Sunday May 21

It was cute this morning when Dad came home and Port woke up, he immediately went to cuddle with Daddy :)

Made my heart happy.

We've been missing daddy time around here with him teaching this class he is doing!

Church was great today.

It was our Ward conference.

There was a lot of talk about temple attendance, and prayer.

We had a great YW/YM combined lesson where Pres. Fujimoto spoke about the years theme, Ask in Faith.....

He us always so entertaining to start with and then he has you hooked when he gets down to business.

One thing that stuck out to me is that when you ask for something in your prayer.....you have to be ready to hear his answer....not waiting for the answer you are wanting to hear....

He told a story of a couple who had 4 small children.

The mother had an aneurysm and was in a coma.

He prayed fervently every day that she would wake form the coma.

And each day....she didn't wake up.

He said that he prayed like that for a week.

Finally on the 7th day, he changed his prayer.

He prayed to the Lord and said "Heavenly Father, if you need her more than I need her here, then you can take her."

The next day she woke up.

What changed?

He had full Faith that whatever happened, would be what needed to happen.

He had Faith in the Lord's plan.

And he stopped asking for his specific purpose.....and gave it up, fully, to Heavenly Father.

I just loved the power in that story.

And the reminder it is to really think about what we are asking for......

Are we asking for something in such a way that we are kind of demanding the things WE want to happen, instead of having Faith and giving it to the Lord?

I know that I can do a better job with my prayers.....and I am thankful for the lesson we received today :)

After church, I went to the YCL meeting with Madi.

It is getting so close and we are very excited!

I still can't believe that Sister Burk has put together this camp in such a short period of time....and it will be fantastic!

The best part....we are using Personal Progress goals for the devotionals so the girls will leave camp with about 16 things checked off in their PP!

Pretty awesome!

After dinner we went to the Nielsen's house to celebrate Sierra's birthday.

It was such a nice day outside, the kids enjoyed playing out there.

Elsie and Sierra played games.

And the grown ups got to talk.

We got home a little later than we should have.....

It will be so nice when school is out and we can stay out looonggerrrrrr!!!!!!

Oh, and some big news!

Madi can touch her toes!!!!!!

Every night, during scripture study, she does her stretches.

This girl has always been very tight, and with her back problems, that has made things worse.

BUT......tonight she tried, and she can touch them!!!!!!

Yay!!!!!

Saturday May 20 (add pictures of dad)

Happy birthday today to Emmy!!!!!!!

We love you so much and we hope you had a fantastic day!!!

Wish we could be there with you!

*****

Madi went over to the Morgans house again for more yard work and mowing the lawn.

Cass got our lawn mowed and we got stuff done outside.

While doing yard work, I caught a cute picture of Elsie by the fence talking to Miley....it was pretty cute!

She was there talking with Miley for over 20 minutes!

Cassi made a little picnic outside for the boys and Elsie at lunchtime  :)

We visited with Eldon, Bubbles, Vern and Billy for quite a bit throughout the day.

I also bought a few plants today for my planter boxes.

I am excited to get stuff in there :)

I got some pretty pretty peony plants that I am really excited about!!!!

They are a crimson red color!

The boys helped Vern pull weeds with the bribe of me taking them to get snow cones.

Today was Madi's first day back on the job at the snow cone shack :)

So, after the boys ran some errands with Vern and Cassi did the chores, I took them all to get snow cones.

Then Cassi went babysitting and Madi went to hang out with friends.

Little ones watched a movie while I got a workout in this evening.

I didn't get one in early this morning, and, for my sanity, it felt like a good idea :)

Now I am just waiting for the big girls to get home.

*****

Dad had another busy day.

It was a Fire ops 101 day where politicians, news anchors, and VIPs from around the state got to come and experience a day in the life of a firefighter.

He had a fun day, but he is completely exhausted!

We are excited to see him tomorrow!!!!

Friday May 19 (add pictures of Dad)

Today was the long awaited Rendezvous for Elsie bug!!!!

We knew it would be a long and tiring day....but we were very excited!

We could not have picked better weather than we got!

It was awesome!

The last few years that they have done this, it got rained out :(

I am so glad it turned out good this year!

Lots of fun places to rotate through and learn new things about Idaho history.

Along with 3,000 other 4th graders from the school district!

It is a massive undertaking that went fantastically well!

We left a little after 9, and got home a little after 3.

Needless to say, Elsie bug was quite tired!

About midway through, there was a Atlatl throwing station, and she didn't want to throw, so I gave her legs a quick stretch and massage.

I think that helped her a bit.

We went through 14 stations, including lunch.

I was so impressed how well everything ran.

And Elsie just had a blast!

This evening both Madi and Cassi had birthday parties.

Port, Max, Graham, Elsie and I took Cassi out to Aydo's birthday party.

After dropping her off, I took the little ones to McDonalds......and then we went to Fred Meyer for a bit of shopping.

They all had a lot of fun together and maybe I gave them way too much grease and sugar!!!!!

By the time we came home I had enough time to do the outside chores (while the little ones enjoyed the beautiful weather) and then get the little ones in jammies before we headed out to pick up Cassi again.

I am very excited to go to bed tonight.......

****

Dad had another busy day on the mountain.

I need him to send me pictures so I can add them.

He is on shift these next two days and I know he is just exhausted after this first week of class, but I also know he loves it :)

 I just loved how Elsie used her jacket on her head to shade it like a hat.....She is next to the kid with the blue backpack.....she is wearing a red shirt with a checkered jacket on her head.

