Wedding #2

 I got to work another wedding!  This time it was at Pippin Hill Farms, which was even prettier than Clifton Inn!  AND the weather was absolute perfection.  It was all so lovely!

Lovely view of the Blue Ridge Mountains

You can see Brittany and Stephanie "detailing" here, which means we wander around and make sure all the place settings are PERFECT.  Also, note that each place setting has a little painting in front of it.  These were all done by the bride and matched this enormous painting that she had displayed for guests:

This photo doesn't do it justice-- it was probably about 6' X 6'?  And I got to stand and hold it up behind the bride and groom while they were photographed with their cake!

And speaking of cake, how lovely is this?  But here's the funny thing-- it's actually fake!  So we had to have a piece of real cake all ready so the bride and groom could pretend to cut this and then feed each other actual cake.  I'm not sure who comes up with this stuff, but it never fails to amuse me...!

As the sun set, it got even prettier!

And then we had to run around and grab all those little tiny paintings and each guest's menu and put them in their gift bag for them!  So complicated!

So far, this wedding gig has been really fun!  I'm excited to keep doing it!

Goals

Seascape at Saintes-Maries, by Van Gogh.  

This is one of my favorite paintings.  It hangs in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, which I have never been to, so I've never seen it with my actual eyes, but I still love it.  I have a print of it, cut out of an old calendar (the back side is filled with my Mom's scribbles of doctors appointments and music lessons, probably from when I was in high school?  Whenever I happen to see all those notes, it makes me smile) and it hangs near my bed where I can always see it.

We had General Conference recently (our church's biannual event wherein all our leaders address us over the course of two days), and in the second talk, I heard a phrase that I just loved so much.  Elder Scott D. Whiting said, "Become the tide that raises all boats in the harbor."

How's that for beautiful?

As often happens to me, the political season is driving me nuts.  I read so many articles and see so many opinions batted around and I'm just itching to respond to it all.  I want to post and rant and rave and make people see my point.  But on the rare occasion when I actually give in to that urge it always goes badly.  I can probably count on two hands the times I've engaged and had a worthwhile conversation.  But the times when by the end of it all I've wanted to crawl into a hole and die would be... all the other times?  And there's never any point-- I've never convinced anyone of my opinions, and no one has ever changed mine.  My sister Rachael recently taught me the saying, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still" and that certainly rings true to my own experiences!  The best thing that's ever come of such discussions is just a better understanding of why the other side feels that way, which is good!  But still didn't change anything other than creating a little more empathy.  

So I've been trying my best to stay out of it all.

And when I heard this quote, it really summed up a much more important thing to be doing.  Arguing politics (or anything, really) with people does not raise anyone up.  There are better ways to interact with people.

So that is my goal, and it's mostly something I'm trying to do in my home, not on social media or anywhere else.

Become the tide that raises all boats in the harbor.

What a beautiful idea.

P.S. I have another favorite painting that I recently discovered-- I'm thinking about buying myself a print!  Check out this artist's beautiful work!

October Visitors

Jason got to come back and see us once more before he headed home, so that was a lot of fun, even if (once again) we took very few pictures of it.  But we got a couple, at least!  Tom had just barely had a birthday, so we all got to celebrate together with Chinese food and cupcakes!

Proof!  Jason was here!

And Tom was properly fêted!

Also back for a visit, was the kids' well named friend, Scarlett!  The whole neighborhood was excited to have her back for a few hours!

Jason left Sunday and my parents arrived Tuesday, so I had just enough time to put clean sheets on the bed, and clean towels in the bathroom. Whew! I was excited to show my parents Ragged Mountain, but it's a little tricky doing outdoor stuff with them: my Dad loves walking and frequently walks for miles each day, whereas my Mom is scheduled to get her knee replaced next month.  Finding Covid-friendly activities that works for both of them requires a little bit of finagling, but in this case, I just set up camping chairs where my mom (and Ryder and Camille) had a great view of the reservoir, and Dad, Colton and I did the 3-mile round trip to the floating bridge.  So I think that made everyone happy?

Hiking!

Not hiking!

The next day, for actual Hiking Club, my neighbor Shannon and I loaded TEN KIDS into my van and took everyone to Wildrock.  I let my parents follow in Craig's car, rather than subject them to that much noise!  This time we did the Creepy Crawly Trails (and my Mom managed to do it, too!) and had a great time (even if the gnats were STILL bad!):

Sydney, Keegan, Calvin, Colton, and Jameson!

Hey, look-- a picture with me AND my parents!  (And Beth!)

I loved how Kendra and Beth were matching!

Here they had toy snakes you could play with

And then at the end the kids could decorate pumpkins and (play) masks

We got home from Wildrock and I had just enough time to eat a bowl of cereal, shower, and close my eyes for ten minutes before we headed right back out again.  This time we were heading to a corn maze!

We found a small one heading west on 29, and it was perfect.  There was plenty for the kids to run around and look at, but I could sit on some benches in the middle and always see them.  Nothing makes me happier!

Gotta love a giant chair!

Ryder still loves pigs!

And giant slides!

Here are we are at the end of the corn maze!

I'm just gonna point out that my hair looks fabulous here!

Camille got nervous in the corn maze (she was afraid they'd never find their way out), so Craig finally brought her out through the entrance and then went back and did it again with Ryder.  

We had a great time and spent WAY too much money on pumpkins.  And then we stopped at Dr. Ho's and got pizza as we drove home!  It was a lovely day!

My parents were here for a few more days, but then it mostly rained and we ordered take-out and had a FABULOUS time, but did not take any pictures.  But it was so good to have them here for a bit-- I'd been really missing them!  Come back soon, Mom and Dad!  (And Jason!)

Beautiful October

We had fun with Landon, but it was nice to get back to our more regular routine!  The tricky thing about adding a new kid to the mix is just all the unknowns-- you don't know if he can be left alone in a room for a minute or he'll bolt in the parking lot, so you have to be extra cautious until you have a better feeling for what to expect.  But Landon was quite easy-- he was very happy playing with all the toys we have, and was remarkably good about cleaning up when he was done.  I managed to take him with me to the store and he was great.  He didn't want to wear his mask, but a promise of Oreo cookies fixed that.  (I found out later that the mask laws are only for kids ages ten and up, but I hadn't known that at the time and I really didn't want to risk getting yelled at!)

Landon liked being Captain America!

His foster mom picked him up on Wednesday, and I have to admit, I was relieved that I could go to Costco all by myself!

And then we were back to our usual Zoom School routine!

I have a system worked out with my neighbor now where her daughter does her morning classes here with my kids, and then her mother takes them and does specials (art, music, PE, library) all together.  It went well last week, and Grandma was very sweet about sending me pictures of the kids working together!

PE

And doing art!

At my house, they tend to look more like this:

Eating pudding that Kendra made

Study break!

We went back to Ragged Mountain last week. It seems kind of lame to repeat the same location, but no one had really come before, so I wanted others to get to see it, and I wanted to go in reverse so we got to the floating bridge pretty fast.

Me plus my five, the Palmer 2, and the Seller 3 (Kristen is in the next picture with all four of hers!)

Totally got my finger in that shot-- I need Adam to take pictures!  It was nice to have Kristen to hike with!

So pretty!!!

Beth is adorable

Camille figured out how to use her walking stick to help her carry her lunchbox and Sydney's backpack!

All dressed for church (minus shoes and socks) and perched on the bunkbeds!

My kids are weird...

My butterfly bush isn't quite ready to admit that it's fall yet...