Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad my kids have ever had!! :)

No really! We love you more than you could ever know, and just to prove it, we thought of all the things you do for us that make us smile

Sam: You tease him beyond belief and he needs that. You wrestle him, and you sit on him when he needs a little attitude adjustment

Noah: You understand his need to be at home, you tease him and stay up watching movies with him at night.

Caleb: You take the junk he dishes out and dish it right back out to him, you tease him, and laugh at all his silly jokes.

Max: You read with him and let him sit next to you even when you would like a little personal space. You get the ball and play with him, cause that is what he needs.

Mara: lets face it, God gave her to you....she is your special project, since heaven knows I struggle with her independance. I know you can communicate with her in just the way she needs.

Emma: She makes you laugh, and you read endlessly to her. You let her sit on your lap and ask you funny questions that really there is no answer to.

Annalee: Yep, she is another that is in love with you, and only needs you to walk into the room for her face to light up!

Hope you know how truly blessed we are to have you!

Happy Father's Day

2012

 

Seriously....can Sam not ever be normal in a picture...this is up for wierd family photos!
That's us! Sam loving a cat and Noah being ridden by the baby!

Next year, let's don't spend father's day in the ER deal??!!

Cub Scout Day Camp

The "little boys" had cub scout day camp all this week!

They had so much fun! They came home each night exhausted!

They spent each night sleeping out in the tent in our backyard and then waking up early to head back to camp again.

Oh yeah, and they got summer haircuts too!

Max couldn't quit grinning, I love his smile, and Caleb kept having Annalee rub his head. She would laugh and laugh and laugh, and then he would do it again!

Did I mention I LOVE SUMMER?

Mother Knows Best







Ever had that moment when you are doing what you have prayerfully determined is right for you and your family and then someone calls you on it?

And you are left shaken to the bone for a moment and wondering if the choice you have made is truly the best, or if someone else might just know more about what is right for your family than you do?

I have always swam upstream. I have prayerfully made each decision regarding our family with much thought, discussion, and option weighing with my husband, and even when the decisions prove to be so right, and someone judges, it throws me for a loop. Why? I am sure the Lord gets so tired of me reasking for confirmation of the answer I already know is right because some HUMAN questions my answer from a loving HEAVENLY FATHER.

I think the reason that I ask and re-ask is that I truly want to do what is best for all my kiddos. I realize that I swim upstream most of the time. I don't let society(or doctors) tell me that they know more about my children than I know. I like simple. I don't follow the norms, I realize that, but I honestly, prayerfully, whole-heartedly seek that which is the best, and if I know another way to be best, I can't just follow the pack.

After an episode like this, it get over it real quick, I am really good at getting over it because I KNOW that I KNOW what is best, it just frustrates me that I care at all.

I only write this because I wonder why we care so much about how others view us? I know I am not alone in this....or maybe I am.  How do you keep from letting what others think get to you?

Ahhhh! Summer!

You know it is summer when it is 8:00 at night and you just begin to think about dinner.

At the spur of the moment the kids decide to set up a tent to sleep in and a camp fire is started and dinner instantly becomes hotdogs and whatever you can find out of the garden (beet greens and radishes tonight). It is 9:00 before dinner is done, but that is okay because it is still light outside.

and the grins on their faces are bigger than the grand canyon...

And they laugh and laugh at the silliest things!

they beg you to sleep out there with them and promise not to tell stories that are too scary so you won't have to go inside.

big boys flex their muscles because they think they have them when they are wearing muscle shirts...

the warmth of the fire is just enough to take make you warm from the slight chill in the air!

and everyone smiles because dad can chill by the fire with them and laugh and tell stories and enjoy just being together, no matter how late, because there is no school in the morning! 

Ahhhhhh!! I love Summer!

Good -byes are so hard!

Our dear friend "tall trampoline" bit the dust on Monday.

You can see the huge chink of fram that is missing!

We have had the trampoline for over 10 years.

We are lost without that tramp.

You may look at the "small tramp" and wonder what I am moaping about, We still have one!

But we are spoiled and though all laughed at us for having two we wonder....

Whatever will we do with just one?

(seriously, I am not kidding, it was a must to have the big tramp for the rough housing and the little one for the littles...now...The fighting has already begun....Must.....Find......New......Tramp!

School's Out for Summer!

Don't ask what he is doing, or what he is wearing! I have no control!

actually for the last day of school, it was tank top day. So naturally he went PWT!

Mara's Kindergarten Graduation!

Eventful!

She was so sad I had her wear this dress that she bawled through the whole thing.

