family reunion kick off

Mark received his mission call in record time to Durban South Africa. We were hurrying to get all his documents in process so he could leave at the called time. One of the requirements were FBI background check and fingerprints. This service is offered in Boise. A sweet friend shared this information with me and we decided to consolidate trips by adding that to the beginning of our trip to the family reunion. While Mark and I did the fingerprints the other kids went with Greg to get ice cream. Lots of ice cream. I think they all had to eat three. There were no complaints from any of them. 

A few hours later something felt weird in the van Greg pulled over and found a flat rear tire. He and the guys changed it quickly on a very very busy freeway. I was so thankful they weren't smooshed. I walked a fence line getting some movement for my pregnant body. Merle and Bruce accompanied me. Again I was thankful it was only in the high 80's not 100 degrees. 

About 45 minutes later the van suddenly lost the ability to pull hills and we were reduced to 55 then 45 then 35 miles an hour on the freeway. This was odd. We pulled into an O'reilly's parts store and greg bought tools and parts. He finished the repair just as the store closed. We were thankful for the use of their bathrooms and to refill our waters. The kids were mostly good playing in the parking lot on the shady part of the building. 

 We finally got to Wyoming about 11:30 at night. It was so good to be there and to see our big kids. The van again had trouble maintaining speed. It felt like driving an old fully loaded farm truck I think we were about 10 mph on the pulls up the high mountains into Wyoming. What usually takes about 20 minutes took over an hour. But we made it. 

And so the next day Greg a brother in-law and Mark and HArold worked on the van so we could cruise comfortably home. All was well until we got to Parma which is close enough to call for help. Greg checked things and we continued till we finally pulled in to our driveway. Thankfully the van has been repaired as it is much more economical to drive together hopefully it will function just fine as we head out again soon for a quick trip away from home. 

The O'Reilly parts guy was skeptical Greg could fix the car, in my head I thought if Greg, Mark, and Reed, and Livy now too some what can't figure this out we are sunk. These guys are all good and thorough and do whatever it takes to keep people moving where they need to go. We are very blessed. 

watermelon for football players

Part of school starting again is sports practice. It was hot the first week and Reed asked for watermelon after practice. That's a great way to replenish and show a little support for the team so I said no problem. I found them on sale and that sweetened the deal. I asked the coach for a time and worked to be there on time. I got a call from read ten minutes before I was told to be there we rushed. The boys swarmed the car offering to help and were happy to take big chunks of juicy watermelon after a hot practice. 

I appreciate their gratitude. I miss my now retired players but am happy to know the new team too. When we were done and pulling away Bruce spotted these fish flip flops on a favorite player. I had to take a picture as John has an identical pair in Texas. Bruce was embarrassed I would take a picture but the player knows John and just smiled he didn't mind. 

I will probably take melons again this week. We shall see how far I get. Pregnancy and not sleeping deeply make for much slower days. This is an easy gift though. Another player requested donuts after the first game so Labor day Millie and I will make donuts. I sure hope they win. Reed will be gone with us to a wedding but I don't mind sharing sugar and carbs with the players they're hungry and grateful and so I will feed them anytime. Life is good. 
 

A dog and summer

One summer morning around the 5th of July the kids reported there was a dog at the stop sign. Then the dog found our yard and there he has stayed. He was initially called Bud then buddy, then I declared his name had to change because Merle is called Buddy. So Spot he has become. He was a jumpy dog in the beginning and for a while I really hated his coming. In the month of June Andrea and Merle would play outside for hours at a time. When the dog arrived they took to sitting inside. We left for a weekend hoping maybe he would disappear but when we got home here he was waiting for us. We worked to train him to stop jumping. Spot liked to chase the few roosters not in pens. This angered Reed and the two had a few rough go rounds. But the dog is a quick learner.  

Even though Andrea was scared of the dog she was sure cute inside. She has taken to the dog as he has calmed down and now spends time outside with him each day. I'm thankful all the kids have learned how to be assertive and manage an animal somewhat. 

We went on a quick trip to Utah for a funeral which happened to be in the same place where Greg's grandparents are buried. 

Greg's grandfather helped to build the building and his payment was the two burial spots in the mausoleum. It was very reverent and solemn to be in a place we had heard about for years. One of Greg's sisters said she remembered the grandfather saying he smoothed the cement extra well in their vault. 

