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).

Summer 2014: Week 8

This week band camp started. There may have been protest about needing to RIDE bikes there after the car rides to swim team every day since school let out.

This week was party week: Nathan's work party & the swim team party. Both fun & involved more swimming.

Also notable this week was our day in Cheyenne. We went for the pancake breakfast, which is part of Frontier Days. We stood in line for awhile with 10,000 of our closest friends to eat a free meal. It's pretty impressive that they host this event every year. It's very organized and was fun.

This is only part of the line . . . they keep you moving in lots of switchbacks so it doesn't feel as long.

Then, we went to a friend's house to watch the Thunderbirds.

They were not at Frontier Days last year due to budget cuts, so we decided it was worth it. Mostly it was cloudy, which delayed their start, but also made the weather very comfortable.

We met up with cousins there and ate popsicles while we waited. Then, back to Grandma's house for lunch and cousin time. We went to see the animals the cousins raise through FFA.

Andrew and I did some school clothes shopping online this year. We'll see how that works out when they arrive. Also, I am in denial about needing to do school supply shopping. It's so soon!

Saturday we had two fun outings. First, the longest bike ride our family has ever done. We rode between 9 and 10 miles on some of the lovely trails here. We left from home this time, but have discussed renting a trailer to take our bikes somewhere even more scenic. Someday. . . . It took awhile to get out of the house--checking every tire and helmet, but was a lot of fun. We will have to do this again. I have a photo but have been asked not to post it . . . email me if you want to see.

Then, in the afternoon, we went to the pool. Always more fun with Dad there.
While we were there, Caitlin broke her 5th bone while playing catch with a tiny football. The proximal phalanx of the left 5th finger. It's going to be just fine . . . . good thing we are friends with the ortho guys.

The sling is a little over the top for a broken pinkie finger, don't you agree?

Sunday was Nathan's birthday. He asked for cinnamon rolls for his treat. Caitlin was SO excited about that.
We are saving for something so the birthday gifts were minimal. BUT, the kids worked hard all day Friday to contribute to Nathan's gift from them, a pocketknife to replace the one TSA took last year. I knit him a reversible hat for his winter camp-outs with the Scouts.

Striped on one side

Grey on the other

So glad he's part of our lives!

Summer 2014: Week7

Our favorite scouts

Deer at the campsite

Rainbow . . . it rained a lot

This week was Scout camp . . . which meant boys, dirt and fun for Nathan.

For me it meant insomnia and quiet after bedtime. My best sleep this week was Saturday night when they were home.

The boys left early Monday morning (5 am meeting time at the church). They drove to the closest scout camp, Bendelatour. They had no cell phone reception, which was a blessing and a curse. Andrew was in Rifle, Archery, Environmental Science and Emergency Preparedness.
He finished all the requirements for them, and made headway on the cooking merit badge.

Monday we went to the orthodontist . . . Bryn is ready for the next phase. We hosted my brother, sister in law, and mom for the night.

Tuesday we had my mom here. She read and sewed and my kids love having her. We drove my mom to meet my brother & sister in law closer to the airport.

Wednesday I spoke to Nathan in the morning and we spent time with friends in the afternoon.

TH was the last day of swim team practice & piano lessons. Took my sewing machine to be repaired. Spent time with the same friends as Wednesday, one more day.

FR we were lazy all day, except for these parts: Picnic at park with friends for lunch, grocery shopping with 4 children, feeding the sister missionaries (our first garden zucchini!!), and working as a team to can 16 pints of chicken. All sealed & no breaks. My girls loved helping . . . in the past I've not let them touch the raw chicken, so they enjoyed that step.

SAT morning the boys called around 9 am. They were coming home! We put the last 8 jars of chicken in. Andrew showered and got ready for a baseball game. I dropped him off for his ride to the game and went to the temple, a friend went for the first time. Nathan took the chicken off the heat, fed the kids lunch and went to the game. After dinner, we went to see the Secret Garden--a choral version. Our friend played Collin--the main reason we went. Late night . . . . but worth it.

SUN I subbed in Bryn's Sunday School class and learned that 12 & 13 year olds are different from who I normally teach. She also said that she didn't want me to be her regular teacher . . .

Summer is flying now!

Summer 2014: Week 6

Andrew had two baseball games, W and TH. On Wednesday he struck out once and walked twice. TH afternoon, he got contacts. TH night he struck out once and hit two singles. One of those was an RBI, and once he came in. What a miracle! I feel bad for not catching it earlier, but better late than never. The video below is the first hit. The second was even stronger. So proud of him for sticking it out so long without contacts.

Friday morning, Andrew hung out an extra long time at the swimming pool. He brought UNO cards and a friend brought doughnuts--a little party to celebrate the end of the season. There was plenty of goofing off, too. But no one slipped and cracked their head open, so we are thankful for that.

This week Bryn had volleyball camp at a local rec center. This meant she went to swimming from 7:15 until 8:30 and got out of the pool to go to the gym. For this week only she changed age groups and ability levels. She really felt the difference in the workout.

For me, it meant additional driving. On TH, I drove over 100 miles getting everyone to their events. Summer is no joke when you are a mother with lots of children.

