FFA banquet

The annual FFA banquet came and went with the rush of the last days of school. The officers began reciting their position parts. 

Reed received his chapter degree. 

Honorary FFA members were inducted. The Thomas Family made a generous donation after the father of the family passed away last fall. 

Harold came to town and immediately got his hands on Jake. Jake is a good sport and enjoys being up high. 

Addie received a scholarship from another family who's father died this past year. It was a tender part of the evening. 

The chapter that stayed and trusted Addie as the new advisor got her legs under her and began forging a new chapter culture. 

Addie getting her FFA cords to wear with her graduation gown. 

Her senior friends the group that made school enjoyable and lively. These ladies are fierce competitors, smart, and friendly. Friends truly do make life grand. From left Carly, Kesley, Izzy, Bailey, Taylor, Peyton, and Addie. 

One of the last days the school staff dress up as the seniors. Adaze secretary did a great job looking like Addie.

We are thankful for all that FFA provided and offered for these kids to travel, learn, lead, speak, and stretch while they navigate the years of high school. We are blessed. 
 

Family Reunion

All events are different this year with Addie being gone.I got a few pictures of the reunion this was one highlight. We found out Merle had in fact broken his arm a few hours before we left for the reunion. The kid activity this year was this train. They rode for hours. 

Aliza helped in the kitchen. Aunts, cousins, etc fed the masses again and again. Aliza called the large group to order more than once. Her strong voice and commanding presence makes her a force not to disrespect. Many marveled at her ability to bring order to the chaos. 

Our family served the meals we provided. Cousin Chance played with baby Jake. 

His dad Uncle Ben helped. I so appreciate the help from my in-laws. Jake did well with this family for an hour. 

Of course when you get that many people together you should take a picture. It is rare to all gather at the same time. One sibling was missing but she will be photo shopped in. 

As a mom wondering if my kids will every all choose to gather this was a precious picture. I have great admiration for the talents of each of these people. They have challenged and encouraged me and my family year after year. 

Jake was so tired after the long days. He travels pretty well. Again trying to take care of his needs and all the other niceties of a culture very void of babies is real.  

Greg wanted to go to a funeral in Utah he is a devoted friend and called his mission companion John South to ask  if we could quickly visit. We were greeted with a steak dinner and a smore roast after. The kids had a great time. It was nice to stretch out and gather ourselves. 

Greg's uncle Rex had asked the question what can we learn from the holy feasts of the Jewish people? One thing we can learn is making a bigger effort to talk of Christ more often and include Him in our gathering. This evening we shared food, friendship, and scripture study. This was a beautiful experience. I learned that when we pray to Jesus He prays for us. The more we pray to Him the more He prays for us. That is powerful. 

True friendship is beautiful and comforting. 

When we got home Jake played with some stacked batteries and broke his pinky finger. It's still swollen almost two weeks later. But nothing can be done so he deals with it and we try to be patient with his added crying. Each day is better. 

We are working to be more intentiontal and faithful. A podcast with Lilli Anderson suggested that motherhood isn't the leftover job for the weakest part of the human family. But rather a charge to attach her children to herself but more importantly to God and Jesus. To give children experiences with the spirit, prayer, and God's presence in their life. We are trying that in a number of ways. We aren't fancy. We are blessed and life is good right now. 

Leadership camp and little things at home

Addie had her first leadership camp with her home district. Cousin Michael was there. 

Reed also attended for the first time. She is looking very official. It was a good time. We survived her and Reed being gone at the same time. 

At home we try to go on night time walks. The corn has grown a lot since this picture. 

We were gifted some strawberries and made strawberry shortcake. Merle and Andrea helped me take the caps off the berries. We enjoyed this summertime treat. 

Jake is getting bigger and bigger. 

