My Boys

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not depend on your own understanding.

In all your ways remember him.

Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.

Proverbs 3:5,6

The paths in Green Canyon were far from being straight.  They were pretty curvy with a steady incline.  I spent 5 hours in the morning with the boys hiking for ten miles in this beautiful canyon. When we left that morning it was 47 degrees. I figured that it would warm up.  We hadn't really thought too much about being cold.  Hmm. Our arms froze. I wish I had a sweat shirt. Kaleb told me to walk with my hands in my armpits.  It worked for a little while.  It finally warmed up about 3 hours later.  Every chance we got we would linger in the rays of sunshine trying to thaw.

 I trailed behind my two boys who kept a steady pace.  I caught up to Kaleb at one point at a mud puddle.  He pointed to the 20+ butterflies that were hanging out sipping water. It was like a fairy land with the butterflies fluttering here and there.  I later had asked Jared...

Did you see all those butterflies?

What butterflies?

The ones you passed at the mud puddle.

Oh, Yeah, I saw them.

I guess he wasn't impressed. So I made him listen to me for the next 1/2 mile going on and on about the beauty of God's creation in butterflies.

 We found out this past weekend that these flowers never get petals.  It is called a Coneflower.  And what you see is what you get. It amazes me that something so simple can be so beautiful.

My boys were very tolerant of me on this LONG hike.  I was enjoying every moment.  I didn't bring my camera so I was constantly asking Jared for his.  He wasn't taking ANY pictures so I ended up just keeping it.  I did a complete double take when I passed a whole grove of wild roses.  I almost had tears in my eyes. I just couldn't believe that something I have read about in books was right before me.  To touch, smell and pour into my memory forever. If there was a moment for Jared to roll his eyes at me, this would have been that moment.  Kaleb, loving his dear old mom the way he does, was very agreeable to all my discoveries.

Here this beautiful rose is growing in the wild.  No one to water it, fertilize it, or weed around it, or prune it.  I couldn't grow roses if it meant my life in Arizona. No matter how hard I tried.  And here this beautiful plant is growing in nature all by it's self with the conditions that God has provided.  It gives me hope of our family's survival.

I really enjoyed hiking with my boys.  Before they were born, I wasn't sure how to be a mom to boys.  I love how they think.  How they approach life and the tasks at hand.  I try to teach them to pay attention to those things that girls would like boys to pay attention to with the hopes that someday they will make awesome husbands and fathers.  I know they will.  I watched my boys clomping through the woods and felt so proud of them and who they are becoming.  It was interupted when I heard them going back and forth about something.  I hadn't heard. 

All of a sudden I hear Kaleb say to Jared.

Name 10 things that bug you about me.

It took Jared less than a minute to name 10 things. And they were all true. 

To be fair I suggested that Kaleb name 10 things that bug Kaleb about Jared. I figured that this was Kaleb's opportunity to speak up in a fair way.  Kaleb could only think of 3.  So I helped him and rattled off 7 more in about 20 sec. 
We all had a good laugh.  Jared admitted to the truth in our answers.

So, after a little thought and a little worried about where this next question could lead......

I asked the boys to name 10 things that bug them about their mother.

I was prepared for Jared to say it all in one breath.

About a half a mile later......they thought of only 3 things that bug them.

1. When I get hyper everyone feels like I am rushing them.  They don't like to be rushed.

2. They hate it if I even suggest a meal made with out meat.  They are such carnivores.

3. When I get upset about something, they said that everyone feels that they should be mad as well, not knowing what they are really that mad about.

I could easily think about 10 more things that bothers them but I decided it would be best to not make any suggestions at this point. Better to not plant any seeds in their precious minds about their mother.  It was kind of funny that they had a really hard time thinking up things that irritated them about their mother.  Maybe that is a sign that I am doing a good job? Either way, I love the time I spent with my boys.

They are worth every moment to me.