Ah - blogging. I'm stuck. I want to write all about being with my whole family at my Dad's bedside. But it was so wonderful, and very sacred at times, that I want every detail just right. And I haven't had time to sit down and do it.
So, hang in with me, while I get it right. :)
I'll get to it soon...
Family of Fifteen: The adventures of a happily married mother and father, 6 amazing children, 4 rock-star in-laws and 3 grand-chlidren!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Great Giveaway
They're having some great giveaways on Mormon Mommy Blogs - check it out! mormonmommyblogs.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 13, 2009
What more could happen - Part 2 - The Street Dance!
Warning: I'm a little opinionated and passionate about dances, so if you don't like to dance - you'd better skip to the next post. :)
The day after the Last Day of School, we held our 4th annual (or something like that - I've lost track) Family Street Dance to welcome in summer.
Although advertised as a "Family" Street Dance, apparently there are too many adults that have forgotten what it is like to let loose and dance, because mostly it's children and teenagers that come. Although disappointing (because I just feel really bad for anyone that's not there), I don't let it stop me from having a ball. The adults that do come - thank you to you all! - are my favorite people.
Did you hear that - if you didn't come you are off my list of favorite people! HA HA Just kidding. I know, I know - not everyone LOVES to dance like I do, so I try to wrap my mind around that fact and understand it. Sort of. Maybe. Confession - I can't do it!
Anyway, this year, it almost didn't go off, because all day it was cloudy and on the brink of raining. At 8:00 pm, when we were getting ready to set up the sound system, it started to sprinkle outside. Not to be deterred, we waved the magic wand (aka-the whole family working together) and cleaned up the big garage in a hurry in order to turn the Street Dance into a Driveway/Garage/Barn Dance. It worked, and people came!
My absolute favorite part of this dance is watching the under 13 age group.
They have so much fun! Their not to that stage where they are so worried about what their peers think, so they actually DANCE, instead of standing around talking. 
And who's dancing with who on the slow dances is always highly entertaining. Peter had to actually chase a girl down, and she finally relented and danced with him. Ha ha! For some reason, I don't think that will be happening too often in the future, as it will be the girls chasing Peter down.
Speaking of Peter, this is the first time he's really wanted to dance. In years past, he would just look at me like I was an alien when I suggested he actually dance. This year was different, he was doing the Macarena,
and the other dances too. Yes! I couldn't bear to have one of my children not like to dance. That would be a major parenting failure.
Afterward, Libby named off all the 5th & 6th grade boys that she danced with (yes - 4 years older than her.)
I mentioned this in the last post - age is not a big deal to Libby when it comes to who is her friend. And let's not deny the fact that Idaho boys are raised to be gentleman! :)
We got to play some of the Mad Boys' songs during the dance. One girl said to Josh, "I fell asleep listening to your voices last night, and then I woke up again to your voices, because my mp3 player was on repeat." Josh's reaction: "That was a little weird!" (with a grin, of course.) Ha ha
Some of our friends told me that their young sons (under 9) listen to the Mad Boys CD non-stop, even during the night. If Dad gets up in the night and turns off the CD, the boys start to cry and go and turn it back on! Mom & Dad are sick of the songs!
So, back to the dance. I just love Bruce at these dances.
He dances and has fun, mostly because he is a fun loving guy and enjoys dancing with the kids. But also, he does it to be nice to me, because I love it so much. 
I adore this man. I got jealous of Mary after awhile because she got her Dad on the slow dances often! But it's OK - I got some good ones in too, especially "You've Got a Groovy Kind of Love", by Phil Collins, which was a song that came out while he was waiting for me on my mission. A dedication song, you know.
I've been a little hard on the teenagers in this post. Thank you for coming and making it look like the whole middle school and high school came out for the dance. You guys are awesome!!
I do always wish, at this Street Dance, that my parents and brothers and sisters were here. They are SO much fun at a dance. No holding back in the Jean and DeeAnne family when it comes to a dance.
Speaking of my family, 48 hours after the Street Dance, I got a phone call at 10 pm Sunday night from my sister saying that I needed to come immediately. To be continued...
