1st stop on our grand, end of summer adventure.....Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City, SD

pictures don't do justice for the amazing grandure of mt.rushmore. it's not just how awesome it looks, but the immensely interesting history of the entire thing and process. if you appreciate history, it's truly amazing.
all 4 of the kids were very excited about being there and they learned a ton. they participated in the mt. rushmore junior ranger program and haley and jackson especially learned alot. some of the questions were pretty hard and dell and i even had a hard time answering a few. it was quite hilarious hearing jacob, 3, exclaiming over "jor washington," the entire time we were there and for the remainder of the vacation.

we walked the different paths around the park for different views.....each of them equally breathtaking. haley, at one point while the boys were gone taking a bathroom break, let out a huge sigh and exclaimed, and I quote," this could never get old looking at this! it is amazing the talent of the artist that sculpted this! and they really all look exactly as their pictures look like in books!!" haley is very artistic and this was inspiring so much to her and jackson as well. so much so that every evening back at the campsite, they were chiseling away at rock they had found, attempting to make a "mini mt. rushmore" of their own that they could take home. it was so rewarding to see them learning about history and loving it and being inspired..... i really wish it were possible to take a year and just travel around America and educate them in this fashion. it would be so cool!

another view from a cave, especially enjoyed by the boys. every angle is beautiful and detailed. it is truly amazing. gutzon borglum, the designer and sculptor of rushmore, has a quote that i have hung in the schoolroom. (the kids loved learning about him as well.) " don't say, " i can't."-on this work- the "i can'ts" are unknown in the world's work and unremembered in history."

there are so many ways this can be applied in life and seen throughout history....we read about the struggle of the wright brothers as well, while we were gone, and even after they had succeeded in flight were still ridiculed and not believed about their amazing and successful invention for quite a while. starting when they were very young children, they kept trying, at times they failed, at times they succeeded....one thing they didn't do was give up. the Bible is full of accounts of saints who didn't give up as well. one of my favorites is the study of queen esther. even facing the possibility of death by approaching her own husband, the king, uninvited, she chose her words and actions wisely, and found favor in each instance and in the end, was instrumental in saving her people. (sorry for that random run on thought :)

here they are pretending to be chased by a stampede of buffalo. we all had a great day at mt. rushmore. we went back our last evening in rapid city for the nightime ceremony, but i'll save that excitement for another post.

where we've been all summer.

hi everyone! we've been busy all summer here at honeyrock. a great kind of busy. full of excitement, fun, friendship and community. i sadly, cannot blog in the summer. there is so much to share about, and i think about it constantly, but with the internet naturally being slow anyways way out here, starting in may, the entire summer staff is here and using the same internet connection, making it nearly impossible to upload pics in a decent amount of time. and time is precious here in the summer months. not only because there are such great people and things to be doing with your time( asside from playing on the computer,) but also because it is so short. my garden hasn't produced well at all because of the low temperatures here this summer. i've gotten a ton of zucchini and a small amount of broccoli. my tomato plants are huge and have fruit, but i think they think it's really june, instead of the beginning of sept. i've only picked a handful of ripe cherry tomatoes. i hope to get some ripen before it frosts. there is, however, no hope for my poor sweet red peppers. even now, they only have blossoms. sad.

this year, haley was able to attend 2 week residential camp and jackson attended the 1 week session. they both received extreme room makeover's while they were gone. it was so fun, but very tiresome as well considering the sessions were back to back with literally one day in between. they were thrilled.( i will load pics at a later date.) in 2 week res camp, you are able to pick activities you want to work on beginner, intermediate or master achievement levels. haley initially said she was going to choose rock climbing and swimming to earn her basics. she decided after she was at camp, to switch to canoeing and wilderness skills. so she did just that. in canoeing she even had to swamp her canoe! i was pretty impressed with her achievements. she used her skills learned in wilderness skills to teach us a few things on our recent camping expedition. jackson is looking forward to next year when he can work on riflery and biking.

jordan and jacob were little fish down at the waterfront whenever it was warm enough to swim. they're both nearly swimming and it has been entirely self-taught. jacob loves to "dead mans float" and had me on my toes all summer. our time at the waterfront was always fun and eventful, and not really relaxing at all.

we had a great summer getting to know so many new friends that will, no doubt, be back again next year. but we also had to prepare ourselves for the goodbyes. some to people that had been here since we moved here almost 2 years ago. i think that's got to be the hardest part of this life....meeting and investing in new friendships, and then having to let them go. we still wouldn't change it for anything though, and will continue to invest our time, energy, love and life into all that cross our path and come into our lives here at honeyrock .

we also had a huge tragedy happen here, the day after the last camp session ended. alex heidengren,one of the res camp counselors, drowned the morning of the honeyrock summer '09 celebration day. it was a huge blow to the community here. it was extremely hard for haley and jackson the first few weeks especially and even still are dealing with it now. we knew alex and he had been a part of the kids lives this summer on a regular basis. they had dreams a few times and jackson was concerned about" if it hurt alex to drown." yesterday, he was wearing a bandana on his head "like alex" and this morning before school, he prayed for alex's family. it's been their 1st experience with death, but they have been ministered to by alexs' brother, jonathan. he has showed them joy,even in sorrow, true faith and rest in trying times, and peace that passes all understanding. jackson still talks about seeing jonathan smiling and singing "it is well with my soul" while crying. he didn't understand how that was possible at first but i think he understands, the best way that he can, now.
we've claimed psalm 62 many times. "my soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, i will never be shaken." "trust in Him at all times,o people;pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge." psalm 62: 1-2, 8

we finished up the summer aug. 21 and we left for a sweet roadtrip out west, aug.27th and just returned home early morning sept.7th. there are many stories of adventure and learning that i will share about soon in some later posts.

thanks for checking in on the ledbetter 6 !!!!