A Week With My Parents!

So I have been out enjoying the summer instead of blogging about it, and I have a lot to catch up on. Last Saturday my parents came, and we were oh so excited to see them. It was so fun to have them here for a whole week. That in itself is no small miracle, that my father took a week off of work to come to Montana is amazing! I kept him busy the whole time, which was probably the only thing that kept him here all week. He never once mentioned going home early. Everywhere we looked though, there was another project ready for us.




We started off Monday morning hauling away the rest of the gravel out of the back portion of our yard. I had the kids hauling gravel all week before my parents even got here. Addy was grateful to be the babysitter instead of the gravel hauler once my parents got here. They were all pretty good sports. I did have to remind them that their hour of hauling gravel was nothing compared to what little pioneer children had to do at their age. We got the gravel moved, but there was a play house in the way that was such an eye sore, so what does any normal person do? I don't know I'm not normal I decided, so I enlisted the help of my dad, and we tore it
down, which was an awful lot of work. It took all day.
We used the flagstone rocks that were in the gravel, and made a rock pathway. My dad wore a blister in the palm of his hand because he shoveled so much.

If you look really closely at this chicken, (her name is CrackJaw) She has a hairlip, my mom says. Her beak is totally crooked. She needs braces. I wonder how she survives, she is so funny looking, but she has no idea that she is any diffrent from the others, and I have actually seen her eat, so she just might make it.


Much to the disappointment of my kids, the 24th of July is not celebrated here. They think that's grounds for moving back to Utah. This year though, the three wards that meet in our building got together and had a pioneer celebration at the park. There were swimming and games, and the kids had a great time...no fireworks though, and no parade, but still fun.

I made a bunch of flower clips for Mara and Emma. Caleb thought it would be fun to put them all in Mara's hair. Have a flower! She looked stinkin' cute though.
I was amazed how much I was able to get done with Addy here, and then with my parents here... Wow! we did the work in one week that it would have taken me a month of Sundays to do. I am so grateful that they came. We got screens replaced in the sunroom(even though my dad cut off the end of his finger in the process) We got bushes trimmed and grass planted. Gravel hauled and leveled out in the driveway, freezers and fridges scoured. It was great!


I was feeling bad that we didn't do anything "fun" while Greyson was here, but they managed to keep themselves entertained. One day I found them "swimming" in the goats trough. They are "retards" in the dearest form of the word. I couldn't believe that they would actually get in there, but then I remembered... They do come from my loins, and as much as I hate to admit it, that is totally something I would have done as a kid. Maybe not the retarded pose...okay the retarde pose too.




Before my parents came, I told Addy,Sam and Noah that they could go to a movie since they helped me tend when I was at the birth center. Well, it turned into Ryan taking all the kids to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth." They loved it! It was 3D, so they all came home sporting 3D glasses. They all had to tell me all about it. Ryan really liked it to. I loved it because I got to put the girls down for a nap and clean the house in peace...and take a quick nap.
I am so grateful for family! What a great plan to get to come to earth in a group that helps each other out. I truly don't know what I would do without my family, immediate and extended. Ryan and I are totally blessed to have his parents and mine! Thanks Mom and Dad for all the work this week!