Sunday Dinner

Last Sunday, we headed out of town for dinner. Not to a restaurant but a nearby lake. The picnic basket held sandwiches, cheese, wine for Mama, and cider for the rest.

Lukas flew his airplane one time before he deemed the risk of losing it in the water too high. The boys played frisbee. When the frisbee landed in the water, Noah hiked up his shorts and waded out.

We enjoyed watching the sunset over the lake before we headed back home to work, chores, and daily life. A real respite and refresher before the week began.

Trying to take a selfie 

Saturday Morning Hike

After a busy week, we headed out for a refreshing hike on Saturday morning. To beat the rush, we left the house a little after the sun rose. The trailhead is located north of Sedona, and the sunrise lit the rocks most magnificently. Because we started out so early, we had most of the trail to ourselves on the way out. The path winds along a creek that meanders through the mountains. Fortunately, it is fall, so the water level is low, and the water temperature moderate as the hike has 13 cross-overs.

The initial path to the hike was littered with wild apple trees. On our way back, Noah fashioned a hook to grab apples right off the trees. These tasted amazing.

After about two and a half hour of hiking, the boys had to try out the water in earnest, and took off their hiking boots and waded in. Only the need to get back to Flagstaff stopped them from trying to dam up the trickle of water.

On our way back, we encountered lots of people, and we also noticed the difference in color – the sun beaming straight down certainly shifted the color spectrum, and we were happy to have had the morning glow view.

The hiking guide was indeed correct about arriving early. The parking lot was full, and the line of waiting cars extended at least ¼ of a mile, and many added several miles to the hike by parking further down the road and walking to the trailhead. Us leaving made someone very happy.

It is not for nothing, this canyon is called a mini Grand Canyon. I could have filled pages upon pages with photos of rock formations in various colors. Truly a beautiful hike and a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning. 

 The green arrow is pointing at a red helicopter - these mountains are enormous

Celebrate

Lukas and Noah received their Eagle Scout pins this week. This gave us a great reason to celebrate. We tried, a new to us, restaurant and enjoyed delicious Cajun-style barbecue. 

It is Cold Outside

Fall is here, and that means lower temperatures. Although the car windows are covered in frost in the morning, the afternoon sun warms up the air so that shorts are plenty for the walk to the mailbox.

These chilly mornings are allowing us the opportunity to try out our wood burning stove. The boys worked together to light a lovely fire that burned bright and warm for hours.  Sitting on the couch, under blankets, we enjoyed the fire, and it did not take long before we had to shed the blankets. This wood burning stove is surprisingly efficient and effective. I see lots of fires in our future and with that a lower heating bill this winter. A win-win situation.

Noah and Lukas are also happy to put their blacksmith artifacts to good use. 

Decorating

We are slowly settling into our new home. Now that the boxes are all gone, it is time to address the walls. Since we spend so much time in the kitchen area, this is where we started.  Noah and Lukas put the boxes together. Noah designed the wall layout around the two given, a large computer screen and a vital whiteboard.  Bob and the boys measured, drilled, and screwed to get the boxes in place.

It was certainly must easier to hang the pictures above the kitchen cabinets.