Harold Summer

After the accident and his foot was all healed Harold went back on the mountain crew. These pictures are pretty amazing. I only know Harold but the scenery and activity look like a dream. The dreams of my grandfather Dick. He would have adored hearing stories like these and seeing what his great grandchildren have come to love. They have told me they felt close to him in these experiences. I am thankful they knew him in person to recognize that presence now as well. 

Each week a new group of 25-50 people comes to Jackson Hole and goes camping for 4 days with the crew. The scenery is beautiful still untamed and relaxing. There is no cell service and it's up to the young adults working there to ensure safety and enjoyment for the guests. 

Stronger draft teams are used in the mountin as its higher elevation and bigger pulls. 

Harold reported he hates sleeping in tents after a summer sleeping in the open. Anna had a tent but said solid walls feel too confining now. 

Someday Harold will finally get a dog of his own. He still loves animals and looks forward to permanence where he can have the things he always hoped for. 

He's also had the opportunity to fly with a cousin who has a few small airplanes. This cousin lets Harold take the controls some. The same cousin continues to teach get a job that affords the hobby not a hobby that demands a big job. I'm so thankful for the approach of this cousin. Harold has had such a good time working for him and going to fly with him. 

He attended a mission reunion I'm not sure who is pictured with him. 

He also worked the dinner adventure too driving wagons full of people up to the dinner venue visiting and teaching along the way. 

On the seat is a commemorative custom made canteen. This has been an ideal summer for him. The beauty and joy of young adulthood is making memories and growing your skills and contacts. I'm thankful for good places where they can stretch and prove their abilities to themselves and others. Life is good. 
 

Snaps of the kiddos

I sometimes find random pictures of the older kids. Aliza is on the left buried under chips. I asked why all the junk food? She said it was for the mountain crew which Anna and Harold worked on. She is so good at keeping track of everything and everyone. Each of them truly enjoys the responsibility and nature aspect of their job. Aliza that she is in the kitchen, and Anna and Harold out in the wide open spaces. 

Mark helped Merle and Alia vacuum after a large funeral last weekend. I love how he helps people do  more than they have done previously. He is patient and clever how he comes up with adaptations. They did a great job. 

I just love this group all gathered surly after church waiting for the next thing. We have a family testimony meeting on fast Sundays. In hopes this will teach the kids how to bear testimony and how to be comfortable sharing the thoughts of their hearts. After these Greg gave each father's blessings for the school year. That was tender and spiritual. Few give so many blessings in a row. The spirit is thick and Greg gets a peak into the divine worth of each of his children. I'm thankful he wanted a big family it has taught me much. 

Bruce had a very late birthday read late past the day and late at night. These are quick and my favorite dessert. After being so careful for weeks with my sugar intake I did freely eat these, no ice cream though, they were good but it was enough for a while. The changes though challenging are probably for the best and should be my new normal. Exercising twice a day, lots more vegetables, a lot less carbs just whole forms like potatoe, and or rice I actually feel pretty good with the changes. 

It's a constant fight to get the lawn mowed here. I have been threatening to just let the cows eat it, well when moving from one pasture to the next- rotational grazing works well!- they stopped for some munching on my 3 weeks tall grass. They nibbled it nicely and I took a picture to show the kids the possibilities. 

A picture of John from the most recent Zone conference. He just seems very comfortable with missionary life. I'm so thankful for that. 

And attempting to make enough peach jam for Reed and Bruce. Reed loves biscuits and jam is a must side dressing for hot biscuits. But with our big crew a jar of jam doesn't last through more than one round of biscuits and then some toast and jam- the kids favorite snack. Such problems to have I guess. 

