Solace

I find solace in the outdoors.  I need to grow things.  It's good for my soul.  That's why this spring, I took a shovel to the grass in my backyard and literally carved out a garden, inch by inch!  (David built a shed on our previous garden plot).  It was hard work and it took several weeks, but it has been SO worth it to me!  

I LOVE - really really love - my garden.  It's so tiny!  But I packed in everything I could possibly fit. I've got peas, cucumbers, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, basil, beets, zucchini, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and corn in that little 20 x 20 plot.  I also have blueberries, raspberries, more lettuce, strawberries, chives, mint, and rhubarb growing in various pots and plots throughout my yard.  And two apple trees, soon to be joined by a couple more fruit trees, I hope.  

There's actually a lot to be said for a little garden.  It's certainly more manageable!  I have enough produce to enjoy fresh, but have no pressure to bottle or preserve anything (yet...).  Weeding is a joy.  And it's so neat and tidy.  I love my pretty little garden.  

Also bringing solace to my soul is this lovely tree on the side of our house.  When we first moved here, Alison named it Becca.  Becca is pretty awesome!  She shades our backyard beautifully, making it possible to eat dinner outside any night we choose.  The kids climb in her limbs to read, play, or just be alone.  

And she is the home of a lovely hornets' nest.  It's so high up there that it doesn't cause any problems, so I'm inclined to just leave it there.  For now, at least.

Our hammock rests under Beccas's branches, shaded for more than half of the day.  

All seven of us spend time in the hammock - some nearly every day - reading, chatting with friends and siblings, watching clouds and jets go by, or simply enjoying this view.  It's so peaceful and replenishing to me! Thank heaven for green growing things! 

Shaggy Baby

Quinton's hair is too long.  It's getting ridiculous.  But David loves it!  He keeps telling me that it's not time yet to cut his hair.  Grandpa Smith disagrees.

The other day, my parents were visiting the boys were putting on a little show.  Bronson would ask, "Quinton, what does a dinosaur say?" and Quinton would roar.  Then, it was "What does a cow say?" and Quin would moo.  Etc. etc.  This can go on for quite a while since Quin knows the noises of dozens of animals.  After a while. Grandpa asked, "Quinton, what does a barber say?  Oh - I guess you wouldn't know that one!"  Ha ha ha!  He's got a point!

Creative Cursing

Last Sunday, Bronson was in a MOOD!  Ooh!  He was just mad at the world!

As we were driving to church, David suggested that we sing a primary song to help set the mood.  Nicole started to sing in her beautiful, sweet voice.  Meanwile I could see the wheels turning in Bron's head.  He was trying to think of the worst, most disruptive thing he could say to ruin the mood.

So here's what I heard:
Nicole:  "I'm trying to be like Jesus..."
Bronson: "Lamanites!"
Nicole:  "I'm following in His way,"
Bron: "Lamanites!"

I thought I'd die laughing!  Since then, Alison and I have adopted Bronson's new way of swearing.  If I mess up something, I say, "Oh Lamanites!  I put in too many eggs!"  Alison prefers, "Ugh!  Gadianton! I'm bored!" It really helps alleviate all the bad feelings to curse in this new manner.  I suggest you try it!

Gee Family Day Camp

One of our Tech Free Tuesdays this summer was spent at Gee Day Camp.  It's held in our back yard, and technically only lasts half a day.  

I just wanted to show you this shirt that my sister gave me for my birthday.  She says if I'm going to have a Young Women's calling, I need to start building up my camp shirt collection.

After naps this afternoon, we went to work setting up our tent.  It was much easier this year than last - I think we're getting the hang of it.  

I let the kids play in and around the tent for a while.  

Then, we built a camp "fire" with sticks and tissue paper.  

Alison led us in a rousing "bear hunt" and a few of us told campfire stories.  

We went "fishing" (pretzel rods with a gummy worm attached to a string) for goldfish crackers and Swedish fish. 

Then, we made some "mud" and played with it for a long time.  At first, they hid fossils in it.  

After a while, they held a "chopped" food competition.  Alison was the judge.  They had a ball playing this!

We had tinfoil dinners that night - cooked in the oven.  

Followed by microwaved S'mores.  

They were every bit as gooey, messy, and delicious as the real thing.  It was a fun day.  

Dinosaur Park

Monday, July 11th was the most lovely day!  Temps stayed in the 70's, with bright sunny skies.  When I saw the forecast, I knew we needed to do something outdoors.  I thought about the zoo or a park, but in the end, I decided to hit Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

Nicole took this picture, so she's missing here.  

Now I am aware that most people would find walking around a bunch of dinosaur statues a little bit boring.

But not this group!  My boys are dino-fanatics!  All three of them!  And my girls are my-boys-fanatics so they enjoyed sharing the excitement with them.  

Quinton kept running around yelling, "T-Rex!  T-Rex!"  I could barely get a picture of the older two boys!  They ran from statue to stature yelling and pointing, "Look! a jfdhakjfdhak!  Wow!  Look!  A fklafl!"  (so I don't know all the dinosaur names, but they do!)

They have a new digging pit since the last time we came.  

And I think my boys would like to decorate their room with these dino heads.

Checking Quin's paws against various animals.  

Oooh!  Some dangerous animals!  We've been taking pictures of our kids here since Nicole was Quinton's age.

Playing on the playground.

Walking under a huge dinosaur.  

The second digging area.  Not pictured are the fish/duck  pond and the panning for gold stream.  Super fun!

