God is Love

Tonight before bed I slipped out in the sprinkling rain to lock in the hens and check for the last of the eggs. After grabbing the last egg of the day I wandered around the the back runs to shut the doors and looked up to find the most gorgeous rainbow! As the rain continued to come down, I made my way up to the top garden to take a closer look. It was the most beautiful sight I have seen in a long time. The rainbow stretched all the way across the sky and I was tempted to try and find the end. I snapped a few pictures and texted them to Mike with a "You're missing out!" When I made it back to the house I joined him on the deck and together we took in the double rainbow and the orange glow of the setting sun. The sky was on fire and it was incredible! I always feel God's love and the tender mercy he shows me each day when I am surrounded by the beauty of nature. This was just the reminder I needed. I enjoyed the beauty until the last ray of light slipped behind the trees and it all disappeared. I came inside soaking wet, but glowing with happiness and contentment. It was the perfect way to end the day!

Summer Storms

Waking up to a blue sky and sunshine streaming through the windows has to be one of my favorite things! Sawyer has been waking up long before 6:00am this week and the early mornings have been made easier as I've focused more on the rays of light and gift of a new day.

While I tidied the kitchen, Finley brought me in an armful of rhubarb that Gramma had cut. I sat on the back deck and chatted with my mom while I trimmed the leaves and bottoms off. The children were happily running around, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

When little tummies began to growl, I whipped up a double batch of gingersnap cookies. It usually fills the cookie jar even after the littles have eaten a pan or two hot out of the oven.

The afternoon brought rain! We went for a quick walk just as it started to admire the freshly mowed grass and the mulched trees in the orchard. Sawyer loved running around and kept patting his head every time a rain drop fell on it. I got back to the house just in time to pull six loaves of bread out of the oven for lunch!

In the evening, being a mamma meant snuggling a feverish boy on the couch while listening to the rain fall and the thunder shake the house. He had slept all afternoon without any coaxing from me and still wanted to go to bed early.

When the  big kids finished their movie they became mesmerized by the lightning and thunder. Finley brought in a pair of binoculars to get a better look. A few of them ended up bunking together for the night and happily tucked into their cozy warm beds.

Dirty Foot Prints

Today Oliver sat at the table just before dinner to draw. He almost always has a scrap, rolled up piece of paper and a fist full of markers on him or near by. While I made dinner, I couldn't help but smile as he tried to sneak across the table for the pencil box.

He left behind some perfect foot prints, evidence of a wonderful day spent barefoot outside. I smiled.

Then he told me this drawing was special for me! When I asked him what it was he told me it was a chicken. "See it's wings, and it's feet mom?" Oh yes, now I see it!

New Toys

The big kids came to me a few weeks ago and told me that they had each saved enough money to buy an MP3 player. They had done some research online and found a few in their price range. After doing a little research of my own and talking it over with Mr. Stannix, we decided to let them go for it! We placed the order online and they payed us in cold hard cash. They were pretty thrilled when they arrived today, three days earlier than expected! They excitedly tore into the boxes and got to work reading the manual and figuring out how they work. As they were listening to music, Fin pointed out that they were all matching their MP3 players. A picture had to be taken to document it. I am super proud of these guys for saving their money and using it wisely. They have spent the day biking, running, hanging out in their tree fort, and going on walks....with their earbuds in. I now feel like I live with mini teenagers. Haha!

Baby Chick Love

The last few days have been rainy and grey! After hustling to plant the garden and get things done outside, the rain has been a nice reprieve. I love sitting in the stillness of the house in the evening and listening to the rhythm of the rain. I've been busy catching up on dishes and laundry and started knitting another bonnet. The kids are so ready to be done school and I'm afraid that the last month is going to drag on and on. It's been so long since I've blogged last that I've had to figure out the new layout of things and how to use blogger all over again. I have good intentions to write something here everyday, but rarely do I ever get around to it! While the rain continues to fall, I thought I would jump on here and leave a few pictures from the sun filled weekend with cousins! My sister took some great shots of cousin time and baby chick snuggles! We love our new hatch of baby chicks and the littles are doing a great job of taming them.

