Real Adventurers!

One of the best things about being a parent is finding the right time to teach your kids some of the things that you love to do. Saturday was the first time that we ever attempted to teach any of our children how to rappel. Rappelling has always been an activity that Tim and I have really enjoyed doing (even with my severe fear of heights). Tim usually does some crazy stuff when he goes, and it never really occurred to us to take the kids. They were always too little.

All that has changed! We strapped Orion into a harness, showed him the basics, and then there was no stopping him! He is a natural! There are some things that Orion takes too without hesitation and rappelling is one of them. Rigel was the next one to try, and it was the same for him. He watched Orion and his dad enough that he knew he was an expert. The thing that worries me the most, is that he has no caution. He steps off the cliff like it wasn't even there and glides down the rope like a pro. Being a mom, my heart jumps every time he even gets near the cliff. Watching the kids learn is harder on my adrenaline than doing it myself.

The girls haven't given it a try yet. Not because they don't want to, but because they were busy with birthday parties and friends when we decided to go. Vega is the only one that has no desire to participate. I can't even get her to put on the harness. This actually makes me happy, because I don't think my heart could handle Vega going over the edge of a cliff!

After teaching some of the kids to do something he loves, Tim decided to do some more fun stuff that we love doing together. So, on Sunday we went rockhounding! This is something we have taken the kids to do since birth. All of our children love to hunt out the most precious of rocks, whether it is pretty rocks in the neighborhood, or fragile crystals out in the desert. The kids are constantly rockhounding. This time we went to find us some geodes.

Geodes are those rocks that are the ugliest things on the outside, but have the most beautiful array of colors and crystals on the inside. They are pretty easy to find if you know where to look. The kids started out picking up the ones on top that were so pretty, but they were soon passing those up when we taught them how to dig for the good ones. In the end, Tim walked away with one the size of a basketball! Each of the kids found their own personal treasures, and I had some of the most petite ones with the most complicated structures inside. For me, it is all about the fractals.

Knowing you can really enjoy some of your favorite activities with your kiddos is one of the greatest things that parenting has to offer. Having them finally come of age where they enjoy what your teaching them is a lifetime of reward! Remember to have fun with your kids! They aren't just there for you to worry over and boss around, they are here for the love and fulfillment that you can only receive from God. Through Him, we learn how to love our own kids and through Him they learn to love us back!

Never Forgotten

Having today be the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, I have decided to tell a little about my adventures and emotions that I had throughout the day.

We started the morning with a little bit of a talk with all the kids. Tim and I wanted to make sure that they understood what would be going on today. We told them about what happened on that day, ten years ago, and we told them about what we did. About how Tim had to continue working even though he wanted to come home and be with us. We told them how I called up Aunt Jeni and we just spent the whole day in shock and confusion together at my house because neither of us wanted to be alone. We explained that all there was on TV for three days was news, and for some reason we couldn't turn off the TV the whole time.

Tim and I have a deep respect for our country. We are both very patriotic individuals. We believe that liberty is more important than security and that freedom isn't free. Talking to our children about some of these ideals can be a little overwhelming for the smaller ones, but I think the older ones were very respectful and understanding about what our decisions are when it comes to our country.

We watched some documentaries about the stories of the people that lost their lives that day, including Flight 93. We talked about the heroic things that the people on flight 93 did. After we learned about some of the names and faces of 9/11, we went to the Memorial Field that is located in the Civic Center in Sandy, Utah. They have a flag placed in the field for every individual that had lost their lives in that attack on America. Tim and I took the children and looked on every tag until we found all the names of the people we talked about today. Including a 3 year old girl named Dana that was on AA Flight 77 that had crashed into the Pentagon. It made the day very real for them. Even Rowdy Rigel was calm and respectful as we read the names on the flags.

Passing on your beliefs and instilling patriotic values into your children is one of the most important lessons you can give to a child. None of them could remember that day, and two of them hadn't even been born yet, but allowing them to see the magnitude of this day and that we don't tolerate terrorism was very important to us. It was an emotional and solemn day, so we had to end on a lighter note. We took the kids out for BBQ and ice cream and they all let the blanket of sorrow be thrown off of their shoulders. We explained that the Fourth of July was for celebrating, but this was the day for remembrance.

My mission in this life, like it states in my tattoo, is to serve God, family and country (in that order). I haven't posted in a long time, but I hope to get back into the swing of things now that my schedule is stable and the kids have started school once again. In the meantime, have fun in your adventures!!!!

Amanda