Summer breeze

Sheesh, as if summer didn't breeze right by!  This summer was amazing, and it was kind of busy so I didn't get the chance to write a bunch.  So here's a rundown and how we spent every minute of our summer.

We had our schedule that we loved, except Theatre Thursday became Thoughtful Thursday, since the movie theatre here is only open Fri/Sat.  We did go see Finding Dory together, that was a cute one.  And we got as many things done on our bucket list as we could.

We got attacked by mosquitoes.  Found out Covey was allergic and bad!  He's on children's allergy medication now, and had to have special shots right before we left to stop the swelling, the doc said he could've had nerve damage if we had waited any longer and almost had to go to the ER.  He got bites a few more times, but nothing as bad as that.  He gets rashes and swells up huge.  Poor little buddy!  He didn't even look like himself!  It was so sad!  Lucy also got a few bites that weren't good.  But we've got it under control now and spray that mosquito repellent like it's nobody's business.

We explored Scobey a lot to get comfortable with the community and familiar with where things are.  We did a photo scavenger hunt one day to help with this.  Our friend Ivy came along.  The kids loved it!  This town is really great and we're loving it more and more!  Many people call it one of the last of the true little towns.

Dave's getting used to his new job.  The first few weeks were incredibly overwhelming, but once he came back smiling from board meeting, we knew he'd be okay. He's doing great and making great headway on a lot of things that have been neglected for years.  And he's enjoying himself.  Though he has dreams quite a bit of hospital things, poor guy!  Can't get away from work sometimes.  They held a chicken dinner for the residents of the nursing home and families and we were invited.  He got to serve at that.  Our littles decided to have their own  board meeting after the dinner in his very early 90's office (he's working to fix the carpet and painting/wallpaper, don't worry!).  It's fun seeing him really dig in and serve this community.  The kids also like "Daddy's hospital" and want to go see him and drive by all of the time.  He also made the front page of the paper, small town living, you gotta love it!

The kids spent lots of time at swimming lessons and swimming during open swim.  Water Wednesday, baby!  Sometimes our kids would go twice in one day.  It's so nice to have it so close!

We went to the library for the summer reading programs.  They had great activities, and prizes each week and all of the kids who read four books (big kids) or ten books (little kids) got $10 at the end of the summer.  The kids were so excited!

We were able to do some fun service things.  The kids favorite things were making treats for the lifeguards and playing bingo at the Nursing home.

We got to chill at the County Fair.  Animals, treats, contests (Cal won one!), exhibits, rides (they each got to pick a few) and the demolition derby.  Cov even made it in the paper riding on the motorcycle ride.  What a fun week!

We've got to watch some very neat birds and see lots of wildlife.  The kids loved them all, especially this woodpecker that was outside in our front yard.  Emma had to take some pictures.  

Had a moth invasion.  No one knew why it happened, but one morning, there were moths covering everything in our town!  Then, just as they had come, they were gone.  The kids had a great time brushing them away.  About a week before we moved out of the rental, a bunch of beetles showed up and we killed hundreds of them, it was crazy and the only picture we took was this fuzzy one.

The kids rode their bikes a lot!  They are always off and out, riding all over.  And so are all of the other kids around here.  It's a way of life and they love it!  We also played at the parks a lot and spent all the time we could outside.  It is so nice having them close enough to walk to whenever.  Our kids love their school park and the city park.

We've been able to explore some places in Scobey, like the Burger Hut, museum and more.   We even got to see a grain elevator be taken down by a giant tractor. Fun times!

Jazzy's been having a hay day this summer!  She loved sitting in the windows during the summer and hunting for moths.  She also found her first mouse, or rat, whatever it was...EW!  In our rental, one day I was walking back from the kitchen to our room, and I almost stepped on it!  I was so grossed out, the kids thought it was so cute.  Blah!  After that I was paranoid about rodents.  One night, Dave was making dinner and up over the stove stirring something.  We heard a sqeaking (come to find out later, he was pushing up against the oven and it made that noise), and Dave kept saying "Do you hear that?"  So we all stopped and listened.  All of the sudden, he threw a wet sponge at me and I totally screamed!  He got me good!  The kids still make fun of me and my screaming for that!  The kids wanted to have a Jazzy makeover day.  They pampered her and then took turns dressing her up and walking her down the "red carpet".  Poor cat!

We added a new member of the family...meet Alexa!  We took advantage of Amazon Prime day to snag this up and we love it!  It does some amazing things.  Our kids' favorite thing to do with it is say "Alexa, tell me a yo mama joke!"  And they love asking what time it is/weather/play music/trivia and 21 questions.  We really enjoy it too.  I joke with Dave that he's been talking to another lady.  Haha!  I would totally recommend, though.

We had an Olympics party with Don & Nancy at their house.  We made an Olympic ring fruit tray, and Nancy had some of her homemade canned salsa and rice krispy treats.  We loved coloring these pages with pastels and watching the opening ceremonies.  And all of the Olympics.  It was a busy time so we didn't watch a ton but it was great what we saw.  We love the Olympics!  I also read one of the best books I've read in a long time, "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown.  It was amazing!  I will always remember this book. The triumph of a boy who was always treated as nothing but later had his happily ever after, so many spiritual parallels, lots of history and some great life lessons.  It also made me want to watch the Rowing event on the Olympics, though I never got to.  That's a book everyone should read.

