I read this great article that my friend Brianna’s husband linked to on his blog, entitled, The Problem with Ethics. 

It was very inspiring, reminding me of the importance of having Faith and how it is through faith man is able to overcome his innate weaknesses.  It talked a lot about the importance of faith for a society, how a lot of the problems we have today come from the people’s lack of faith.

So what can I do?  I guess I need to be more willing to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around me.  Part of the problem is most of my friends already have faith.  (Not that that is a “problem” but I just don’t have lots of friends to share it with)  Though I can be a good friend and support them in their faith. 

I have a friend, Jen, who was actually one of my Mission companions in France,  who blogs about her faith.  That is such a great idea.  I should do that too. 

Another thing I can do is raise my boys in faith and encourage them to be leaders in their community!  We need faithful leaders who have a strong moral compass to help guide the country.    I like the ideas in Thomas Jefferson Education about being leaders. 

Random thoughts, read the article mentioned first, very inspirational and much better put then what I am saying.

In May we drove to Sedona, talking and listening to some talks from the TJED conference. 

We got to our hotel and checked in around 8. 

Day 1 was HOT.  We started off our trip trying to get some things situated with our refinance, which included a trip to the bank.  Then we went on a short hike (2 hours).  It was pretty and fun, but a bit too hot.  Then we went back to the Summit to get lunch.  Then off for a drive up a bumpy road in Rob’s new 4×4.  Then dinner at Cafe Jose which was YUMMY! 

Day 2 was great weather.  We decided to do our long hike today and went to the West Fork Trail.  I was navigating and not understanding where we were going, so we drove to the top of the mountain and so we got a later start than we had hoped.  But it was ok.  It was about a 5 hour hike.  It was really beautiful and nice.  Luckily I had brought some hard boiled eggs, so I wasn’t starving.

Then we drove to town and ate at Javelina Cantina, which was reallly good.  Then a trip to the camera store to replace a filter we broke on the camera when Rob dropped the bag by accident.  Then home to rest.

Day 3-5 Hiking and 4 wheeling and eating and resting.   There are so many great ruins to visit here.  We loved Lake Montezuma.  It is just a fantastic area to visit.  We look forward to bringing our boys back. 

Day 6 Another hike, the pool and packing so we could leave to go visit our friends Mike and Melissa.

Overall I have enjoyed vacationing in Sedona.  I would say that the hiking was fun, beautiful landscape.  We didn’t have a day where we just did nothing, which I missed, but I was able to read 4 books and enjoy being with Rob, so I am happy.

Here are a few pictures.

So the thing about Devon is he doesn’t like to be made to do things.  It has to be on his terms. 

They are having a fun contest at school where they track how much they are reading and can win cool prizes with the Anaheim Ducks.    So I am thinking, EASY.  Devon typically reads 1-2 hours a day on a school day.  But with our trip to Utah he lost 2 days with driving there and back and then another day with no reading because of playing with cousins.   Mind you he did choose not to ski one day and stayed home to read instead.   

So yesterday there was no school and it was rainy and cold, so I said he had to read for an hour before he went on the computer.  Then after he was on the computer for an hour and it was lunch time.  I said, you need to read another hour before you can go on the computer again.

Boy was he angry about that.  “This contest is making me HATE reading!” 

Any other rainy day he would have loved to curl up and read with a good book.  He would spend 4 or 5 hours a day doing this on his own.  But because he “has to” or because I asked him to, he doesn’t want to. 

This is his learning personality – self directed.  I really need to step back and let him go.  But at the same time I don’t want him wasting hours on the computer doing nothing.  Yesterday he was on Amazon looking at simulation games to buy.  Had he been doing something more usefuly I may not have minded as much.

T1 is in this stage where he gets very excited about a topic.  He will then study it and do nothing else.  He is working on this “book” which he has written nothing for, but is studying WWII for information about it.  I suggested he write down some of his ideas and he now has a notebook with some ideas jotted down and he says when he reads the books he will take some notes down on those. 

Am I supposed to make sure he does that?  What if he never writes a word of his book?  I know he is still learning, so it is great.  But should I really encourage that, or let him do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it? 

AHHH, I just read a lovely post on a blog about Tidal Homeschooling, embracing the ebbs and flows of the learning of our children.  I need to let T1 do what inspires him and know it will all work out in the end. 

I think if we homeschool and I encourage him to write one page a day, on whatever topic he would like, then he can improve in his writing skills and if he chooses to take that time to work on his book, great!