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Yesterday we visited Hoover Dam.

It was just a short drive from Las Vegas. It is on the border of Nevada and Arizona.

We drove through security and had a quick van search. There was no admission cost and we parked for free a short walking distance from the dam.

You can pay to park closer in a parking garage. You can also pay to go on a tour. We decided to just explore ourselves.

The dam is huge and is very interesting to see.

There are several signs along the way that share some of the history of when and how the dam was built.

We enjoyed the views and reading the history of Hoover Dam.

It was definitely worth the drive and time to go see.

Yesterday we visited Zion National Park.

We got out of bed around 7:00AM, which is early for us. We are not super early risers. I had read that we should arrive between 8-9AM to be able to get a parking spot. You can park in Springdale and take a shuttle if you want or are unable to get a spot at Zion.

We arrived around 9:30AM. All the spots were taken. Lucky for us, we were able to park in the oversized vehicle lot. Our passenger van most places consider either a passenger vehicle or an oversized vehicle.

The cost to get in Zion is $35 per vehicle. We got in free thanks to Cherish’s 4th grade pass.

We first went to the information desk at the visitor center to find out which hiking trails would be good for small children. We were directed to three different trails.

We went to the gift shop to let the kids purchase postcards. They have a slew of pen pals, and all our older kids love sending mail to family and friends.

At the last park we visited, Mesa Verde, we tried the Junior Ranger program. It is a really neat program. Each kid is given a pamphlet with activities and questions pertaining to that specific park. The child finds the answers and fills out the pamphlet along the way. He or she turns in the pamphlet when complete. Then each child is given a badge from a park ranger.

Our kids enjoyed participating at Mesa Verde, but we have decided not to continue to participate in the program. Our kids felt like they were so busy trying to get all the answers that they couldn’t truly look, learn and soak everything in. And, as parents, helping 9 children find answers and complete pamphlets added a stressful element to something that was meant to be fun. As an alternative, we offered to buy each kid a national parks passport book. For those you purchase a sticker at each park for $1.99 to put in your book. Then you use an ink stamp at each park to stamp your book. Our kids loved this idea, so that is what we are doing.

The first trail we walked was Pa’rus Trail. It was 1.75 miles and took about an hour. It was very easy walking, mostly flat land. The landscape was beautiful. I pushed River in our jog stroller, and Ryan carried Bravely in a baby carrier.

We stopped for a snack lunch and potty break after the first trail. We then rode a shuttle to the next trail we wanted to hike, which was the Upper Emerald Pool Trail. It was a 1 mile hike that took about an hour.

It was what I consider more of a true hike. There were a lot of ups and downs, it was fairly narrow and there were drop offs. I did push the jog stroller. It wasn’t super easy, but was still enjoyable. We had to watch our little kids closely and keep them close by to make sure no one ventured over the side. All the kids seemed to enjoy this trail, and many of our girls said this one was their favorite.

The views were amazing. There was a waterfall near the end. It was more of a sprinkling of water, but it was still neat to see.

There were deer and squirrels that would come up very close. This squirrel almost let Bravely touch it when age she held out her hand. She loved it.

After we finished the second trail we stopped for a snack, water and another potty break.

Our little ones were needing to rest their legs, though they never complained.

We then rode a shuttle to our third and final hiking trail, The Riverside Walk. The shuttles had a lot of seating and would be very easy for 95 percent of people, couples and families to ride. We are not in that 95%. Ha! It wasn’t bad, but we really had to hustle on, keep headcount, separate in groups and share seats. There was a wrack to put strollers on the front of each shuttle.

Our little girls loved riding the shuttle. Treasure kept asking when we’d ride the school bus again.

Bravely really loved the shuttle ride and cuddle time with her mommy.

The last trail we hiked was about 2 miles and took about an hour and a half.

It was an easier hike than the second trail but still had some ups and downs. It felt safer and easy going with kids.

