Presents

Noah enjoyed opening his gifts. He noted that this was the first year Uncle Joel's gift was not wrapped in map-paper :-) He laughed at the silly jokes on Bob's card, he played with his new flashlight, he got excited about his new reading pile, he was surprised and thrilled by the check from sweet friends, he remarked that his birthday is extending as gifts will continue to arrive, and we all marveled at the photo of the whales. He was showered with gifts and well wishes from people near and far. He is truly blessed.

"Exhausted from the excitement" he set up his new hammock and promptly took a nap. It is hard to turn 15.

Birthday Breakfast

Good friends from Carmel, California visited Sedona and invited us to join them for breakfast. Noah did not object to a delicious birthday breakfast so we steered the car to Sedona early Saturday morning. It was fun to catch up with friends and we were so busy talking that we forgot to get a photo. On our way home, we stopped at an outlook before heading home to open presents.

Celebration

Noah invited two friends over for make-your-own pizza after they had built up an appetite at the Laser Tag place in town.

Noah is 15

Noah, our baby, turned 15 this weekend. He is taller than his Mama, he is compassionate, he is talented, and he is funny. He humored his Mama and posed for pictures so that we can add a 15 year picture to our photo wall.

Back to Grand Canyon

Linnea had never seen the big hole, so we packed snacks and water in the car and headed out to explore this wonder. Linnea happily posed for pictures. We saw what might have been the first donkey caravan descending into the canyon. There is always something new to see. It never gets old, and we are fortunate to have friends and family visiting so that we have a reason to go.

The donkey train is on the trail...

It is Warm!

Linnea, the boys' cousin, came to visit and brought tasty treats. Packed in a cold suitcase in chilly Sweden, the chocolate bars looked perfect, a few plane rides later and some car and bus travel and they have morphed a bit. It does not matter, the chocolate still tastes delicious and since it was a bit messy, it wasn't fitting for company so we had to eat it all by ourselves.

This is What April Ought Look Like

Snow one day, an explosion of flowers the next. I think I prefer the flowers in April

It is April!!!

April is going out with a bang - there is snow on the mountain again and more snow in the forecast. I really thought people were joking when they said it usually snows on graduation... We like snow, but we do not like snow in April, and definitely not in May.

Spring Protocol and Last Day of Class

Lukas and Noah had their last day of Classical Conversation. The boys dressed for debate and therefore did not have to change clothes before heading out to Spring Protocol. After a sit-down

dinner, we all headed to the Symphony for some amazing music. A fitting and lovely finish of our Classical Conversation year.

Time to Say See You Later

Morfar and Mormor headed back home after an action-packed visit. Noah was not quite sure he wanted them to leave and tried to hide. Too bad he weighs more than 50 lbs,

or he could have traveled cheaply to Sweden. The good news is that we will see Mormor and Morfar soon, our trip to Sweden is right around the corner.

Off Road Adventure

We had heard that there was this spectacular route to Sedona with amazing views. With Mormor and Morfar here it seemed the right time to explore this road, especially since we wanted them to see Sedona.
We set out early in the day. The turnoff was not hard to find and we proceeded. The views were spectacular. The road was a bit rough but it was a marked road, after all, it ought to be ok. As we proceeded down the mountains towards Sedona, the road got progressively worse. The road sign said "12 miles" when we began the exploration, an hour later we had moved 4 miles. Bob and Lukas navigated the car rocks and dips, while the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely walk down the dirt road and marveled at the scenery.

When we finally arrived in Sedona, we had had enough hiking and adventure and headed to the ice cream store before taking the beautiful and driveable 89 back up to Flagstaff and dinner. It was an adventure we will not soon forget and the scenery was almost worth it. The car needs a good clean and wax job to recover from the escapades.