Meanwhile, we press forward with school, trips to the library, Legos, building forts, and making dirt roads in the front yard. We are making progress, and I am trying to be a little more relaxed and fun. We've been reading a lot of books. We just finished "Snow Treasure" which is a true story about how the boys and girls of Norway got the gold out of their country to America. We all enjoyed it, and the boys learned quite a bit about WWII. Our friends, the Scherzers, sent us some books in the mail, and we are looking forward to starting those next.
Some of you may know my sister, Hannah. She and her husband are moving to Maine for her husband's job. On their way there, however, their truck was broken into. Several of their personal and valuable possessions were stolen, and this is a discouraging way to start this new adventure. Please pray that the insurance will cover it, and that the police will be able to apprehend the burglars.
Wednesday, September 16
It was another crazy day for Roger. He was at the airport again by 5:00am., and I ended up taking the kids to church by myself as he wasn't done by 6:00 pm.
I've been taking Emma for walks in the morning since she has been getting up at about 5:30 am. It's tiring, but it does give me time to think and pray before starting our day. This morning I asked the Lord to help me be a blessing to someone today. I actually have no idea if I was a blessing to anyone today, but I know that God gave me several blessings today.
One, we completed another day of school. Yay! We are down to 145 lessons left (which isn't very encouraging!) However, we press on towards to goal of finishing. It was encouraging to have one child that was very motivated today and didn't even take a break as he wanted to finish his school work. I think he might have wanted to play outside by himself and knew that was one way he could make it happen. :)
While at the park this afternoon with the kids, they received a blessing. We have a set of junior golf clubs that they all share, and they often take the clubs to the park. We don't have very many golf balls though, so it's sometimes hard to keep track of whose ball is where. However, today there was an elderly gentleman at the park walking his dog. He mentioned that when he was about nine, he started playing golf. He mentioned that he lives near the golf course and often collects lots of golf balls. He asked if the boys would like a few extra golf balls. He said he had a dozen in his truck that the boys could have if they wanted. The boys were thrilled, and it was a special blessing to my heart to see their heart of thankfulness. At bedtime one of the boys thanked God for allowing them to get some more golf balls. I'm thankful that they are learning to thank God for the blessings that they receive.
Thursday, September 17
Roger only had one flight today and it was at eight am. I was very thankful for this as we needed to get laundry done TODAY! I started school early so that when Roger got home, I could do laundry. I took Wyatt with me today, and he brought along his reading books. We took a half day field trip,and headed out to Lee's Ferry in the afternoon. Lee's Ferry is about forty five miles away in Marble Canyon. It was a ferry service that operated from 1871 to 1928. It was the safest place to cross the Colorado River for five hundred miles and even then boats capsized and people drowned frequently. It was a good practical lesson in history and geography, and the boys will write about what they learned tomorrow. We had a good time as a family, and it was a good change of pace.
Friday, September 18
Woo hoo! It's Friday! Roger was busy again today at the airport, but he was able to come home for a few hours. We were able to squeeze in a short coffee date, and I went on a short run. The boys were tired today, probably after all the hiking from yesterday. We finished school- praise the Lord, but we are all very thankful that tomorrow is Saturday. Roger has another busy day of flights tomorrow, so I will need to practice some creativity in keeping the boys from getting aggressive with each other due to boredom. Boys need activity and lots of it! While the weather is about ten degrees cooler this month than last month, it's still a little hot to spend hours outside at a time. Yesterday, at Lee's Ferry, it was a hot hike, so it was a good reminder that we still need to drink lots of water!
Saturday, September 19
It was a very busy day for Roger! I spent the day making treats for the pilots in the morning, taking the kids to the park, running to the grocery store, reading books, the park again, cleaning, and the other day to day activities that fill up our days. We certainly miss Roger when he is gone all day, but it is what it is. Roger and I are praying diligently about where God would have us to go next. Personally, I'd love a job that would pay enough to put the kids in a Christian School somewhere, but that might not be what God has for me. I know one thing, I'm leaning a lot about my own shortcomings while homeschooling! I think that God has bigger lessons to teach me than I have to teach my children!