Didn't know it would be such a big deal. I totally ruined it.

had I known, I would have just let her wear her regular school clothes, but I thought she would want to dress up...still so much to learn about this mysterious daughter of mine...definately not like the boys who would just wear what I set out for them...and her hair....oh bother!

See, I had to put this in, proof that she lost it when they called her name!

Okay, see the grin...because she changed back into what she was originally wearing!

We will miss this lady so much! She was amazing for Noah, she is just an amazing teacher!

We claim her as our own, and will miss Mrs Winder immensely.

and look at how much they have grown since the beginning of the year!

Some thoughts tonight as I listen to the thunder and the rain pounding on my tin roof.

I spent today catching up on laundry using the new clothesline my parents put up for us when they came to visit....I don't know why, but hanging out clothes is so relaxing to me! I feel all is right in the world when the clothes are hanging on the line!

 

 

 

Ryan and I headed to Utah this last Sunday for a funeral. His Great Aunt Norma, his grandfather's youngest sister died pretty suddenly. We took Annalee and Emma with us in the subaru. By the time we hit Butte, we realized the A/C wasn't working, so it was a long hot trip down. It was really good to see Ryan's grandpa and grandma.
 Norma's funeral service left me thinking...I wonder what my kids will remember about me? Will they value the lessons I try to teach them? Will they think the sacrifices we make to have me stay home with them are worth it? and Do I try my best to be there for them, and love them unconditionally? I left feeling like I needed to improve, and motivated to do so! What a great life she lead, and what I will always remember most about her is her smile, she truly enjoyed life. She is an inspiration to me to try harder and be a little better.

So our subaru broke down on the way to the funeral, and we ended up driving my parents camry home...If it's not one thing it's another, I have become really good at rolling with the punches! While we were gone though, there was a tornado that touched down in Vaughn, the town next to us. Thankfully my dear friend Kris stayed with the kids until we got home.

Emma was cracking me up on the way home. She said mom,"porcupines smell good" I was slightly confused until I realized that she meant pine trees. I figured it out when she said "I love to smell their end of theirs branches." She is full of spunk! Full of it, and constantly keeps me on my toes. The older kids are always adking her who she is talking to....she talks to herself or her imaginary friend Julia, and sings at the top of her lungs all day. I love it!

I went out milking the other day, and left her inside tending Annalee since Annalee had just woken up and was truly enjoying her breakfast in her highchair. halfway through milking though, the barn door opened. "Emma I said, you can't leave Annalee inside alone." with her hands on her hips she said "mom!.....she is not alone, she is with Julia." I felt so much better knowing she was being watched by her imaginary friend.-not- It took much convincing to get her back inside. What a pill!

First Fruits...

I love eating out of the garden! Nothing is better!
Radishes are small, but who could resist stealing some while weeding them?

They aren't as hot when they are small! So even Emma was loving some today.

and Annalee!

But when she wanted to bite into an onion, I thought maybe I have been wrong all these years, and maybe this year I would enjoy biting into a raw green onion.

Oh no! I am not wrong, I still don't enjoy them raw...but cookied up in some stir fry...yes please!

I love this time of year!

Dog-gum Memorial Day!

Today, (since it rained two inches and snowed all weekend, and outside work was a negatory) Ryan and Caleb and Emma headed to Home Depot for a few supplies to work on the younger boys new bedroom. They parked next to a car that had a dog in it.

Caleb said "hey dad, I think that dog is a shih tzu."

Emma pipes in " I love shit shoes!"

Ryan laughed and laughed and then on our way home from FHE at the Crane's Caleb asked her what her favorite kind of dog was...

She instantly yells : I don't like shit sits! I love poooodles!"

You can't make stuff like that up.

All the boys laughed and laughed until their sides ached, and they all had to repeat what she had said. Finally I said "enough...no more repeating it" and Caleb says " I know...we should pray for forgiveness!"

Boy oh boy did we laugh hard tonight....

Minute to Win It! FHE style

Since we live so far away from family and the traditional Memorial Day Rememberances we are used to...(visiting Salt Lake Cemetery, Wellsville Cemetery and Cub River Cemetery) We had a celebration of Memorial day in a totally new style...

Ryan worked on the younger boys new bedroom, downstairs and then...

Spent the night at our friends the Crane's playing Minute-to Win-It FHE style!

We had so much fun with the balloons! They had major static cling and it was hard to even put them down when you wanted to!

First game see who can get the most ballons stuck to your team member the fastest...hurry up, you only have one minute!

Second game: Who can keep their balloon in the air for a whole minute?

Third game: blow paper cups off the table using only the air from your balloon.

We had a great time!

Happy Family Home Evening and Happy Memorial Day!