Tonto Natural Bridge

and the Grand Canyon. But I didn't put that in the title because Tonto Natural Bridge is so much less boring. You know what I mean? Anyways. So we went to the Grand Canyon for the 5th time. And, for some reason, it looked the same as all the other times.
Tonto Natural Bridge...

from the top of the bridge

looking down under through a little peep-hole in the ground

along the path

I found lot's of interesting rocks to shoot

underneath the bridge

My Uncle Dave and Cousin Jacob :)

see the bird there?

looking up at the top

It's raining! (the little waterfall)

I love that reflection in the water!

interesting tree! I forgot what it was called...

coming back up

on the move...as usual!

sucking his thumb, as usual. ;)

doesn't this look like a watercolor painting, or a sketch?!

It's so beautiful, it beats Grand Canyon any day. This was our second time there, but I don't think I could ever get tired of it. It's just--well, you kind of just have to be there because it's hard to explain how beautiful it is...unless you see some really good pictures. Which mine aren't so you'll have to find the really good ones somewhere else :P

Also, we were in Phoenix (again!) this past weekend for the AFHE Homeschool Convention. It was two long days of lots of people, noise, and stuff. Probably the part I enjoyed most was hearing Ken Ham. Or maybe it was walking the exhibit hall (btw, that's where the stuff came from). No, I think it was Ken Ham. He has a way of talking that makes you want to pay attention the whole way through--like you don't want to let your mind wander.
Oh, and by the way...I'll try to start putting a link at the end of my post so you can see more pictures, because I'm taking so much more now, that I'm just putting most of them on my Picasa Web Albums. For example, and to begin a "good habit" (maybe), here are some more pictures from our family visiting:
Family - Picasa Web Albums
And for this post:
Tonto Natural Bridge - Picasa Web Albums

Cousins, Canyons, Camp Meetings, and a Camera

cousins:

note: i <3 picnik!

canyons:

Camp Meetings:

and a camera:

That's the short story of what's been going on around here.
Hopefully in the next few days I'll get more pictures posted to my Picasaweb Albums but until then the collages will have to do I guess.

Don't worry; I'll tell the long version, too. :) But first, some quotes:

Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.  ~Author Unknown

Any fool can count the seeds in an apple.  Only God can count all the apples in one seed.  ~Robert H. Schuller

You can tell the size of your God by looking at the size of your worry list.  The longer your list, the smaller your God.  ~Author Unknown

If God had wanted to be a big secret, He would not have created babbling brooks and whispering pines.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

So my Dad's family came to visit--yay! Two of his brothers, with their family's, and his brother's wife's mom (if that's not too confusing). So we're planning for a really fun time while they're here...and on Thursday we went to 

Canyon de Chelly.

We hiked down 1 1/2 miles and then all the way up 1 1/2 miles. Google says that makes it 3 miles! And guess what I got? A sunburn! Yay! More like, Ouch! But now it's hardly noticeable...till I rub on it, or scratch it, or anything like that--which is expected, of course.

AND when we were in Phoenix to pick up everybody, I bought a camera from a guy who had an ad on craigslist. I ended up paying way less than regular price. Which I'm really happy about because a few days before we found the ad, I almost bought one for the regular price. For anyone who is interested, the camera is the Canon PowerShot SX130 IS. "i'm lovin it" so far. ;)

Yesterday evening, and this morning, we went to the Christian Hopi Camp Meetings in Polacca. It rained really hard yesterday. There were puddles all over--AND THE MUD! There's mostly this clay-dirt stuff down there, and so when that stuff gets wet, it's a real mess--slimy, and slippy, and it cakes on to your shoes, and builds up until you can hardly lift your feet; well, my feet, anyway. But, like I told Mom, it wouldn't be the Camp Meeting without it raining really hard at least once. ;) But this year it rained harder and more than it has any other year, I think.

So that is the story of the 4 C's--hope I didn't forget anything, as too much has been happening these last few days. :P
-tara c m

Silly Matthew!

