time with cousins

It's been pretty exciting having our cousins back here from Japan. We love spending time with them. We were lucky enough to have them spend the night with us last weekend. I took Layla out of school for the afternoon and we visited the arizona science center.

"Look, mom! Flowers. Take picture."
Oh man, it made me question what I have turned my 2 year old into when she directed me to pull out my phone to take her picture here.



The rest of the time with cousins was filled with swimming and games and dancing and playing. We introduced these cousins to the joy of shaving cream baths. Cheap shaving cream, writing on the walls, covering yourself head to toe in that smooth white cream--they had some fun.

cross country

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. 

It comes from an indomitable will." 

--Mahatma Gandhi

Kyler is one of my heroes.

Dedication. Strength. Resolve. Power.



He has been getting up in the wee hours of the morning, braving the arizona heat, for the past few months to push his body to its limits and run with his cross country team.



He has been responsible enough to go to bed early, even to turn down chances to hang out with friends, so he could get enough rest in order to do well on his runs. He impresses me.



Cross country is tough stuff. You are pushing yourself to your limits physically and mentally.



He had his first official race. There were so many kids running from over 12 schools. He finished his three miles strong and set a good baseline for himself. We are so excited to see him continue to grow this season.



Classic Kyler pose for the camera face:



So proud of you, Kyler! 

Natural Bridge

It was time for another family adventure.

Kyler drove us to Payson. Which could've been adventure enough... ;)
Nah, he's actually a pretty good driver. He had some learning moments, but he handled driving the mountainous roads that long distance quite well. We are trying to give him all the experience we can before he gets his license in a few months.

We joined the masses and paid a visit to Natural Bridge.





A huge shout out to Kacin who was the best help on this hike! Seriously. He took Layla as his buddy and took good care of her. And with Brinna Lou on my back when I needed an extra hand climbing up or down a rock he was super courteous and conscientious of that.





Isn't it funny how the same great kid could then read the no climbing sign at the cave and then proceed to climb the cave... haha. Love him all the same.





Getting to the caves was pretty motivating for Perry. He was excited to explore.









Natural Bridge is a wonder! Such a beautiful place.



Brinn's new "cheese" face.





The place was crawling with people. But we braved the steepest narrowest passage (which was a questionable decision a few times, what with a little one on my back and a Perry who relies on other people for a lot of his climbing) and the slipperiest rocks to get as far into the bridge as we could go.















I'm so glad we did it! It feels good to push ourselves and experience as much as we can. Some of us had to push ourselves by being brave and stretching the limits of our arms, legs, and balance to climb while some of us had to push ourselves by slowing down and reigning it in and showing patience and caring for those of us who needed a little bit more time and help. Families stretch us each in different ways.





I love all of the varying personalities in this family of mine!

















Oh, this girl! She did great hiking on my back, but loved the chance she got to get out on the rocks.



















By the time we headed back up, the crowds were gone and a storm was rolling in. The wind was blowing and we saw brilliant lightening in the distance.
It was a perfect ending to our adventure.