Our grandmothers met at our wedding reception they learned they had grown up blocks apart in Ogden they shared memories of their lives there. It was a pleasant evening for them. It was surprising to me during the funeral to find they ended up being buried close together too. I'm thankful for Greg's support and willingness to attend family things with me. My Uncle Clair had passed on and was the reason for the funeral. He holds a special place in my memory as a rescuer and place of relief. 
 

We spent many a summer in Utah visiting my great grandmother and his family. He was a great man always serving and taking care of others. He was a smart architect and spent his career building LDS church buildings. I loved his pancakes and his hugs. 

garden

My garden. My untended experiment in cover cropping and pollinator habitat. Proof that there is still harvest even with weeds. The tomato plants are those we started from seed. Our trellising didn't work so well as Bruce pounded the posts and the ground was wet thus the posts weren't secure enough to hold the weight of the tomatoe plants. Those in cages are again atleast 8 feet tall. 

Addie wanted lots of flowers so we have sunflowers and 5 foot tall Marigolds. 

And zinnias. 

Lots and lots of tomatoes that became sauce and salsa and gifts. 

The Marigolds are almost as tall as AFton. While they don't smell good we don't have pest problems this year. We also invested in liquid pesticide called Seven which is suppose to last longer than dust so maybe that's the real success. But where we put a 2" thick layer of mowed grass we have far less weeds and a nice soil cover helping preserve moisture.

The ground has held moisture pretty well where covered in a hot climate that is something to take note of. 

These two were charged with harvesting the cherry tomatoes these Sun Golds were also started in my kitchen they are delicious. We can never pick enough. Shirts are always the preferred container. 

I'm thankful for the ability to grow food and for the forgiveness of not being able, motivated, or energetic enough to continue tending it as I should. I'm so thankful we have enough for another year of eating and sharing. We will be providing spaghetti to several high school luncheon functions and we are ready. We are blessed. 
 

4th of July

After late evenings at the rodeo there is also the early morning fun run on the 4th. Addie was also a big part of this, thankfully we came a bit later just to participate. 

Anna had come in late the night before but held true to the challenge to complete a 5 K. This is her second for the year we are really proud of her determination to complete goals. 

Addie is not allowed to compete as she is a current team member so she handed out medals and visited with our friend Mr. Braese. He provided many of these pictures. 

Merle was pleased to be there and was ready to run. 

You might notice the grey skies and that Addie is in a jacket. This was the coolest weather I've seen on a 4th of July. I believe it got to about 80 for the day but there were intermittant showers throughout. We enjoyed a slow day resting up for the evening required Rodeo activities. We had a nice lunch inside at grandmas with cousins. 

Lia was also ready to run in the morning. She practices with Addie sometimes. 

Livys cousin Emilyn went to work with her for a while when they visited for the 4th. Livy loves to use Greg's phone to take pictures and text her siblings repeatedly until they respond. 

Andrea kind of walked/ran with me, she did what she wanted and mostly kept her in eye sight. 

I think Bruce may have ran a 5k? but I'm not sure. He's a strong young man and wants to please Addie. Merle and cousin Myla are just a month or so apart they are coming into the finish line close together too. 

Afton on a strong finish. 

Lia also finishing happy. 

 We were so happy to see Anna afterwards and get to catch up with her. Not to mention the chocolate milk and watermelon were great treats at the end. 
The older boys were with Greg at the church cooking the annual ward breakfast. We headed there next to help clean up then home to prepare for the next thing. I miss the time to go relax in the water but to each family are different unique traditions and this year was particularly heavy as we worked to support Addie and the kids in her FFA chapter who were definitely not sure what was going on. Thank goodness it wasn't 100+ every day of the many activities. 

Rodeo

A major piece of our 4th of July is the local Rodeo. The kids wandered a bit more this year and Lia got this picture with one of the pretty queens. She was delighted to meet royalty. 

We attend on family night as the kids are asked to sing the National Anthem from year to year and get in free. Some are more into that than others. It's a good tradition though one we grow from. 

I spent an evening taking tickets with Addie. There was a nice rain storm during part of the evening and were rewarded with not only a cooler time but two rainbows. The guard in the picture was just hanging out doing his job visiting with us to pass the long evening. Neither of us could see any of the rodeo action. This summer has been so unique with almost weekly rainstorms and cooling of the weather. I am so thankful for that and have counted it a tender mercy from God. 

Before we left for another night of rodeo work we found all the fair pigs wandering around. They loved the shade and tall grass. We were all thankful they are curious and had been worked with. They went back to their pens pretty easily. Within ten minutes all 7 were re-caged. 

