After the day at the Grand Canyon, the loopy ride home and Tavin’s ear pain, Sunday was another somewhat rest day. Koen got the opportunity early in the morning to go on a mountain bike ride because our awesome friends in town own a bike shop. It was a dream come true for Koen and the guys at the shop that led his ride said he did a great job keeping up. I’m not surprised. Koen is becoming quite the athlete!
In less happy news, poor Tavin was going from bad to worse, so I took him to Urgent Care in town and he did indeed have ear infections in both ears. We were so thankful to get him good care before heading into the wilderness the next day.
And in exciting, yet scary news, back at the house at this time Penn and Jansen were happily playing cornhole in the yard when they heard a rattle! Yes, a real rattle. Penn immediately looked up, saw the snake, got back, told Jansen to get back and they ran into the house to tell Doug. I mean, it was a very close call. This disgusting snake was only a few feet away. Doug was so upset, as I would have been as well. Penn and Jansen appeared fine, just surprised and amazed and definitely not interested in going outside, but when I came home and got to catch up with them sweet Penn crumbled. He was terrified. I’m sure he felt scared, responsible for Jansen and just that he’s older, he’s more aware of the danger. Penn, Jansen and I took a minute to pray and thank the Lord for his protection over them. So grateful they were kept safe.
After all that, we got the boys through lunch and then Doug, Koen and I headed for a quick errand in Sedona, but also the opportunity to view the beautiful red rocks there and stop for some pictures. Koen is so into photography, so he was happy to be along.
Then I promise we did actually relax a bit in the afternoon. This space our friends have blessed us with has truly been a real retreat amidst the busyness of our trip. The views are spectacular, the home is fresh and spacious and we needed all of it!
We ended our last full day in Arizona with a family horseback trail ride. This was a surprise Doug gave me for my birthday. We’ve all been looking forward to it so much. And it did not disappoint! It was 102 degrees when we left the house at 6pm though, so I was a little nervous about the heat on the ride. But there isn’t much humidity here and as the sun started dropping towards the horizon, the temp was much easier to take. Jansen was tired and hot when we started and was begging to just go home. This was sad to me. I felt selfish and like I just wanted to get him out of there, but Doug took over because he knew this momma heart couldn’t take it! Thankfully the trail guides were understanding and kind and they made things as easy and calm for Jansen as possible. He got a horse named Kung Fu! And he got to ride right behind me (my horse’s name was Applejack). He remained nervous for about the first ten minutes and looked on the verge of tears, but as soon as we started our first ascent, he was a big fan and totally on board. Phew!
From then on, we just all had a lot of fun. We wound up and down hills walking and trotting (the boys thought trotting was so much fun!) and then we stopped for some sunset shots. Look at this view! It was incredible!
Then we continued on back to the stables. The whole ride was about two hours and it was beautiful. Honestly it was maybe my favorite family activity we’ve done in a long time. The boys were happily chatting with each other the whole time commenting on their horses and their personalities, how much they enjoyed the ride, the animals, the adventure. It was just great to hear them building each other up, enjoying something together (rather than the bickering!).
After this wonderful evening we headed home to get the boys to bed, finish prepping for our exit the next morning and fall into bed. The next morning we were headed to Colorado for a few days off the grid. Here’s the last view of our lovely place in Arizona.
We will be off grid for awhile. I’ll post when I can!!
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