The Weekend, part 1

What do you do when you have two days off from work and school?

Well, you have one of two choices... be a lazy bum or work harder than you did all week. We have a little bit of both planned for this weekend. What's on the itinerary? Carnivals, hiking, car maintenance, Dinner for 8, Addison Road concert, interview preparations, and I'm sure much more than what's actually on the calendar.

We started the weekend off with a little family fun and headed out to our old church-First Baptist Church of Mesa. During the school year, the older boys participate in AWANA Clubs, a youth outreach program that trains disciples for Christ. To celebrate the end of the club year, they held a carnival for all the families, with a bounce house, face painting, lots of games and activities, and even a dunk tank.

As a parent, you never really know how activities like this are going to turn out. More so, how your kids are going to act. I have to say all of the boys did extremely well, which made it an enjoyable night for Momma & Dad as well.

Here are some pictures of the boys goofing off in the bounce house. As I am sure you can imagine, it was rather difficult to get them to stand still once they started. Mom definitely needs a better camera if she wants to catch them in action.

Morgan and Christian each took turns trying to dunk their babysitter, Shelby, in the dunk tank. When their aim failed, they decided running up and hitting the target would work better! Gavin loved playing with his balloon dog he received from the clown and watching Dad help make snow cones at the concession stand with the other guys from his Thursday night Bible Study.

Saturday morning started off rough with an early wake up--6am!!! Obviously, we have not learned the definition of sleeping in.

Grandma (Mary Pickett) joined Momma, Morgan, and Christian on a hike up Vista Trail at Usery Mountain. This is the 3rd time the boys have hiked this trail and they have definitely mastered it. We made it up, over, and down the 0.6 mile trail in just 30 minutes. That includes a 5 minute snack while sitting on the sun dial at the top where the views of the Valley of the Sun are just breath taking. This is 15 minutes faster than last time and nearly half the time it took them to hike it their first time.

Morgan, who has never slipped or fallen, enjoyed his first skid on his butt as he lost his footing on some loose rocks just as we started to head down. Christian, who has fallen each time we've hiked, made it the whole way without one slip. We were even blessed with a little overcast sun and a slight breeze which made the morning even more enjoyable. "Didn't have a camera by my side this time" ...sorry channeling some John Mayer... so, here are some pictures of the mountain/hill one time while I was hiking with some friends and also of the Phoenix sign on the side of the mountain. The boys love scouting for this!

While we were enjoying our desert hike, Dad was busy doing some long overdue maintenance work on the Expedition. With the help of a friend, Dad learned all he needed to know, plus some, about changing the brakes and rotors. God certainly blessed us when he brought along new friends, Kirsten and her husband Jordan, who is a mechanic. They are great friends, an awesome example of a God-centered marriage, and don't mind sharing their resources. And, Gavin enjoyed teaching Kirsten all about Saturday morning cartoons while playing with their dogs. She will certainly have an advantage over other moms after being schooled by Gavin.

More to come as the weekend continues...