Have To

 Today we met up with a dear friend from our time in Edmonton. I was assigned to be her visiting teacher at church and we had littles all the same age. She always kindly invited us over for play dates and lunch and baked delicious treats. As our littles were boating and playing on the beach, we were able to have a nice visit together and catch up. She is battling cancer at the moment and is frustrated at how it keeps her from caring for her five young children the way she would like to. As I was telling her about how I am able to leave my children at home during this pandemic when I HAVE to go grocery shopping, she smiled and said, "Have to". I stumbled, "Well, I love grocery shopping, so I guess it's not a have to." She smiled. It wasn't until later in our conversation that she expressed how much she missed being able to go out and pick the groceries for her house and plan the meals. Then it clicked. My entire perspective changed after our afternoon together. As I've contemplated a lot of my "Have to's" they've been turned into "Get to's". Instead of grumbling that I have to make dinner, I think that it is a privilege to cook for my family. I get to be the one to wake up in the middle of the night and soothe a crying child. I get to wake up early and figure out breakfast. Life is so much more pleasant when we change our "Have to's" to "Get to's" and I am forever grateful to this dear friend for sharing her heart and reminding me of this!

Family Walks

Today we finally saw some sun! We spent much of our day outside and even managed a family walk in the evening with everyone. Of all of the things we could do with our littles, they always say that walking up and around the orchard as a family is one of their favorite things to do. I'm always amazed at how children only want simple things. They crave our time and our full attention. Family walks in the evening is one of the ways we accomplish this. Sometimes we have races from one side to the other where shoes fly off and laughter is heard. Other times Mike and I are able to sneak in a conversation while the littles walk ahead and play tag together. Evenings like this fill my heart with gratitude!

Back to Church

We got to attend church in our cuilding for the first time in over three months. I may have cried tears of gratitude during morning prayers as I thanked our Heavenly Father for the opportunity to gather and worship. While I cherish the Sunday's we have spent doing home church, it was wonderful to worship together with those we love and have missed in our ward family! Even though we couldn't sing the hymns, tears still stung my eyes as we prepared to take the sacrament. Everyone used hand sanitizer and masks and the bread was put into individual cups with a separate garbage for disposal. We were seated with an empty bench between each family to promote social distancing and dismissed by rows at the end of the meeting. It felt strange to have to go through all of that, but we are glad to be together again, even if we can't sing the hymns.

Happy Anniversary

Today Mike and I celebrate twelve years of marriage! We have grown and learned so much together over the years and we are closer now than we were when we started. I can honestly say that Mike is my very best friend and there is no one else I'd rather spend all of my time with. When we were engaged we worked on the same grass cutting crew day in and day out and loved it! We spend a lot of time with each other and prefer it that way. Tonight we celebrated with KFC, but our plans for canoeing were put on hold thanks to the rain. Instead, we lit a candle and sat at the table for a romantic evening dinner after the littles were tucked in. I am so grateful to be married to such a hard working, loyal, loving, patient man!

Beach Bums

The littles have been begging and begging to go to the beach again and convinced me that today would be the perfect day! We woke to beautiful weather and they were all packed up and ready to go bright and early. I told them we had a few chores to finish up before we could leave and enlisted their help. They were happy to help because that meant that they could go to the beach sooner. We loaded up in big red and arrived at the lake in the late morning. There was not many people there, so it made for the perfect morning! Sawyer was so happy to be there and got so excited the closer we got to the beach. Having just gone swimming here a few days ago, he remembered how fun it was! This time we remembered his life jacket which allowed me to breath a little easier as I watched him play on the shoreline. The big kids all had fun on their floaties! I love this area of the beach because it is knee deep for a long ways out and I don't have to worry much about the little guys falling off a drop and into the deep water. Eventually the pizza floaties ended up getting holes in them, so we packed up and headed home for lunch with Daddy! We all enjoyed popsicles, did a little yard work and checked out the growth in the greenhouse! The tomatoes have really taken off and are taller than Sawyer now. The thick stalks are incredible and we are so looking forward to our harvest this year!