Caitlin's big fun was Go-Kart camp.

She signed up last summer but we had to cancel due to broken bones. A friend went with her and after 2 hours, they'd learned all about driving go Karts. Not really surprising that the girls were outnumbered: 3 girls and about 10 boys. Caitlin also had an Activity days party at the swimming pool.

TH night my brother and his wife came to town. They are considering a move to the west and we were fortunate enough to have them stay the night. Fun to chat and catch up. We will host them one more night next week on their way home.

FR night we went to Denver to look at a couple of pianos & ate dinner. In typical CO fashion, there were afternoon thunderstorms as we were driving. Saturday was a get ready for Scout Camp kind of day.

Sunday I will teach Gospel Doctrine. Nathan is scheduled to set up chairs before church, help with a deacon's quorum presidency meeting after and a scout committee meeting in the late afternoon.

Only 5 more weeks!
The school emailed me a reminder about the early release that's happening the first two weeks of school since the K-8 buildings don't have great air conditioning (or none at all).

Summer 2014: Week 4

I am in love with this swim team photo that I didn't take. Andrew is somewhere in this group.

(This week I decided to write these one day at a time, because I can only remember that much. More detail).

M--We got Bryn ready for girls camp. Her first girls camp. (I still remember mine). She got herself ready. Most impressive was the time she took to make gifts for her secret sister. Saw two other moms while I was out shopping for the last minute flashlight we needed--out getting their girls ready, too. FHE was about what makes a successful missionary & chocolate dipped pretzels that were a girls camp fundraiser.

T--Bryn left for camp.
Housesitting for a friend.
Spent the day in the car again. Swim team, soccer camp for Diana M-FR this week, football camp for Andrew.
Read books to C, D for 45 minutes, only 30 for E. (He needs his space in the summer b/c he gets it all school year long). We read Mr. Lincoln's Way, which Caitlin recommended to me. It's worth a read if your library has it.
Caitlin and I spent some time alone. We talked, laughed, lectured, listened, and cried. Only one of us cried. Then, we played a couple rounds of Spot It, alone. I think she will forget the former and remember the latter.
I decided when my older kids have something big that takes them away that I am really going to focus on those who are home. So far, I love it.
Activity days talent show. Caitlin played Fur Elise & did a great job.
Lightning/hail storm just as we were going to bed.

W
Swim meet, soccer camp, taking care of neighbor's house, football camp, baseball game.
Meanwhile, Nathan drove 4 hours to go to Girls Camp with Bryn. I don't have pictures but might in the future. Nathan said it was beautiful.

TH
In addition to the regular run of swimming & soccer, we also had out of town friends visit for dinner. They are moving from UT and are good friends from our TX days. We hosted them for dinner and a few minutes at the park before they had to leave. Nathan was home in time for scripture study--much earlier than my worst fears. Also the end of football camp.

FR
Today was the last day of soccer camp for Diana. Another baseball game. It was a loss, but they tried harder. Andrew played well. He walked to first, which was all he needed. He stole bases & ran home. Meanwhile, Nathan stayed home and mowed the lawn. Exciting times.

SA
Nathan hosted the scouts for a "Pioneering" experience at the church. They built a monkey bridge and timed each other racing over it. The kid who came home with the gash from the re-bar? Our very own.
We skipped the swim meet in favor of prepping for the family reunion. We bought over 20 lbs of meat to cook for it! (And, some other more exciting ingredients for family fun). Bryn came home from girls camp and had time to start her first load of laundry before running off to babysit for the evening.

4 down, 7 to go.

Summer: Week 3

This week:

M: Is always laundry day. We made 7 pints of Strawberry & Blueberry freezer jam, one of our favorite flavors. One pint was gone by Wednesday.

T: Andrew skipped his Young Men's activity to go to an 8:00pm baseball game. After a streak of disappointing losses, this time they won!
I took Caitlin, Diana, and Ed to the old fashioned candy store in old town. The girls complained about the $.50 price ceiling I gave them, but eventually found something they wanted. Ed chose pixie sticks, (2 so he could give one to Andrew) and the girls picked out taffy.

W: Swim meet. Very windy but OK. We brought SPOT IT, a game we learned at the Neuffer's last summer. I left in the middle to go to a different pool for lessons for the littlest among us. Friends commented on our children's progress in the pool, that felt good. Our friends came over for lunch.

TH: What happened TH? Maybe this was the day I asked Bryn to braid my hair?

It was taking a long time . . . and then I realized she'd done fishtail braids . . . and it all made sense. But I think it was Wednesday.

Now I remember TH night. My parents came to see our new furniture.

FR: Nathan took the girls camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. A dad in our ward said he was going with his girls. It turned into 10 + families of dads & daughters. They came home the long way and saw a lot of wildlife.

Nathan thought this campground can accommodate 1000 people.

Beautiful girls, beautiful scenery

The boys and I went to a local pizza restaurant (where they hand toss--so fun to watch). Then, we did our duty and helped clean the church. The next morning we went on a long walk together. Very pleasant time with my boys. We may have also had a sewing machine lesson . . . but I was not allowed to take photos. Baseball practice and more shopping. The day ended with Monsters University from Red box, which Ed and I hadn't seen. Very cute show.

