Drives and runs

Kami's summer has been busy with driver's ed!!??! (Here is a good side-ways shot that I can't get to turn around:)

This driver's ed was quite the summer commitment, but I can't wait to have another driver! It's gotten to where I can't get everyone where they need to be single-handedly.   I have to ask who wants to be late when the kids have simultaneous activities.

Kami has also been training for cross country, which has been another big time commitment!  She started in on that a couple of weeks after school let out, went easy a couple of weeks while she got one of her feet feeling better, and has been running stronger and longer since then.  I wish that I had gotten a picture of her running with her cousin, Emma Gee. They went running all one week together, but Emma was going at 6:00 a.m. and Kami likes to go in the evening.  Plus, Emma is an AMAZING runner and Kami was afraid that she would slow her down. Shawn's Uncle Kerry wrote up an individualized training program for Kami that she has been following and includes long runs, hill runs and interval runs at the track.

The little kids like going to the track, and the first day, Isabelle surprised me by running two miles without stopping! Not bad for an almost seven year old! I was impressed.  This is what she looked like afterwards:

 This is everyone after they ran:)

Kami, Maddie, Isabelle, Nolan, and Eli

When we got home, I realized why Isabelle had been so interested in running so far. You see, on the way there Nolan had accidentally dropped a few drops of water on her from a water bottle. Isabelle lost her temper and doused him with the very full water bottle IN THE CAR!  I was speechless. She can really get into a rage sometimes!! After some thought, though, I told her that  I thought it would be fitting for her to be doused with some water when we got home to "help cool off her temper"!  So she ran all that way to get nice and heated up for the event:)

She was a great sport!:)

I have been on almost every run with Kami - not running myself, but keeping an eye on her because I am one of those over-protective moms.  Many times I have a car load of kids with me.  I love this picture from my phone of all the kids starting out on a run with Kami and Eli when he was here:

Eli is such an AWESOME uncle! He ran every day with Kami and she absolutely loved it!

To be a pioneer...

Happy pioneer day! I thought I'd share these photos of the kids getting into the spirit of things yesterday:)

 I find myself thinking about the pioneers more and more as my life goes on.  I wonder when one of my kids get really sick what the pioneers would have done to get them better. I wonder how the women did it with their husbands gone for years at a time... I wonder all sorts of things about them. The pioneers motivate me and encourage me to have more "pluck" and faith and self sufficiency. I am glad that I don't have to be that kind of a pioneer, though, and that I get to enjoy "modern conveniences"- like good doctors and medicines!

Caden shared this quote by President Monson with us in Family Home Evening last night: "Today most members are not asked to make the same physical sacrifices as the pioneers, but saints in every nation can be "pioneers all" as they meet suffering with courage, inspire faith in others, and do hard things that are necessary to gain eternal salvation and build the kingdom of God on Earth." I hope I can be this kind of pioneer!

Apparently on the way back from this "trek" Kami rode in the wagon and had the kids push her.  Isabelle exclaimed last night that she "knew JUST what it was like to be a pioneer, because that was HARD!!" She is looking over my shoulder right now at the pictures, though, and said, "weren't their wagons a lot bigger than ours?" "Wow! That would be REALLY HARD!!"

Joseph and Emma Smith

Shawn was pretty involved with Youth conference this last weekend, and I got to tag along and help out on Saturday:

They had a "walk with Joseph" planned and Shawn and I decided to add a little authenticity and get some costumes from the college.  The kids went to a lot of different stations where they learned more about Joseph Smith and his life - they even got to experience getting tarred and feathered (a dab of hot wax on their arm with feathers on top) At the end of the walk Shawn surprised me by singing a song about Joseph Smith to everyone.  He learned the song on his mission, but I had never even heard it!  Anyways, I thought that was pretty brave of him, it added a lot to the meeting and he did a great job! Then he and I bore our testimonies to end the "walk".

When we got back, we were all waiting for lunch and Shawn got the kids going on the "stick pull". You just can't talk about Joseph Smith without doing that!

Eli came to youth conference since he was here visiting. Here he is pulling Tad.

