Rifle's Secret Mountain Treasure

Ok...so maybe it is not such a secret but it has been unknown to us for the past 7 years. Who knew that Rifle had Colorado mountains only a few miles away? Now for those who have visited Rifle I know you are rolling your eyes thinking right....there are no mountains in Rifle...only hills and lots of sage brush. Mountains have aspen groves and tall pine trees. That does not exist in Rifle. Up until a week ago I would have agreed with you. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of beauty in Rifle but I would never have classified Rifle's beauty as being the beauty you find in the mountains...it is more like a desert kind of beauty but better. But I am here to tell you that there is mountain beauty in Rifle...or at least close by.

The boys and I first experienced Rifle's secret mountain treasure a couple of weeks ago. The boys had a Friday off from school while the teachers worked so we decided to get out on a beautiful fall day and explore a little trail we had just heard about...the Beaver Creek Trail. We headed south of Rifle up Taugenbaugh Mesa onto a little dirt road that led us straight from the desert into the mountains in about 20 minutes. We went from sagebrush to aspens that were arrayed in their full autumn glory. We found the trailhead and set out hiking through aspen groves and huge pine trees on a trail that was littered with golden leaves. It was beautiful! Glorious! Caleb enjoyed being out in the woods taking pictures. The dogs had a blast running free in the hills and the rest of us just enjoyed being outdoors taking in the day.

We had so much fun in fact that we decided we needed to take Dad to experience our treasure. He was all for it so yesterday morning we decided to head back up to the trail again. We knew some weather was coming in but decided if we headed out right away we would beat the weather and get to enjoy the day! Our friends, the Johnsons joined us and off we went. The aspens were a little more bare. The leaves were a little more brown but the beauty was still awesome and the adventure was spectacular. The adventure began when Joshua, who has provided us with numerous stories of adventure in his short life, got ahead of us and took a wrong turn on the trail. We actually found him fairly quickly but not before Dave had taken off and jogged about 2 miles along the ridge in search of him. Dave did not find him but he did find a large fresh print on the trail that belonged to either a bear or a very large mountain lion. After we finally were all together in one place again we stood on the ridge overlooking the valley below for miles and watched the storm move in. When we begain to feel the snow we decided it might be best to head back to our vehicles. As we were making our way back down the trail a huge microburst of wind swept across the mountain. We could hear the wind coming long before it reached us. The trees were groaning and banging against each other so loudly that it sound like thunder rumbling through the hills. When the wind arrived we could see the trees bending and swaying and groaning and suddenly about 100 feet in front of us one huge pine tree could withstand the wind no longer and with a huge crack came crashing down in front of us taking an aspen tree out on its way down. It was amazing. We stood there in shock and awe to see this majestic mighty tree lying across the path in front of us and praised God that we were not under the tree when it fell! We all made our way over the tree and finally arrived at our vehicles thankful that none of the pine trees surrounding our vehicles had come crashing down. There were other trees that did not survive the burst of wind though....3 that fell across the road that we needed to take to make our way back down into Rifle. Thankfully working together we were able to remove the trees from the road and get back to Rifle before the storm hit! It was a wonderful time with friends enjoying the beauty of God's amazing creation in our own little Rifle mountain treasure!

God is in Control!

This landed in my email box today. I am not sure where it originated by I wanted to post it on my blog as a reminder that my King is in control. It is He who appoints and removes leaders! He has a plan and I WILL trust in Him!


TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION:
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?
(Amen!)

Ramblings

Wow! I just realized that the last post I wrote was before school started and now here we are...2 months later! Hmmmmm....where did the time go and what happened to my blog...clearly my blogging has gotten lost in the whirlwind of activity that has swept us up with the beginning of a new school year. So for those who do actually check my blog to see what is happening with our family I thought I would jot down a few of the highlights of the past two months.

The Floating Princess!! The weekend before school started Josh and Micah got to perform in a community theatre production. Josh was the Gingerbread Man and I believe definitely had the best costume in the play. His head however did prove to be somewhat of an impediment in getting on and off the stage! Micah played the talking cat that belonged to the evil Princess Viv. From a very objective perspective this mom believes that Micah as Arty the talking cat and his buddy Chris as the other talking cat stole the show....completely objective mind you!

Caleb Ziegler....Junior at Rife High School....Caleb started his junior year with a tough schedule and lots going on! He started out playing soccer but was injured early on and has not really been able to practice or play in any of the games. He is hoping to be healthy and ready for basketball season which starts in November. He also decided that he would go out for the school play and landed the role of Dr. Sanderson in the play Harvey. He is pretty excited and looking forward to his moment to shine on stage. He is also now driving which I have to say that as much as I dreaded it I am now loving it! So nice to have someone to send on errands and to play chauffeur to his brothers!