The day after the Last Day of School, we held our 4th annual (or something like that - I've lost track) Family Street Dance to welcome in summer.Although advertised as a "Family" Street Dance, apparently there are too many adults that have forgotten what it is like to let loose and dance, because mostly it's children and teenagers that come. Although disappointing (because I just feel really bad for anyone that's not there), I don't let it stop me from having a ball. The adults that do come - thank you to you all! - are my favorite people.
Did you hear that - if you didn't come you are off my list of favorite people! HA HA Just kidding. I know, I know - not everyone LOVES to dance like I do, so I try to wrap my mind around that fact and understand it. Sort of. Maybe. Confession - I can't do it!Anyway, this year, it almost didn't go off, because all day it was cloudy and on the brink of raining. At 8:00 pm, when we were getting ready to set up the sound system, it started to sprinkle outside. Not to be deterred, we waved the magic wand (aka-the whole family working together) and cleaned up the big garage in a hurry in order to turn the Street Dance into a Driveway/Garage/Barn Dance. It worked, and people came!
My absolute favorite part of this dance is watching the under 13 age group.
They have so much fun! Their not to that stage where they are so worried about what their peers think, so they actually DANCE, instead of standing around talking. 
And who's dancing with who on the slow dances is always highly entertaining. Peter had to actually chase a girl down, and she finally relented and danced with him. Ha ha! For some reason, I don't think that will be happening too often in the future, as it will be the girls chasing Peter down.
Speaking of Peter, this is the first time he's really wanted to dance. In years past, he would just look at me like I was an alien when I suggested he actually dance. This year was different, he was doing the Macarena,
and the other dances too. Yes! I couldn't bear to have one of my children not like to dance. That would be a major parenting failure.Afterward, Libby named off all the 5th & 6th grade boys that she danced with (yes - 4 years older than her.)
I mentioned this in the last post - age is not a big deal to Libby when it comes to who is her friend. And let's not deny the fact that Idaho boys are raised to be gentleman! :)We got to play some of the Mad Boys' songs during the dance. One girl said to Josh, "I fell asleep listening to your voices last night, and then I woke up again to your voices, because my mp3 player was on repeat." Josh's reaction: "That was a little weird!" (with a grin, of course.) Ha ha
Some of our friends told me that their young sons (under 9) listen to the Mad Boys CD non-stop, even during the night. If Dad gets up in the night and turns off the CD, the boys start to cry and go and turn it back on! Mom & Dad are sick of the songs!
So, back to the dance. I just love Bruce at these dances.
He dances and has fun, mostly because he is a fun loving guy and enjoys dancing with the kids. But also, he does it to be nice to me, because I love it so much. 
I adore this man. I got jealous of Mary after awhile because she got her Dad on the slow dances often! But it's OK - I got some good ones in too, especially "You've Got a Groovy Kind of Love", by Phil Collins, which was a song that came out while he was waiting for me on my mission. A dedication song, you know.I've been a little hard on the teenagers in this post. Thank you for coming and making it look like the whole middle school and high school came out for the dance. You guys are awesome!!
I do always wish, at this Street Dance, that my parents and brothers and sisters were here. They are SO much fun at a dance. No holding back in the Jean and DeeAnne family when it comes to a dance.
Speaking of my family, 48 hours after the Street Dance, I got a phone call at 10 pm Sunday night from my sister saying that I needed to come immediately. To be continued...
What more could happen in a week?
Between Thursday 6/4 and Thursday 6/11, A LOT happened.
I know you get tired of hearing this on my blog. You MUST get tired of hearing it, because I get tired trying to blog about it!! But I want to remember it all very clearly, so here goes...
First of all - the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! For nine years running, when the kids get off the bus, we have a huge water fight.
While I was off at the school seeing Jesse get an award for being one of the best Math students, Bruce and Peter dragged a 100 gallon water tank from the dry pasture onto a trailer and filled it with water.
When I got home, Peter and Libby were soaking wet. It was too big of a temptation for Bruce to have so much water and Peter and Libby dry. He dunked them both!
At noon, we gathered down at the end of the street with neighbors and friends, lots of four-wheelers, buckets, squirt guns, water balloons and hoses.
And here is the moment we've been waiting for - the first kids get off the bus (and it happens to be Mary!) The poor bus driver got it right in the face with a water balloon! Yikes - I hurried up to put a stop to the 10-year old boys doing that.
And the water starts to fly!