Some days Matthew is our clown...these are some pictures from a couple of those days. ;)

Picasa Web Album - Matthew by Tara Miller

Grand Canyon -tara c. m

Yesterday we went to the Grand Canyon with Grandpa and Grandma. Since it was the 4th time I had been there, it wasn't really any different than all the other times I had been there. (I wonder why...)
But then we went on a side road because Dad wanted to look in the Kaibab National Forest for oak wood to cut for the winter. So we went scouting around back there and it was sooo pretty! It reminded me of the meadow and woods Brighty had to go through to get to Uncle Jim's cabin, in Brighty of the Grand Canyon.
I had fun taking pictures with Mom and Dad's camera. Here are a few:

I think I like the last two best...

But of course it looked so much more beautiful in real life.

-tara c. m

Phoenix -tara c. m

We were in Phoenix a couple weekends ago (and also two weekends before then). The first time, we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens, since it was free on that particular day. (we figured out it would cost $60 if it wasn't free!) It was pretty neat(though lots of it was what we see every day). One of the sections was called "night blooming garden" or something, so all the flowers were closed up when we got there. But then we came back right before we left(and, before they closed), and the flowers were all opened. It was pretty neat!

 Anyways so that was a Friday. The 6th I think. Then Saturday the 7th we went to a softball game where one of our friends was playing. It looked kind of fun. But I've never played so I don't know if I would like it or not...but I think that if I got a chance to learn I would take it. ;)
And on Sunday we went to(actually, met with) a church down there. We met some really nice people there and had supper with them one night. We came back on Tuesday then.
Then we went again the 21-23 ...and so it seems like we have seen lots of Phoenix this month. Of course I don't mind, just saying.

Here's some pictures:

Matthew climbed up here by himself, and was intently watching Maitlei eat--I mean, his face was about an inch or two from the bowl!

Desert Botanical Garden pictures:

This was right when we came in(It's all glass!)...

...And this is when we left! Transformation! ;)

hmm..what's he thinking: "Scared out of my shorts? Check."

The plant/bush on the left is Rosemary--and boy, did it stink!

It looked so cool in real life...it was just getting dark and the sun happened to shine through right there, and these two birds were hopping along on this branch...but one flew away...

-tara c. miller

Springtime! -tara c. m.

Springtime is here,(has been here for awhile but I haven't posted since then) and with it comes the usual wind. I never noticed it before, but this year I have observed that there is wind, and then there is WIND. Well, this year we seem to have WIND most of the time. But on the days when it's not windy, it seems logical to do something outside. On those days, I sit staring out the window, and think that I really should do something outside (it would be a shame to waste such a nice day, right?), my thoughts sound something like this: "Hmm...I could read, crochet, read, play with Maitly, read, go on a walk or hike, read...oh yes, I could also read". I noticed that "read" seemed to dominate my thoughts. I wonder why? But then I really never get around to doing anything outside, unless my friend comes and wants to play basketball (hurray!), then we play and get hot and sweaty and wonder why we ever wished the wind would go away, and have way to much fun...But those days are rare. So I go on staring out the window, scolding myself that I am letting this perfect day go to waste. It's not so much that I don't want to go outside, it's just that I wish I could find something to do out there that is more useful than "read" or less boring than "read" or maybe sometimes just I wish someone would give me a suggestion, and/or do it with me. Anyhow..."I really ought to go do something outside..."

So now.  Yes, we have been up to other stuff than having lots of WIND. Mom made Matthew some 90 Minute Shirts. Then we had to decide what to paint on them (with freezer paper stencils). Then that started Sharayah thinking about what she could paint on her shirts (or crochet bag, it turns out). And so she thought, and painted, and then started thinking about her next project, and so she's painting a shirt right now. I've been crocheting random stuff, or at least thinking about them, but yeah nothing really remarkable has happened in the the world of Tara and her hook. ;)

Here's Matthew's shirts:

Now Matthew is learning to say "caterpillar" ;)

and he loves monkeys!

The only way he knew "frog" was from a little stuffed one he has that hardly looks like the real thing...he acted kind of bored or confused when we told him this was a frog!

see the cute little "Dickies" tag on his sleeve? btw, he's holding two bouncy balls behind his back

Sharayah's bag

-tara c. m.