This trail went alongside a river. It was a beautiful view, the best of the day I thought.

Oh, our kids wore their Sibling Squad shirts I had made for them, and Ryan and I wore our Squad Leader shirts he had made for us. We had probably 50-100 people comment on the shirts. People loved them. One lady with an English accent thought our family was adorable and asked to take a photo. We find all this hilarious because we are just used to having a big family and living our lives. But we are also used to getting many reactions, questions and comments everywhere we go. We enjoy meeting so many different people and having conversations. And we’ve become quick at throwing a witty comeback to witty comments we get. It’s our life, and we like to have fun with it.

River is just starting to understand what a river is. She loved that we walked alongside the river and that she got a photo taken by it. She also loved that people kept saying, “river”.

About halfway through this hike, our little ones really started asking if we were about to go home (the RV) or ride the shuttle or even just sit down. Those little legs were getting tired!

We encouraged them, and they really did great through the end.

We took a shuttle ride back to the visitor center, got in our van and went to Chipotle for a big carb and protein dinner.

It was a great day, a first hike for most of our kids, and something we’d do again. Zion National Park is a great place to visit!

Ryan and I are both pretty laid back people. At the start of our relationship, neither of us worried much. We both enjoyed high-thrill activities. We were both passionate and deep in our own individual ways. And we were both go-for-it type people.

We had one baby, then two, three, four and five. By the time our fifth baby was born, I felt paralyzed by the responsibility of raising our kids. I loved having five small children and I loved the responsibility, but still, deep down I was terrified of not being able to adequately give my kids all they needed plus my dreams of giving them so much more. I wasn’t even sure I could physically protect that many small humans. And that really terrified me.

Swimming is something I loved as a child. I was a fish, and I swam all summer every summer. Getting 5+ non-swimmers around water can bring on a full blown panic attack, though. We put our kids in swim lessons summer after summer, but we’d rarely go practice or just swim for fun. We felt so outnumbered watching our kids in or around water. By the time we had ten children, I thought it’d be a true miracle if we could ever enjoy anything in the water.

Several months ago, a determination came over me. We found a great swim teacher for our kids. We were willing to pay month after month after month for swim lessons. We had nine kids in lessons for over 5 months, up until the week we left Texas for our RV adventure.

This week we were given 10 free passes to swim at the community center near our RV park. In the past, we would have politely declined. This time we went for it, and we had such a great time.

We are still happily and unapologetically overprotective. We still counted the kids 1,000+ times. But my heart didn’t race. Not once.

Bravely got in the pool for the first time, and she absolutely loved it.

This moment had seemed so far off; it was awesome to live it in the now.

We aren’t ready for any swimming parties. We aren’t ready for a major water park. We aren’t ready for swimming surrounded by tons of other kids. Those may be awhile. BUT we have made it out beyond the shore.

People ask, “What drew you to this lifestyle of full-time RVing?” That is a loaded answer. Part of that answer is this. Venturing out beyond the shore.

We will still be our overprotective selves. We will not take risks that we feel could endanger our children in any way. We will have bumps and bruises and ER trips – no matter where we live. We’ve had our fair share thus far, for sure.

In fact, we had an ER trip the night before last. Our two oldest daughters decided to flip over each other for fun in an enclosed slide on a plain old playground. One hit her head. Hours later she was dizzy and vomiting. It was determined she had a mild concussion. This could have happened in our backyard when we lived in a house. I hate those things, but they just happen.

We want our kids to be wise, protective and not overly risk-taking. We, also, want our kids to live life, to push past fear, to dream and to actually do. We want them to dive in deep. To move beyond the shore.

And we want to dive in deep. To move beyond the shore.

I get told fairly often that I’m a brave woman, mostly when people see me surrounded by our ten children. I am a woman like any other, wife like any other and mom like any other. I don’t feel all that brave, and I completely cower at times. My confidence is in God. He is the only one who makes me brave. He is the one who calls me beyond the shore and into the waves. He is all that is brave within me.

