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Sunday, June 30, 2013

snapshot

This is just an few seconds of my life.  I'm sure I'm the only one who has kids that are ridiculously noisy in the car.  Right?

We are happily surviving our 100+ temperatures this week.  Our poor little air conditioner has a hard time keeping up with the heat but we are glad that it hasn't quit all together yet!

A few things we are thankful for:

popsicles

puppies that use the dog door

good carpet cleaner for the times that they don't use the dog door...

swim team in the evening (evening swims are actually working our well!)

Dallin's healing knee--he can start working again.

Boys with drivers licenses so they can drive themselves to work next week. (big smile here...)

Big cardboard boxes from the DI (Rustin seriously cleaned out the un-worn laundry yesterday--husband of the year!)

Big brothers who teach little brothers to walk like a monkey and fall down dead when shot. (don't tell the Obamas that my kids pretend to shoot each other...)

Family reunion July.  Can't wait to see everyone!




Sunday, June 23, 2013

Treasures

I love summer.  I think I must have been on the flower planning committee in my previous life.  There is nothing that soothes my soul like the beautiful world we live in.  Especially in summer.

Last weekend we went to Franklin and it was exactly the spirit renewing experience that I have been needing.

One night we went up to Willow Flat for tinfoil dinners and a hike up to the spring.  The path follows next to the spring creek as it tumbles over beaver dams and winds through the beautiful green trees, bushes and flowers.


I soon found myself behind because I kept stopping to look at the way the flowers grew around each other  and in natural flowing clumps.  Perfectly in balance.


 In the evening shade I watched a couple of dandelions close their flowering heads and I realized that they are beautiful.  At home I would have pulled the yellow heads off in disgust but up on the mountain trail they fit just perfectly in the landscape.  Everything has a purpose.



When a big fat shiny beetle scurried across my path I stopped to watch him make his way.  At home I would have smashed him and thrown him outside.

As we were walking back we ran into Darren on the path.  As he and I walked along he remarked that the beauty of the mountain is how we know that we have a mother in heaven.  I mentioned that I wish she could teach me how to make my yard look like the beautiful mountainside.  The thought immediately popped in my head, "I already have."

I'm so grateful to live in a land of beauty where the earth as it has been created is appreciated by the people who live on it.


On Sunday (Father's Day) we went to the Franklin cemetery where we could honor and remember all our fathers.  The night was perfect.  Just cool enough for short sleeves in comfort.  The sun was setting behind us and there weren't any bugs.  Darren and his mom, Elva told us about our many fathers.  They shared so many stories about their lives.

I especially love one story about Darren's dad.  LaVar and his brother were walking along the dirt road that leads from Logan to Franklin to attend the celebrated Idaho Days parade.  As they walked along the dusty road in their bare feet, a big black car pulled up and the door opened.  The man inside asked the boys where they were headed and they replied that they were going to the Idaho Days parade in Franklin.  The man in the car offered them a ride and they climbed in.  He took LaVar's cheeks in his hands and asked "do you know who I am?" LaVar didn't recognize his benefactor.  Then the man told him that he was the prophet.  The boys were thrilled and their mother was embarrassed that her boys met the prophet barefoot in their dusty clothes!

I am grateful to be so blessed.  It's always so nice to have things put in perspective. The truly important things don't change.  There will always be something more to be purchased or fixed but in the end, time spend learning about eternal truths is where my true riches lie.



Saturday, June 1, 2013

Almost there...

We still have 2 1/2 tortuous days of school left.  The younger kids were essentially done days ago and have just been spending their time watching movies, going swimming and driving their teachers insane.

Dallin and Landon still have to take finals.  They only have to take finals at the high school if they have missed more than three days in the semester.  Of course the boys have missed more than three days.  I am the worst mom in that department.  It doesn't take much to convince me to let them stay home.  I like it when the kids are home...

This boy definitely wants his siblings home!  It's not so fun to jump on the trampoline with mom...



Dal and Lan have been super busy this week and next with lifeguard training.  They will be working at the city pool this summer.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about them being gone so much! But I will appreciate the help with gas money.  Have I mentioned that it cost an extra $100 per kid to insure teenage boys?  But it's totally worth it to have them drive themselves to their million activities!


We found the best alternative to German pancakes.  The kids call them German muffins.  No butter involved!  This is from the Our Best Bites cookbook.  I am going to make a page of recipes one of these days so I don't have to shuffle through piles of worn out papers to find what I am looking for!




Today we are spending our time snuggling our cute little puppies and planning our summer break!