Genesis 1

Since last school year's curriculum covered from Creation to the Greeks, we decided to have Olivia memorize Genesis 1:1-2:3. She worked hard at it all year and did such a great job!

Colorado Trip, Part 6

One afternoon, we took a hike in the other end of Castlewood Canyon. It was amazing! The views before you get in to the canyon are fantastic!

The kids were excited because they got to use their trekking poles again.

Being silly.

Emma enjoyed riding and drinking all my water.

The boys spied out a hidden nook.

The rocks were amazing. It was really cool to see all the layers in the side walls. There were solid layers and some that were more like stones mixed with sand.

We thought this tree was the coolest thing we saw that day. It was growing out of a crack in this giant boulder.

There were a great many flowers in bloom. I have no clue what each of them is, but they are all beautiful.

I know this one! A thistle!

Even the cacti were blooming.

This bench was next to the path as we walked out. We definitely agree!

Emma standing

Each of our kids has walked in their own sweet time, and Emma is no exception. She motors around pretty quickly by crawling, but we've been encouraging her to get on her feet. She hasn't taken any steps yet, but she can stand up on her own for a few seconds. 

Colorado Trip, Part 5

One of the most striking places in Colorado is Garden of the Gods outside Colorado Springs. The sheer, freestanding formations are a wonder to see in person.

There was a small rock formation with a crack that only a child could possibly squeeze through, so, of course, all our kids had to go through at least 5 times! :)

The older kids took their turns at climbing the rocks.

After walking around for a while, we took the kids to Focus of the Family, where they have a great play area for all the kids to go wild in. 

There was a young kids room for Emma.

There was a dress-up room with a stage for the kids to put on plays. They had a camera set up with a tv that they could see themselves on.

They had a Narnia "wardrobe" that you could walk through and see the lamppost and a mural of scenes from the books.

By far, the favorite thing for the boys was the big airplane that they could go into. Ezra, however, refused to poke his head out for a picture...

Irene

We interrupt our Colorado memories with an Irene Update. Irene is growing so fast! She's smiling and cooing now and so alert. I think she gets plenty of stimulation from her siblings. :)

Big smile!

Eeek!!

having a serious talk with Mama.

Is that my nose??

She found her thumb.

And finally, a short chat with Mama.

Colorado Trip, Part 4

One of our all-time favorite places to hike in Colorado is Three Sisters/Alderfer Park outside Evergreen, CO. It's a sprawling 700+acre park with these massive rock formations to climb around and on. To help motivate the kids, I brought out a "surprise": I had brought our old trekking poles for the kids to use as walking sticks.  

The whole family had a great time on the hike.

Irene took a break from being carried. 

Even Emma got into climbing around on the rocks.

The boys played hide-and-seek in the rocks.

The weather was a little gray, but the views were spectacular.

After being carried for the first part of the hike, Ezra was ready to take his pole in hand and start walking. Amazingly, he made it all the way back around to the car.

Olivia and I made it to the top of one of the "sisters"

Rebecca was such a trooper, carrying two little ones!