Scorpions anyone?

We have not been hiking in a long time so last Sunday we decided to hike down into the canyon. It was amazing how different everything is since the monsoon rains. We walked up a gully that was about 4-5' wide and about 5' deep that was never there before. And the sand dunes were a lot steeper...at times we found ourselves sliding down out of control. A bit scary for me, but the kids seemed to think it was great. Seth let everyone know when he got stung by a scorpion. Thankfully it wasn't the poisonous kind. And believe it or not, even that, hasn't deterred him from going barefoot.

We are keeping busy plugging away at school. So far we are staying on track. Yay! It's hard to believe Bryce is a junior this year and we are having conversations about continuing education. He would really like to go through CollegePlus, like a family we know has done, and get a bachelors by the time he graduates high school. So we are praying about it to see if God opens the way for that.

We have been blessed with a wonderful crop of tomatoes for the first time since we moved here. So we are really enjoying the fresh tomatoes. I had forgotten how good they actually are. Looks like there will be enough to freeze or dry too. Next year we are hoping to plant more in our garden.

Matthew got his cast off about a month ago and he has been taking steps for about a week or more now, but still prefers to crawl. He gets lots of practice with his walking though because his siblings are constantly coaxing him to walk.

The last several months have just seemed to take a lot of effort on a daily basis. Sometimes I feel like I just get more behinder each day...not just in tangible things, but in relationships in our own family, and God and with friends in the community. Sometimes it feels like I'm walking to school uphill both ways in several feet of snow. I just started looking up scriptures on joy because I know there are days I forget about rejoicing in the Lord. So if you think about it, keep us all in your prayers.

Recording has started, of the New Testament in Hopi. We are really excited! Someone who has attended church meetings for years commented as she heard the book of Mark being recorded that she didn't realize how serious it is. Hopefully this will bring more understanding for the older generation here that grew up speaking Hopi.

Recently I have enjoyed having more interaction again with some women in the village. We had not connected for a while so this has been good. I hope we can keep it up through the winter when it seems harder to get out. One of them does a lot of reading and has been asking for books to borrow, so I loan her a couple books and she brings them back in a few weeks for more. The books have been christian nonfiction for the most part....true stories about real people and she really likes them.

Matthew helping with the dishes...or not.

Excavating

This is our tomato jungle

Ready to go up!

Skyping with Grandma Miller

Love those corn cobs.

Seth and Sharayah helping with stucco at the Red Feather straw bale house.