to my good friend Jane from Utah last night and was again surprised at how difficult it is to explain what life is like for us now. I really didn't understand until I started living it myself. Life is slower, yet still busy for basic family things. People are nicer, almost everyone holds the door open for each other. I've even had to convince people in line that they really were there before me and I have not been flipped off or honked at on the road yet, even though I never know where I'm going.

Nayna

One weird thing about living here is that the sky seems HUGE! There are no mountains to judge where I am at in the world. In the Phoenix Metro Valley there are mountains surrounding the valley that let you know where you are at. In Flagstaff we could always tell where we were based on the mountains and hills. Here in the Ozarks, it all looks the same! Every farm road and rolling hill looks exactly the same. Directions are given by stores and man-made landmarks as well as odd things like "stump of that big oak" on the corner of Farm Road 79 and Highway Z. I'm learning to give the right directions so people can find our house.

For all my Arizona friends and family, I thought you might enjoy a little view of "God's Country" as everyone calls it here. This is a small clip of a civil war driving tour we took a couple miles from our home. All our Missouri friends will just think we are being silly video taping the trees. LOL! It is about how Arizonans feel when people take pictures of themselves in front of cactus.



Beautiful isn't it!?! If only it was as cool (temperature) as it looks. It was actually a very humid and muggy day, but we had a blast anyway.

The Best Husband!

I have the best husband! I do not say it enough and I need to say it more.

I have a friend who told me once that when she sees older couples, not newlyweds, holding hands or kissing or sitting really close in public she thinks, "They are just faking it. Nobody really feels that way after a few years of marriage."

I was so saddened by her statement! I really feel like being close to my husband. In fact, I have asked him to hold my hand more in public and he is happy to oblige. Neither of us are perfect, but we still have that lovin' feelin'. We have weathered the storms of life and held onto the most beautiful of gifts that Heavenly Father has for us - an Eternal Marriage.

I just want to wish my honey a happy birthday! 

I am so thankful for the love he shows for me and our children, how hard he works for our family, and for all the crap he has put up with from me over the past 16 years. He has weathered my mental health issues, overcoming abuse from my past, and an ex-husband. Well, the list could go on, but you get the idea.

He married me without ever knowing if we would be sealed in the Temple. He just took a huge leap of faith. We were blessed to be sealed for Time and All Eternity on December 6, 1993, just three weeks after being married for Time Only in the Temple. I didn't know then what a special man I married, but I do now.

We love you!

Change My Blog?

I have taken a little break from writing about two of my passions - great classic books and home education. Our family typically takes June and December off from our regular education schedule. This month we have also had Sam home and so we have spent a lot of time showing her around our new city/state. Fun times! We are so glad to have her here.

I have also had a few thoughts (and some comments) about what my blog should be. I know several people who have a blog for family and a separate blog about whatever else they are passionate about - home education, motherhood, cooking, vinyl wall art, scrap-booking, jewelry, etc. I think all these are fabulous! I am reluctant to separate my blog to make one for education and one for family. My reasons are that I am all of these things together. I do not separate myself from my passions. This is a way of LIFE for us and not two different things.

I am not saying that those who have separate blogs should put everything in one. This is just my personal choice. Several months ago I added links for each family member and another row of links to home education topics. This is all I'm going to do to separate the topics...so you can subscribe or not as you wish. You can just delete the topics you don't want to read...I won't know the difference!

I hope I have not offended anyone, it is not my intention. I will make more of an effort to post family happenings along with my other passions. I know that our blog is one of the key features for staying in touch with our family that is so far away now. We love you all!

Family Pics Summer 2010

I love having photos of everyone, I just don't like BEING in the photos. Let's face it, I'm heavier than I would like to be and I'm not very photogenic. I just never look very good in pictures. This was my Mother's Day gift. I know...getting my gift on Father's Day weekend is kind of weird, but we had to wait for Sam to come visit and we had to have a day when Mike could be there, which was only THIS Saturday. It had to rain off and on today on top of everything else, thus making the humidity VERY high and my hair was just too funky. Anyway, it will have to do for this year I guess.

Bass Pro Shop Fun

We live on the outskirts of the city, we typically like to not live in the city. We are close to so many fun things to do! We are near the "Grandaddy" of all Bass Pro Shops...seriously, it is huge! This summer all the Bass Pro Shops are having Summer Family Camp with a lot of free stuff to do. They also have a couple of Merit Badge Classes for Boy Scouts. I took Chris last night and he got his Rifle Shooting Merit Badge...whoo hoo!

Here is a little video of the fun we had at Bass Pro Shop.

Sam's High School Graduation

Congratulations, Sam! We just returned from Arizona after seeing Sam graduate from high school and seminary. Here are some pics!

Time to Post Some Pics!

We are getting settled in and finally have a home phone and Internet hooked up. Today I am getting around to downloading the 200+ pictures on my camera and getting a few posted. Finally!

We lived in a couple of different hotels for a week before finding a home. We looked at several homes, but everything had cats (Celeste is allergic) or smokers (Christian's asthma can't take that)...so we went with a brand new duplex home instead. It is a comfortable 1600 sq. ft. Our only complaints are that we share a wall and there is no fenced yard. In the mid-west only a few have fenced yards. The ward is super nice. When I hear about people from "the West" being rude (No offense! I'm one of those rude westerners, too) I now know what they are talking about. I guess you have to have something to compare to understand.

Odd Things

• People drive SUPER fast on skinny little farm roads that have no shoulder. You have the white line and then a grassy ditch. I've had several people fly past me going 70 mph in a no passing zone. Yikes! Marlayna is nervous now about getting her permit after seeing how people drive here. I thought Arizona, California, and Utah had bad drivers...but Missouri drivers take the cake in this area.
• No Mountains. I didn't realize how much I rely on visual clues to know where I am. In the Phoenix area, the valley is surrounded by mountains and you can judge where you are by which set of mountains you are by. In Flagstaff, it is pretty obvious with the large San Fransisco Peaks. Here...no mountains and I'm directionally challenged now! Thank goodness my van has a digital compass or I would be REALLY lost.

So far, we are loving it! Enjoy the slideshow of what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.

Record Snow! - Digging OUT of 3 Feet of Snow

What a crazy amount of snow! There is still a ton of snow on the roof, which was re-roofed about two years ago. The biggest problem we faced was some broken tree limbs that fell because they were laden with snow and the wind was fierce at 50 mph. The sound of tree limbs crashing onto the roof in the night is not a pretty sound!

Here are some photos of the storm of the century here in Flagstaff, AZ.

Thankfully, we had power the entire time and were prepared with plenty of wood, water, food, and clothing. We were very blessed!

Feeling the Cold

Everything has been canceled all week...Seminary...guitar lessons...mutual...work. Mike barely made it back into town this morning. We had 12 inches last night and it has been snowing all day. Here are some pics of the snow!

Christmas 2009 Pics

We are not all together often, but when we are I try to get a family picture. My husband refuses to get professional pictures and he hates how he looks in photos. Christian also dislikes having his picture taken. So, it is quite a bit of finagling to get these.

All of Us Together for Christmas 2009

 

Mike and Celeste

Our "True" Selves Shining Through

Halloween 2009

With the addition of our new little ones, nicknamed "Jabber Jaw" and "Big Boy" for Internet purposes, many of our daily interactions take on the perspective of young ones again...especially holidays like Halloween. This has been really good for my teens, helping them to learn more about caring for little children, sharing their lives with them and sacrificing a few things in service of others.

Here are some pics from our ward's Halloween Party...we have some good lookin' kids around here!

Secret Agent Man and the Good Witch


Jabber Jaw as a Fairy Princess

Big Boy as Tigger

Finally! Sam's Prom Pictures

I hate waiting on other people to get pictures. These were taken by Sam's dad in front of his house. They got to Prom too late to get formal pictures, which upset me more than it does them (Sam and Brian). I'm sorry, but you need good Prom pics! I tried to make them a little better here, but the lighting is all wrong.

Aren't they so cute!

2009 Family Picture

I want to start a new tradition of taking a simple family picture in our home at the beginning of each year. A little bit of a late start, but I guess it is better late than never. Mike does not like having his picture taken, so we have not had many family pictures.