I have to thank my friend Wenderful for taking these pictures. I myself prefer to be in the middle of it.
And here's the evidence. She was kind of enough not to post this picture of me. But, at the risk of embarrassing myself, I'll post the evidence!
In this picture I'm going straight for the big splash on Jesse (she's on the very left of the picture.)
And I got her good!
Silly string was added to the mix,
and boys chasing girls,
and vice-versa.
There was lots of laughter and screaming,
and muscle-showing.
No one is spared, as you can see in this picture!
Even Libby got in on the bucket action with her friend Jazra. (I know, Jazra looks a little older than Libby, but Libby doesn't consider age when defining who her friends are.)
Talk about FUN FUN FUN!! I just laughed my head off.
After the water fight went down to the cul-de-sac and barbecued hot dogs and hung out in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. This year we had tons of kids in our pool and playing on the playset.
This picture was actually taken the next day, and is typical of what our playset usually looks like. Good thing Bruce built it well.
To be continued...
I know you get tired of hearing this on my blog. You MUST get tired of hearing it, because I get tired trying to blog about it!! But I want to remember it all very clearly, so here goes...
First of all - the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! For nine years running, when the kids get off the bus, we have a huge water fight.
While I was off at the school seeing Jesse get an award for being one of the best Math students, Bruce and Peter dragged a 100 gallon water tank from the dry pasture onto a trailer and filled it with water.
When I got home, Peter and Libby were soaking wet. It was too big of a temptation for Bruce to have so much water and Peter and Libby dry. He dunked them both!At noon, we gathered down at the end of the street with neighbors and friends, lots of four-wheelers, buckets, squirt guns, water balloons and hoses.
And here is the moment we've been waiting for - the first kids get off the bus (and it happens to be Mary!) The poor bus driver got it right in the face with a water balloon! Yikes - I hurried up to put a stop to the 10-year old boys doing that.
And the water starts to fly!
I have to thank my friend Wenderful for taking these pictures. I myself prefer to be in the middle of it.
And here's the evidence. She was kind of enough not to post this picture of me. But, at the risk of embarrassing myself, I'll post the evidence!In this picture I'm going straight for the big splash on Jesse (she's on the very left of the picture.)
And I got her good!
Silly string was added to the mix,
and boys chasing girls,
and vice-versa.
There was lots of laughter and screaming,
and muscle-showing.
No one is spared, as you can see in this picture!
Even Libby got in on the bucket action with her friend Jazra. (I know, Jazra looks a little older than Libby, but Libby doesn't consider age when defining who her friends are.)
Talk about FUN FUN FUN!! I just laughed my head off.
After the water fight went down to the cul-de-sac and barbecued hot dogs and hung out in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. This year we had tons of kids in our pool and playing on the playset.
This picture was actually taken the next day, and is typical of what our playset usually looks like. Good thing Bruce built it well.To be continued...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Abundance Mentality
I love the confidence and the abundance mentality of children.
This was my conversation with Libby in the car a couple of days ago:
Libby: Mom, who is the strongest in our family?
Mom: (without hesitation) Dad.
pause
Libby: Who is the weakest?
Mom: (chuckle, and trying to figure out how to break it to her) Well, it's probably you, Libby.
Libby: (immediate surprised reply) It's not me! I can lift two 15 lb weights straight over my head!
Mom: Oooh...Well, who do you think it is, then?
Libby: It's no one!
Isn't that abundance? We're all strong in our family!
And then the next thing she said to me in the car was this, "Mom, is there a third coming?"
It took me a second to get it, but when I understood that she was referring to the Second Coming, I said, "No." But I wonder if at the end of the Millennium there won't be a Third Coming? Anyway, I love it that she's trying to understand things, thinking about them deeply enough to analyze and ask more questions.
Next Post: The Last Day of School Party and the Family Street Dance!
This was my conversation with Libby in the car a couple of days ago:
Libby: Mom, who is the strongest in our family?
Mom: (without hesitation) Dad.
pause
Libby: Who is the weakest?
Mom: (chuckle, and trying to figure out how to break it to her) Well, it's probably you, Libby.
Libby: (immediate surprised reply) It's not me! I can lift two 15 lb weights straight over my head!
Mom: Oooh...Well, who do you think it is, then?
