An Educational Adventure

Last week, we had some special visitors and got to take a fun vacation educational field trip to an area that the kids and I have been learning about all year. Mimi and Papaw joined us at our home for a day, and then we all flew together to Luxor, Egypt, where we could see firsthand some of the temples and monuments that were built during the Ancient Egyptian periods we've been studying since September.

But first, before we began our vaca...er...field trip, the kids had a special concert to present to Mimi and Papaw. We called it the "Twinkling Stars Program," since all three of the kids performed Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in one form or another. Lee Anna played it on her violin (after only 3 lessons-not bad if you ask me!), Sawyer played three variations of it on the piano, and Sarah Claire sang it for them. If you'd like to see the videos, they both have the entire concert recorded on their respective recording devices, and I'm sure they would be more than happy to share it with you!

After a full day of unpacking their suitcases and playing with the goodies they brought us, we headed to the airport and made the trip to Luxor. We decided not to use tour guides at any of the sites we visited, since 3-year-olds typically aren't quite as interested in historical details as tour guides would like them to be. Instead, we had a great time walking around and seeing things for ourselves, recognizing shapes and symbols and statues that we've read about during the year, and trying our hand at being ancient Egyptian statues (can't imagine where they got that idea!).

How did we do?

I took this one (above) because Lee Anna knew that the object behind her is the combined crown representing Upper and Lower Egypt. Imagine how big the original statue was for just the crown to be that huge!

After all those silly poses, we didn't do so well at getting a good regular family shot. But you can see the size of the columns inside the Karnak complex. I promise that is not Sawyer's regular face! (click on the photo to enlarge)

Here we're on the tram getting ready to ride out to the Valley of the Kings. We had to leave our cameras behind once we got out there, so I don't have any pictures of what we saw inside.

Sarah Claire and Mimi did a quick study of the guidebook so they would be prepared.

In addition to all of the historical education we got on our trip, we also got a little lesson in aeronautics! We arranged to do the sunrise hot air balloon ride that flies over many of the ancient sites. It was beautiful and a highlight of our trip.

However, to our great horror, just days after our return, we heard the news that a balloon on the same tour we took had crashed, killing nineteen people. We are so grieved at the tragic accident and have very heavy hearts for those who lost loved ones or were in any way involved with the crash.

By God's grace, our trip five days earlier was beautiful and peaceful. Here are some photos that we took while sailing through the sky.

See the balloon's shadow?

There were small holes in the side of the basket--made as steps for climbing in but also perfect for the kids to look out of!

Here we are safely back on the ground at the end of our ride. If only I had known then how grateful we should be! We have been sobered this week by the fresh reminder that we are not promised tomorrow. Every single day is a precious gift for us to enjoy!

While the trip did have its educational moments, we also did a good bit of relaxing. The swimming pools were way too cold for any of the adults to enjoy, but the kids stayed in until their lips were blue! Then they got out only long enough to warm up and jump back in! Our hotel was beautiful, with lots of green grass that was a special treat for us to see (and walk in!), and it even had a small petting zoo with rabbits and donkeys and camels and pelicans. The kids were thrilled with that!

We had a wonderful time and came home refreshed and relaxed and ready to get back to work. Thanks, Mimi and Papaw, for coming to see us and taking us on our educational adventure! It was a treat!

My Favorite Valentine's Tradition

There was lots of love in the air at our house this week!

We've had a fun few weeks getting ready for Valentine's Day. On February 1, we pulled out our Valentine's mailboxes from last year and got busy writing  "I love you because" notes to each other. The kids have been so excited to watch their mailboxes slowly fill up, and they couldn't wait to read their notes on Valentine's morning!

On the morning of the 14th, they found their mailboxes next to a few small gifts (mostly edible) at their place at the table. They pulled out their stacks of cards and started reading through the list of what their family members love about them.

It was so precious to see their faces as they read their notes. I helped Sarah Claire read hers, and each time I read one, she would get down from her chair and go give the sender of the note a big hug. So sweet!

While the "I love you" notes were definitely the highlight of the morning, the kids were also excited about these marshmallow lollipops. Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a tennis-playing lamb and a weightlifting hippo!

Daddy missed the Valentine's festivities while he was out at a breakfast meeting, but he got to read his cards as soon as he got got back.

It was a sweet, sweet day. We got to go out on a Valentine's date a day early while some sweet friends kept our kids, so we spent the actual Valentine's evening together as a family, eating heart-shaped homemade pizzas and watching Beauty and the Beast. I'm so grateful for the special people that I get to love!

Desert Fun

We had a fun family adventure in the desert yesterday. It was a beautiful day and a holiday here, so we decided to spend the afternoon climbing, running and playing out at the big national park area that's near us.

The kids climbed and explored and found lots of interesting things. And they threw rocks. Lot and lots of rocks.

Especially this guy. When it comes to rock-throwing, he's the family expert.

 Sarah Claire did a pretty good job of keeping up with the other two...

when she wanted to!

 Hooray for open spaces and sunshine and no horns honking or people shouting!
It's such a blessing to have this place nearby.

Remembering 2012 (with captions by Lee Anna)

Happy New Year!

I always get kind of nostalgic this time of year. I love thinking back over all the things that have happened since last January 1, remembering the surprises and the adventures and the challenges. And I also love to look ahead, dreaming about the year to come and all that it will hold.

This year, Jason came up with a fun new way to remember our 2012. He suggested that we look through our family photos from 2012 and choose our top ten favorites. We looked for photos that captured something special about our year--a special event, a fun memory or just a sweet photo from a regular day. As you might imagine, we had some difficulty narrowing it down to ten, but we finally chose these as our favorites from the year.

Lee Anna helped choose them, and then volunteered to also write the photo captions. So here they are, our Top Ten 2012 Family Photos! Lee Anna's captions are in bold directly under the photos (my comments are in italics underneath).

 Okay this is my favorite of all the photos because it's cute!

(flower girl Sarah Claire listening to her Uncle Gary sing at Aunt Claire's wedding)

 Okay this one was all about Sawyer's birthday party
which happened to be very angry birdsy!

 This one was delicious because it was entirely made of Oreos! 

(homeschool fun making phases of the moon)

 I enjoyed swimming this summer even though I did not enjoy wearing a swim cap.

 I love the beach!

 I had fun at trunk or treat with Mimi and Papaw
and also my candy weighed 4.6 pounds!

 This one is just plain cute!

 Okay I have nothing to do with this one so I think I will let mommy write about it.

(fully enjoying our trip to the states this fall!)

I love this one!

(so grateful for the grandparent time the kids had this year!)

This one I also like because it was taken at the park where we get cotton candy!

(a family photo taken near the heart of our city)

We hope your 2012 was also full of sweet memories,
and we wish you a joyful new year! Welcome, 2013!