This guy is just changing every week. It's a lot more of a balancing act with the big kids, the farm, and the little kids. We are working to cover the bases but definitely we are often short. He is good at making himself known and getting what he wants. The month of June is over and when I looked at it on the first it looked pretty rough, the addition of sickness and miscellaneous other life things added to that. But we survived the crops are growing and looks fine. We are thankful to be able to manage. Life is good and we are blessed. 
 

Summertime

We had summer before sickness. These pictures show the lovely start to the month we enjoyed. A nest in the branches of a tree just the height Andrea and Merle could climb a small ladder and watch the progress. 

We went swimming. I considered swim lessons and hesitated. This was a providential move as we have been sick ever since and swimming would not have been a good fit. Then Merle broke his arm and so swimming is on hold for a while. 

Jake enjoyed watching. Oh I long for these simple healthy days again. 

A new garden holds lots of hope and small or not present weeds. Thankfully most thigns have survived and the weeds are thriving. 

These buckets are critical for transplanting tomatoes shielding the plants from the violent winds for the months of may and june allow the plants to gain strength and grow instead of hunkering down and being blown to pieces. The plants in the tires don't do so well. 

The strip tilled corn coming up. Happy to report it is not a foot tall and growing more everyday. 

Reed and Jackson had a great time at Washington Leadership Conference touring DC with the group and solo. Reed doesn't talk much, but he smiles when asked. He did enjoy the morning at Mt. Vernon saying the gardens were impressive. We have survived all of his travel, he had District FFA camp and football camp, and are so ready for him to be available to give Greg a break. It cannot be adequately expressed how much these teenagers contribute to lightening his load. 

Summer rolls on long long days of light and work past the generous time we are given. We were surprised recently how quickly the sun goes down in other locations. Here it was 10:30 and not quite dark. That is a blessing and curse. Our bodies still need recharge and rest unfortunately our choices cut into that. We are blessed even in the midst of the struggle and some pay consequences others don't understand. Summer is 1/3 over and things are moving along. 
 

Art Projects

This summer I have to keep reminding myself this is my most important project. He is demanding and most content here in our spot. Although Addie has discovered he is ok sitting outside in his high chair watching the world. She is much tougher than I and not as interested in soothing him. He has had tremendous growth this past few months. In both size and strength. He can crawl from room to room now and is eating some food. 

He is opinionated. 

She is too. She is beautiful and smart and so wanting to do big things. 

A storm was coming again so we picked the roses before the wind and rain could destroy them. The cooler temperatures coupled with a very mild winter allowed for vigorous growth on the rose bushes. 

These smelled so good. 

We made bouquets and shared with some neighbors and friends. I love to share flowers but don't really like to be the one making the deliveries. It's hard for me to want to leave my house. Doing all this blogging in one big push shows me there are reasons why I am constantly tired.

I saw this post from a friend. I was inspired by her creative use of time. I decided we needed to be more creative this summer. 

So we made a mess. All of the supplies were stored semi-organized in the back room. We drug it all out and let the kids get started. Oh we make big messes here. (Addie was gone).

Afton knew what to do I was back nursing/ napping Jake. These girls got started. This picture is more complicated that I would have chosen for Andrea but she was insistent this was what she wanted. Seed cups waiting for the zuchinni seeds I was soaking for the garden we are suppose to be growing. 

Afton helped Alia get started on her horse. She told her how to paint each section then Lia obeyed the instructions. Andrea wasn't as patient or willing to listen her picture did not turn out as well. 

Livy also gave pointers. They turned out nicely. I did not participate further than showing them my friends project and printing pictures for them to paint. Next they will do a water color or colored pencil project. Maybe I will figure out how to set Jake down or just put him outside and do some art too. Or probably not. 

After these pictures the kids started getting sick water had to happen again and life moves on. So many pictures on this blog are seriously seconds of our life not the norm. The norm is busy and then resting or gathering strength for the next push and a lot of maintenance. But they did enjoy this hour of time and Lia and Andrea produced pretty pictures. Life is good, much is work, but there are moments of beautiful and creative.