Look what Richard did for me when I wasn’t looking! I now have a huge bulletin board in our school room. Oh, Happy Day!
Agua Caliente According to Daniel
Daniel went to Agua Caliente Park on Saturday to take a dragonfly class with some friends. Here are some photos that he took from that day. I enjoy seeing the things he thought were worthy to photograph.
Daniel’s words:
When we got to Agua Caliente on Saturday, we took the Dragonfly class. The teacher told us how to recognize or how to tell dragonflies and damselflies apart. Then he gave us butterfly nets and binoculars and we went out to catch dragonflies. Each of us caught one or two and then we identified them. After the class ended, we went to look at the lake and the ducks. We went exploring and took some pictures. Then we left. I really enjoyed the class because I learned a lot of things I didn’t know. For instance, some dragonflies can fly all the way across the ocean in just a few days!
A Good Idea
Richard and I decided to have the kids help teach Family Home Evening last night. We split into two groups and practiced telling a stories from the scriptures. Then we met back together to present our work and talk about applications.
Mark and Paige told the story of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. Then we talked about things we can learn from the story. Here are some of the responses:
- You should be nice to your brothers (and sister).
- It’s a good idea to have some food storage.
- Even though bad things happen to good people sometimes, Heavenly Father still loves them and has a plan.
- We should forgive others.
Timothy told the beginning of the story of Lehi and his family who left Jerusalem.
Daniel finished the story of Nephi getting the brass plates. When we talked about what we could learn from the story, Timothy summarized, “You should obey Heavenly Father and He will help you to do it.” Daniel said, “If Heavenly Father asks you to do something, He will provide a way for you to do it.”
Yes!
June Saga
Here are a few pages from the Sahuarita Saga from June. I’ve been publishing this little homeschool magazine for 2 years. The kids do the work. I just compile it. This is the first (small) issue of Volume 3!
Click on the arrows below the magazine to page through it. You can double click on a page to enlarge the image. I know, I know. This little tool is the coolest thing you have ever seen in your life.
[book id='4' /]
Show and Tell
Photo 1: Friendship Bracelets made by…?
We have a show-and-tell session at our house about once a week. Here are some things we are proud of this week. How well do you know us? Can you guess who made/caught each of these things?
Photo 2: Baby lizards caught by…?
Photo 3: Lego Wall-E designed by…?
This little Wall-E has a movable door to compact trash, hands that can attach to one another and wheel tracks that move.
(I made this bread… I’m just putting in a photo to separate the answers from the photos.)
Answers: (1) Paige (2) Timothy (3) Daniel
Mr. Wonderful
Dear Richard,
I just thought I’d thank you for driving us up to Utah (and by this, I mean, Utah Valley as opposed to St George, which as you know, I don’t consider part of Utah proper). Truly, this was a really great trip for our family, and well, Me.
Thank you for buying us tanks to blow up. It really is like throwing cash right into the fire, isn’t it? You were a good sport about that.
Thank you for waiting in the van while I ran into Wal-Mart not one, but two different times within a day so the kids could watch their movie in the van and Daniel and I could have clean shirts for the reunion.
Thank you for taking lots of pictures for me to share with my parents on the blog. I hope you won that ping pong game, or that you held back from creaming my brother, throwing the game for the sake of family relations. Either way, I’m happy.
Thanks for gently reminding me that we decided 800 pixels, not 600 pixel width for our blog photos. You are right. The pictures look better BIG.
And thanks for being such a nice dad, giving rides on the mower, buying lots of chicken nuggets and fries, and dropping us off at the parade and then walking a mile, carrying doughnuts and pop tarts for us to eat at the parade. You were a good sport when we discovered that we didn’t have enough folding chairs for you to have a seat. If Richard II hadn’t noticed your plight, I bet you would have stood there the whole parade without complaining.
And I love you for it. Man, you look good in red.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO,
A
Danish Delight
Soren and Serena Nielson
and a FEW of their descendants on the 4th of July. Note all the blonde hair. Go Denmark!
I wish we’d all taken some more time and arranged ourselves near our children (and allowed Richard and me to sit in those two empty chairs.) I think most were just in a hurry to get out of the sun, as evidenced by the group yell of, “Melanoma” to the camera to make our group unite in smile. (Those Danes!) Daniel and Timothy are on the far left and Paige is holding Mark in the middle. Richard and I are in the far right, kneeling just behind the kids.
