Summer 2014: Week 11

My sister came on Sunday night from staying at my mom's. We don't have a guest bedroom, so put cousins all over the house. They arrived in time for dinner . . . which changed a little from our original plans. We had buttermilk pancakes,  roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, fruit, and Chocolate Chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Delish.

M When my sister was making her travel plans, she said that all her boys wanted to do was have a nerf battle. Andrew sent them a letter, requesting that they bring their guns . . . so they spent a long time in the basement. When they weren't there, we took them swimming. I also taught my sister how to can black beans. When we finished she said, "Is that all you do?"
I translated that to mean that I'm an excellent teacher and she's an excellent student and will can them a lot from here on out.
Andrew took all his cousins to get his new school schedule. For FHE, Nathan taught us from Preach my Gospel about characteristics of Heavenly Father. We took our cousins to the temple site to see the progress, and then some boys played in the field when we arrived home.

T We bid farewell to family. Bryn went to school with friends to pick up her schedule and then out for frozen yogurt. We met her at the library.

W Bryn had a friend over for the morning and we were in the pool again. The first of two orthodontist visits this week.

TH Piano lessons. Bryn went through the wringer today. First, getting on braces in the morning, followed by a doctor appointment for a physical. We picked up our peaches from friends. Two boxes of the sweetest fruit around. Heaven is Palisade peaches in August.

FR Spent the morning with some favorite neighbors. PJ's, waffles, board games and movies. The fun had to end at 2:00pm.

The only photo I got this week . . .

We got ready for the Hunt Ultimate Frisbee Party. Also, the county planned to spray for mosquitoes . . . . so we harvested our rhubarb and covered our other garden plants. We have 30 lbs of Rhubarb . . . so are offering it to friends. The frisbee party was great. I also brought giant bubbles to entertain littles. Some of our across the street neighbors were there, so it was nice to include them, too.

SA We went on a family bike ride. It was about an hour long, and really a nice way to spend the morning. Nathan leads and I follow, so all the kids swarm around him. I am mostly to myself on our rides. We ate peaches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

SU I taught my Junior Primary class this morning. In this age group there are about 14 children, and 12 of them are boys. They are split into two classes. They were great. Our lesson was about obeying the law, so that gave me some opportunity to teach them my rules. I have a co-teacher and I think I will be grateful for that.

We have a "surprise" stake meeting coming in a couple of weeks. "Surprise" meaning it wasn't on the stake calendar until several weeks ago. Today it was announced in our ward, but not many details yet. All three of the nearest stakes have been included . . . Fort Collins, Greeley, and Loveland (which is our stake). Not sure what this means, but we have experienced rapid growth since the temple announcement. That growth accelerated even more with the groundbreaking--instead of only influx in the summer, we've seen growth year round. One ward in our stake is busting at the seams because of new neighborhoods. There is a new chapel being built in Windsor, nearby. It will not be done in time for this meeting, but will be in use before the end of the year. Not exactly sure when. Surely more details will come.

My next post is "What I learned this summer" but will not be posted until the kids are tucked safely away at school. Enjoying our last few hours of summer . . . .

Summer 2014: Week 10

M Today I was supposed to buy school supplies, but I didn't. We had a short lesson from Preach My Gospel and then played musical chairs. Of course that led to a dance party, which are always fun.

T Bought groceries and drove to Cheyenne to watch our niece. She's raised a sheep and was showing it. In between her events, there was a large window of time. We went to the fair exhibition hall and then watched a magician show.

Waiting for the magic to begin . . . .

We finished by watching our niece show her sheep one more time. Then, home for dinner and YM/YW.

W We went to Cheyenne again--a different niece showing a pig. She also showed twice. In between, we went to my mom's house for lunch and also walked through the bird barn (chickens, geese, turkeys & ducks) and the alpaca barn.

Some of our favorites were the albino turkeys, but I love the coloring on any chicken that's black and white. Our niece was 3rd place in her group for the weight and class of pig she had, which means she will get a nice price at the market on Saturday.

