Ivy Creek Park

Over a week ago, Bentley insisted that we travel LESS THAN 30 minutes for hiking club.  So we just went to Ivy Creek, near our church building.  (But then Bentley had to meet with a teacher during her office hours, so he didn't even end up coming!  That's what I get for trying to accommodate people!)  I'd only been here once before for family portraits but I hadn't actually looked at the trails then, so it was fun to finally explore a bit!  And this week Shannon (and her kids) and Adam came, so that made it even more fun!

Unfortunately, some of the kids were struggling, so we did a fairly short walk, and then let the kids play on the river rocks while the grown ups stood around chatting.  No complaints here!

I let Kendra take pictures on my phone, and she snapped a lot of nature shots, a few of which I'll include here...

Ryder was really mad to have to share his rock with Colton here

So he stomped off, leaving Colton to claim the rock

So then Adam tried to show Ryder that this rock was just as good.  Ryder wasn't convinced, though...

Love the sunlight glinting off the creek here!

And how vibrant this grass is!

It looks like these rocks have gold in them!

Later, Camille and Sydney got cozy as they played on her tablet together...

And that afternoon during piano lessons, we made a Thank You sign for Mrs. Garland, who was Ryder, Colton and Camille's kindergarten teacher!  She was a WONDERFUL teacher and I was very sad when she decided to retire.  But at her age and with Covid-19, it was probably a good idea.  But we definitely needed to express our thanks to her!  She always called her students her Garland Darlin's, it was so cute!

Anyway, they had a drive-by thank you parade, for her and we were glad we could participate!

#GiveThanks

On Friday, President Nelson asked us all to post daily on social media the things that we are grateful for.  My gut reaction was, No, I hate posting on Facebook!  But I do believe he's a prophet.  And even as he said it, I began thinking about all the things I was grateful for and I DID immediately feel better about life.  So I decided to do it.  And I'd like to copy those all to this blog, too, since I'm much more likely to re-read things here than on FB.

But before I do that, I have to point out that not only have I enjoyed getting to do this, I have also loved seeing what everyone else has posted.  Even when most people are posting the same things, it doesn't feel repetitive or boring, it feels NICE.  It's SO NICE to scroll through Facebook and see positive messages about how much everyone loves their family or their spouse.  What's not to love about this challenge?

Day #1:  I'm always and forever grateful for my little family! I never could have foreseen being a mama to five with the best husband ever, but if 14-year-old me could have glimpsed her future, she would have been blown away by how happy she would be.

Yup, that's our newest family portrait!

Day #2: This will sound silly, but I am truly grateful for indoor plumbing!!!! Any time I feel anxious about the state of our world, I think about how lucky I am to be living in an age of toilets and hot showers and I immediately feel better! (And camping with my besties is a GREAT way to remember this!!!).

From August's camping excursion

Day #3:  I'm normally very shy about sharing my religious beliefs on Facebook, but I would be remiss if I didn't express the eternal gratitude I feel for my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I love studying His life in the New Testament and in The Book of Mormon. And I love the peace and safety He has brought into my own life.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

One of my favorite paintings of Jesus

Day #4: Today I am focusing on how grateful I am for SCIENCE. I think we're all particularly grateful for medical science right now (come on, vaccine-makers! You can do it! and huzzah for all the strides doctors and nurses and researchers have made in learning how to treat Covid!), but also for technology that lets me talk/text/video chat with loved ones who live far away (AND also makes it possible for me to fly to them in just a matter of hours if needed!), and helps me understand the natural world better. It seems there are people out there who don't think science and religion are compatible, but I am HERE for BOTH. I'm grateful for ALL of it!

Day #5: I'm thankful that my daughters and I are living in a time and place where women are free to do whatever they want with their lives! We can get an education, vote, own land, and be successful in any career we pursue! And I realize this may sound funny, coming from a stay-at-home mom, but I absolutely love knowing that it was MY CHOICE to stay home with my kiddos. In the history of the world, has there ever been a better time to be female?

Day #6: I watched a great speaker one time point out that the perfect body is the One You Have. Because you don't get another one! So today, I'm thankful for my body. It's got one huge c-section scar, plenty of stretch marks, and maybe even some of that Covid-19 extra poundage, but by golly, it's gotten me this far in life and I expect it will see me through to the end. 😆 But seriously, it's worked very well, whatever I put it through, wether it's growing and feeding babies or forcing it to run and exercise.

And I am thankful.

P.S. If I get sick and die next week, promise me that you will read this at my funeral and laugh and laugh at my hubris!

Day #7: I doubt I appreciated it growing up, but I am so thankful for my family. Two awesome parents, and four sisters who have been my best friends for my entire life-- how lucky am I?