Joshua Zieger....mighty Bear at Rifle High School! Josh started his freshman year at RHS and even two months in he is loving being a Bear! It has been quite a transition and adjustment for all of us but I am so glad that he loves it there and is making friends. We have slowly tweaked out some of the issues of communication with his teachers and home and he is doing well. Thankfully Dad and Caleb are both there and a huge support to him. I think it helps a lot that he is Mr. Ziegler's son!

Micah Ziegler....7th grader at the Happy Heart Homeschool....hehehehe....he hates it when I call it that :). Micah is doing great with all of his classes and we are really liking all of the curriculum so far. Since there was not a soccer team for his age group this fall he opted to join a Boys Gymnastics class which he is loving. He is also getting ready to try out for the drama at the Middle School and he is loving his first year in youth group.

Well...that is a quick update for now on what is happening in the Ziegler home. We are enjoying a beautiful Colorado fall and have managed to get out and take in the amazing colors and sights of the season. God is SO amazing. His creation is awesome. He is a mighty and glorious God. We are so greatful that He is our King!

It's a New Year! Happy Homeschooling!

For as long as I can remember my life has revolved around the school year! So mid-August is really my January...the beginning a new year of school and all the promise it holds! I love summer and all the fun things we do and having Dave home but by the beginning of August I find myself getting antsy for the new school year to begin...to get back to a routine...to have things feel a little bit normal. One of my favorite things to do to get ready for the new school year is ordering new curriculum! This year both Caleb and Josh will be at RHS and so it will be only Micah and I at home. I am looking forward to the time I will have with him and I think he is excited to be the only one home as well. He has been pouring through our Rainbow Resource catalog circling all kinds of things he thinks would be cool to do this year. Who needs the Sears catalog when you have your Rainbow Resource catalog handy?!! We finally narrowed down our school list and put in the order last week. Now we are pins and needles waiting for our big box of new books to arrive in the mail....Christmas in August! There are a few things I have used in the past that we are sticking with this year:

Math: Finish Transition Math (Pre-Alg) that he started last year and then start Jacob's Alg. 1. Caleb used Jacobs in 7th-8th grade as well and it really helped prepare him for the math he has had at the high school. In fact it almost prepared him too well as he has been a little bored in math and his teachers have decided to have him skip Pre-Calc this year and take AP Calc as a junior.

Science: Apologia General Science Caleb did both the General Science and Biology through Apologia and really enjoyed both courses and learned a lot. He is a science guy and Apologia really fed his thirst for Science and made him want more.

For everything else with Micah, we are trying new materials. I am excited about this becaue I like to try out new things.

Bible: For Bible last year Josh and Micah and I did "It All Begins in Genesis" from Answers in Genesis. We all loved this curriculum and learned SO much. This year Micah and I are going to try Discovering our Amazing God which studies the character of God from the OT and teaches the kids how to do Bible study Precept style!

History: We are going to do History Odyssey: Level 2 - Ancients. Micah helped choose this...he is wanting to get into the ancient civilizations. We did the Ancients with all 3 of the boys a few years ago through Learning Adventures which I really loved and we will probably pull some material out of that again. Micah was pretty young at that time so it will be good to go through it again.

Reading/Spelling/Vocab: Total Language Plus. I am looking foward to trying these out. I have not used them before but I have perused them at Curriculum Fairs. We are going to read Call of the Wild...Micah's choice. and The Bronze Bow...my choice since it will coincide with Acient Rome and we will probably do the Christmas short stories around Christmas time as well.

Writing: Jump In from Apologia.....I am excited about this as well. Micah wants to be a writer and loves to write stories so I think this will really give him some good tools to use.

Foreign Language: Elementary Greek Koine ....this is totally Micah's choice. I was thinking Spanish but he thought it would be cool to learn Greek and be able to read the NT in its origianal language. Maybe our pastor was onto something we he said he thought Micah would grow up to be a preacher.

Grammar: Analytical Grammar....I can't honestly say I am excited about this because I just don't get real excited about anything Grammar but from all I have read I think it will be very good for him and really help him improve his grammar.

That is our main stuff. We now just need the big brown box to arrive so we can get everything out and ready to go! I am looking forward to a great school year. I will let you know what we think of all the new stuff once we have been in it for a while!!

Happy New Year!!

Quotes from St. Augustine

"You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."

"How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose!...You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure."

Born to Climb!

