Northwest Trek

Riding the tram around the open range area.

Kids with the camera captured the only picture of Phil

Phil has a friend that is a hunter and he wanted to send this picture to him to see if this would have been something he would have shot.

Since the Hendrix's are moving this next week I have been going through all the photos from outings we have done together and trying not to cry. I seriously love this family and hate the army for tearing us apart! Really they are awesome and we have had a ton of fun with them. These pictures are from our trip to Northwest Trek. It was a some what dry day for fall in the Pacific Northwest and the animals were impressive.  Cannon loved the cougar at the end and the bobcat that kept marching back and forth along the fence line, he laughed for ten minutes straight watching him.

Cannon's view

Cannon was cleaning the play room while I was on the computer and this is what he wanted to discuss:
Cannon: "It seems like things are harder since Obama won the last election."
Me: "what do you mean by harder, like cleaning up the house and stuff."
Cannon: "yeah, exactly. Mitt Romney is a Mormon right?"
Me: "Yes he is a Mormon."
Cannon: "well, that makes sense because he would know how to have everyone help each other and things would be easier. He know that we are all God's children and that makes things easier."

I was about to say something about Obama believing in God too, but he was busy worrying about how Lyla wasn't doing her share of the cleaning.
He then said Lyla would vote for Obama because she would want other people to work hard and have to pay her. What charitable learning we have going on in our home.

Basketball

We have all been playing a lot of basketball this past month. Miya and Cannon have practiced all month and will start their games this week. I am excited to watch their games. I have been taking them over to the church to practice on the days they don't have team practice and they are both getting so much better. It was part of Miya's punishments (from a very bad day) that she practice and improve her dribbling and make 10 baskets in a row. She is still working hard, but has improved from 3 of 10 to 7 of 10 in just this last week. She may hate basketball after this punishment, but it has been great spending more time together and working on something together.
Phil and I have been playing church ball on Saturdays and practicing on Thursday nights so we have been loving it. I love basketball this time of year because it give me something to look forward to indoors while it is cold outside. My kids keep hoping for snow, but I was happy to run in the cold sunshine this morning.

Lyla

Crazy that this little girl is 6 years old. Lyla is super fun, happy and loving (except when she is not). I am so glad she is my baby and that we have her in our family. Lyla started school this year and I miss her everyday. She was always a fun little companion, but she is doing such a great job in school. Her latest thing is each morning saying "I don't think I can go to school today because my _____ hurts" you can fill in the blank with any body part because I have heard them all. I am not sure why she is not super excited abouts school, but her attitude quickly changes about it once she is there. I love going and helping in her class each week and seeing her interact with all the other students and see how much she loves her teacher. Lyla loves reading now and will write stories and wants to spell everything and it is fun to see how she spells it out. She loves going to the park, swimming, running around with everyone and anyone that can come play. She is my super social kid and yet can play well on her own for hours and sings the whole time.

Old

The other day I was driving down the road on the way to the bank and noticed a lump on the other side of the road and the closer I got I recognized that it was an old lady and her walker. Cars were coming and going and I turned around at the stop sign to go help, but I was sure that others would have already stopped to help her. When I got turned around I noticed that only one other car had stopped and it was a little old lady that couldn't do anything physically to help this lady that had fallen. We helped get her walker out of the road and sit her up to see what had happened and if she was okay. She had soiled herself in the fall and I was worried that she had had a stroke. She was super embarrassed about everything and just wanted me to help her up so she could walk home. I had to lift her up and help her step up on the sidewalk. I asked if I could walk home with her (which was just up the block), but I think she was just too embarrassed to let me walk with her. I stood there and watched her walk the block to the retirement home then climbed in my car and sobbed. Man, it is hard to get old and I was sad that she was all by herself.
Sat my kids down at dinner and told them that we need to make sure we are the people that are always willing to help and that we need to love others. Life can seem super hard sometimes and I love the opportunities to serve and be reminded of all the blessings I have in my life.