May you venture out beyond the shore in your life. May you experience the beauty of the deep. May bravery be ignited in your soul.

We are now in Utah. We decided to leave Colorado before that 16 degree weather hit. For the most part, we plan to chase good weather.

Yesterday we celebrated our first birthday in the RV, River’s 3rd birthday!

We always do a big donut stack with candles as our birthday cake. It was something we did once that was asked for again and again, so much that it naturally became a tradition.

Several times I asked River what she wanted to do for her birthday. She responded, “Donuts!”

We had to be pretty strategic with gifts as 12 of us are living in 400 square feet of space, and knowing this first birthday sets the expectations for all other birthdays in the RV.

River was so happy with her gifts, and I loved that she wanted to wear her headband all day.

We have a journal for each of our children that Ryan and I write in for each of their birthdays. Normally our kids make each other cards. Before moving out of our house we all discussed the idea of the kids starting to write in each other’s journals as well. We started that for River’s birthday.

After donuts, gifts and reading the journal, we headed to St. George Children’s Museum.

We’ve been to a few different children’s museums in Texas. This one was unique and different to those.

Each room had a different theme.

The little girls especially loved the farm/animal themed room.

Bravely sitting on this shaking tray was hilarious. She wanted to do it again and again. I obviously couldn’t hold back my laughter.

There was a perfect mix of things to engage both big kids and little kids.

All our big kids particular enjoyed the bank room, especially sending money through a chute.

All our kids loved the stage room. The older ones got to control curtains, lights and sound. The younger ones enjoyed dancing and being silly on the stage.

This was definitely the perfect place to take River for her third birthday.

Three is a great age. That’s when kids first really learn the power of their own freedom and choice. It can be a trying time for us parents. Having watched seven kids already go through this stage, I see it as an important and precious stage. But it doesn’t make those dramatic fits or the long waiting when the child must do something “by myself” any more pleasurable. I love this stage overall, though.

The way River talks, laughs and learns to do new things (by herself) is the cutest.

Won’t be long until River is moving out of this phase and Bravely is moving into it.

Happy 3rd birthday, River Grace!

You are cute, spicy, spunky and fun! You used to be so timid around strangers, extended family, friends or a crowd. Now you are quite outgoing. You love saying hi to people and making new friends. You are super sweet, loving and so well-mannered. You also get this determined, mischievous look in your eye when you are getting ready to do something that takes bravery or that you know you probably shouldn’t do. You are hilarious and really bring a lot of laughter to our family. I love the way you erupt in loud laughter. You love Bravely and are always trying to kiss, hug, play with or hold her. You love being silly with Mercy and Treasure. All your siblings adore you. You are so very precious to me, a true joy to have as my daughter! I love you so very much, my little River G!

Y’all…we had quite the eventful move from New Mexico to Colorado.

We could not retract our RV jacks yesterday when getting ready to leave the park in Santa Fe. We were on a pretty big slope and we got the error message: excessive angle. After pushing buttons what felt like a thousand times, we got the idea to drive one side of the RV onto ramps. Once we did that our jacks immediately retracted with the push of a button. We thought all was well, and we headed on our merry way to Colorado.

When we arrived at our next destination our jacks would not extend and our 4 slides would not go out. It was after 5:00 so Google and Facebook were our best options for help. We tried all sorts of things, none worked. We took a break and went to eat Mexican food since we could not get into our RV for food. A really sweet couple talked with us for awhile and handed us $100. That was super sweet and lightened the RV stress. At 10:30 PM we surrendered trying to fix the RV and went to a hotel. This morning we made a slew of calls and ended up talking to our new hero, Joe (Good Sam tech support). He walked us through having a tripped breaker, not having a reset button like we should, bypassing wires, etc. After following his step by step instructions, down came our jacks and out came our slides! We are back in the RV with a part we will be replacing arriving at 8AM tomorrow. Joe will then walk us through the replacing process, and we will then have a breaker reset switch! All part of the adventure!

