Family Time

Today, I put everything else aside and spent the day with my family.  Our neighbors are moving, and they gave the girls a blow up raft yesterday afternoon.  We decided to spend the day breaking it in, family style.  We had a wonderful time!  I have been gone so much lately, that it was important to spend some time together having fun.  We took a short trip to a local lake with the three kids and the two dogs.  We went this afternoon, driving on the back roads and coming, at last, to Black Canyon Lake.  It was quiet and beautiful and just what we needed.

The wind blew gently and the water rippled and splashed up onto the shore.

We honestly thought there would be many more people here today.  Guess we were wrong!

The girls took a while to learn to paddle the oars.  The boat was just big enough to hold the three of them comfortably.  They went every which way until they learned to paddle together.  I have lots of pictures of them from the back as they were learning!

And.....when your mom isn't in the boat to tell you to sit down, you know that you just have to try to stand up and rock the boat!

And try the lake for a little cold water swimming.  

They had to go back and forth from the shore to the boat to the lake and back again.  Dad had to help pull the boat to shore so that the girls could grab some lunch and get back on.  

Anya loved the feeling of walking on the top of the water.  

Come on girls!  You can do it!!

The entire lake was their playground for four or five hours.  I haven't seen them this willing to work together for a long time.  

Who would have thought that a free boat and a warm afternoon could be so much fun!  I hope you had some wonderful relaxing time yourself today.  I am thinking that, every once in a while, a break is just what we need to help us remember those things in our lives that are most important of all.  I have learned that there is a lot more to raising a family than work and effort.  Sometimes, what we really need, is just a little playtime.

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." The Family, A Proclamation To The World

“Families should pray together, kneeling night and morning to offer thanks for blessings and prayers for common concerns.
“Families should worship together, participating in church services and family devotionals.
“Families should study and learn together. …
“Families should work together. … Families should also play together, so that happy recreational experiences are associated with the activities of the family.
“Families should counsel together, treating all matters of concern to the family and its members.
“Families should eat together. Mealtime is a natural time for the family to assemble and communicate.”
 Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Parental Leadership in the Family,” Ensign, June 1985, 10–11.