Quotes - Happiness

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” 

- Dr. Seuss

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“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” -Abraham Lincoln

Quote Tuesday - Gratitude

“I am grateful for the grace to see, to hear, to talk, to feel, to smell, to taste and to walk.” -Lailah Gifty Akita 

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“Mamma says gratitude helps us to see what is there instead of what isn't.” -Annette Bridges

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“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” -H.A. Ironside

My Favorite Memory: Caving - By Alex

Dudes! Hey there! So, we're supposed to each tell one of our favorite memories. It was Olivia's idea. You know how Olivia is, she always likes to find out more about people; I think that's why everyone likes her. Oh yeah, this is Alex.

One of the coolest things I ever got to do was go caving. Dad took me to some really awesome caverns for my ninth birthday and we got to go spelunking, eat dinner and watch a movie and then sleep in the cave. It was like the king of all adventures.

This daring feat is not for the faint of heart. We were doing what is called bellying crawling. That's where it's so short, or narrow, or however you say it, that you have to go through on your belly cause you can't even crawl on your knees. Only, I was small enough at the time that I could sort of use my knees, but it was still freaky.  

We were down there for a long time, climbing up rocks, sliding through holes, inching our way along and having on the light from our head lamps and flashlights to light the way. At one point in time our guide told everyone to switch off their lights and it was so creepy! There wasn't light anywhere. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see my hand even when I held it right in front of my face. I'm glad I didn't get stuck down in the cave without a light! 

The rocks and formations in the cave were really cool; I thought some of them looked like jewels. It was pretty crazy because some of the cave glittered and sparkled. I knew Olivia would love to see it but there is no way she'd go down in the cave with me, she would be way too freaked out. 

At one place in the cave it was all muddy. Everything was covered in sticky, gooey mud. Each step we took almost pulled our shoes off. It was so weird. One of the other guys who was spelunking with us scraped some mud off the walls and made a little man out of it. It turned out really good. 

I keep telling Dad that it would be so cool if we could go caving again. Who knows? Maybe Caleb, Nathan and me can do it together some time... 

Quote Tuesday - Never Give Up

“Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering 'I will try again tomorrow.’” 

-Mary Anne Radmacher

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“If you really believe in what you're doing, work hard, take nothing personally and if something blocks one route, find another. Never give up.” - Laurie Notaro

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“The death of a dream is the day that you stop believing in the work it takes to get there.” - Chris Burkmenn

My Favorite Memory: Horseback Riding - By Ivy

I think I've loved horses since the day I was born (actually probably since before I was born if that's possible), so of course my favorite memory is about horses. And obviously this is Ivy, lover of all things horse related!

I think my favorite memory is of when I was five years old and Mom was visiting a friend of her's and I was tagging along. There was a swing out by their pond so Mom said I could go out and swing. That was pretty fun until low and behold I looked to my right and there, not more than twenty feet away from me was a real, live horse. I was so excited I almost fell right off the swing. 

Of course I wanted to pet the horse but it was to tall for me to reach from across the fence so I ran inside, shouting the whole time even though I know I'm not supposed to yell inside. Mom and Mrs. Puzzle were worried, thinking something bad had happened, but finally they realized I was excited about the horse. 

Mrs. Puzzle said that she would come out with me and I could feed Cowboy, that was the horse's name, a carrot. I couldn't stop jumping up and down with joy after I heard that. Mom smiled at me and said maybe I should calm down so I didn't scare Cowboy. 

After we fed Cowboy, Mrs. Puzzle asked me if I wanted to ride the horse. And did I ever! I had only dreamed of riding a horse since before I could walk, talk or even eat on my own!

Mrs. Puzzle said she would hold on to the horse, but I should grab a bunch of his hair (which I now know is called a mane) and that would help me stay on. I just got a short ride, but it was one of the most exciting things I've ever gotten to do.

I'm so happy that Mrs. Puzzle let me ride her horse!

Quote Tuesday

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

 -Robert F. Kennedy 

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“Success is getting what you want..Happiness is wanting what you get.” - Dale Carnegie

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“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.” -Zig Ziglar

My Favorite Memory: Fishing - By Caleb

Hey Everyone, Caleb here. Olivia wanted us to each tell one of our favorite memories, so here mine is.

Last summer our family went on a vacation out to Colorado which is where my grandparents live. It was great getting to visit with them. One of the best parts of the trip is when Grandpa took Andrew (that's my older brother) and me fishing. Grandma packed us a yummy picnic lunch with lunch meat sandwiches, tons of dill pickles, carrot sticks, oatmeal raisin cookies and bottles of juice. 

We were gone all day. 

We drove way up high in the mountains until we came to the lake where Grandpa likes to fish. Andrew and I decided to have a contest to see who could catch the first fish. Grandpa won. Andrew caught the most fish, though, and I caught the biggest one, so in the end it was pretty even. 

Grandpa is a great story-teller, so he told us stories while we fished. Grandpa used to come to the same lake with our dad when Dad was our age. I thought that was cool. 

It was cloudy during the day, but while we were in a restaurant eating supper the clouds blew away and we were able to see thousands of stars in the sky when we went back outside.

After we had driven away from the town where we ate, Andrew asked Grandpa if we could stop the car and get out to see the stars better. Grandpa pulled off on a side road and we all stood next to the car, our heads craned back while Andrew pointed out different constellations to us. It was neat being away from all the city lights. 

When we got home Grandma had warm apple pie and milk waiting for us and after that we got to sleep outside in a tent. 

It was one of the best days of my life.