Amber's new job

Among her many other jobs, such as sewing, bookkeeping, and tutoring, Amber has been substitute teaching at the middle school and high school. Over the summer, the high school asked if she'd be a long-term sub this year. She'd been thinking about teaching anyway and was considering it as a test run to see if she'd like it, when they came back with an offer for a full-time job.

The school year was rapidly approaching, so she had to decide quickly and after thinking it over decided to say yes. She scrambled to get all the necessary paperwork figured out. She'll have to complete her teaching certificate during the school year. We'll have lots of adjusting to do as a family, but I'm excited for her.

The boys and I recently went to the high school to help her set up her classroom.

She's going to be teaching Algebra 3, which sounds fancy but is just the math class for upperclassmen who didn't go into advanced math. She could teach any of the subjects, so I'm sure she'll do great.

Removing the trampoline

The trampoline has been falling apart for a while now. Springs have been coming off, and the base is rusting away. Nobody uses it much anymore, so we decided to get rid of it. Damon and Miles did most of the work.

And I took apart the final ring they couldn't get apart.

It had a good life, lasting 9 years from the day we got it, through birthday parties, ice, and even chickens.

Roper Reunion Trip - 08 - Quartz Mining

It was raining in the morning, so we weren't in a great hurry to leave, since our plan was to do quartz mining. By the time we got to the quartz mine, it was clear and dry, so we got our bags and started digging.

We all found some quartz, but not as many good ones as last time. The kids were done after a couple of hours.

The parents, however, had to be persuaded to leave.

It was only 3pm by that point, so with only 6.5 hours to get home, we decided to just drive all the way home that night. The kids watched lots of G.I. Joe ("Calamity most foul!"). We ordered a pizza on the road, picked it up in Texarkana, and ate as we drove, making it home safely before 10pm.

Roper Reunion Trip - 07 - More Ozark National Forest

Our last hike of the trip was the combined figure-8 trails of Kings Bluff and Pedestal Rocks (4.75 miles). We started with Kings Bluff, which has a large cliff with a tiny waterfall.

Then it leads to an area where the rocks have been broken apart (sometimes into pedestals), so we were walking over cracks and gaps with significant distance to the ground below.

The pattern continued for Pedestal Rock trail, and we found lots of fun places to explore.

Towards the end, we found a massive pedestal (which we assumed was the one the trail is named after) and a natural arch.

Eventually we ran out of trail, and the kids ran out of energy, and we hiked back to the van.

We drove out on some very unpaved roads, but made it safely to Russellville, AR where we stayed for the night.

Roper Reunion Trip - 06 - Ozark National Forest

Since we were in the area, I made everyone do one more day of hiking, and Ozark National Forest did not disappoint. We drove back into the forest, and took many miles of unpaved roads to get to our first hike, the Hawksbill Crag and Whitaker Point trail. It was a little over 4 miles, and led along a ridgeline with huge rocks everywhere and great views.

Of course, when we got to the furthest part of the there-and-back trail, it started to rain. We found a cool cave and waited there for a bit, hoping it would only be a brief shower.

The trail continued past the official "end", so we went for another half mile or so to see if it led to anything interesting (it didn't). Olivia was not happy about it and started back on her own. The rest of us eventually caught back up with her, and not long afterwards, the sporadic rain turned into a downpour.

Our trails had become streams, and we were completely drenched by the time we got back to the van. Luckily, we brought lots of towels for the reunion, so we were able to towel off (it reduced to a sprinkle as soon as we got back, of course) and each lunch in the van.

Roper Reunion Trip - 05 - Devil's Canyon

We drove to the next town over, called Alma, for church. It seemed appropriate, but the building was under construction and the ward was not very friendly. After church we changed clothes and drove into Ozark National Forest. It is not developed like a national park. To get to the Devil's Canyon hike, we were instructed to "turn in the gravel driveway with the mailbox and bulldog statue". We turned at the bulldog statue and followed the gravel road until we found a small clearing we could park in.

Unfortunately, by this time it was raining heavily, so we sat in the van for about a half hour. It started to clear up a little, so I decided to just go for it. Olivia stayed in the car, but everyone else wanted to come. We dodged the big puddles on the first part of the trail, which was a road that led to a few campsites.

The trail led to some beautiful views, especially with the mist and clouds from the recent rain.

After the canyon, we hiked through the woods to get to a cool waterfall basin.

It ended up being a 3 mile hike, and we barely had any rain the whole time. We drove to Clarksville, AR for the night, which is closer to the hikes we had planned for the next day.

Roper Reunion Trip - 04 - Devil's Den State Park

We drove from the Walmart Museum straight to Devil's Den State Park. It was a winding road down into some really interesting terrain. We stopped at the Visitor's Center for a bathroom break, then went on the eponymous Devil's Den Trail. It was a little over a mile and had lots of interesting rock features, including the ring of rocks that we assumed was the devil's den.

We found lots of crevices and rock walls to explore.

After that we crossed the creek and did the 4-mile Yellow Rock Trail.

The main feature of this hike is the panoramic view from the top of a cliff.

There was an additional turnoff to go see the "CCC Overlook", so of course we did it. While the Conservation Corps did a fabulous job building it, the was no view because of the trees, so it was a little disappointing.

We left the park and stayed the night in Van Buren, AR.

Roper Reunion Trip - 03 - Walmart Museum

On our way back from Missouri, we stopped in Bentonville, AR to see the Walmart Museum.

On the lower floor they had a bunch of exhibits about the different time periods in Walmart's history.

Upstairs they had some interactive exhibits, like a box stacking game and a disappointing "hologram" of Bill Walton that could answer questions (but only if it was a pre-selected question).

At the end they have an ice cream shop, so we got ice cream cones and ate them in the town square in front of the museum.

Roper Reunion Trip - 02 - Roper Reunion

We were one of the first to arrive at the reunion rental on Monday night and we all greeted each other as families arrived.

Grandpa grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, then Damon and Miles and I were in charge of s'mores, so we got the fire going that evening.

On Tuesday morning, I was in charge of taking the family picture.

The reunion theme this year was about the in-laws. Grandma had a game where three people all claimed to be the originator of a funny story, and everyone had to guess who was telling the truth. After lunch, we watched videos, skits, and presentations about each of the in-laws.

We made a video about my childhood starring Miles as me.

Fizz had her baptism in the swimming pool there, then the kids all took Mean Uncle Jake's swim test around the dock in preparation for all the water activities and somebody picked up the boat, but the boating didn't really get started until Wednesday.

The boat went out all day, and in between people did crafts and puzzles.

Thursday was more of the same until Grandpa's push-up challenge in the afternoon.

That night, all the adults went out to dinner.

Friday was shopping day. The older kids went out on their own while the little ones went for ice cream.

Olivia and Abby ran a Jeopardy game that night about the in-laws.

On Saturday morning I came upstairs to find Grandma had passed out and cracked her head on the floor. Jake took her to the ER to get stitched up while the rest of us cleaned up the house and closed out the rental.

It was a frightening moment, but we heard on our drive back that her doctor said she would be fine.

Grandma wasn't the only one to take a fall, however. Here is a compilation video of all the wipe-outs on the lake.