Since it was only a a difference of about $20, I bought an annual pass to Dinosaur Park.  I figure the boys would like to go a few more times in the next 12 months.  Plus, it also gets us into three other museums for free, so we have a few more places to visit before school starts.  The boys were elated!  In fact, Bronson wanted to go back again that first night, after dinner.  He couldn't understand why we wouldn't go every day if it's free!   

Some July Shenanigans

We're having a busy and fun summer.  Here are a few pics from the first part of July:

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I won another contest on a TV morning show.  This time, the prize was 5 tickets to see "BFG."  David took the older kids and I stayed home with the baby.  They had a great time!  The movie was fun (Dave almost fell asleep, but the kids all liked it).  The theater was the kind with big leather recliners.  Awesome!  Plus, they got free popcorn and pop, and free super soft blankets, which they got to take home with them!

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July 9th was our ward's annual fun run.  Generally, David gets stuck cooking breakfast, but this year he ran!  Do you see him?  He's in the dark blue shirt.

Josh also ran.  He's in kelly green up towards the front.   The rest of us wimped out.  I can barely walk across the parking lot. Quin's too little.  Bron says he's super fast, but he gets tired really easy (I can attest to that - when we would walk to pick up Josh from Kindergarten we had to pack snacks and water in order to survive).  Nicole was feeling shy or something - she helped me keep an eye on Quin, and Alison would rather die than run in a race.  

There goes Josh!  

That's Dave about half way through the course.  

And Josh with a little buddy.

Bronson ran out to cheer in his dad near the finish line.

And here's my boy at the finish line!  I'm so proud of my two runners!  I even got teary eyed watching each of them come in.

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You better believe we hit "cow appreciation day" at Chick-Fil-A again this year!  It's like heaven to me!  Free Chick-Fil-A food for anyone who sports cow attire! We went for lunch on Tuesday the 12th.

After getting everyone all cowed up,we drove to the restaurant and found a line wrapping around the building.  Luckily for us, we drove half a mile to the in-mall Chick-Fil-A and walked right up to the registers!

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My neighbor friend gave me this awesome contraption for my birthday!

Inflatable water tether ball!  Awesome!  (L to R: Bronson, Josh, Pierce from the neighborhood).

I think we'll really enjoy it until it gets popped.  So far so good, though!  

Cookie's Gone

The day after my birthday, July 9th, we said goodbye to Cookie.  She's been with us for nearly 10 years now, so it was pretty sad.  In fact, none of our kids remember life without her.

A few months ago, Cookie picked up a new habit.  She started peeing around the house.  As much as I like her, I'm not going to live in a cat urine house.  No can do.  Taking her to the vet is hugely expensive since you have to sedate her for the vet to even look at her.  If we were doing that, we might as well just put her down.  But most places are only open during weekday business hours (Dave would be the one to take her) so we had a hard time getting it all lined up.  Meanwhile, Cookie kept peeing in the house and getting in trouble - poor girl.

Last Saturday, David took her to the Humane Society in Salt Lake City.  I suppose it's possible that they will try to adopt her out, but I highly doubt it.  She's not a friendly cat.  For her sake, I hope they put her down.  She wouldn't be happy in a cage or being re-adopted.  We'll never know because they make you sign a paper waiving all rights to her, including knowing what happens to her.  I hope whatever happened happened quickly.  Cookie was Alison's cat and she felt terrible.  I think she's holding on to the hope that a miracle happened and Cookie was adopted into a nice family.  Maybe she was.

It feels kind of nice and kind of lonely around here without Cookie. Sometimes it still feels like I need to let her in or out of the house. Then I remember she is gone. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to going on vacation without worrying about what to do with her.  Of course, the kids are all vying for replacements already.  I'm not ready for that yet, though.  I know there are many valuable lessons that come along with pet ownership (like how to get your parents to do your work for you...) but I feel like we just got through a tough lesson and we should take a little time to let it sink in.

My Birthday

Like it or not, I turned 39 on July 8th.  I'm just going to honest for a second and say that this has been a really rough summer for me.  I'm in a lot of pain, my energy levels are super low, and I'm emotionally unstable. I wasn't looking forward to my birthday.  The thought of it exhausted me.  My loved ones all tried to make it special, for which I am very appreciative.  Yes I cried sporadically throughout the day, that's kind of the norm for me right now.  Just keeping it real, folks.  But overall, I felt very loved.   

Nicki woke up bright and early and made me pancakes for breakfast. What a sweet girl!  Of course, I had to clean up the mess....  but it's the thought that counts.

We spent most of our day grocery shopping.  Birthday or not, we needed food and it was payday.  So I took ALL the kids to Costco.  We ate lunch there at the hot dog stand (plus all the samples are like a meal in and of themselves).  In the afternoon, I spent some time with a couple of close friends just visiting on my driveway while our kids played together.  It was nice.  I had several well wishes and phone calls throughout the day and David left a voice mail with a different birthday song every couple of hours.  

That night, we ate dinner at the Habbit.  That's my burger.  It was delicious. 

I remembered to snap one picture of Josh and Bron, but that's it.  Sorry.

We went to my parents' house of angel food cake with fresh berries and home made whipped cream.  

Blowing out the candle.  We opened presents there too.  My folks bought me a beautiful new purse.  Dave and the kids got me movie tickets, my favorite flavored syrups, and many treats.  It was nice.  

Here's to the big 3-9.