A WAY Better Than The Average Day!

What does Community Service project,















Etiwanda Falls

















Will's Game
















In n Out Burger








& Berries Frozen Yogart all have in common?







A WAY better than the average day.

It all started out with eggos and chocolate milk. The girls made their own breakfast, set the table and even provided little sticks for them to tap their glasses for every time an announcement was to be made. Here Lily is announcing that the sticks are for announcing. I love how they put down placemats and everything. Sweet.

After a quick breakfast and an attempt to wake up Mitchell for the fifth time, we started heading out the door for the stake service project. We were to head up to the top of Etiwanda to clean up the hillside. After a warning from the organizer that most assuredly, snakes would be present and by snakes he means rattle snakes and that our group would most definately come in contact with one, and that paramedics would be on hand in case of an emergency. I knew I needed to talk to the kids about trail awareness etc. I waited to tell them until we were in the car and almost up the hill. I knew what their reaction would be, and I quote, "I don't want to go
anymore." I assured them that everything would be okay if the took the precautions that were explained to them. I am happy to report that when we arrived they did get out of the car. They loved their little yellow worker bee vests. It was rather awesome seeing the force that was out that day to help our community. It was neat to don the vest and join the army of volunteers. The hillside was swarming with yellow breasted worker bees cleaning up that morning. (okay swarming is an exaggeration, but it was a great image wasn't it.)

We found what seemed to be a homestead of some sort complete with couches, broken table, chairs, a computer, monopoly game, a scattering of clothes, paper plates etc. The girls were reflecting the whole time we were cleaning up why that stuff was there, where did the people go, why did they leave everything behind. All very good questions.

Part of the fun of the day was finding tools with the trash that was there. If you look left, you will see Casey using a part of a chair as a rake to pick up trash. Casey later found an old table leg that had screw sticking out of it that became a great tool I used for picking up the trash. It was awesome. A friend made a wise crack that it was trash not a tool, I assured him it most certainly was a tool. I think he was trying to get me to discard it so he could start using it. I am pretty sure that the girls had a good time. As long as they wer with each other they can have a great time no matter what they are doing. I recorded it for their blog.

After we finished the service project the girls wanted to go hiking up to the falls that are about a mile and a half up from where we were cleaning. So after taking Mitchell home we packed a lunch and headed up the hill. The girls were troopers. The hike is up hill the entire way and they trudged along singing songs to keep their spirits high. I will have to get back to you on the lyrics.

Here we are about half way up. I think that they still have smiles on their faces.

After two different false surprises where we thought the falls were just around the bend, we finally got there. What a beautiful sight. What were you thinking? They would be Niagra Falls? We live in a desert. Yes they are little bitty, but we love them despite their size.

While there the girls played in the water. Climbed on rocks, looked for frogs, caught butterflies, and just laid in the sun. It was heavenly. Truly. We plan on doing it again very soon.




Casey and Emma playing in the creek
















Lily and I on the rocks by the waterfall.

Emma and I laying on the warm rocks like a couple of lizards. Emma slipped in the icy water and needed to dry up.



The sweetest little butterfly you have ever seen. It had the cutest little fuzzy body and big eyes. I looked like something Disney would animate.







Here is a shot of Casey holding the butterfly, we shall call Oswald.

Mighty Casey and Lindsay




















The girls jogged a lot of the way down. They learned that down is definitely a lot easier than going up.
It also takes about half of the time.


At the bottom there were fine port a potties for our use. Emma found them to be more than adequate. They actually had water and soap so we could wash our hands. This picture makes it look like it wasn't an enjoyable experience but it was. Really.

After the hike we rushed to Will's game where we saw him swing away at the ball. He didn't get a hit but he had some strong swings. I was very happy.

In n Out and Berries yogart were the treat of choice for my tired girls.

It is experiences like these that really burn the joy of life into your soul. These are the things we can take with us. When I think of my childhood it was experiences like these that really stuck with me. Spending time with family and friends doing simple activities. I want my children to look back into their childhood with fondness and I think with more experiences like this, they will, and I will too.