Eric and Camille Nielson hosted the reunion in their lovely home in Holladay. Look at that awesome treehouse behind us. The boys spent the whole time exploring in the trees in the back yard.
Spring Lake ramblings
I’ve allowed myself to slip into a deep summer reverie; I’m working (yes, it takes work for me) to enjoy every minute of summertime. I work too hard and enjoy too little most of the time. Silly me.
Our stay at Spring Lake was so brief, but very special.
Sunday was our last day at the Round House. After church, the kids enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the frog pond. Richard read a book; I walked around the property, taking photos. I wanted to remember the feelings of the day and I hoped pictures would help. Aunt Susan was in my thoughts all day. I looked down the road where she grew up and took time to think of her as a young girl, running around this little town.
The Secret Garden, always such a special place, with its places to sit and rest and bits of interest like the Thinking Rock, tiger lilies, yellow brick pathway, money bushes, and more remains true to its name.
I love a good, rustic pathway and the rustle of leaves as I move down the lane.
New oaks at my feet and a canopy of tall oaks over my head taught me new life lessons simple and profound and not easily expressed.
I studied the tiles for an extra long time, smiling at the thought of a young Aunt Susan not being able to resist taking a pretty tile home many years ago.
On the deck, the usual restful spot awaited me, bathed in green light filtered through the trees. I found a plaster of paris mold that Dad made in 1961 of a seahorse sitting on a table there. I smiled, picturing Dad just a little older than Daniel.
Echoing through the property was the sound of my children laughing and splashing together at the frog pond, enjoying the details so carefully created by Dad. This may be one of his most powerful lessons: children need rocks, dirt, and water to be happy.
And here, these things are in abundance.
The kids sought me out and asked me to take a picture of them on Grandma’s swing. Pow! I felt so much gratitude for them…
My wanderings took me up the road, to the spot that was burned last summer. The foreground still looks marred, but the view had the same effect that it always has on me. I had the usual sharp intake of breath as I tried to comprehend it all. I’ve never felt this powerfully about any other place. And again the view taught me quiet and powerful lessons impossible to describe.
And there was healing in the thoughts of family, home, heritage, and a loving Creator.
And then I walked down the hill and we drove away from my own personal Walden Pond, resolved to live with more simplicity, more faith, and greater effort to find joy.
Tanks Ablaze
As a warm-up for July 4th the next day, Paul and Care invited us to Tank Wars at their house. After dinner, Paul shared his fireworks and we doctored up some tanks so they had some real power. Here, the competitors assembled for the carnage…
They proudly displayed their arsenals.
Paige and I even prepared some Barbie Carnage Tanks.
It was dearly entertaining to watch the reactions of the kids…
This was Mark’s first experience with fireworks. He was mesmerized.
It was loud, but most of the kids watched from the edge of the curb, which is as close as we would let them sit.
Cutie Solomon was amazed.
Ruby and Paige were less impressed, but found some things to chat about.
Isaac confessed, “I like smoke!” as he chased it down the street.
Ammon was just happy to be there.
Charlotte blew patriotic bubbles since she was too young to make a tank.
Tank Wars Day 1 was a fiery success. Tank Wars Day 2 took place at the Round House with even more competitors with a larger army of tanks. Installing that hornet rocket on my Big Mama Tank was definitely against my better judgment a great idea!
Hip, hip, Parade!
We drove 14 hours to attend Provo’s July 4th parade with cousins and family. You can’t beat a really good parade. Mom always loved the parade more than the kids. I’m finally getting it and I’m pretty sure I loved it more this year than I ever did before. Why?
…Because the parade gave Daniel a chance to climb a tree;
I got to sit with my siblings and their families at the old TPM homestead on University Avenue, in a place so traditional that even Mayor Billings searched the crowd, mouthing the word, “Sanchez” to his daughters trying to find us from the convertible in which he sat for the parade.
We saw a tank in action. Now when do you ever get to see a tank rumbling down the road?
There was the standing ovation for the LDS Missionary float. I lifted Mark on my shoulders and he caught the excitement and waved to the missionaries with all his might.
Our nephew, Henry was in a band in the parade. So was his sister, Katie.
Why do I love a parade more than ever? Well, it’s all about beautiful things; it celebrates youth, honors old age, and makes me feel patriotic and reminds me of my childhood. That’s something to get excited about.