Grateful

Tonight we were all on our own while Daddy worked late attending his board meeting. We had hamburger helper for dinner and then went out for a walk together before bed. The kids took turns biking and pushing Sawyer in the stroller. It took a while to get everyone tucked into bed, and then I neglected the dishes and sat and watched a show. When the sun started setting, I went out to the coop to get the last of the eggs. Looking over the garden I couldn't help but feel grateful and blessed. It's so wonderful to be able to work along side my parents, gathering wisdom and knowledge about growing our own food. Fresh farm eggs and fresh garden goodness!

Summer Solstice & Fathers

Today we celebrated Father's Day on the lake! It was the perfect first day of Summer. When we arrived the lake was calm and beautiful! I love the smells at the lake and the cool breeze rushing across my face.

We left home when there was a break in the clouds and were able to enjoy clear skies and sunshine for most of our time on the water.

Mr. Stannix is always happy to be on the water driving his boat. When we first started out we had to maneuver around the beach area and a couple of sea doos. They created the perfect wave and despite our slower than normal speed, we sent Grampa and the two big kids flying through the air on the tube! Hyrum was quick to pat his head and request us to stop, eyes wide from the air they had just caught. We all had a good laugh about it afterward! 

Oliver does not sit still on the boat! He loves being on the water!

After one of our stops, Sawyer made his way to the back of the boat and pointed to the tube. He wanted a ride so bad! Daddy hopped on and put Sawyer on his lap and we took them for a spin.

When it started getting really hot, we stopped the boat and went for a swim. None of the kids wanted to jump in though, so I told them I'd go! Mr. Stannix and I held hands and jumped into the chilly lake together. I could jump into anything as long as I have this guy beside me!

Fin was feeling brave and wanted to test out his new life jacket. He decided to slowly climb off the ladder and towards his Dad in the lake. It took us a lot of coaxing to finally get him in the water (it was cold at first), but he was so happy after he finally did it!

Camilla jumped in right away after to help Fin feel more confident.

After threatening to throw him over board, Hyrum made his way slowly into the water as well.

It was a gorgeous day! I am so lucky to be surrounded by gentle and kind fathers who are always serving and helping others. We finished up the evening with Chinese food for dinner with Gramma and Grampa. Camilla and Fin made special name tags for the place settings and got the table all decorated up while I went to pick up the food. We sure love our Dads!

Naptime

It's not often that Ollie takes a nap anymore, but today I could tell that he needed it. I opened his window up wide to let in the cool breeze, kissed him on the head, and left the room. A few minutes later I came back to find him snoring.

Little Brother

We enjoyed German pancakes, ice cream and strawberries for breakfast and then everyone headed straight outside to play! After tidying the kitchen I looked out the front window to find the boys had hitched the wagon to the back of their bikes for Sawyer to ride in. I watched Hyrum, one foot on the ground at the top of a huge hill, debating if he should go down it or not. I called out to him and told him it probably wasn't the best idea, so he turned around and biked home. I wasn't  entirely sure how I felt about it, but Sawyer seemed to love it! This is why little brothers grow up to be so tough.

Chore Buddy

We have been enjoying the sunshine so much lately! Sawyer brings me his shoes first thing in the morning and begs me to let him play outside. We've been spending a lot of time in the garden and greenhouse, hanging out with Gramma and Grampa.

Collecting eggs is one of Sawyers favorite things to do. He loves the chickens and always tries to hug them.

Camilla has been enjoying photography lately and is always setting things up for pictures!

After dinner we all had ice cream cones out on the deck. Half of Sawyers ended up melting all over the place. As he ran, the ice cream dripped, and Reese wasn't far behind to lick it all up.

Spending time outside before bed is so great! We are loving these barefoot evenings.

The greenhouse is making great progress and I am so excited for toasted tomato sandwiches this Summer!