104 feet up

The kids were so excited when we stopped at the fire station on the way to grandma Castleberry's for Sunday dinner. Even though our task was a quick "hello" and a sunglasses delivery, we ended up staying 20 minutes while Bj secured them in the bucket and gave them an aerial view of West Valley City. Carson had a white knuckle grip the whole time, ash was the official photographer of the expedition, and AJ was the honorary ladder operator. Bj would do a better job of explaining the highs and lows of the adventure, but the kids relayed it to me as, "So FuN!" 

After we said goodbye to Bj we chatted about the ladder and I challenged the kids to draw a religious parallel with their bucket experience. They impressed me with the following: 

The ladder is like our path and the bucket is like our final goal of living with Heavenly Father. Sometimes there are bumps as the ladder extends and it can sway and be dangerous but if we are harnessed and secure and have faith in our operator we can experience the joy that comes at the end of the journey. The bumps and swaying are things like trials and temptation and the harness and safety measures are things that keep us spiritually safe, like prayer, scriptures, and going to church. 

I was so proud of my kids for being brave enough to make the attempt, but even more proud at their ability to learn from their experiences.