We take for granted so much our health, our togetherness, our excess, and our opportunity to have and do what we want. I've been studying about the beginning of the persecution of the saints in Missouri and it is heartbreaking. One memoir recounted they left all their possessions and 100 freshly canned jars of blackberries. The historian today said she calculated they had spent 1 million work hours in two years in Missouri to then be driven out by a mob with guns and very ill intentions and actions. 1 million hours! At a time when they had given all they had to continue building the money alone would have been devastating let alone all the time they spent building what they hoped would be a peaceful place to come to know God. We work a lot here and I know that would be very hard on our resolve to have to leave what we had invested so much into. Because it is our canning season and we are filling jars left and right this really struck a cord with me. So today I am thankful that my family and I will 95% sure eat what we have preserved in our home safely and securely in the next few years. The gift of abundance is one we have always enjoyed. Life is good. 
 

What we like

This summer Reed found a good surprise he had two hens that were willing to sit on eggs. Those good birds worked for about 2 months hatching a total of 20 chicks. 

Each day he would get a new one or two to add to the collection. These brought big smiles to his face. I don't love animals in the house but when they are small and helpless I make an exception. This is one of Reed's favorite things-baby chickens. 

This is another but more stressful activity Reed enjoys he's number 65, and is much more worrisome for me to watch. He is enjoying the football season. 

I like science. For days then weeks we watched three garden spiders weave intricate webs and help control the fly population in our kitchen. They were fast workers and so interesting to watch. 

Then this new spider showed up in my most used cooking corner and I decided it was time for the spiders to go. It looked more frightening or poisonous than the others. With a quick suck of my vacuum they were all gone. Although their wonderous webs took much more to erase. 

 Addie lovest his. It's hard to think about this being her last year, her last races etc etc. But it is good to be involved and to challenge yourself. We are thankful for many different interests and memories to share. Time flies quickly. I don't wish time to stop or even slow down I'm thankful for a place to keep a simple record because when I look back I am wisked back to those days and stages. It's a grand thing to raise kids to have them develop and become in my home. Mostly I feed them, clean-up and listen and watch adding comments occasionally. Oh and drive them places. We are very blessed. 

Athlete of the week

Addie and her good friend Duncan at the end of his record breaking run at the annual splash and dash. These two are genuine friends and supporters. They share a common drive to win and improve they also love the running lifestyle. 

Addie has a habit of waiting at the finish line to congratulate other participants. These pictures just capture the essence of who Addie is as a runner. 

 She had this nice write up to finish out her first week of back to school. This is a local news source making use of local skills and reporting on the kids in the community. Addie doesn't like attention or fanfare but she has developed into a very considerate sportsman. I love that. I tell my kids I'm not as concerned with your wins or losses but I really care how you act throughout the experience. Here's to another week of running and two big races. We will enjoy seeing Addie in action. We are blessed. 

Summer

We endured the heat for the annual 24th of July celebration. A final perk to the nights action was some horseback rides by all the kids who wanted to. Sheriff Wolfe retired and is now just Bishop Wolfe. He is generous, kind, and patient. The kids were more than delighted to end their evening with a quick walk around the parking lot on a horse. I only took pictures of Alia but each took a turn minus Addie, Reed, and Mark. 

At home after the event the kids enjoyed the noodle horses they had crafted at the event. They also really enjoy the magnet collection we have. They spend hours crafting pens and alleyways and buildings for the horse and cow collection. 

 It is tricky to maneuver around their building sometimes I try and sometimes I don't. The nice benefit of magnets is they are easy to reassemble. I'm thankful for the companionships of siblings. These guys always have someone to play and imagine with. I love that part of summer, the time part. Lia has been sad to not have as much time to play, her mind misses the freedom. She is enjoying school though and finding new adventures to enliven her days. Bruce rarely gets to play anymore but when he does he is the boss. Its good to watch the growth each year and to see them take on new responsibility and confidence from being more capable. Another summer in the books now on to harvest and winter cows where there pen construction ideas will be put to use. Life is good. 

Family Reunion Wedding Trip

This year the family reunion was a little different. The weekend was highlighted by the wedding of my nephew. We had the chance to get an almost all together family picture. It's going to be very rare to get everyone in a picture for many years. Unfortunately some people don't think about that and we just got what we got. It used to be crying kids now it's grumpy older kids. Or they are sick of being poked and prodded by older siblings. Lotsa love and annoyance growing up in a family. 

