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Arizona Featured Destination National Parks

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Arizona

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Arizona

The Casa Grande Ruins (Great House) has been standing for more than 650 years as a monument to the Sonoran Desert People and their way of life. Not a lot is known about the purpose of the house, but the mystery is part of the appeal.

When We Visited: February 1, 2014

Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 3

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Plenty of trailer parking so we planned this one as through day trip as we traveled from Tuscon, Arizona up to the Phoenix area. We pulled up, parked, had lunch, and then set about exploring and earning our Jr. Ranger Badges.

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We watched the short video at the Visitor Center and then explored the ruins on our own. Historians hypothesize that the Great House was the center of a much larger farming complex. The ancient Sonoran Desert people had no written language so the interpretation of events comes largely from journal entries and writings of those who visited the area.

The kid’s favorite part was finding the “secret room” and sitting down with dad to work on their booklets.

Casa Grande Ruins_006Although a short day trip (2 hours tops) the Casa Grande Ruins are definitely worth stopping to see. We enjoyed learning more about the ancient culture, as well as the kids adding another Jr. Ranger Badge to their hats!

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Faith

Because of Him

Though I am religious, I try not to be in everybody’s face about it all the time. Today, on Easter Sunday, I feel the need to share my testimony of Christ. If you have no interest in my thoughts, feel free to skip this post. Our regular posts on travel, family, and adventure (including the process of selling our house) will continue shortly.

I am not the same person I used to be. At times in my life, I have found parts of my life that I didn’t like. Very heavily in my teenage years, but even now as I learn and grow, I find myself desiring a change. Not a change of others, but a change in myself. My actions, thoughts, and desires are not always aligned with my wishes, goals, and desires for myself. As I identify the changes I would like to make, I try to follow Christ’s example and apply to myself his prompting to “go, and sin no more.” I have drawn upon Christ and His Atonement to make those changes. Through the power of the Atonement, I have left those pieces of my past self… in the past.

Christ isn’t concerned about the person we were yesterday, but about the person we are today, and the person we can become. He suffered for our sins, and died for us, to provide a pathway for us to become all we can become. Through His power, we can change, and we can be a different person tomorrow if that is what we desire.

Though in most ways I’m the same person I was as a teenager, I’m very different in some of the most important. As our life adventure unfolds in new and unexpected ways, I’m grateful for the guidance of Jesus Christ in both word and Spirit.

The video I’ve included below has been making the rounds on social media, and I love it. I even stole (borrowed?) the title for this post. Because of Christ, I am a better Son, a better Father, Husband, and Friend. If I have improved so much in the last 15 years Because of Christ, I hope I can allow him to help me as much in the next 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S3TI4bYerU

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This Week on Instagram

This Week on Instagram: April 13-19, 2014

This Week on Instagram April 13-19 2014

Trying to adjust to life in a house. Definitely not an easy task, especially when we just want to get back on the road! A lot of this week was spent sorting through our material belongings, listing items for sale on Facebook Yard Sale Groups, and on the local classifieds. We’ve had great success, but its been time consuming and a bit tiring. We also started working on the bed conversion in the Airstream. We are hoping to get the beds to the point where we can order mattresses next week! Spent some time with Grandma at the Thanksgiving Point Natural History Museum (and went out for lunch and ice cream afterward!) as well as on household chores like making sure the sprinklers are working.

Categories
National Parks

Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Nestled in the hills outside of Tuscon, Arizona, I found Saguaro National Park to be fascinating. First off, there are tons of Saguaro Cactus. Native to the Sonoran Desert they are only found in parts of Arizona, Mexico and a small slice of California. In addition, there are many others types of cactus, wildlife, and even some petroglyphs (as opposed to pictographs – yes we are total nerds and learned the difference).

When We Visited: January 2014

Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 3

Where We Stayed: Boondocked at Synder Hill outside Tuscon, AZ

Unless you have older kids and can do more hiking, this park can definitely be a day trip. We went around 10am with the Malimish crew and started with a trip to the visitor center to pick up our Jr. Ranger Booklets.

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We got straight to work on the books including a visit to their outdoor cactus garden. We were too early in the year for most of the cactus to have blossomed, but I can only imagine how colorful it would be!

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Once we had done all we could at the visitor center, we drove the scenic loop to the Valley View Overlook trail and proceeded to prod our little hikers up the trail.

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It was not without whining.

Saguaro National Park_015Worth the hike! Beautiful views of the surrounding valleys and hundreds of Saguaro.

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We somehow managed to talk the kids into one more small hike to see the petroglyphs.

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Lastly,  a final stop at the visitor center to turn in our booklets. This ranger was amazing. He did such a great job sitting down and talking with the kids about their experience.

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We had a great time! We left around 1pm, so a total of 4 hours or so in the park. It was fun to go with friends, and we definitely will go back!

Categories
Selling Our Stuff

Trying to Keep Balanced and Failing Miserably

shoppingI swore we’d be better this time around. We’d keep exploring, we’d keep traveling, we wouldn’t just STOP. And then somehow we did it anyway! So frustrated with myself. I had so many plans to do FUN things on MONDAY. We weren’t going to wait.Then life completely got in the way and now I don’t have plans to really go play with my kids until THURSDAY. How did I get here?

We had a family council tonight. Due to my frenzied desire to sell every possible item in our house, I’ve been a little…. distracted. Sam has not only been working, he’s been making amazing progress on our Airstream bedroom remodel. The kids have had fun playing with friends, but that is all it has been. PLAY. Without me. Without Sam. I take advantage of their distraction and list a few more items on our FB sale page, or organize one more thing in the garage. Sam is shut away in a room downstairs and we see him only when he emerges for lunch. Even the kids have sensed something is off.

The kids got in trouble for not helping tonight. They were relaxing on their beds reading (something we totally promoted in the Airstream) and were whiny about helping me clean up their room for the Appraiser who is coming in the morning (house needs to be “show ready”. As if we are anywhere close). After 4 minutes of arguing and listening to their whining, I gave up and told them to just go to bed. This led to tears (Rachel) and grumpy faces and more whining (Andrew). To their credit, they dutifully put their Pj’s on, brushed their teeth, turned off the lights and went to bed.

After I cooled down, I went in to go apologize and snuggle. Something was off and we needed to get to the bottom of it. After more tears (both kids) and the” world is ending” dialogue (Rachel) we called daddy and Cara in so we could all talk about it.

We determined we are missing a schedule. While the kids love to free play all day with their friends, they also need structure. We need some school. Some chores. Some WORK. We need more audio books, more family time. Rachel and Andrew want to spend time at places where they have great memories (Trafalga, the swimming pool, the library, Thanksgiving Point). We talked about school and chores in the morning, some designated reading time after lunch, and playing with friends after that. We also talked about everyone cuddling up on the floor in the evenings and listening to our audiobook stories (previously only allowed to listen while driving). We also talked about mom and dad needing help getting ready for the yard sale, and the kids could even earn money by helping with “big” chores.

I feel it was a good heart-to- heart. They went to bed smiling this time, and I feel better prepared to meet their needs. Moving is HARD. Selling all your stuff and moving into an Airstream is HARDER. A lot harder. They are so brave. I’m so proud of them.

We’ll see how things go over the next few days, but I will definitely make an effort to slow down (a little) and make sure we stay balanced.