A Sunday Hike

This weekend we had some family come and visit us! It's been so long and it has been so great to see everyone. After our home church Sunday morning, we all hopped in our cars and drove out to the Kootneys for a hike. I could not believe how busy it was out there, but we managed to keep ourselves fairly socially distant as we passed people on the trail. It took us an hour and a half of driving to reach our destination and there were some awful bumps in the road that I thought for sure wrecked our new van. We were super happy when we arrived and the kids were loaded with energy!

When I hiked up to these two cute boys on the trail I couldn't help but snap a picture! I loved the way that Hyrum slung his arm around his little brother as they walked and talked. Moments like these make all of the fighting and hard worth it!

Ollie's little legs were constantly running to keep up with everyone and even though he got tired, he never stopped! He got a little bit nervous when we reached the suspension bridge as he is very afraid of heights! After all of the bridge wigglers crossed over, he and I took our time heading across. The views were pretty amazing on all sides and it was so great to be out in nature.

There was so much beauty along the trail! I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than admiring God's beautiful creations. We loved the flowers, the pussy willows, the tall trees and towering mountains.

Near the end the kids found this gnarly tree and decided to climb on the branch all together. It made for a good group shot! The littles did a great job at keeping up with everyone thanks to piggy backs and shoulder rides. Gramma and Grampa often walked in the back with the smallest walkers, patiently keeping their pace.

As we neared the end, we could hear the water roar! The littles excitedly ran to the top and safely peered off the look out at the water beneath. The last time we were here we had a few less kids and the rest of them were probably too small to remember much.

Our group found a spot to gather for a snack and water break while we took in the view. All around us were little groups and families keeping their distance from one another as they sat and ate. Thankfully there were many adult eyes to watch the smallest two or three kiddos and keep them away from the edge while we waited for Uncle Chris to pop a very important question to a special someone!

I wish I could remember all of the hilarious things that these two got up to while we walked! At one point Ollie noticed a fallen tree resting on another tree, making a tunnel shape. "Look mom! A tunnel! Choo-Choo!" and he ran right through it at the speed of a train. Their imaginations are so priceless and they kept us laughing the entire way!

The hike down took us half the time and before we knew it we had made it back to the bridge and down to the flats. We all hiked in little groups, stopping every once in a while to catch up with each other.

As Sawyer and Daddy hiked back down, Daddy passed him mini marshmallows to keep him happy along the way.

The drive home was quiet and peaceful! Everyone fell asleep within five minutes and Mr. Stannix and I got to visit, uninterrupted, all the way home!

Boating Season

This afternoon we took the boat out for a spin! The lake was pretty busy, but big enough that you hardly noticed anyone else! The water is still pretty cold, so we settled for a few gentle tube rides and soaked up as much of the sun as we could. The kids had a blast and we were even able to convince Fin to hop on the tube for a bit! The glassy lake begged for some water skiing, but the water was just too cold yet! As we cruised around the lake taking in the views and mountains in the distance Mr. Stannix and I both commented on how blessed we feel. If there's one thing we've learned from this crazy time of quarantine it's that we could be completely happy with the simple life, spending time together day in and day out, and enjoying the little things that every day has to offer!

It's Okay to Cry

Tonight as I tucked in the big boys I sat on the edge of their bed for a few extra minutes. They both requested back scratches and a favorite song. While the music quietly played in the background and the room became still, Joseph rolled over and let out a big sigh. "Mom, I miss school. I miss my friends and I am sad that I'm going to miss the end of the year hot dog party where the fire truck comes and sprays us." Hyrum quickly added, "Yeah, I miss my friends and the school assemblies and the games we play and my teacher....." Suddenly, all of the emotion that I had been bravely hanging onto for the past fifty plus days came to the surface and my eyes welled up with tears. Through those tears I told them how I was sad too, and that it was okay to be sad about all of the fun things we miss and were so looking forward to. Then I took a deep breath and tried to control myself as I saw their eyes begin to well up too. It made my mamma heart hurt. Hyrum said most of the time he feels lucky to be with family every day, but sometimes he misses things. We all hugged and cried together and then made plans for an epic end of the year BBQ complete with Jumbo Freezies and all of their favorite things. I know it can never replace the real thing, but it helped take away some of the sadness. We feel very fortunate and grateful that we have each other during this crazy time, but it's still okay to feel sad sometimes and I wanted them to know that.