                                                            

We've done a lot of going here and there.  Our Pilot hit 200 K this summer, wow!

Well, all this summer stuff has been fun but it's left us feeling tired!  Just ask Cov...

Bring them in - Pioneer Day 2016

Pioneer Day was on a Sunday this year, which was pretty neat.  We started the day out at church in the morning.  We had some speaking and lessons on Pioneers, but the kids got to do their own trek in the fields surrounding our little church.  The numbers were dwindling that day in our branch, but the fun wasn't.  They had a map and visited all of the "stops" the early Saints got established and moved again.  They told stories along the way of the pioneers, and got to have a snack of butter they made with biscuits and blueberries, and sang pioneer songs as they trekked around.  They loved it!

As we were driving home from church, we listened to the CD "Bring them In: Celebrating the Spirit of Trek".  We were talking about the Pioneers and the sacrifices they made and the experience the kids had in Primary that day "trekking".  When the song "Go Bring Them In (from the plains)" came on, I totally lost it and couldn't hold back the tears. You can listen to it here.  It was rather ridiculous but I just couldn't stop bawling.  I'm so thankful for my pioneer ancestors and all they did for me and I hope I will make them proud by the life I live.

After church, we had naps/quiet time, then we had our pioneer party!  We put together covered wagons and handcarts from a kit we got a few years back.  They loved doing this and have been filling them and going across the plains with their Little People, Legos and Barbies.  We learned how to play Cat's cradle first.  Dave, a novice, thought he was getting pretty good and was quite excited about it, and Emma was doing really well and playing all week since.  Then we did some good old fashioned wrestling.  The kids love wrestling with Dave, it's one of their favorite activities.  I love hearing all of the giggles and excitement!  We played a few other games in the back yard.  It's amazing how little it takes to make kids happy.  Sometimes in our society, and in our own home, we think we need so much stuff to be content.  But lately, we have been having a great time with very little, as most of our stuff is still in boxes (where are you, closing date? Why do you seem so far away?).  The kids made whole wheat bread with me and a lot they did on their own, and they each got to make their own little loafs.  Some did shapes or cut in different fun things.  They were excited to consume the bread they made, along with the pioneer potato soup and lemonade we had. Cal was sweet and pointed out that this would have been a feast for the pioneers.  We talked about how hard it was and what suffering they endured.  I think they felt bad for what their ancestors went through and felt grateful for what they had.  That night, we told stories about our own pioneer ancestors.  We tried making pulling taffy, but that was a flop and ended up black as could be and hard as a rock as we got busy doing the other things and I forgot to check on it frequently and didn't have my candy thermometer with me.  The kids were a little disappointed, but we can try, try again next year we said.

Daniel Berry Rawson, picture from familysearch.org

I loved reading again some stories by pioneer ancestors I've learned about in the past, and discovering some new pioneer ancestors.  And our kids were just as into the stories of some I was growing up, including the stories of Daniel Berry Rawson and Nancy Boss, who are ancestors on my mom's side, which we read this year.

Honored throughout the ages be their names!  Thank thee, God, from sch as these I came!"

(From Salina Rawon Rose's short life sketch of Daniel Berry Rawson and Nancy Boss)

Peace, love & hugs

gloster.com

My heart has been breaking lately over all of the violence and mudslinging and hate happening in our country and worldwide.  It is unbelievable and really leaves me speechless. How can people be so cruel?  Why is our world so sick?  Should I tell my kids or would it worry them?  As I've pondered some of these questions over and over, I thought of a scripture from the Pearl of Great Price (scripture that was uncovered and restored, features prophets Moses & Abraham), Moses 7:26-

"And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced."

Is this not our day?  Satan has such a hold on the hearts of men right now.  It's easy to get down about it.  To wonder what we're going to do.  How we're going to make it.  But, in the end, it will be Christ and His followers who will come out victorious.  Genesis 3:15 -

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

What a great promise from the Father!  Satan's got nothing on us, if we do our part!  We can crush Satan's head, with the help of our Savior.  But what is our part?

Less judgment, more understanding
Less drugs, more hugs
Less media, more personal connecting
Less selfishness, more service
Less seeing differences, more common ground
Less sin, more righteousness
Less hate, more love

The time for that is now, and the place for it is first in our homes.

A few songs have come to mind in light of these recent news events -
First from the Aquabats: "We don't need no thugs, unless those thugs was givin' out hugs." ("Hey Homies!" from their Hi-Five Soup album)

Then from Jackie Deshanon -  "What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It's the only thing that there's just too litle of.  What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  No, not just for some but for everyone."

"Jesus said love everyone.  Treat them kindly too.  When your heart is full of love others will love you." ("Jesus said Love Everyone" from the Children's Songbook by Moiselle Renstrom)

And while we might not ever have world peace again until the Prince of Peace returns, we can have the peace in our lives that only Jesus Christ brings.

”Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid“ (John 14:26-27).

And that brings great peace & love!