After bathing- pig smell is distinct and strong, we headed to the rodeo to sell sno-cones for the 4-H club fundraiser. The girls did so well with this. Millie was the money lady, Livy and Afton shaved ice and pumped flavors and I mostly watched or filled in a for short amounts of time while they did a few other things to stretch their legs. 

After working the entire evening making sno-cones it was time to clean the rodeo grounds. Because of an ongoing investigation and severe misunderstanding leading to a lack of trust the normal organizer was not there. We helped Addie and fellow FFA members clean and gather redeemable pop cans each night. You can see how thrilled Afton and Millie were to get to work late. 

Millie was much happier to spend the evening with her dear friend Avery. These two are ambitious hard workers who make a lot happen. We are so thankful for good friends for each of our kids. 

And the beautiful gift from my neighbor that grew and grew all summer long. Her son and husband started each of these plants from seed. Those seeds are almost microscopic and require a toothpick head to grab them then put them in the waiting soil. I have so enjoyed these flowers on each of  my trips to the clothesline through the long summer days. We are thankful for the many opportunities we have to learn and grow
 

A baby

This year has gone a lot differently than I was planning. In March I started feeling feelings I didn't think I ever would again. The yuck, low energy, nauseas of pregnancy seemed to be returning coupled with fear of public perception. I didn't really think this was possible, but a pregnancy test confirmed the intuition. The ensuing three months were the usual miserable. While dealing with feeling very much too old to be doing this, I had my birthday which didn't help matters. And in fact, I stayed pregnant. I went to all the Graduation festivities and end of year contest with Mark. Greg encouraging and putting up with my less than normal abilities through each event. He really is so good to me. 

The first ultrasound showed the baby without a placenta yet, they have an egg sac? I did not know that. The real deal ultrasound showed this very real, very healthy baby. Honestly, while I could see my ever growing belly I didn't feel much at this point and was just hoping all was well and it was just one. It is indeed just one and all is well. 

 The last picture is a 3-D image. It is amazing how far technology has come. It is still a mental struggle to feel like a very old lady growing a  baby, but I have had many tender mercies and prods from God that it's going to be ok. My initial blessing from Greg assured me to trust God and all would work out and we would both be healthy. That was a great comfort I hold on to. Secondly when I get particularly depressed about feeling crummy and not being as helpful as I would like kind women who really aren't close friends but associates from throughout my life enter my sphere and spend some time reassuring and counseling with me. That has been specifically tender. While I'm definitely almost as old as Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist or so it seems- who counseled and loved the very young Mary mother of Christ, these friends have likewise comforted, encouraged, and accepted my status. I appreciate that so much as the old ladies (read over 70) with their snide comments of "Don't you know what causes that?" "Don't you have a TV?" etc to which I smile and answer yes I'm good at it. When they push harder and ruder, but you are having "another one." I look them in the eye and say you want someone like me having children. 

And that's another prod as I lament the ordeals of pregnant body changes, I hear stories of babies not born in healthy families and my heart is sad. What chance do they have? My children for better or worse have each other, they have aunts uncles, grandparents, and more that do and will care for them. Not to mention Greg and I- although Addie told me "You only have to live 21 more years then you can die. IT will be grown up by then." I asked if she would mentor it, with her sage advice of 'figure it out, I did you can too...!' 

This summer has been oddly temperate. I take credit for that as a blessing. All of my summer pregnancies I had 5 fall deliveries so far, were record heat for record number of days. This summer would have a day or two about 95 degrees then a storm wave would cool it back down to the 80's. That is super rare! I'm not very alive above 95 degrees so the variations really help me function most days of the week. 

All in all though, I am very blessed to be able to have these kiddos, all of whom are healthy and normal and mostly kind. They help others, they love God, and they are good citizens. That is my goal. As I blogged these last few days- it is much more tedious than it was meaning the program isn't as smooth-  I find great peace in documenting our humble life. We are very much cyclical and all about work. But there is peace in tradition and self-reliance. There is deep sleep when tired by activity. And there is love. We do love each other- in between the fights and annoyances of sharing space.

As my question of January was "what will I do next?" Has become- the same things I have plus more as the older kids become vibrant young adults on their own journeys through life. I am grateful for the experience and so prayerful for my own health and strength and ability to stay engaged in this motherhood gig. We aren't even halfway and it's pretty easy to tune out or not care at all about the many parts of motherhood- the meetings and activities etc. I'm thankful for the many who lighten that load and are so good to my kids to teach and encourage them as they each have their unique growing up time.