Anyway, these things are beside the point. This weekend was wonderful not only because it was long, but also because it was monumental.
We have been reading the Old Testament as a family for just over 2 years. It's been a long, hard haul. We started it the day after we finished reading the Pearl of Great Price, which we started the day after we finished the Doctrine and Covenants, which...we started the day after we finished the Book of Mormon. We've done a really good job of reading most days. Really good. But the last 2 years have been long. We were really feeling the need to get back to the Book of Mormon and the spirit it carries with it for our family. But we also didn't want to give up on what we were doing. So that brought us to the decision to attempt an Old Testament Marathon to finish this weekend.
We set up a schedule and a reading chart. We planned break-time activities, snacks, and stickers. And we prayed we'd stay on task.
It was hard. But everyone was motivated. And when one person would get unmotivated, another would encourage.
And just like the last 2+ years, the last 2+ days were long and hard. We were in Ezekiel 11 when we began our marathon. We read on average about a page every 3-4 minutes. Friday we read 70 pages, 40 chapters. We broke it up with a trip to the Red Park and DQ. Plus we had Little Sarah's bday party that evening which the kids really enjoyed.
Saturday it was hard to get back in it. We averaged a bit less but pushed hard in the evening and got to Zechariah 4, which left us with only 14 more chapters for Sunday.
Sunday we finished Zechariah in the afternoon and on the way to grandmas for a hot tub and then read Malachi on the way home.
I have to admit I got a little teary in the last few verses of Malachi 4. We got home and took a picture in front of our completed chart and all 3 kids said: 'this is the best day ever!'
We climbed a spiritual mountain this weekend. How many 10, 8, and 5 year olds can say they've read all this volumes of scripture? We will get to the New Testament eventually and complete the Standard Works...but for now we return to our friend the Book of Mormon.
As a reward for their hard work this weekend, we decided to climb a physical mountain as well. So we headed to Kananaskis country with family and friends and hiked. It was a beautiful day in the backyard of Alberta.
Logan was really excited about our day in the mountains and came bounding into our room with a huge grin on his face.
Dad: 'Logan, you know we can't go to the VERY top of the mountain, right?
Logan: 'yeah, cuz it's too pointy right?'
It was a beautifully exhausting day.
I spent much of it wearing my baby jewelry:
Watching this guy:
We finished at this natural spring waterfall which was so beautiful. We rested for about 45 minutes and then made the trek back which was also exhausting. Sore muscles! But oh so fun.
We even saw a wild bear!
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