Once we felt good about our RV, we headed to Mesa Verde National Park.

I believe it costs $25 per vehicle to get in, but we get in to all national parks free because Cherish has a 4th grade park pass. That is such an awesome thing offered by national parks!

We arrived too late to get on a tour to walk through the cliff dwellings. But we did get to drive up the winding mountain and tour the museum.

The kids filled out pamphlets answering all sorts of questions about Mesa Verde. They were then given junior ranger badges. They really enjoyed this.

Then we went to a lookout point where we could see one of the cliff dwellings where Indians lived many years ago.

It was really amazing to see.

We are still loving living in the RV. We are trying to beat the soon-to-come extreme cold and snow by heading to Utah soon.

This morning we got up at 3:30AM and left our RV in Santa Fe around 4:00AM to head to the Balloon Fiesta.

If you know us well, you know we struggle to make it to church by 10:30AM. Getting up so early was really a stretch.

There was no traffic. I hear Monday is one of the less busy days. We parked in a parking lot on site for a parking fee of $15. We paid $20 total for tickets. Tickets are $10 per adult, and kids ages 12 and under get in free. This was awesome for us as all of our children are ages 12 and under!

Morning glow started at 6:00AM. We enjoyed watching balloons be set up and be filled with air. The balloons glowed as the fire blazed within them, and then they slowly began to rise.

It was cold this morning, very cold to us Texans. We were so mesmerized by the balloons that we happily embraced the cold, though.

After the morning glow, we slowly became surrounded with balloons on the ground that were starting to fill with air.

It was truly a sight to see! We were all in awe! And this was before the balloons even ascended.

At 7:00AM the mass ascension began. It was amazing! I think, “Wow!”, was spoken every few seconds. And I couldn’t quit taking photos.

Bravely had been asleep. When she woke up, we put her glasses on and she gave the biggest, cutest smile as she gazed up at the balloons.

River loved the morning glow, but she was a little creeped out when all the balloons started filling around us. Once they started going up, she loved watching.

Our older kids thought this was one of the most awesome experiences they’ve had, and our younger ones loved talking about which balloons were their favorites.

At 8:00AM there was a balloon flying competition. Competitors attempted to drop a marker as close as possible to a specific target. This kept the balloons in the air for quite awhile, which we were happy to continue to watch.

If you’ve never been, it is definitely worth taking a trip to Albuquerque, NM to see this in person! This was an experience I’ll never forget and that I’d love to experience again!

Today we rode the Sandia Peak tram.

We waited in line for about 2 hours. We all thought it was worth it, but recommend looking into less busy times if you plan to go.

The great thing about standing in long lines is you get to meet and talk with people surrounding you. We met some great people today and really enjoyed conversations we had with them.

The price is what we consider a medium splurge. It is $25 per adult and $15 per child over age 5. A woman walked well into the line and asked our kids who their parents were. Tapestry pointed to me. The woman handed me two adult tickets and said they were tired of waiting and had decided to leave. We were so thankful! That was a $50 discount for us, plus our three youngest rode for free.

We loved walking around looking at the views from the top of the mountain.

And we all really enjoyed the ride on the tram.

We had an overall great day! We are exhausted and in bed early tonight. We plan to visit a local church tomorrow morning and rest tomorrow afternoon. On Monday we will be waking up in what we consider the middle of the night to head to the Balloon Fiesta!

Going up mountains and into valleys here in New Mexico has these lyrics playing on repeat in my head and in my heart:

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I’m standing on the mountain aft, didn’t get there on my own
When I’m walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

Yesterday morning I helped Ryan hitch up in the pouring rain. That was an experience!

We drove about 40 miles in the rain. Then the clouds faded and we saw beautiful blue skies ahead.