The day started with the teenagers going to the temple first. 

The crowd gathered outside after the ceremony to congratulate the new couple. 

Andrea was so excited to see Harold. She loves her older siblings quite a bit. I'm thankful she remembers them. 

Later that day we helped with the reception preparing food and doing dishes. Addie spent time helping Aunt Sheryl scope ice cream after she had decorated for the reception and cleaned up numerous times. 

The end of the reception was a dance dads and daughters, and many other configurations. It was fun Greg and I enjoy dancing but between lots of daughters and few occasions its years between our opportunities to dance together. 

The youngest two enjoyed plenty of rides and time with Harold. He danced some too. We enjoyed watching his skills. It was so good to be together with our older kids. They round out our family experience for sure. 

Finally the couple cut the cake fed each other, and were free to go. 

 After a long day and a sweet nights rest we headed to church then a quick visit to Aunt Kristi's. The kids were good and patient while we visited quickly. 

It was a quick time to go away from our daily responsibilities. It was a good to take a break together and enjoy some different experiences. Time goes so quickly seeing the older ones briefly this summer reminds me to enjoy the time with the ones still at home. I'm thankful for each of these strong willed kiddos sitting on that couch. We are truly blessed to have healthy, mostly happy, hard working kiddos. They fill our world. 

Labor Day

Labor day was created by labor unions as a day of rest for workers a day to celebrate their work efforts. In our house any day off from school is crammed full of labor trying to get all the things done we do in our family. From farming, fence building, laundry, cleaning, to canning these days are precious in the amount we can get completed. This labor day we canned beautiful peaches. These girls are such a good crew. I'm so pleased with their abilities when they get off the couch and stop reading they are really impressive! 

After peaches we started donuts. A football player asked me before school started if I would bring donuts. Labor day allowed me to have many extra hands to help. Donuts are a team project especially when making enough for a lot of people. We shared with about 70 people. We made around 250 donuts. 

Aliza gifted us knitting needs which we really liked using to dip and glaze many donuts. 

Addie requested chocolate and Lia loves coconut. Working to control my blood sugar means no snacking or taste testing. I had to rely on these girls knowledge of what tastes right. When I finally got a small taste the girls were correct in their cooking. I'm thankful for opportunities like these when they can all see what the process looks like and how to make donuts happen. 

A few weeks earlier a niece had hosted a donut party at her house. I know other families share donuts on special occasions an aunt hosts a large donut party over halloween. She makes over 1000 and at least 15 varieties. It's interesting to consider the ripple effect of families who share skills and traditions with those around. How the multiplication factor is real in families. That's something that keeps puncturing my thoughts as I really ponder how we grow and continue to be in harmony as our children become adults and move on from the confinement of home. Where the line of independence and unity are. And what is reasonable in such a large group. To me it is a sign of respect and honor to share traditions with others to expand in your own space. 

Most of the peaches and fruit cocktail we did in the morning. We were down to only one burner so processing took a while. 

Addie is my run around helper and she picked this pile of raspberries. Andrea helped make the jam. This is Greg, John, and Addie's favorite jam. I'm very happy with how my raspberry plants have grown this year hopefully next year we will have lots to make lots of jam. The plants have really spread and we have enjoyed a few handfuls here and there. The promise of gardening is alive and well- Next year will be even better!

She also went and picked pears with Bruce and Lia. These were free. We are still waiting on them to ripen but they look promising. 

The box of peaches Bruce reluctantly picked while Addie picked raspberries. Bruce and Reed love peach jam. I told him buddy these are for you you shouldn't have been so skimpy on your effort because that means less jam. 

By the end of the day after the donuts were distributed among neighbors, players, coaches, and some families we still had lots. Millie took a tray full to her class the next morning and Merle has been enjoying a donut out of the freezer as he pleases this week. The nice part of industry is having what you want, enjoying what you can do, and living like Kings most of the time. I'm thankful for a lifestyle of work that gives us confidence and peace knowing all is safely gathered in. We live in an abundant valley with many kind people. We are blessed.