It was worth it!

A Saturday where we stay home and organize the house. A little boring, but it needs to be done. I was bummed that it didn't work out to go to the Ogden Temple Open House. It would have been a great thing for us to do with the kids. 

Doug came home from out in the fields and said, "I can have the rest of the day off. Let's go." In an hour and a half we were on the road heading to Utah.

The 2 hour drive and the long wait was so worth it to have the wonderful feeling of having your family with you in the House of The Lord. Watching Brigham and Silas walk hand in hand and Brigham telling me in the Celestial room that his heart felt warm, and just feeling the joy and spirit of families are forever is the best feeling in the whole world! I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness for us.

It was also fun to see my childhood best friend and enjoy her sweet hospitality as she let us stay the night. Thank you, Sarah!

Also, enjoying being with family today as we gathered together after Dean gave his belated home coming talk in Honeyville. I really enjoyed being with my family and talking and laughing. 

This spontaneous trip was totally worth it!

Caterpillars, Cuties, and Corn

Caterpillars: We have had these fuzzy black caterpillars all over lately. We caught two of them and put them in a jar. Brigham could take a show and tell on Friday as long as it started with one if the letters they worked on for the week. Well C is for caterpillars. So he got to show his class something fuzzy and fun for his first show and tell for kindergarten. 

Cuties: I love it when on the weekends Brigham gets up and decides he wants to make us breakfast in bed. He is getting to be a professional toast maker. He made us toast and got out yogurt and granola. Silas is all too happy to be his side kick as long as he gets to play in the butter. This time Brigham also wanted to draw us a picture; it was really sweet. 

When Adam had his yogurt for breakfast, he decided it would make a good hair gel....or maybe he just wanted an excuse to take a bath.

Corn: We have been loving the corn in our garden this year. So sweet and yummy. All of the boys do a really good job at gnawing down their cob to nothing.

 Yesterday we decided visit the local farmers market and Brigham saw someone selling th Mexican corn. You know the one with the white cheese and chilli powder? He really wanted to get one. I told him I would make some from our corn. That's what I did tonight and it was delicious!

Puddles!

What do you do when it rains nearly every day in August? That's crazy! But it left something that my boys just couldn't resist. Something that thrilled and chilled them to the bone! Big muddy puddles!  

Silas and Adam had the time of their lives tromping through the water, jumping and splashing, and getting soaked through. All their clothes were wet and muddy. They were slushing and squishing around with their boots full of water. 

So, you ask me why would I allow my kids to get soaked, muddy, and cold? Well, for one simple reason: the best smiles in the whole world! :)

Big Sister Close By

The most awesome thing has happened this last week! My big sister, Jamie moved just ten minutes away from me!!! All of my siblings have lived in Utah and I was the only one in Idaho until now. I never I thought any of my siblings would live by me. This is like a dream come true! 

It's been fun to see her several times the last week.  We went to a baseball game together with our families and it was just fun to be around them. We got to the game right when it was done raining, watched an hour or two of baseball and as we left it started to sprinkle and then when we were safe in out cars it down poured. I was amazed at how awesome it was that we didn't get wet.

Can't wait to have more adventures with my sister!

Kindergarten Kraziness

I can't believe Brigham is in kindergarten now!!! He was so excited! He woke up early and came upstairs already dressed with the biggest, cutest smile on his face. He even made his bed.

He said he was nervous to get on the bus, but as I watched him get on he stepped up on the bus confidently with a smile. 

I have felt really emotional with feelings of pride, grattitude, love, and the reality that my oldest is growing up! I have held the tears back so far, but who knows what will make the water works turn on because it could spill out any time.

I love my sweet Brigham and I am so proud if the cute little kindergartener he is!!!

I needed the rain

All week there have been thunder storms and rain showers. A garden party was cancelled, grain cutting post-poned, and kids having to play inside.

And I am so grateful for this rain!!! This rain meant for me that my husband who was supposed to be gone all week, was able to be home with us for a good amount if time. It meant that I was able to go on a date with him!!! It also meant that I could slow down and make it to the temple! 

It meant that Adam could stay home and nap because daddy was home; while I could take Brigham and Silas to a relief society meeting at an assisted living center where they could sing, "I am a Child of God" for some women whose hearts needed to hear children sing. 

It meant we received moisture that was needed in this dry snake river plains. 

We are truly blessed. Sometimes our blessings come unexpectedly packaged as little black rain clouds.

Family Time at Jensen's Grove

It was such a nice relaxing Saturday to be able to spend time with our little family at Jensen's grove. We played their 9 hole disc golf course and then we jumped in the water. 

Brigham had just finished his first swimming lessons and he has learned well how to go under the water and hold his breath. He swam everywhere with his life jacket on and even jumped from the dock so that he was totally immersed in the water before he came back up. Then he helped Dad make a track for our toy boat to travel down as they poured water into it sending it afloat.

Silas and Adam had fun running a little ways into the water and then back to the beach. Silas wanted to build sand castles and then squash them. Adam wanted to keep getting water and dumping it on my legs. We had a great time!

Later that day I got to go golfing with Doug, my father-in-law, and Shayla. That was enjoyable to me because it was more relaxed and no one was pushing us to hurry. I was able to get some better drives and chips. 

What a good day! I need to have more days like this one!

Trek and Hike

Last Thursday was Pioneer Day and we actually celebrated it here! I organized a one mile trek for the kids in our ward who wanted to join us. It was a success! We had we had 18 kids and five moms join us for our adventure. 

I found this book called, "Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked" and I used that to teach the kids along the way. We stopped to learn about how the pioneers used water and where they got their water as I handed them all water bottles. We learned that the children helped with chores and one chore was to gather berries, so I had he kids gather fruit snacks that I had laid out earlier. We learned about some pioneer games and toys and played a couple. I think they liked "hop, skip, jump" the best. Then they made the choice for the last little stretch if they wanted to take off their shoes and walk barefoot like the pioneers did. I think they really enjoyed it and learned a little too!

On Saturday, we went on a fun hike up to Aldous lake near Kilgore, Idaho. It was 1.3 mile one way. It was beautiful. Brigham walked the whole way, both ways (2.6 miles!) Silas walked about half the time, being carried by piggy back or in grandpa's arms. Adam got to ride the whole way on daddy's back in a nice child-carrying backpack. We tried to fish a little, but didn't try too hard to get anything. It was nice to have a picnic table up by the lake to eat our lunch. We are happy we joined grandma and grandpa bitter, aunt Sheryl, and Patricia for an enjoyable family outing!