Sunday, September 20
I love Sundays! What a special day to worship together with other believers! I wish we knew people a little better and had a few more friends, but at least we can work on that while growing in God's Word. Sundays also bring their share of challenges along, as Roger has been not able to make it to the Sunday morning services. He was able to come this morning though since his flight was early this morning. The church is a small group of believers, but I'm thankful that they put forth the effort to have a Children's service, and in the last few weeks, they have worked on organizing the nursery better (I like that!).
After church, we went home for lunch and naps. Our church in Wisconsin is thirty minutes from home, so it's very weird to be only five minutes from church! We were home with lunch eaten and everyone ready for naps by 1:30pm.! I took a short nap, and then went to do laundry. Yes, I did just do it on Thursday. However, Chandler has been struggling with really bad headaches lately, and because of those sometimes, he throws up. And then the other bed mate wet the bed! So, off to do laundry I went. It will be a long time before I take having a washer and dryer for granted again. We spend around $20.00 a week to have clean clothes. So, that's about $80.00 a month...painful, but entirely necessary!!
On a happy note, I was able to have a lengthy conversation with my dear friend, Jenna, while doing the laundry. I love talking to those back home, but sometimes it does make me feel lonely. Jenna and I have a deep and dear friendship, and it's one of those friendships that we know what the other person is really like...and we still like each other! If I was completely honest, loneliness is probably one of my greatest struggles right now. Roger is gone a lot, and while I love my children, I do also like adult conversation. Hopefully, as we meet more people in the church, we can build some friendships. However, God knows exactly where I am, and He is reminding me that He is all I need.
Monday, September 21
At the risk of sounding like I'm complaining, I struggle with Monday's. I am reminded that I have a whole week of school ahead of me and working with five little minds to grasp the concept that education is important. I'm working on being more flexible with how they learn, but I wish I could get inside their brains to figure out how they would best learn. We do lots of reading together, but I wish I knew how to make education fun and exciting for them. I realize that it can't be that way all the time, but I am working on trying to figure out new ideas. I am definitely a work in progress!
I went to a ladies meeting tonight at the church we are attending. The pastors wife has been trying to have a ladies meeting once a month. Tonight five ladies attended the meeting. It was a good opportunity to try to get to know some of the ladies better. I am also not Native American, so it's interesting to be in the minority. I tend to be a time conscious person, um.,.they are not! So, if they intend to have a meeting at seven, most people will show up around 7:15 or later. It's not a problem, unless you are like me and show up for things ten minutes early. Then you wonder if you have the right day, right place, or right time! Oh well, some things don't change whether I am in the far north of Alaska and Canada or in the deep southwest of Arizona.
I also had a special blessing in the mailbox today. I check for mail every day, but most of the time, we don't have anything. I think the ladies in the office have come to expect me to show up at the airport around one o'clock, just in case we might have mail. Today I received a special card from some friends back home telling me that they were praying for me, and they sent a gift of money to put towards a bike. I now have enough money for a bike, we just have to find one! If you think about it, we want to spend our money wisely, so please pray that we will find just the right bike.
Roger is also seeing some changes take place at his job. These are not necessarily good changes for Roger as they have hired on more pilots. It means that we will be seeing more of him around home, but because they have more pilots, his hours will be shortened. There are a few days a week that they need seven pilots, but on the days that they only need four pilots, it's not a good thing. The company wants to keep everything fair, so they try to give equal amounts of tours to each pilot. It's great for the pilots just hired on, but not so hot for the ones that are trying to finish out the season and get enough hours. Our time is becoming very limited, so please pray that Roger will be able to get the hours he needs.
Thank you for you love and prayers,
Sarah
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