The Awana Fairmont Fair '08

Every year, the boys' Awana program at church hosts a very special fair called "The Fairmont Fair" and it is a highlight of our year. Where else can you play games for 20 cents a ticket, eat nachos, snow cones, popcorn, and come home with a ton of junky lame prizes that will break within a couple days???? This year we even brought home a life sized Daffy Duck stuffed animal. You know you're jealous of me.

For four hours, the boys played games, ate snacks and candy, and "bought" prizes at the prize store with all their winning game tickets. It was fun for all, as usual!

Trip to Mojave!

We are back from our camping trip out in Mojave. What a weekend! Geeeeezzzzz....The first two days we were inundated with wind, and it got pretty miserable at times. Nobody could be outside riding, so we just stayed inside playing card games and hanging out. I am so thankful for our trailer! It has all the amenities that would make an otherwise miserable trip in the middle of nowhere a pleasant time!

Friday we left the campsite for a few hours for our field trip with our homeschool group to Edwards Air Force Base. It was an awesome trip. We took a bus tour, which included a stop at a museum that contained several aircraft and a video, a trip down the runways and hangers where we saw an F-22 come in for a landing. We got to see where the space shuttle lands when it comes in. Amazing! The tour guide was very informative and it really was an amazing place to visit. The place is absolutely enormous-301,000 acres and contains its own little community inside with houses, shops, a golf course, schools, etc. The AFB is a testing facility, where all government planes come before they are put into commission, so we saw some awesome aircraft!

Saturday, the winds died down and everyone emerged from their trailers. It was a beautiful day. Three of the families needed to leave on Saturday, but the Berggrens and us stayed on another night. Sunday was absolutely perfect and beautiful. The kids had so much fun riding around all day. Austin enjoyed trying out the Berggren's quad, Luke excelled on his 80, and Vance drove the girlies around in the dune buggy all day. The screams and squeals of joy coming out of that thing as they rode by were sheer entertainment all in themselves. We are just so thankful for a fun and safe time. Can't wait to camp for Thanksgiving!!!! Woohoo!!!

Dave getting ready for a ride.
Dave on his bike.

Dave and Scott Berggren being nice enough to let me take their picture at the AFB.
The Dads after their ride.
Dave and Tom Jensen having a ball.
Luke enjoying his 80. He is such a skilled rider now!
Luke.....

Our family at the entrace to the AFB.
The Lighthouse kids that came on the field trip.
Vance and I inside the museum.
All the planes they have tested at the AFB.
Austin being goofy in front of a plane.

Luke enjoying his ride.
Luke again!
Luke some more.....
Vance and his playdoh happy face!
Vance, Luke, and Austin at the AFB.

Dave and Claire Berggren shooting the tennis ball cannon.
Vance, Claire, and Luke eating lunch in the trailer.
Vance and Claire were buddies this trip! Isn't she adorable????? I WILL kidnap her someday.
Luke off his bike to refuel.
Dave being a maniac with Austin.

Desert Camping!

It's almost time for our upcoming trip out to the Mojave desert. Yes, I know what you're thinking....What's in the Mojave desert???? The answer is NOTHING!!!!!! Dirt and a po-dunk little town where you should be able to find about 1 motel, 1 gas station, a few trailer parks, and a McDonalds.

We are amongst those crazy people who actually enjoy being in the middle of nowhere. Not because we're antisocial, but because we love dirt bikes, dune buggies, and of course, the dirt itself! And if you can believe this, the desert can actually be very beautiful, my friend. Yes it can. The sunsets are amazing, the mornings unbelievably crisp, and the dirt- well, unbelievably dirty.

It's really the three F's that keep bringing us back: Fellowship, Food, and Fun! We usually go with several other families, all whom we love so much and whose kids are among some of our kids' best friends. The food is usually amazing. It's like we go on this mission to find the most amazing food ever to eat while we're there. Most of it is centered around my sister's huge deep fryer, you know the kind you fry a turkey in. We have made turkeys, deep fried pickles, onion rings, fried chicken, funnel cake (ummm....YES!!!), and this time we are doing homemade corn dogs! I mean, come on, what else can you fry in there....Twinkies, Snickers, it's out of control! We will also have a "group soup" night. It's just so enjoyable to sit around a campfire and eat dinner with people you love. It's a beautiful thing.

Then there's the dirt itself. Highly conducive to some of the most amazing fun you'll ever have. The boys ride and ride and ride, and dig and dig and dig in it. Dave usually brings all of his toys (BB Guns, pellet guns, and the infamous tennis ball shooter) for additional fun in the middle of nowhere. He has a great game planned for the kids this time....with candy rewards. Life is sweet.

This time out in Mojave will also include a field trip to Edwards Air Force Base with our homeschool group. We actually planned this trip around the field trip. We figured we'd already be out in Mojave, so why not make a weekend out of it? Should be awesome for the boys to see. Dave loves airplanes, especially the old ones. Hopefully there will be at least one old one for him to check out. Did you know Edwards Air Force Base has been the home of more major milestones in flight than any other place on earth? Little-known fact I thought you may enjoy. And right there in the beautiful Mojave desert.

Well, I'll put pictures up when we return. Stay tuned and you will feel like you were there. Except you stayed clean. (Hey wait, I have a shower and toilet in my trailer, what more do I need? OK and a generator. And a coffeepot. And every other comfort of home. I'm spoiled).

Not much to blog about, but I guess I'll find something!

I have missed blogging. It is therapy to me, for some reason...kind of like washing your car and vacuuming it completely. It's that clean, "everything is taken care of" kind of feeling. So it is with blogging. It's like clearing out the thoughts in my head for the world (well, for the 5 people that read this blog) to read.

Not much to blog about. School is going fine. The field trips and PE classes have begun. The kids Awana classes are underway on Wednesday nights. We are going camping in the desert this weekend planned around a field trip to Edwards Air Force Base. It will be a fun, five-family camping trip, our first real trip since Yosemite in May. We are really looking forward to getting away for a few days.

This week, my Mom's Auntie Edith in Alaska (and always very close and special to our family) passed away. Although I haven't seen her in years, it is very sad that she is gone. It reminds me of how brief our time is here on this earth. It is like a vapor, and then it is gone.

I try to remember that during the ho-hum grind of daily life. God wants me to savor each moment He has ordained for me. If doing laundry is what he has ordained for me, cleaning up spills, breaking up arguements, picking up those dreaded little evil Lego pieces that run my life (I got carried away, sorry). It is all the work that God gives me to delight in Him and in serving my family. I pray I would let go of the rigid strings that so easily entangle me and rob me of my joy in doing all the mundane things of life. It is so easy to see the beauty of life when your child leans over and kisses you and says "You're the best Mom ever". Why isn't it as easy when he has failed to do what you have asked of him mulitple times? These are such training times, times to demonstrate God's authority and rule over my life and how that is lived out to my children. I fail at it every day. I fail at doing what is right just as much as my children do.

So I pray I would find joy in each moment....even picking up the dreaded little lego pieces. The ones that rule my life.