Park Play

 This month is flying by! It's hard to believe that Summer is almost coming to a close. We ventured out to a park for a little while this morning. It's been so long since the littles have been on a slide or swing set and they enjoyed their time! Until somebody decided to start throwing rocks... then we had to leave and it was sad. We have been keeping busy with the garden and enjoying farm fresh eggs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening on the Lake

It was over thirty degrees here today! When Daddy got home from work we ordered a pizza, hooked up the boat and headed to the lake. We were all desperate to cool off in the water! We didn't spent many evenings on the lake until we went out with friends a few weeks ago.

 Camilla, Fin and Ollie had the first tube ride of the night! The little boys are sometimes more daring than their big sister on the tube and giggled away! After anchoring the tube near the shore, we took off to the middle of the lake and did some swimming. It was so refreshing and nice to jump in the water! Sawyer was unsure for the first few minutes, but eventually warmed up to the idea when he discovered how much fun it was to splash Dad and Mom. 

 

I had forgotten how nice the lake is at that time of day. The littles enjoyed watching how the lake magically calms down as the evening goes on and the wind goes away. After an hour or so on the boat the wind was completely gone and the water turned to glass.

 

 

The older two took turns knee boarding and are getting so good at it!

 Sawyer loves being on the boat and it's so fun to watch him!

 

 

Daddy got in a good knee board just as the water was calming down. Joseph turned to me and said, "We have the coolest dad ever!!" 

 

Ofcourse, after seeing how calm the water was, Camilla wanted another go at the kneeboard! She was doing 360's like crazy and had a blast until she got swallowed by the wake on her way back in. As we spun the boat around she gave us a thumbs up and was laughing by the time we got back to her.

After watching how much fun Daddy had on the skis, I decided to give it a try! I haven't been on a pair of skis for quite some time! Mr. Stannix was kind enough to help me into them, which wasn't an easy feat with my bump and a life jacket in the way. I yelled "Pin it!" and popped out of the water right away! 

 

 

It felt so good!! The water really was perfect and I could have gone all evening, except that my arms were getting tired.

 

The light just kept getting better as the evening went on. I love watching a good sunset! Hearing the "ooh's and ahh's" from the littles was the best. 

After we had our fill of skiing and boarding we made our way over to the shore to grab the tub for one last ride!

 

 Sawyer was giggling at his toes beneath the towel and kept sticking them out and saying "Hiiiii!" That scrunchie nosed giggle of his is my very favorite.

We had a crazy thing happen at the end of the tube ride and I am so grateful that it all worked out okay. After stopping the boat, the tube started tipping backwards. Mr. Stannix was on with Ollie and Fin and yelled to start pulling them in. I leapt to the back of the boat and began hauling the rope in as I slowly watched the front of the tub tip up to the sky. He fell off the back, grabbed Ollie and then yelled, "Where's FIN!!!" Without thinking I jumped out as far as I could and rushed to the overturned tube where Fin was trapped underneath. Luckily he had found a little air pocket where the seats are, but was still sputtering a bit when I pulled him out. We all swam back to the boat and were able to laugh about it, thankfully.  Ollie was the only one who wanted to ride the tube back to the  dock, but we were able to convince the older two to hop on for an easy ride.

 

The sky, the lake, everything was beautiful in that evening light! But this time we left feeling extra grateful that everyone was together and okay.

 

Evan's Cherries

We spent some time up in the orchard today picking Evan's cherries and checking out the apple trees. We got a few bucket fulls of cherries and the little boys loved helping Grampa and I pick. The cherries are sour, but tasty and make a nice treat. I'm so glad my parents decided to plan these years ago. It's been fun watching the orchard take off and start producing lots of yummy things! In the afternoon, Ollie and I ventured out to the garden to pick and gather. When we had finished, he looked at all of the vegetables and said, "Mom, if you cook all of dese things for dinner tonight, I wiwll eat dem ALL!" Fresh, crunchy carrots are such a treat and we are being spoiled with cheery tomatoes and lots of other good things! I love Summer time!

 

 

 

 

 

Twin Lakes

We decided on a whim to take the littles to Twin lakes to paddle around for a bit.  The weather was gorgeous when we left home! We unloaded the canoes and life jackets and got everyone situated. The big kids wanted to go on their own while Daddy took Joe, Fin and Sawyer. I was a little bit nervous as Ollie and I watched them from the dock, but they all had life jackets on and the water was pretty calm. They all did a little bit of fishing, but no bites.

When they returned, I hopped in a canoe with Daddy, Finley and Sawyer. The big kids took Ollie, and Joe opted to stay on the dock and throw rocks. 

As the afternoon went on, dark clouds began rolling in. We could hear the quiet rumbles of thunder in the distance and it was soon accompanied by lightning. We paddled back to the shore speedy quick (along with everyone else) and began lugging the canoes and life jackets up to the van. It started spitting rain and the wind began picking up. Soon the rain turned to a huge dump of hail. We had loaded the canoes and were working on getting the hooks off the rods when I started coming down hard. We all took cover in the van and waited out the storm. When it had finally passed, the sunshine came out again. The ground was blanketed in white. We strapped everything in and made our way home.

Peace, Be Still

There have been so many thoughts swirling around in my mind this week. My heart has been heavy as I contemplate the new school year and how its differences will affect my children and their experiences. 

•

Tonight as we were enjoying a fire and uplifting conversation with friends, my eyes were drawn to this birdhouse. It’s simplicity was beautiful, even in its run down state, and I admired it all night as the sun travelled across the sky and dipped lower on the horizon just behind it. 

•

Even though the world feels broken right now there is so much hope and beauty. As I listened to the fire crackle, the children’s laughter, and the wind rustle the leaves, I was reminded of the importance of simple things. I was reminded how important it is to take time to be still. After struggling this week With family unity and grumpy moods, I was reminded how important it is to make sure our family is doing the basics. Serving others, gospel learning, and gathering in prayer. Because when we do these things there is more love and joy in our home. 

•

Tonight I’m grateful for the peace I found in the sight of this little broken down birdhouse and for good conversations with friends. 

•

“Keep it simple. It is in the simplicity that you find peace, joy, and happiness.” Russell M. Ballard