Spencer was the best stick puller out of the boys, and after he'd challenged everyone, Shawn couldn't resist joining in the fun:

I guess he still has what it takes!
This seemed to be a great youth conference.

Hello Dolly!

One of the reasons that mom and Ivy came up was to see Maddie in her play! (Kami ended up not doing the play because she found out that youth conference was going to be the same time as the performances for the play.) Maddie did a perfect job the night that we came to watch her, and she really enjoyed the whole experience! We just wished that we could have seen more of her during the play, she looked so cute:)

She has the perfect looks for whichever era this play took place in! Everyone else had to curl their hair; I just brushed Maddie's hair around my finger and she had perfect ringlets for the rest of the day!
I really liked the fact that Mads got to spend so much time with her Aunt Suzette, and I heard a lot of recaps of the conversations that they had every day:) This play was a huge time commitment - practices every day for three or four hours each time - and Suzette was so nice to drive her to and from almost every practice!

Maddie and Suzette in their play attire

So much fun!

Last Wednesday,  my mom, sister and her two girls, and brother Eli came for a visit! What a great week with lots of fun times together! We had a lot of moments where we laughed until I cried, which always makes for a great visit:) It was so nice to have some company!

Kilynn and Abram

Cute little Marjorie - I could eat her up!

  We bought a pool for Nolan for his birthday back in June and were commenting on how they tried to fit as many people in the picture on the package as possible to make the swimming pool look bigger and like more fun. Well, do you know they were right?  The more the merrier!!  I think, if they weren't so blurry, that Walmart would be wanting copies of these pictures:)

The kids had gotten in, clothes and all, and were lowering each other into the water until they were completely wet, and finally Ivy couldn't even resist:

You might be a red neck if...:)

local stores

As I was getting ready yesterday morning, this little note was slipped under my door:

What an advertisement! I hurried right down to find some captivating literature;

and enthusiastic, helpful cashiers:

I may have to do some price comparisons before I purchase food at this store. Mustard is $5.00 which seems PRETTY spendy; but a quart of honey is only $2.00 - NOT BAD AT ALL!!  Prices may average out. And the convenience can't be beat!:)

Our Fourth

I was so excited to get to church today and see that we were going to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" even though the fourth of July has come and gone!  I always feel so patriotic and can't sing the songs without getting a little bit choked up!

I thought I would just give a quick review of our fourth.  It was great!  We went to the parade in the morning and were thrilled to see that it was SO much better than last years! (Perhaps part of that was due to the fact that Caden, my niece Ellie, Maddie and Suzette were all in it:) Caden and Ellie were in the marching band, and I couldn't locate them fast enough to take a picture.  Maddie and Suzette were in it for "Hello Dolly" (the play that they will be performing this weekend!)

After the parade, Jim, Marilyn and Suzette came with us up to Teton Canyon where we had a picnic

and then went on a hike.

climbing a huge boulder along the way

I came upon some pretty cute hikers:

these two are such good friends-i love it!

We finished the hike by wading to cool off our hot feet:

And of course, we ended the day by going and watching the fireworks, and getting home way too late!

help yourself!

Ha ha ha -This is what happens when your two year old gets hungry and you're outside working in the yard:

The even funnier part is that he put it back into the bread bag and we just barely found it:)

When I go to upload pictures, I find all sorts of surprise pictures because there are a lot of kids around here that like to play with the camera.  I think Isabelle took this one of the yard.  Take note that we have grass!!!

It's doing great this year:

Now, who wouldn't want to be working out in that peaceful serenity, I ask you?
I also found about fifteen pictures, of this "adjustable" flower bracelet, featured in varying positions, that Maddie created:)

And lastly, there was this picture Isabelle took of Nolan, out on our deck (as they cleaned up) that reminded me of the sleepover I had out there with the four younger kids while Kami and Caden were at their camps:

That, coupled with not getting home from girls camp the night previous to that until 12:00, made me even more appreciative of the scout and young women leaders that go without sleep for a whole week! I'm sure that even on those days I got more sleep than they did!