Day 35 end of trip ,but still plenty busy.....

Day 35

Zion National Park


Some serious hikers at Zion!

We hiked a lot too..just not with all the gear. We took the tour buses around too.

I wished I knew about the creation audio tours before visiting..but now you do. In case you visit Zion. Which I recommend. Amazing!

Actually, I wish I had the creation audio tours for all the national parks we visited.

On our first hike....

tons of tadpoles

I loved all of Zion's hanging gardens...

Canyons and cliffs in vibrant rainbow colors!

Weeping Rock .....


Finley playing in the water at Weeping Rock...


We of course did our Jr. Ranger program back at the visitor center....



Got up close with some deer....


Some quotes from Charlotte Mason:

"As soon as he is able to keep it himself, a nature-diary is a source of delight to a child."(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.54 )

(this was not a posed picture, he really was up there just taking it all in. Learning and writing in his journal)


"An Observant Child should be put in the way of Things worth Observing."(Vol 1, II, Out-Of-Door Life For The Children, p.69)


We had a great time at Zion!
We started our way "home" after Zion....
We have now been in CA for a little over 2 wks.
Bouncing around...
After traveling 37 states and almost 18,000 miles....
I have to say this has been the best family adventure ever!
Part of us wants to keep traveling and part of us wants to
settle down for awhile and find a home.

We have learned so much from our trip and I know things will continue to unfold from it for years to come. I thank God for the season of traveling he has provided for us. We are ready for the next season in life.
Thank you to all of you who prayed for us and followed us on our journey.
I hope you continue to follow us...
I know God has many more exciting plans for us...
I just don't know what? yet....

Right now we are just taking one day at a time...

and one horsey ride at a time...
Poor Rocky, was about to die with all the horse back rides....
Yee -haw!

On this day family from Nevada was visiting...
Actually, if we didn't go on the road trip, I'm not sure if we would of been in contact with them.
Our whole family now is back in contact with all of our family from NY and NV. So cool!



We had a BBQ and swim party. Our family visiting helped celebrate Finley's birthday.
I don't think it was the singing that made her upset...

I'm pretty sure it was the cake!

Ugh! look at this thing! Sorry Mom, but that is the ugliest cake ever.

She must of thought it was a pile of poo on her birthday cake LOL.

Aven didn't care if it was poo or not he wanted some cake!

Look at his face...

This day we took Finley to get her ears pierced...finally!

As soon as I popped Faith out I took her straight to the mall to get her ears pierced.

(not really, but soon after)

Farrah got hers done for her 1st birthday.

But Finley...

I waited until she was 2.

I don't know why???

But she finally has earrings like her sisters:)

Is this the saddest picture ever????


That face only lasted a minute....
As soon as I said, "Does the pretty little girl want ice cream?"
She was all better:)



Finley is now sporting a cute lil A-line bob to go along with those cute lil earrings...
Oh, my baby is looking so grown up.
I don't have pictures of her new haircut yet.
I'll get those up soon and post them too:)



Speaking of growing up...

My oldest just turned 11!

Here we are celebrating with family at a pizza place.

Austin blowing out all those candles and wishing his Mom would cut his hair already!

Proud Parents!

(proud great-grandma!)

The next day...

My wonderful husband stayed home and watched the kids while Mommy and Austin went to Knott's Berry Farm.

Just the 2 of us!

That never happens!

But first he got a haircut!

I'm pretty sure his main goal that day besides getting a haircut was to see me puke!

We must of went on upside down roller coaster rides 30 times or more.

There was no lines!

So we just kept riding the rides...

over and over!

We ran from ride to ride...like little kids...

We both had a BLAST!
He is such a sweet kid! I am so blessed!

He thinks he's ready for Magic Mountain Roller coasters now...I'll let Daddy take him!

We also started "school" (co-op classes) this week. The kids go once a week for a couple hours.

Here's my big 4th grader

she's taking a building blocks class

check out her cute backpack....

My big 6th grader!

He's taking Pre-Algebra and guitar





And here's my handsome Kindergartner!

He was just a "lil" excited!

Can you tell???

He's taking a building blocks class as well.

All subjects.

Gives him a chance to hang out with friends at recess, make crafts, learn extra stuff Mommy might not cover.

Also gives me time with the little ones.

I usually can get some errands ran easier -3 kids too.

He met a new friend in class....

and together they rule the playground!

His teacher said he was a joy to have in class. That he was very helpful. He even picked up every ones paper scraps after cutting and threw them all away.

I was a little nervous for his teacher but she said he was wonderful.

I'm not sure if I believe her????

