We have a little tradition that when our children finish their phonics program (Sing, Spell, Read and Write) we let them pick some place in our state they would like to go. My dear daughter, SH age 8, chose to go to Lake Powell, a beautiful lake on the Arizona-Utah border. We left last Monday taking my brother-in-law’s boat and then renting a water bike. All was going well at first. SM and ZJ were taking turns driving the water bike and their faces had the biggest smiles. Then WE decided to get on with them. For some reason they tipped and then the bike wouldn’t start. We got the…

Camping… ahhh, Let’s get away for a few days and just relax…ahhh. What doesn’t enter the mind at that moment is all the preparation that goes into the day after making such a restful decision. After the decision is made the fun begins. Okay, what’s the weather going to be like? Hmmm. The Internet says it will be about 66 degrees in the day and in the 30’s at night. After all we’ll be in the high country at 8,000 feet. I must get myself and the two little ones ready. Out come the jackets, hats, and pajamas that can double as long johns during the day since they might…

Very early this morning my hubby and 3 oldest boys left for an antelope hunt. WE, age 11, was drawn for this hunt. The odds of being drawn are below 10% so they are all quite envious of WE’s opportunity. They won’t be back for a couple of days. Why is it, when they have to clean their rooms everyday, that it can get totaled so quickly. I go in there this morning and find: 6 shirts (WE‘s, all in bottom of closet) 2 pants (WE’s again) 2 pairs of dirty socks 2 birthday cards Hand-weights Kleenex Chess piece Racquet (used for latest sport at our house – swatting wasps)…

Our family went to South Africa in March.  While there we went to the M*h*l*holo Rehabilitation Center as I said here in this post.    They have about 3,000 visitors go through their center every month. They also have students who come there from all over the world to be trained to work with injured wildlife.   Here are a few photos of our visit there.   Humphrey, the baby hippo wandered around freely much to our delight.  This African bush pig was busy nibbling on everyone’s shoelaces.  (We had an update on Baby Humphrey this last week when the Joneses were here.  Humphrey is now about 3′ tall and doing…

Yes, folks, I survived our Africa day. You’ve probably wondered what happened to me after complete silence for a week and a half but there just wasn’t enough time to sit down and write a coherent thought. Our last guest departed last night. We had a wonderful turn-out for our Africa day, approximately 270 people were here. The night before the big event I got stomach cramps and I was feeling a bit shaky. I guess my nerves just wanted to let me know that they were alive and well. During the night I would wake and be fine for a while and then when I started to think of…