Ganske Family: Mammoth

As some of you know, Mammoth is my favorite vacation of the year. We tease and say it is a part of our prenuptial agreement. The other part had to do with my phone bills to Montana when we first got married. Those were before the days of flat rate phone

bills. HA! Poor guy, oh the bills! Anyway, we have been going now for 15 years. I think we have missed only two of those. We have been going so regularly to the same area that we have now made friends with 4 families that do the same thing. Now it is a treat to get together with them each year also. Although, this year we only met up with two of them.

For the last two years we have brought Brooke's friend Stevi. She is a

treat to have with us! We usually do the same routine, fish, hike, campfire, mountain bike down Mammoth Mountain, zip lines and rock climbing, gondola rides, oh yes there is the parade, and fireworks. In past years we have searched out the volcanoes and did some "home schooling", we have gone to Bowdie, Mono Lake, Yosemite, 4 wheeling and oh so much more.

This year the highlight was probably the fishing, we borrowed some

kayaks and were able to fish in the middle of Twin Lakes rather than only from the edges. Lorin, Brooke and Stevi all caught several. We had 2 great fish dinners.Other highlights were; Jason got his first pocketknife, and yes he cut himself. Faith, well, she was making friends with the squirrels and butterflies. As for me, hey I was in the mountains and it was cool,who needs more than that.

We are starting a co-op for History, Literature, and Science this year. I found it very interesting to realize how much easier it is to see God in such a beautiful place as the Sierras, (don't get me wrong, I am still loyal to the Bob Marshall in Montana) than it is to see Him in the city. Yes, I know that people in the Temecula Valley don't see it as a big city, but it is.
There is so much to wonder considering God's handiwork. As the focus of our school year will be Biblical Worldview, I felt especially drawn to look around me while we were in Mammoth. I am feeling pretty motivated for the new year to start.

To sum up this year, it was fun to see Brooke and Stevi as they are maturing, the Independence they were able to have because they are such good kids. It was great to see Jason enjoying an area I so love, especially when I know he really is only about motors and wheels and speed. I am seeing that Faith will probably always be Faith. We really like to visit her world, it seems so pristine as she flits, and twirls and listens to the fish.