I am part of a wonderful Bible study called Faithfully Fit. We meet every week to work out our bodies with a walk together or exercising to a video. We also work out our souls through the study of God's Word. Last night we met for the last time until school starts back up and we decided in celebration we would venture out on a hike up to the Rifle Arch. There were 5 of us in the group along with two of my guys...Josh and Micah and 2 other boys. It was a little warm when we started and truth be told I don't think any of us were very excited about hiking on a hot afternoon but we were a determined bunch and we set off on our way. For the most part the hike is not too bad. There are a few steep climbs that gets your heart pumping but there are some nice stretches in between those places that allow you to catch your breath. We did find several shady stops along the way that allowed us to pause and take in the view of the valley below. The stopping was really all about enjoying the view....it had nothing to do with resting or catching our breath or giving our tired legs a break....nothing to do with that whatsoever! Really! There is a place near the end of the hike where the terrain suddenly changes. There is even a bench at this spot and some nice rocks to sit on. You can see the arch from this place and the temptation to just call this the end of the hike is a great one because beyond this spot there is no more path....just lots of rocks to crawl over to make your way to the final destination....beneath the arch itself. We thought for just a second about not completing the hike but the thought only lasted a second. We knew we wanted to complete the journey. We were not satisfied with just seeing the arch....we wanted to touch it...so off we went....scrambling up over the rocks...tredging ever onward. The boys of course were off ahead of us. They decided to take a little more adventurous route and proceeded to climb up a rather steep rock that had some footholds in it. Micah is my monkey boy and he scampered up that thing like it was nothing. Josh on the other hand got about half way up it and decided he could not go any further. The only problem was he decided he could not get back down either. The other ladies proceeded on up the somewhat of a path to make their way to the arch while I stayed behind to encourage Josh that he could do it. He was however fairly insistent that he could not so I being the brave adventurous mom that I am climbed up that same rock so that I could give him a push to the next foothold. It all worked great. Josh got up off the rock thanks to my little heave ho. The only problem......now I was on the rock....in the same place....and suddenly I also felt fairly insistent that I could not get off of that rock. Climbing up to that place....no problemo....climbing back down from that place....big problemo! I did recognize that if I lost my footing I probably would not die...maybe just break a bone or two and scrape myself up so that was a bit of a relief but I was not looking forward to any broken pieces of my body so I opted not to go down. Next option...up! Hmmmmm....no place for my big feet. In the meantime Micah is scampering up beside me....Here mom you could go this way....scamper, scamper scamper.....Or, mom, do it this way....scamper, scamper, scamper. I have never wanted to strangle a monkey before but at this point the temptation was great! I finally decided that it would have to be done sideways so I began to stretch out my leg....and stretch and stretch until I felt like I was doing the splitz. My legs were probably only at a 90 degree angle but it sure felt like the splitz on this 43 year old body! But....hallelujah...it worked and I was able to slide across the rock sideways and make my way back to the path. Phew! I seriously was wondering there for a few minutes how I would ever manage to get off of that rock without sliding down it and taking off a layer of skin! I joined the other ladies under the arch to take in the beauty of God's amazing handiwork....the rock formations, trees growing in amazing places. As we sat there chatting Josh walked in and with a fist of victory in the air shouted...."I WAS BORN TO CLIMB!"

After resting under the arch for a bit we set off again to make our way back. The sun had set. The sky was pink and purple, an almost full moon was making its way up into the sky. There is only one word for the whole of the experience.....GLORIOUS!

Bring the Rain by Mercy Me

Tonight I was blog surfing...a new favorite pasttime of mine! I was blessed to come across a blog that brought tears to my eyes and a new song to my heart. It is a song I have heard before on the radio but until tonight I had never REALLY heard it. Here are the lyrics:

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

The line that really struck me was
"Bring me anything that will bring you glory"

Wow! Anything Lord??? But what if it hurts too much? Wouldn't full complete healing and restoration bring you more glory?? Will I trust You to know the answer to that and rest in You? "You are much greater than my pain....Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty"

Angie Smith...the author of the blog,Audrey Caroline, wrote something that has stayed with me: (you should really go read her blog...there is a link to it on my page)

"In the span of a few minutes, I committed to God that I would stop praying for sunshine and start welcoming whatever made the soil rich."

As I read that and listened to the Mercy Me song it hit me that that has been my battle in many areas but especially with my Joshua. I have been praying for the sunshine. I have been praying for what I believe will bring God the glory. Even though I always finish those prayers with...."not my will but yours be done"...in my heart of hearts I have been pleading for the sunshine to be His will. I am not sure what the future holds for our family but I know that the prayer of my heart needs to be just that....the prayer for whatever makes the soil rich.....the prayer for anything that brings you glory. "If thats what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain."