Mogollon Rim

We had Fall Break this week and the kids begged us to go camping. So Jason took a couple of days off and we headed north to the Mogollon Rim near Payson, AZ.

It was so beautiful. Even though I live in the desert and long to be in greener pastures, I am glad that Arizona has places that I can visit and get respite from the sagebrush and saguaro cactus (unlike other states I could mention but won't).

Here are some pics of our fun camping trip!

We found a great campsite at the Christopher Creek campground.

Yo dude! This place rocks!

Alyssa is making a bed for her barbie.

Setting up the tent. Alas, it fell apart after this trip, but it has served us well and has given us many wonderful camping memories.

This is how my husband starts a fire. How about yours?

Saying "Good Morning" to the pooch.

Just waking up.

The mornings were pretty cold, but we had hot cocoa and a morning fire to warm us up.

Hanging by the fire.

Getting hugs from Daddy.

What a dirty face!

Here is a shot of our campsite. What you don't see is the mountainside across the street that is filled with many fun places to explore.

Love this dirty smile!

Kamary loves to create and pretend. The kids actually made a huge shrine, but I didn't get a picture. :(

Relaxing with Minnie.

During the day we headed to Woods Canyon Lake. It was so beautiful. There was a trail that went all the way around the lake. We only took it part of the way, but loved it! We even got a little taste of Autumn.

Here's a shot with the lake and a fisherman. They rent fishing boats for $45 for 4 hours. That's going on our "things to do" list!

Lauren & Alyssa.

At the lake.

Lauren's dipping her feet in the lake-- giving the "princess" pose.

Roasting hot dogs over the fire. My kids love roasting things. They keep coming up to me and asking, "Now what can I roast?" This time we did the normal hot dogs and marshmallows but also added shrimp and mushrooms. Yummy.

Alyssa found a secret hideout.

Her hideout was only a few feet from our campsite.

Getting ready to pack up the car. It looks empty now, but we packed that thing full, using up every available space!

Another Brynlie smile-- can't get enough of them.

Hanna's roasting one more hot dog before we douse the fire and head home.

Minnie found a comfy place to rest under the picnic table.

We really enjoyed our trip. It was kind of hard coming back to the desert. At least we have pictures and memories that can tide us over until next time!

Random Cuteness!

Even though we've been pretty busy lately, nothing of note has happened. Usually it's just the daily grind of school, chores, sewing, writing, mutual, activity days...and so on.

But here are some fun pictures of our mundane but busy life.

I just took this picture today after church. Poor Brynlie was so hungry too.


A girl at my kids' school passed away suddenly so they had a crazy hair day to raise money for funeral expenses. Hanna's idea of crazy hair was to just not comb it that morning. :)

They love dress down day when they don't have to wear uniforms. They always get dressed and ready for school so quickly.

Brynlie is sporting her own fashion statement.

Brynlie loves when Kamary makes her "pretty".

Love that smile!

Chocolate pudding! Surprisingly, that shirt came out clean in the wash!


Chilling with Minnie!


Hope you enjoyed some of our random cuteness!

This is the best show! It was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards and won 7!

Here is the synopsis from imdb.com:

"A young, autistic woman sees the world like no other, taking snapshots of the world in her mind, and recalling them without thought. She substitutes human contact for a life of caring for animals, developing humane methods of taking care of livestock destined for the slaughterhouse. Her peculiar communication skills and intelligence shed new light on pre-conceived norms of autism. Misunderstood her entire life, by her peers, her parents, and her teachers, she manages to teach them all new lessons in life. She excels at all levels of school, and eventually becomes a college valedictorian, and even manages to earn her doctorate. Her 'squeeze' machine, hugs her giving her comfort and the love that she is incapable of receiving from human contact. Despite challenges from everyone she meets, she overcomes their fear and loathing of her, and wins them over, throughout her difficult life. She goes on to change an industry - fighting the man's world of the cattle industry as she creates new and humane ways for dealing with cattle, treating them with respect and even saving the cattle industry money."

It really showed how Temple sees the world and it gave a glimpse into her mind. I saw a lot of Hanna in this film and found myself blubbering several times (I'm not usually blubbery, but this topic is pretty dear to my heart). Also, the real Temple Grandin was one of the people on the commentary. It was interesting to hear her comments about the film.

One of the lines I loved best is, "Different, not less." Really it's true. Temple turned her Autism and the things that made her "different" into huge strengths that allowed her to accomplish things that "typical" people never would have even thought to do. I think Hanna is that way. She may be strange and quirky, but she has gifts that she can use to help others in a way no one else can. Who knows, maybe instead of a trial--Autism might just be a blessing.

I give it 2 thumbs up and 5 stars! If you feel like being inspired and uplifted, check out Temple Grandin-- you won't be sorry.

Boys vs. Girls

This past weekend, Jason and Kohler went on a Father & Sons camping trip.

This time instead of going to Mt. Lemmon near Tuscon, they headed north to the White Mountains.

Jason swore he found "God's Thumb" from the movie Holes.

Kohler at the Lake


They spent their time catching Crawdads.

Jason said they were all over in the water

Looks beautiful. They had great weather, a big bonfire and a lot of fun.

While the boys were gone...we had a Girl Party.

We had pizza for dinner and watched Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

Then we did hair, makeup and nails. I'm so jealous-- all of my girls have the thickest and longest eyelashes. They definitely didn't get that from me. They all looked so pretty-- the camera doesn't do them justice.

Brynlie-- it was hard to get a shot of her because she kept moving around.

Lauren

Kamary

Alyssa

Because of the flash, it was hard to see Alyssa's hair. Here's the back.

Even Hanna our self-proclaimed "Tom Boy" joined in and let me put make up on and curl her hair.

Pretty Nails

Even our dog Minnie got a turn

My sweet girls

We ended the night by decorating mini cupcakes

We had blue, pink & chocolate frosting

Adding the sprinkles

The finished product

We had a lot of fun together and the boys did too.

Minnie

So this past Wednesday, Jason calls me as he's coming home from work and tells me to park the van in the driveway and get the kids gathered together because he has a surprise for us.

He gets out of the car with a huge dog that looks more like a horse (unless you're Brynlie of course, then it's a "monkey").

"Meet our new pet," he says.

What?!

I guess the story is that 3 college roommates wanted a dog so they paid $1800 for her. After they got her, they neglected her. When they sold their house and moved out, the realtor found the pooch in the backyard, abandoned. She took it home and rescued it, but couldn't keep it. Jason found out about it through work and went to check it out.

As soon as Jason saw said pooch, he fell in love. I can say that I've been officially replaced. I swear, he gives that dog more kisses than me!

Anyway, her name is Minnie (the irony is intentional), and she's an 8 month old, purebred Old English Mastiff.

She's HUGE!! But really sweet and very good with the kids. She learned very quickly to go potty outside. In fact (knock on wood) she hasn't had an accident in the house, which makes me very happy.

The kids were afraid at first, because of her size, but now even Brynlie loves the " big monkey". The good thing about her size is that the kids can love her and climb all over her without any effect. The bad thing about her size is that she doesn't realize she's huge and can knock down the kids on accident.

I did tell Jason, however, that this is his dog and I will not be responsible for "pick up".

Everyone loves having Minnie in our home and she hasn't been too high maintenance, so for now she's a keeper.

Here are some pictures of our new addition.

Meeting Minnie

Jason and Minnie