Libby: It's no one!
Isn't that abundance? We're all strong in our family!
And then the next thing she said to me in the car was this, "Mom, is there a third coming?"
It took me a second to get it, but when I understood that she was referring to the Second Coming, I said, "No." But I wonder if at the end of the Millennium there won't be a Third Coming? Anyway, I love it that she's trying to understand things, thinking about them deeply enough to analyze and ask more questions.
Next Post: The Last Day of School Party and the Family Street Dance!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
May is the Month!
First of all, I added some pictures to the last blog about the Father & Son's Outing, so go here to see some fun pictures of that.
Memorial Day found us working hard in the morning at home and then having a picnic lunch in the backyard with a rousing game of soccer. I found that it is scary to try to defend Joseph when he's coming at me full bore. I gained empathy for my players. Ha ha
Later in the evening, we drove out to "The Farm" to bring in the hay. It was tough, as bringing in the hay always is. Josh had to practice with The Mad Boys (his acappella group), so we had Jose Roberto come with us instead. Jose is in the Spanish Branch that we served in, and was one of our stalwart youth. We sure appreciated his help. The bale lifter broke about 3 rows into it, so Bruce, Jose and Joseph had to be the lifters instead. Jose was so tired by the end that he couldn't open up the Popsicle wrapper, and Joseph and Bruce were about the same. This is why young men that grow up on farms are good missionaries. After bringing in hay, there's nothing on a mission that is going to compare in difficulty! Ha ha
On Tuesday, Bruce & I went into town and watched The Mad Boys record a CD! It was so fun to be there to see this dream of theirs unfold. The audio technician doing the recording said that they did very technical work in a short time. At school they would practice in the mornings before class started, during lunch and then again after school sometimes. So they had put in the hours of practice to make it sound good! After the recording, they went and had a professional photographer take pictures. She also designed a CD cover, and this is the result!
Bruce was able to print them out at work on the publishing presses that he writes software for, and the boys started selling CD's last night!! If anyone wants to buy one, they are $7 and well worth the price, if a biased mother can say so!
Congratulations Josh!!
Wednesday found us back out at the farm, finishing up the hay.
Josh and Joseph helped for a short time before they had to go to Mutual, and then Bruce had to do it all himself,
with Peter helping out on the trailer and me driving.
Thursday was Crazy Hair Day at Libby's school! Thank goodness for older sisters on days like this.
Peter shows off his art creation from school.
Friday dawned bright and early with Las Mañanitas sung by my parents over the phone. Thank you Mom & Dad! This woke everyone else up and I got a second round of Las Mañanitas sung by the family. And a fun phone call from my sister, Jeana!
My birthday was also Peter & Libby's last day of school,
so we had a swimming party with some of their friends in the afternoon. We spent a pleasant afternoon sitting around and talking. It was perfect weather. I LOVE my May birthday. 
Mary, Ashley, Brooklyn, Bailey and Briton enjoy the pool. 
After swimming, the kids always go over and get warm on the trampoline, and then play on the playset.
This is Peter's best friend from school, Rachel. They reportedly had to be separated in class because when they sat by each other in class they talked too much.
Saturday was a WORK day! We finally got a Saturday at home to get the house back into a semblance of order. It felt GOOD. In the afternoon we were out at the Farm again laying pipe, but it was short because Jesse, Mary, Peter and Libby had already done a lot of it while we were bringing in the hay. We got back just in time to greet Mary's friends for her 12th birthday party!
A report on the garden. The peas are doing well, and the green beans are starting to come up. We've been eating lettuce, green onions and spinach out of our garden.
Sunday night we had the great pleasure of going with Josh to get his Patriarchal Blessing. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, and it was indeed a wonderful experience. It seemed to address all the things Josh needs directly at this time in his life to prepare for education, a mission, and a future family. It talked extensively about his education and his being a father. If Josh lives worthily, he will be a wonderful father. He certainly has an outstanding example to follow in his own father.
It was fun to have Peter and Libby home during the day yesterday! We went out to swim in the pool and layed on the trampoline to get warm in the sun. Heavenly!!
Last night for Family Home Evening we went over to the Middle School to hear Jesse perform in three different numbers! She did a clogging routine with her competition clogging team, accompanied on the piano two friends who sang "Beautiful Disaster", and she performed her original composition, "Waiting". It was beautiful! She said later that a lot of people told her they almost cried during her song.