She sold her pig for $1300 . .. . . not shabby at all

Came home and spent the most of the evening outside with our good friends.

Appropriate that he's in the Super Hunt shirt

Nathan made my day when he repaired the lifts on the car door for me. They stopped working during scout camp and it's been very inconvenient to shop without being able to load into the back. It is an easy repair and fairly quick. If you have any questions, call the boss.

TH Running around town. Went to the middle school, post office, school supply shopping, back and forth from band camp & piano lessons. Really, the amount of driving I do is crazy. We were supposed to swim with friends, but the great big black cloud hanging overhead caused us to switch to Monopoly.

Our kids and 3 friends sat at the kitchen table for 2 hours playing. They could have continued but we had to leave. I took Bryn to the orthodontist and then Caitlin and Andrew to the dentist. No cavities! We spent the evening at home, except Andrew and Bryn went for a quick dip in the pool at 8:15 pm.

FR School shopping, summer band performance, and dinner in Cheyenne with my family . . . a great day.

SA More of school shopping, canning beans, working in the garden and getting ready for Sunday. I was released from my calling . . . . and got a new one.

SU My sister and her family came to stay two nights with us . . . more details on this in the next post.

I leave you with this really cute video of Ed in the chicken barn:

When did he get so big?
Why is this video on it's side . . . . ? I rotated it in my files, but I guess that didn't carry over.

Summer 2014: Week 9

This was another great week!

Monday was my b-day, and I asked Nathan to take the day off.

We went to Red Rocks, to show the kids. It is such a great structure and I don't know if there will be a concert I ever want to take all of them too. We spent about an hour looking around and in the museum. For fun I took pictures of the list of people who played at Red Rocks in 1975. Some I know, some I've only heard of.

Horribly blurry, I know but if you click the photo it will get big enough so you can read the names. Mom.

We went piano shopping and ate lunch at a nearby park. It was perfect weather. We made it home in time to take Caitlin to an appointment with the orthopaedic doctor. This time she got a removable cast and we'll go back in one week for another x-ray. It looks pretty good.

We ate the best grilled burgers of the summer, and finished last year's frozen peaches with ice cream for dessert.


Tuesday there was a LOT of rain. A nearby town got 4 inches in about 2 hours and had some severe flooding. We had a lot of water, too but not the flooding. Bryn went to a nursing home to do a talent show for YW. Tuesday night Nathan & Andrew worked on Cooking merit badge requirements. We canned 18 pints of black beans, but only 17 sealed.

Wednesday morning was the Lego Movie at the summer $1 movies. They had 3 sold out theaters! Our friends were able to save seats, we sat in the perfect row and used all of it except 2 seats. Later that afternoon, the BYU Idaho dancers gave some dance instruction to the 12-18 year olds, so I took our friend, his cousin, Andrew & Bryn. Their mom kept the other 3 at home with her little ones. It was fun to watch Andrew & Bryn get well outside their comfort zone. If I'd taken pictures, they would be banned, but I didn't have my camera. Later that evening, the dancers gave a free performance at a nearby high school. I took the girls on a date to watch them.

Thursday evening the girls and I had another date. Some friends were starring in Seussical, so we went to watch them. It was a great production & fun to know some of the cast. Andrew babysat for some boys in our ward so their mom could come, too, and I think he was happier to make money than attend.

Friday night we had a ward party at a park. Perfect weather, ultimate frisbee, and fun chatting with friends.

Most of our day times this week were fairly lazy. That was intentional, because the pace picks up next week with appointments and shopping to get ready for school. Even though I say lazy--it isn't really. Everyone practices piano and has jobs to do--walking the dog or taking care of homes/yards while friends and neighbors are out of town. Band camp & piano lessons as well.

Saturday we planned to get up early, but that didn't happen. We worked on our finances & around the house.We watched BYU gymnastics as we made dinner. I let Ed fall asleep in my bed.

Sunday is fast Sunday and then another week!

(2 weeks of summer left).