We settled at our spot in Santa Fe. We went out for some authentic Mexican food and then got some much needed groceries.

Today we went to Meow Wolf, and we all absolutely loved it.

The website describes Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return as an immersive, permanent art installation featuring an astonishing form of non-linear storytelling. This unique and exploratory space was formed from a collaboration of over 100 artists, resulting in a wildly imaginative, interactive experience.

The tickets are what we consider pricey, especially as a big family. We paid $29 per adult and $21 per child over age 3. Ryan and I both agree that the experience was definitely worth the price.

We were hoping our little ones would enjoy the experience and not be apprehensive. Every one of them had such an amazing time exploring. No fear.

We were there for 2 1/2 hours, and honestly we could have happily stayed 4 hours. Bravely got hungry and tired.

There was something new at every turn.

Just when we thought we’d seen it all, we’d find a secret room or hidden passageway.

Going through the tunnel in the dryer was a huge hit.

This was great for all ages, even Ryan and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was weird, unique, fun and just overall really cool.

Tomorrow we plan to have a low key day. Homeschooling with actual books, the playground at our RV park, walks, cleaning and reorganizing a few things, everyday life stuff. We may venture out somewhere tomorrow evening. We’ll see.

I will share how we balance free stuff and pricey, going out to eat and eating at the RV or packing meals and how we choose which RV parks we stay in along the way. It’s a learning curve, and we are experimenting with what works well for us and what doesn’t in all aspects.

We are all really enjoying this new journey so far.

We have been living in our RV for one week now. So far, we are all loving it.

We spent the first several nights at Lake Somerville near our hometown. It’s a gorgeous spot, right next to the playground with a great view of the lake.

We started getting used to everyday life in the RV…meals, showering, chores, all the things.

We had probably 200+ gnats come into our RV two nights in a row. We learned to turn our awning light off and to get all 12 of us in more speedily by night 3. We all got a good laugh as I vacuumed all those gnats the first couple nights.

We were very busy tying up many loose ends and getting together with friends and family as we awaited our house closing.

On Monday we closed on the sale of our house. We could not have been more ready or excited. That door closing meant the door to our long awaited dream opening.

Tuesday morning we made one last trip to our storage unit and then we loaded up ourselves, our belongings and our new home. It felt so good to get onto the open road, music blaring, sunglasses on, the truck and RV in my review mirror. It’s what we’ve dreamed about, prayed about, talked and kept talking about and planned for over two years. Not one of us could be seen without a huge smile.

But pause. Let’s backtrack for a minute. I think it’s important to share.

Shortly after our house closing, we found our van battery dead for the second day in a row. Thankfully, it was just the battery and we were able to get the battery replaced that day. Monday night Ryan was feeling awful, which is totally abnormal for him. It had built up for about a week and got to the point we thought he probably should be checked out by a doctor. He went to the ER Monday night and found out he was anemic. We debated leaving on schedule the next morning, but decided to move ahead. After 1 day of iron, Ryan feels like a brand new man and we are both happy we did decide to go ahead on schedule. I share all this because there is no perfect. Traveling or homebound, living in an RV or a house, working 8-5 or owning your own business, having kids or not, being married or not, life brings hardships, pain and trouble. We are not free of the pains and struggles of this life. We ARE going on a great adventure and we are truly so happy to embrace life from a new angle and in a new way, but hills and valleys remain. Ups and downs are a part of everyday life. I plan to share and give you a true account – good, beautiful, sad, bad, funny or hard – of this great adventure as we live it. We’d love for you to journey along with us as we grow through whatever we encounter along the way.

Well, it’s finished. We gutted, sanded, painted, built, floored, trimmed out and put the final touches on our now new home on wheels. We officially moved in yesterday!

Enjoy these before and after photos…

You can check out the resource page here on my blog to find most of our RV interior and exterior.

Next week we will head out on our first route, and I will blog about it along the way.