I haven't had nearly enough time to post about the many many other things I am grateful for, so here's a quick list of other things that bring joy to me every day: my fabulous in-laws (I hit the jackpot with them!); the good ol' US of A (I love my country so much); so many wonderful friends in my life (if you're reading this, you're definitely one of them!); chocolate; library books; the ability to travel and see amazing places (that will be a thing again some day, right?); my home; the gospel; nature (shout out to my hiking club!!!); cute pets... And the list goes on and on. So much to be grateful for!

I ended up LOVING this challenge from Pres. Nelson-- it was definitely precisely what I needed.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break-- lots of pictures of mine to follow!

School IRL

Colton and Camille actually got to go to school this week!  They went for the first time on Tuesday, and they're back there right now as I'm typing this!  So exciting!  I'm currently only managing ONE CHILD on Zoom, instead of 4 or 6!  This is almost relaxing!

This called for another round of "first day of school" pictures!

I love the fact that you can really see Camille's very confident stride in this picture!  This girl has been ready to go to kindergarten for a year now!

Sydney was missing her buddies, so she and Kendra both came with me to the bus stop to pick them up in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what time the bus was supposed to arrive (they told me a week and a half ago-- how am I supposed to retain information like that???) so we got there really early and were standing outside for a long time and it was a VERY blustery day!  Kendra, always the good sport, figured out a fun game that they could play:

And when Colton and Camille hopped off the bus they were SO EXCITED about everything they'd gotten to do in school!  And I was so happy to see them so happy!

Yay for actual school!  

Please let there be a vaccination soon so the rest of the kids can go, too!

😞

Today was supposed to be the first day of actual school for Colton and Camille.  This would be the first time Colton's gotten to go to school since MARCH, and the first day Camille EVER went to school.

So naturally it was canceled due to flooding somewhere in the county.  And, of course, Craig still had to go to work, so I don't even get to enjoy having him home for a change!

I can't even say how frustrating this is getting.  

2020 is slowly crushing my soul.

The only thing that gives me hope is the fact that the Monday-Wednesday kids did get to go to school yesterday.  So maybe we'll get to try again on Tuesday?

please?

On a brighter note, here's a great picture from before the deluge hit:

Raking leaves...  and Camille, too?

First Week of November

After a couple rainy days and a few cold days, we snapped back into lovely fall weather!  No complaints here!!!  

Reading Harry Potter out loud in bed

I woke up SO EXCITED to vote on Election Day!

Bentley got to learn a little about how to swing a golf club for YMs that night

Playing at Sydney's grandma's house

McGuffey Park (or as we call it, the Spinny Park, because most of the toys involve spinning and half the kids invariably get sick).  This is one of my favorite parks because all the equipment is totally different from most playgrounds.  Unfortunately it has very little parking, so we don't get here as often as I'd like to-- but luck was with us today and we had a great time!

I commissioned some masks from my friend Josephine!  I got two black masks for weddings, and then these fun ones-- aren't they CUTE???

This week for hiking club we drove down to High Bridge trail, which is an old train track that they've turned into a biking/hiking/horseback riding spot.  The bridge was super cool: 2,400 feet long, and (at its highest) 125 feet tall.  As the sign explained, it isn't the longest or the tallest bridge, but it's the longest tall bridge and highest long bridge!  😄

It took me a bit of internet sleuthing to sort it out, but I managed to find a parking lot just a mile from the bridge, so by the time we hiked there and walked all the way across the bridge and back, we'd done nearly three miles.  Not bad!

I'm so happy every time we get a Friday with good weather!

I woke up Saturday morning to this fun scene:

Which then turned in to this:

And then this!

Great way to entertain yourselves, kids!  Keep up the good work!

The whole backyard looked golden, so I made the kids run outside so I could document it with them in the picture, too!

I took Camille out on a date.  We got pizza and then ate it at the park at sunset!

And Ryder continues to be very cool at church!

Halloween 2020

Kendra had dress up days for school ("school"), so this led to...

Her being a reporter!

And (temporary!) pink streaks in her hair!

It was nice having Halloween on a Saturday this year!  That gave us plenty of time to carve our pumpkin all together and do costumes without me being a complete stress case, as has maybe occasionally happened in the past...

Shannon, me, Ginna, and Rebekah-- together we're...  The Spice Girls! 😆

Ryder was a stick figure (his costume looked AWESOME in the dark!), Bentley was the Carrot version of an Among Us character, and Colton and Camille are riding their t-rex and unicorn!

Kendra went to an (outdoor, socially distant) party dressed as Medusa

And our neighborhood had a big party!

We hardly got any trick-or-treaters, despite setting up a table with the candy spread around on it as recommended by someone who knows?  But it was a fun day anyway!  And I'm enjoying our huge collection of pumpkins-- how did we get so many of them???-- for a few more days until they get donated to a local farmer for his livestock to eat.  Nice!  Yay for good causes.

And here's a short video of Ryder walking around in his costume so you can get the full effect!