Pretty ingenious :)

 Ms. Sanders hatchet throwing.

Thursday May 18 (add pictures)

I helped in the office today.

Dad did his class out on the cliffs today.

And he got his poor neck really sunburned :(

After I got back from the school, my VT came over.

Then I had my dirt delivered!!!!

Yay!!!!

I also painted the house underneath the deck.

Just a brown color to help it be more camouflage.

I think it looks good :)

I went and helped Justin and Sherrie finish moving some stuff in their house.

Yay...they are in their house now!

It will be fun to have them close by!

When Dad got home, he started filling my boxes with the dirt :)

And the kiddos all got a ride on Miley.

She's a good horse and the kids are loving her.

I made breakfast for dinner and then I had to head out for back to back meetings.

One for camp and then one with the stake YW.

So I just got back at about 9:30.....

Dad went and helped another fire guy (who is building across from Justin) on his house.

So it was a late night for everyone.

I hope everyone sleeps good!

Elsie and I have a Rendezvous field trip tomorrow!!!!!

Very exciting!!!!

Wednesday May 17

The little ones had scouts and activity days this evening.

Then we had family dinner.

The big girls and I had YW tonight.

We were combined with the YM and we played Foosball.

I think the kiddos had a lot of fun.

I know a lot of kids got hurt.....but I think everyone walked out on their own accord :)

I didn't do much today.

It was a 'get-the-laundry-done' kind of day for me.

Dad was out teaching his class again today.

I get my dirt delivered tomorrow!!!!!

I am very excited :)

Tuesday May 16

Another uneventful day.

Dad left to teach his class when the big girls left for school.

I helped in the office when I took the little ones to school.

After that I went to the post office.

Cassi has a little Garmin (that counts your steps and stuff) and it has been growing spots on it's screen....

Anyway, I was supposed to send it back in last week......and finally got to it today!

When I got home I had time to clean up the morning before school tornado before I left to pick up Madi because she and I had a dentist appointment.

It was fun because Jenni walked in while we were there for an appointment with Henley :)

So that was a fun little surprise!

By the time the appointment was over, Madi only had 20 minutes left in school, so I let her come home.

While I was at the dentist, the school called and said that Elsie had fallen going between the heath portable and class and got her knees and bum all wet and wondered if I could bring a change for her.

So when I got home, I grabbed her some clothes and took them.

I need to remember to pack extra on wet rainy days!

Elsie had speech after school and she did a great job.

I had made some chicken enchiladas for dinner, so we all ate as a family once everyone was back home.

It has rained and drizzled all day.

After dinner we had quite the hail storm come in with lots of thunder and lighting.

Everyone worked on homework and chores and it was kinda a chill night :)

Poor Madi coughed so much last night!!!!!!

I am hoping she gets some good sleep tonight.......then maybe I can get some good sleep :)

She has had this cough for several weeks.

Dang girl can never kick a cough quickly!

I am thinking I need to take her in, just to see if there is anything they can do for her, since it is affecting her sleep.

Poor girl needs some sleep!

Monday May 15

We got a new farm friend today :)

Well, actually an old friend.

It is Miley!!!!

We horse-sat her a few years ago and now she is back.

Elsie is so very excited!

Cassi is pretty excited too!

She's the one learning all the things you need to do for a horse :)

*****

Not much else of importance happened today.

Dad was gone all day for his first day of teaching a two weeks class.

Elsie had PT and she was a rock-star and worked hard the whole time!

Yay!

I just cleaned the house all day because it looked like a bomb went off in here!

Sunday May 14

Happy Mother's day!

You know...I think I always expect today to be the most perfect day with no fighting, no messes and everyone just takes care of my every need without complaint.

And it never turns out that way.......

BUT.....maybe that is not what is is supposed to be about anyway.

I know my kids love me.

I definitely become a spoiled brat on Mother's Day, and I think I need to change that :(

I had some not proud mothering moments today because of fighting or frustrations.....

But at the end of today, as I think back over the day, it was a pretty great day.

I just need to chill.

Things aren't gonna go perfectly......they will never go perfect!

Throwing a fit about it just makes it so I am unable to see the great nuggets throughout the day.

So yes, there was fighting, disappointments, and frustrations today.....

BUT, the kids love me and they each made a point today to let me know that.

I am grateful for the chance to have them in my life....the chance to try and be a better person for their sake.

I have grown so much as a mother over the years.....I have gained some great mother habits, but I also think I have lost some of the magical mother stuff as the kids grow older.

I don't want to lose that stuff, so I am gonna try to get that back :)

I used to be so care free.

The last few weeks I have tried to make a bit more of an effort to be silly and dance and sing and make them smile more because they don't need a grumpy mom breathing down their necks ALL the time :)

So I am trying....

For the last half hour of church the Men had the woman and YW come in the gym and they fed us cake.

Then they snuck in the primary kids on the stage and they sang to us.

It was the cutest thing :)

After church, the kiddos took some picts with me.

The girls are the ones who wanted it.....I kinda had to force the boy to do it :)

I thought it was fun!

The big girls made dinner for me.

They had asked to make me breakfast.....but I am not a big breakfast eater, so I told them to make dinner instead :)

They did an awesome job making a modified beef enchilada that was sooo yummy!!!!

I need to have them cook more often!

Then this evening we went to the fire station with the other families where the guys had made some desserts :)

Then we had a fun little tour of the new bucket truck and we got to go 80 feet in the air!!!!!

The pictures don't do it justice!

It was high!!!!

So lots of fun little golden nuggets through out the day :)