They reviewed letters and numbers, sang songs, made crafts, and learned about Betsy Ross.

His teacher said that Landen told her he already knew about Betsy Ross and has even been to her house.

So there! haha!

I told her he's right!

We did stop by her house when we were in Philadelphia.

I was so happy he remembered and could tell the class.

Almost everyday since we've been back, we have been house hunting...

Farrah wants this Barbie "pink" house.

At this point, I think I'll take a pink house.

Any color house...

Speaking of Pink, Barbies and Farrah...

Raise your hand if you will miss Farrah while she's at Pre-school this week?

My big girl is leaving her Barbies every Tues. and Thurs. for a couple hours to attend Pre-school.

So as you can see, even though we are not on the road.....

We are still plenty busy!

My babies are getting too big too fast!

32,33,&34 and update

Guess what?

We are back in California.

I am back to my day job as a taxi driver.

Here I am trying to update you by a video blog...

Yeah..major fail! I tried a few times...I kept talking and talking for a good 5min or so. Then realized it stopped recording only 15sec into my blabbing.

Guess I should get a real flip cam and not try to vlog via phone.

Or maybe just skip the whole trend of vlogging all together!

So let me bring you up to date by normal blogging...

We arrived a little over a week ago.

Life is crazy hectic. (what's new?)

The weather is HOT! (today should reach 112)

Daddy's back to working (12hrs on catch up work)

Kids and I are getting ready for school and trying to find a home.(not fun)

House hunting is hard especially when your not sure where you want to live????

Or even which state???

We have a ton of major decisions ahead of us..

Praying for wisdom.

Missing the open road....

But craving a "home" and a little bit or normalcy (whatever that is?)

Day 32

On our way to Bryce Canyon, Utah

We stopped in Red Canyon, a shallow valley in the side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau surrounded by much exposed, orange red sandstone. The rocks are eroded into the familiar pinnacles, spires, columns and hoodoos also found in the national park a few miles to the east, just on a smaller scale and with less color variation. The main road is quite busy but most visitors hurry on to Bryce without even stopping and enjoying Red Canyon. We made a point to stop and enjoy the beauty of Red Canyon.

Soon we arrived at Bryce Canyon...

and enjoyed....

Beautiful views!

We drove through Bryce and got out at each stop to hike. big brother helping the little lady over the log... these two seriously crack me up! They have the funniest personalities...check out Farrah. The Ranger asked the kids if they have ever done a Jr. Ranger program before. The kids said, yes! Then the Ranger said,"oh, great! Which other National Park have you been too?" The kids responded with excitement... Philadelphia, Boston, Gettysburg,Carlsbad Caverns,Yellowstone, Washington D.C.,Cincinnati,Petroglyphs in New Mexico, Scotts Bluff,The Alamo,Mount. St. Helens,Glacier,Oklahoma City,Mammoth Caves,Devils Tower,Georgia State Parks,Nashville,and Jamestown .. just to name a few! Needless to say,

the Ranger was very impressed:)

We spent all day at Bryce!

The RV is in some need of new tires (not cheap) another oil change (not cheap either)

and a wash!

(pretty cheap)

when you have these two to help:)

It was a hot day so washing the RV wasn't too much of a chore. Maggie and the little girls just stayed inside and watched the outside entertainment of soap fights... Day 33 We drove our clean home on wheels to... Sand Hollow, Utah Located between St. George and Hurricane. It's Utah's newest state park. With its warm, blue waters and red sandstone landscape, Sand Hollow has become one of Utah's most popular parks. Utah Rocks! literally! Austin had a blast rock climbing and cliff diving... Farrah is learning her letters and found this... Look Mommy.. an "F" When the kids spotted this spot they had Razor's in mind.... they picked up speed and enjoyed flying down the hill.
We soon learned that the water was filled with pesticides and people offer get swimmers itch from swimming at Sand Hollow.

So we made sure to keep our mouths closed while jumping off cliffs and rinsed off right away!




Day 34

The next day we moved to Quail Creek where we were told the water was warmer and so no pesticides are found.

We enjoyed a full day of fun in the sun!

Itch free:) Later that night ...

we enjoyed a beautiful view of the night sky.

Bright stars...

and just so happen to be the night that the most reliable meteor shower of the year was to be observed.

We couldn't of had a better view!

Amazing:)





I am going to try to be better at following up on comments now that we are "parked"

I would love to get to know "you" out there! If you read this blog, please introduce yourself. Where are you following from? Maybe how long you have been reading...and why you live where you live:)



still playing catch up on our trip...

Stay tuned for Zion!