Update: I thought I had posted this last week, but apparently I forgot! So, you'll be reading into our lives for last week. :)
We are trying to adjust our schedules and routines to do what is best for our family, our young kids, ourselves, and our marriage. It's a challenge for sure!
I went to do laundry on Thursday evening. I took Wyatt and Emma with me as Wyatt wasn't feeling good. Roger took the other boys to look into getting a fishing license. Last week while at the laundromat, Travis had to go potty. I told Chandler to take him, but they came back a few minutes later. Chandler reported that the sign stated that the bathroom was for laundromat costumers only. I assumed that he read the sign wrong and told him to take Travis to the bathroom. However, this week when Wyatt needed to go to the bathroom, I happened to glance at the bathroom door. Sure enough...there in bold letters the sign stated, "Restroom is for laundromat costumers only"! Chandler had read the sign correctly! The moment brightened my day, and I still chuckle about it!
We had the two other pilots over for supper last night (Thursday, July 2) While their company was enjoyable, it was a little out of my league. I don't know all that much about airplanes or aviation, but Roger enjoyed the visit. And I was happy to cook a meal for company! :)
Chandler has been asking Roger every day if they can go fishing. Roger doesn't have a fishing license yet, so we told Chandler that he would need to wait until that happened. This morning the boys again asked about fishing. Garett suggested that Roger "Go right away this morning to get a license, Dad. It's not too hot yet. It's only 103 degrees." It's amazing how their perspective of what's hot has changed in a week!
Both Wyatt and myself are having the hardest time adapting to the heat. I tend to get really bad headaches from the heat, and Wyatt has been struggling with stomach cramps and throwing up. I'm sure it's partially because it's not exactly cool in the trailer either. Although the swamp cooler is working again, it can't keep up with the tin roof and poor insulation. If it's around 100 degrees outside, it will be about 87 degrees in the trailer. Is it cooler than outside? Yes! But it's not exactly cool either. However, it could be much worse, so we aren't complaining. (At least, we are trying not to complain!)
We have all the bikes up and running again! We bought a gallon container of green 'seal-a-tire' slime, and Roger has put it in eleven tires! So far, it has made a huge improvement. The boys are thankful to have their bikes to ride again, and it makes it easier to go places together. Usually Emma and Travis will ride in the bike trailer, and the other boys will ride their bikes. I don't have a bike, so I just do lots of walking! :)
While we have been loving the time together as a family, we need the flights to pick up a bit. Roger has only a few flights for July. We are thankful that we are on salary pay and not on by-the-flight pay. However, Roger needs to get more flights to build the hours so that he can pursue getting a better job in the future. And it's expensive to live in Arizona, so even the tip money from some of the flights helps out some. Please pray that business will pick up so that Roger can continue to build his hours.
Saturday, July 4
Happy Independence Day! We are so privileged to live in this country, and we are working to raise our children to be responsible, Godly citizens. So in light of that, we discussed our flag this morning and that when the flag goes by in the parade we should stand to honor it.
The parade was at ten this morning, or at least that is what we were hoping. The website for the city says ten, the Facebook page says eleven, the tourism website states eleven, and the word on the street is that it's at ten! So, we are off for a ten o'clock parade...we think! :)
The boys walked to the parade, while Roger hauled the bike trailer with the chairs and water in it. We probably looked like some red neck family as we trotted off with the chairs bungee corded to the bike trailer. Wyatt was perched on top of the chairs, and Travis was hanging off the back!
It was actually a very nice day today with the temperature at about 94 degrees. Because it's a dry heat, it was actually very comfortable compared to the 100+ degree days we've been having.
The parade started at ten! It was a fairly short parade, but I think that's due to both small town participation and the heat. The kids were able to collect quite a bit of candy, so they were happy, delighted, sugar-high children! One thing that is really different from back in Wisconsin is the fact that the trash after the parade was out-of-control! People just left their candy wrappers, water bottles, soda cups, etc, right on the street. Although we certainly couldn't pick up all of it, I did make the kids help me pick up a grocery sack full of trash. I realize that the city employees will come along and clean it up, but it certainly didn't hurt our children to work at it either.
After the parade we came home for leftovers and nap time. It was so different not having any friends or family over for the holiday. I missed having a houseful of company, or going to a friends house to fellowship. But this is where we are so we will rejoice and be glad in it.
After rest time, we thought about taking the kids swimming; but because of the holiday, it was crowded everywhere! The boys were disappointed, but there will be other opportunities to go swimming next week.
So, we spent a quiet afternoon playing games, taking a walk, and visiting together as a family. As the sun prepared to go down, we gathered up the kids, the bikes, and the chairs to head to the fireworks. The boys rode their bikes, while I carried Emma, and Roger hauled the chairs. We found a good place to watch the fire works about half a mile from our house. We set our chairs up and waited for the fireworks. Several other families joined us in the empty lot we were siting in, and we had a nice visit with a grandpa and grandma that came to watch the fireworks also. It was a late night for the kids, but it created some different memories for us. We've never had a Fourth of July quite like this one, so it'll be a memory for us.
Roger has a flight tomorrow morning, so we will probably have to rethink about our church hunting excursion. The church we are planning on visiting has Sunday school at 8:30 and the worship service is at ten. We will probably just go to the worship service as we would like to do this as a family. I'm looking forward to finding a church that will be a good fit for us. God will continue to guide and direct us.
Monday, July 6
Two weeks ago today, we pulled into Page, Arizona. In some ways the time has flown by and in other ways it has dragged out in more ways than I can count. But God is still good, and He is always faithful. Roger was supposed to have a flight today, but it was cancelled. That is disappointing for him as well as for us. God knows how hard Roger is working to try to build these hours, but it's just a slow month!
The weather was beautiful today! It was about 85 degrees and low humidity! We spent much of the day outside hiking, biking, swimming, and walking. Today was the first day in over a week that Wyatt didn't throw up in the afternoon. He drinks lots of water, but I think he might be having a harder time adjusting to the heat than I anticipated.
We also had the other pilots over for dinner tonight. There are now three additional pilots here for training to finish out the season. (I don't see what they're going to do except sit around with the rest of the pilots unless business picks up!) Roger made enchiladas for supper, and we had a good time visiting with them. These pilots are about 23-25 years old, so Roger and I are definitely the "old" ones in the bunch. (No worries...we can out hike and out walk them!) :) Roger and I are missing our close friends that we fellowship with often, but these are doors of opportunities for us. Maybe God just wants our family to be a shining light to these pilots? We can do our best to point them to Jesus Christ. Since the weather was so beautiful today, we went on a hike after supper. The kids go to bed much later here, but they've also been getting up a little later and taking naps during the day. We have lots of physical activity!
Many, many thanks for all your love and prayers,
Sarah
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