I'll miss you...

My sweet little ducklings went back to school today. A 10th grader...(what?!!) an 8th grader, a 5th grader and a 3rd grader.

I'm going to miss staying up till midnight watching the amazing race with them, then sleeping in until 9am the next day. 

I'm going to miss taking them swimming and playing board games. 

I'll miss hiking with them.

Thankfully we have weekends where all of this can still be accomplished but it doesn't change the fact that I miss my babies.

They are everything to me.

Taking it in...

Not very many boating days left this Summer so we are enjoying each and every chance to get out. 

P.S I kinda like my husband.

Jelly or jealousy...or both

Have you ever been watching a movie and someone on the movie starts eating and it makes you jealous...so much so that you just gotta have a piece of the pie? That happened to us last night while watching the amazing race. There was a donut challenge where they had eat donut after donut until they found the one with cherry filling. Well, you can guess what happened next. We all jumped in the car at midnight and headed to the store for cherry filled donuts. We ate them in the car with ice cold milk. Deliciousness.

BOOM...

Halee learning to shoot...just another reason I love my son in law.

The safest place on earth...

I have this photo of our home hanging in our guest bedroom. Every time I look at it I feel happiness. It represents love and memories. We've lived in this old farmhouse for 7 years now. Scarlett was 1 when we moved in and recently turned 8. Halee was 11 and is now married. I say that out loud and perspective hits me like "bam."

The smells in this home will always be a part of us. The oldness to some could mean yuckiness, but to us? It just means home and love and happiness. The creaky dented wood floors means life exists here. Children reside here.

The old porch with chipped paint has evidence of children running, scooters scootering and bikes biking (I get really mad about that by the way) but again...it means we are living and children are here.

Home...wherever it may be truly is a temple. It's the safest place on earth and I wouldn't trade the love, happiness of memories for anything.

Once in a lifetime...

August 21st, 2017. Something tells me this is a date we will always remember...

Buried treasure...

We went on a little adventure this weekend. We decided to try out geocaching. It's where you find clues (through an app) that help

You find treasure in different areas of where you live. Once you find the treasure, you take something from the treasure box and leave something of your own behind.

We found four different treasures. The first one was not easy and in fact the boys had to basically make their way into brush and trees and thorns. They were pretty beat up but they didn't care because they found it and by golly it took us an hour of dissecting and redissecting the clue so it was a big payoff. 

Slow and steady wins the race...even when you're only racing against yourself.

Chickenless treehouse...

A few days ago, Scarlett and grace announced they wanted a tree house. One of those lovely little wooden houses that is built high above ground in a beautiful large tree. What did Chris say when he found this out? "How about instead...let's turn the chicken coup into a house!" We have no chickens anymore, so why not? It wasn't as appealing to them as their original idea but when their brothers chipped in to help clean and paint, it become a project of great memories...

Blessings beyond measure...

Something occurred to me this past weekend. On April 14th, 2017 I had another baby. His name is Jared Thomas. 

Halee and Jared drove here on Thursday all the way from Alaska (52 hours) on their way to rexburg for Jared's last semester.

This is the first time I've really seen with my own eyes, my daughter married. And by "seen" I mean, in action. I can say with complete confidence that Jared treats Halee like a queen. He's putting her needs above his own in all situations that I encountered with them. He's holding her hand, hugging her close, kissing her. Looking at her for no reason at all other than total and complete adoration. I recognized that look because that's how Chris looks at me. (I'm still not sure why.) 

Chris and I came away this weekend feeling so blessed to have him as a son in law. I don't have to worry about my daughter. He will take care of her no matter how hard he has to work at it. 

She is safe. 

A garden favorite...

What do you do with zucchini from your garden? Turn a perfectly healthy vegetable into a perfectly unhealthy lunch. Fried zucchini...and it's worth every calorie...

P.S Austin made these...perfectly crispy. 

Camping 2017...

We spent 5 days last week camping. All by our lonesomes. In fact when we boated into Our favorite camping spot on the river we expected at least a few other campers but instead we ended up as the "wilderness family" and spent two nights all alone. It was absolutely wonderful having the whole place to ourselves feeling almost as though we were on a stranded island. We boated and swam for hours upon hours. The kids never got sick of it. Christian learned to water ski and the girls took to the boogie board. Connor and Austin learned to wake surf. 

Chris made pancakes and sausage every morning for breakfast because he's an awesome husband and dad that way.

Despite the kids fighting at now and then and my teenagers getting mouthy and frustrating at times...I wouldn't change one minute of it. 

Whales and work...

My dad told me a few years back that he always appreciated the fact that his dad (a business owner) allowed him the opportunity to work for him to earn some extra cash. I've not forgotten that and have since tried to give our children opportunity to do the same. 

Connor worked 6 hours with Chris today. He came home afterward and had made this over his lunch break. A whale. Made by his own hands, out of wax, determination, tenacity, and creativity.

Heat wave...

Today was a swim kind of day. We are calling for 107 degree weather over the next several days. Bring on the friends and bring on the water...