3 weeks down, 8 more.

Sidenote about life in CO:
One of Andrew's friends was at snowboarding camp this week. They keep it open until August . . . then the snow is done for the season. Can't believe it.

This week (summer edition)

 

1) I finished a mini quilt. It's to give away to a stranger . . . I am going to receive one in the mail from another stranger. Strange, isn't it? I love the colors & hope she'll like them too.

2) First swim meet. My kids were excited to compete and get ribbons.

3) Diana & Ed started swimming lessons. We are at the pool from 7:15 until 11 am.
I like to knit or sew poolside. . . my kids have played at the park while siblings swim . . . or play UNO. I love summer mornings.

4)We drove 100 miles to buy some living room furniture I'd seen on Craiglist. We have enough couch space to seat our family! This necessitated attaching a U-Haul trailer to our car. I am not stretching the truth when I tell you finding it was an answer to prayer. They match and are clean and look fairly new.

5) Neighborhood garage sale. We made $51. It will start Diana's savings account.

6) No one would pay $ for our old couch. But when we listed it as FREE on Craigslist, it was gone within the hour.

The first piece of furniture we bought together . . . Adios

   
7)The only trips to the library this week happened on bicycle.

8)FR night date to Andrew's baseball game. It was a bad game but a fun date.

9)One of our favorite sister missionaries moved on . . . and her second cousin with the same last name moved in.

10) Gave Ed an apron for Future Father's Day and he doesn't love it yet. (He needs a new one).
"Why did you give me an apron? I wanted a toy." 

Have a good week.
Two weeks of summer vacation gone.
(We loved this article about a father of 8 sons).

This week

Two trips to the library
3 piano lessons
At least 10 trips back and forth from the pool
3 kids on swim team, 2 for the first time
1 very encouraging coach
4 corn plants leveled to the ground by our garden bunnies
5 seeds planted that will soon be mowed down by said bunnies
(Why didn't they eat the plant starts until we planted them in the garden)?
4 new families at church
(our ward is exploding . . . due largely to the digging that's proceeding on the temple)
Innumerable legos



Two baseball games
2 river otters spotted
1 up in the rafters


National Doughnut day celebrated (one day late)

Pony riding class = one happy Caitlin

 

11 weeks of summer vacation, 1 down

Spring Break 2014

This year we stayed home. We had many relaxing hours at home, plus a full day in Cheyenne and took the older kids (and their friends) to the temple in Denver. We ate out a bit and in a lot and went hiking without DAD, a first for us. Nathan took advantage of many of the doctors being out of town and worked a lot more than normal. Many surgeries before and after clinic this week.

Parking lot is at the end of the road

Same cyclist, only closer. He moved a lot faster than we did.

Ed thrived when I gave him visual cues of our next stops. Next stop is the building, where we ate lunch.

Friends

Me, Diana, Andrew

After lunch

First time holding a caterpillar

Our turnaround spot

Most of our hike was the wide road you saw in the other pictures. Some of it looked like this.

Prairie dogs a plenty

School starts again on Monday and it's the last quarter.

Time to start planning for summer.

Breaking bread together

If any of my siblings who read this have a better photo--please share.

Last Tuesday (Nov26) was the second installment of the 40th b-day party bashes.

Two years ago my SIL Sarah organized a surprise b-day party for my brother's 40th. We decided it would be fun to meet again in November this year when my sister turned 40. We reserved a room at a Cheyenne restaurant and met tonight for dinner to celebrate 40 years of Jennifer.

It was nice to be together as a family--we don't get it done very often, so it's a big deal when we do. We succeeded in surprising Jennifer and her kids, which was a lot of fun. Our cousin and his wife live in Cheyenne, so they were able to join us as well.

My dad wrote a song for Danny when it was his turn (On Top of Old Danny--sung to the tune of "On Top of Old Smoky" so he was assigned to write one for Jennifer. We enjoyed singing together.

He wrote to the tune of "O Christmas Tree" and the song was titled "O Jennifer."

O Jennifer, athletic Jenifer, the hurdles thou didst fly o’er.

O Jennifer, athletic Jenifer, the hurdles thou didst fly o’er.

Run like the wind, jump like a deer,

Dive with such grace, year after year.

O Jennifer, athletic Jenifer, the hurdles thou didst fly o’er.

O Jennifer, sweet-singing Jennifer, mu-sic be always with thee

O Jennifer, sweet-singing Jennifer, mu-sic be always with thee

From western hills to New York hall,

Play, lead or sing, you do them all

O Jennifer, sweet-singing Jennifer, mu-sic be always with thee

O Jennifer, hard-working Jennifer, for toil none can match thee.

O Jennifer, hard-working Jennifer, for toil none can match thee.

You drive the bus, you taught in school,

You’re always in the labor pool.

O Jennifer, hard-working Jennifer, for toil none can match thee.

(Final – Slower, with emphasis)

O Jennifer, dear Jennifer

This special day we honor thee.