Check out Joseph and his soccer juggling trick!
Thank you all for your birthday wishes!! I had a great day, including a fun date with Bruce that night. Anything with Bruce makes it a great day.
Memorial Day found us working hard in the morning at home and then having a picnic lunch in the backyard with a rousing game of soccer. I found that it is scary to try to defend Joseph when he's coming at me full bore. I gained empathy for my players. Ha ha
Later in the evening, we drove out to "The Farm" to bring in the hay. It was tough, as bringing in the hay always is. Josh had to practice with The Mad Boys (his acappella group), so we had Jose Roberto come with us instead. Jose is in the Spanish Branch that we served in, and was one of our stalwart youth. We sure appreciated his help. The bale lifter broke about 3 rows into it, so Bruce, Jose and Joseph had to be the lifters instead. Jose was so tired by the end that he couldn't open up the Popsicle wrapper, and Joseph and Bruce were about the same. This is why young men that grow up on farms are good missionaries. After bringing in hay, there's nothing on a mission that is going to compare in difficulty! Ha ha
On Tuesday, Bruce & I went into town and watched The Mad Boys record a CD! It was so fun to be there to see this dream of theirs unfold. The audio technician doing the recording said that they did very technical work in a short time. At school they would practice in the mornings before class started, during lunch and then again after school sometimes. So they had put in the hours of practice to make it sound good! After the recording, they went and had a professional photographer take pictures. She also designed a CD cover, and this is the result!
Bruce was able to print them out at work on the publishing presses that he writes software for, and the boys started selling CD's last night!! If anyone wants to buy one, they are $7 and well worth the price, if a biased mother can say so!Congratulations Josh!!
Wednesday found us back out at the farm, finishing up the hay.
Josh and Joseph helped for a short time before they had to go to Mutual, and then Bruce had to do it all himself,
with Peter helping out on the trailer and me driving.
Thursday was Crazy Hair Day at Libby's school! Thank goodness for older sisters on days like this.
Peter shows off his art creation from school.
Friday dawned bright and early with Las Mañanitas sung by my parents over the phone. Thank you Mom & Dad! This woke everyone else up and I got a second round of Las Mañanitas sung by the family. And a fun phone call from my sister, Jeana!
My birthday was also Peter & Libby's last day of school,
so we had a swimming party with some of their friends in the afternoon. We spent a pleasant afternoon sitting around and talking. It was perfect weather. I LOVE my May birthday. 
Mary, Ashley, Brooklyn, Bailey and Briton enjoy the pool. 
After swimming, the kids always go over and get warm on the trampoline, and then play on the playset.
This is Peter's best friend from school, Rachel. They reportedly had to be separated in class because when they sat by each other in class they talked too much.Saturday was a WORK day! We finally got a Saturday at home to get the house back into a semblance of order. It felt GOOD. In the afternoon we were out at the Farm again laying pipe, but it was short because Jesse, Mary, Peter and Libby had already done a lot of it while we were bringing in the hay. We got back just in time to greet Mary's friends for her 12th birthday party!
A report on the garden. The peas are doing well, and the green beans are starting to come up. We've been eating lettuce, green onions and spinach out of our garden.
Sunday night we had the great pleasure of going with Josh to get his Patriarchal Blessing. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, and it was indeed a wonderful experience. It seemed to address all the things Josh needs directly at this time in his life to prepare for education, a mission, and a future family. It talked extensively about his education and his being a father. If Josh lives worthily, he will be a wonderful father. He certainly has an outstanding example to follow in his own father.It was fun to have Peter and Libby home during the day yesterday! We went out to swim in the pool and layed on the trampoline to get warm in the sun. Heavenly!!
Last night for Family Home Evening we went over to the Middle School to hear Jesse perform in three different numbers! She did a clogging routine with her competition clogging team, accompanied on the piano two friends who sang "Beautiful Disaster", and she performed her original composition, "Waiting". It was beautiful! She said later that a lot of people told her they almost cried during her song.
Check out Joseph and his soccer juggling trick!
Thank you all for your birthday wishes!! I had a great day, including a fun date with Bruce that night. Anything with Bruce makes it a great day.
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