A Sunday in the Garden

 This afternoon Lily brought me my shoes and put them on my feet. She then picked up the egg basket and led me outside. We went on an adventure together towards the top garden. We said hello to the chickens on our way. Once we made it to the garden, we noticed the ripening raspberries and ate to our hearts content. It was a lovely way to spend an hour on the Sabbath. 

Happy Sunday!

Construction Update

 Tonight we took a walk around to check out the new construction! The kids love seeing the new space and imagining what it's going to look like when it's finished!

They've started constructing the wrap around deck, and it's fun to see everything taking shape.

These huge glass balcony doors are going to let so much light into the kitchen! And I can't wait to step through them onto the deck to catch the morning sunrise.

The walkout basement is also going to be a nice addition once it's finished. Hyrum and Joe will have their bedrooms down there and the big rec room will be great as the kids are getting older and needing space to hang out with groups of friends. We can't wait for it all to be finished!

Evening Light

 We have a roof! Or at least the beginnings of one. Tonight we climbed out the old office window into the new space to check it out. It's going to be just perfect for us and our busy crew!

After we were finished admiring the space, we walked around the acreage as the sun went down. The golden hour made the lighting so perfect for photos and I couldn't help but snap a bunch of Joe, Lily, and Sonny boy as they hung out together. 

I sure love that freckle faced boy of mine and his HUGE heart and charismatic personality. He loves big!

Goodnight house.

Temple Trip with Cousins

 Today we met up with my cousin, her husband and oldest girl, and our grandparents for a temple date! Camilla and Amelia are about a month apart in age and enjoy one anothers company. It was special to have the great-grandparents there as well to watch the girls do baptisms. Despite the late hour when we got out of our session, we decided to head to West Ed for dinner at Earls. It was fun to spend time visiting with Jenny and Graham and the girls enjoyed the extra time to hang out! We drove back home afterward, which made for a pretty late night, but so worth it!

 

 

Crimson Lake

Today we had a lake day! Everyone helped load the boogie boards and we all got into our swim suits and headed out early in the morning. Lily really loves throwing herself backwards into the water and I was grateful we brought her life jacket. She's such a daredevil! She also wanted to play with everyone else's toys and threw her first real tantrum complete with kicking and screaming in the sand. I scooped her up and walked calmly down the trail while she continued to scream. When I gently put her feet on the sand, she proceeded to jump up and down and scream some more. I was able to remain calm and eventually she gave in and snuggled into Camilla's shoulder. A sweet friend passed me on the trail and told me she saw me with my crew in the water and thought I was a rock star. It was nice to hear. Most people just look at me like I'm crazy. After so many littles I know to expect these tantrums and I've learned how to wait them out. 

Everyone else had a lot of fun swimming and cooling off. The big boys even ended up meeting some friends and swimming with them for a while. We all came home tired and sunburnt and enjoyed KD and salad for dinner!

 

In the Greenhouse

 Today I slowly planted the tomatoes in the greenhouse with a clingy toddler. She had to be sitting right on my lap most of the time, which made it very slow going. 

While I dug holes, spooned in the added nutrients, and put the tomatoes into the soil, I admired her chubby toes and fingers. 

Sometime after the first four rows were planted, she finally succumbed to sleep. I placed my sweater in the wheel barrow and gently lied her on top. She sprawled out and let out a sleepy sigh.

With the warm temperature inside greenhouse, she soundly slept while I finished planting the remaining rows.

The late afternoon brought homemade cookies for hungry children who would soon be getting off the bus! What a blessing it is to be here for them when they arrive home from school each day.

May Blossoms

Earlier today Hyrum asked me for a haircut. He showed me a picture of someone on his phone and explained, "Something like this.... not too short on the sides and longer on the top like this." I replied, "Oh yeah, that looks nice. Wait... is that Connor McDavid?" He laughed, "yes...." Then I saw Joe in the background making kissy faces, "He just wants alllllll the girls to like him." And just like that, Hyrum was off and running. Good thing Joe had the smarts to start running before he finished talking. The headstart did him some good. And that my friends, is a glimpse at life with boys.

Tonight when the house was still, I slipped on my shoes and snuck outside. The storm clouds cooled the air and called me on a walk. As soon as I spotted the flowers on the Saskatoons I knew I had to go to the orchard to check the apple trees. May blossoms are my favourite! 

The birds sang as a gentle breeze teased my hair. Once I had thoroughly smelled and admired every tree in the orchard, I made my way back to the house and cozied up to a movie as everyone else slept. I needed those brief moments to pause and reset after such a long day.

 

World Cup Tournament

Today was the annual World Cup tournament for soccer! With boys in three different age groups, we end up spending the entire day at the field. Finley and Oliver play their games all morning and finish with a medal ceremony early afternoon. There was a few times we were split between watching two different kids at the same time once the big boys games started up.

Finley played so well this year and enjoyed the friends he made on his team!

Ollie loves soccer so much! He also loved matching his red cleats, red shorts, and red jersey each week and refused to wear the black soccer shorts. He played his heart out all year and loved every second.

Hyrum won MVP at the end of one of their first games. He plays hard and has some mad skills on the field. It's so fun watching the U11's play!

After slipping the littles home and grabbing sweaters, we came back to the field to watch the big boys play while the sun set. 

When the sun finally goes down the big lights go on, the kids always get really excited to play!

Joe played his heart out on defense in their last game of the night. No one could get by him! The other team selected him as the MVP for that game and he was so happy to be just like his big brother. 

 We got home shortly before midnight, feeling cold, exhausted and tired! But the boys still had smiles on their faces!