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.

Easier with the doing of it

I firmly believe that many a hard thing becomes easier with the doing of it.

And so it has been with the milking this week. Little by little we have figured out the milking machine and it seems to go better every day. We have got it down now so can finish with everything in less than an hour with either Bruce or I and two of the kids working. We have all the days assigned out so everybody has four turns of milking a week. We only use the machine with our cow Buttercup. We still milk Natalie by hand.

It was Libby's 7th birthday this week! The night before her birthday she went to bed at 6:30 pm, on her own, so she could be ready for the next day. On her Google Calendar, she had scheduled the following on her birthday:

2:00-3:00 am - Wake up
3:00-4:00 am - Pretend to sleep
6:00- the rest of the day - Have fun

At 6:30 am we went in and woke her up (Jesse, Mary and Dad had already done the milking) and sang Las Mañanitas. We brought her into the Entertainment room, where Jesse and Mary had set up her birthday present.It was Libby's Hot Chocolate "Restaurant", complete with a Menu board, cups and saucers, pink hot pads, measuring cups and sponges, an apron that said "Libby - I love Hot Chocolate" and some hot chocolate mix and white store-bought bread (the real treat)! She served us all hot chocolate that morning. The prelude to this is that for Christmas Bruce and Joseph gave me a hot chocolate maker, which mixes the hot chocolate and keeps it warm, and has a pour spout with it. Libby has been making hot chocolate for everyone constantly since Christmas, so we just added to her "Restaurant". Every day since she gets home from school and goes upstairs and pretty soon we hear over the intercom, "I'm ready to serve hot chocolate if you want to come to my restaurant!" She has been serving anyone that comes over, including Josh's friends and the home teachers.

On Wednesday we got a new calf, a Holstein bull. (Yes - we're brave enough to try it again!) He is SO CUTE, as you can see here. Holstein calves are bigger and hardier, and so far this one is doing well. We are bottle feeding him with the milk we get from the Jerseys.We have yet to come up with a name for him. Peter wants to name him Frederico, which just bothers Mary to no end because she doesn't think Peter should be able to name him, and Bruce is determined that his name should be Slobber-Face, since that is what he does after you feed him. FYI - the calves that we lost were not Joseph's. His cow and calf are in a different herd and are just fine. He did not loose his investment!

One day last week they had "Crazy Hair Day" at the Middle School. This is what Jesse did to Mary's hair! There was a secret to it, but we'll never tell. :)Thursday night there was a High School Choir Concert, and Josh sang in several numbers. His first one was "Try to Remember", accompanied by me. His friend Vinnie sang the same number at festival, so they sang it together for the Concert. They put actions to it, and had the audience smiling. Their voices sounded incredible together. Josh also sang with the Madrigals, and then the last number was his barbershop quartet group. They sang this song in the video, Still of the Night, and Breakfast at Tiffany's also.



It was SO FUN to hear them sing!! For the first time they had microphones, so Josh's bass part really came out. Everyone came up to me afterward and said what a great bass part it was. Josh LOVES singing with these guys. They really have fun together.

We had a fun, but short visit from Lorna and Kaylee, who stayed overnight with us. We hardly recognized Lorna! Ask her if you talk to her... :) Happy Birthday this week to Kaylee and Lauren!!

On Saturday morning, Jesse played her soccer game against a really tough team. They lost 4-1, but they played really well. When the whistle blew, she grabbed her bag and ran to the car, and we took off down the road to another city in Idaho for her clogging competition. We made it at the exact MINUTE that we needed to be there. If that was not a blessing, I don't know what is. We were blessed.

She did really well, getting a first in one dance, and two seconds in the others. She loves to clog, and loves to be up there on the stage. Here is a clip of one of her dances:

As soon as we left there, we got to drive 45 minutes and see my parents, who just got back from Atlanta, where they have been healing at my brother Curtis' house. We didn't tell them we were coming, so when my Mom opened the door, she said, "Well... ", and looked first at Jesse and didn't recognize her at all. Then she turned her head to me, her face went all serious, and then she started to cry when she recognized me. It was so funny! I wish I had a video of her face.

How fun to be with Mom and Dad!! To be home, even though I've never lived there. Wherever they are is home. We brought some pizza and added it to their hamburger and carrots. In a cooler we also brought a gallon of milk from our cows, a dozen fresh eggs from our chickens, a pound of ground elk meat, and a loaf of whole wheat bread. That was fun and Mom just ooed and aahed over that, which is just what I wanted her to do. (True confession - ha ha). The bread was overboard - I mostly brought it so she could tell what was wrong with it and what I could do better! Ha ha

When Angie came in later on, she started to jump up and down and yell when she saw us! Of course that just makes one feel good all over. :) She came over to convince Mom and Dad to go to the Gold and Green Ball that her stake was having. So we got dressed up and went. It was a live band, and Mom and Dad loved it. It was worth the whole trip to see their faces when the Tennessee Waltz came on. The look that passed between them was priceless. Not recognizing the song, I had to ask, "What's wrong?" They answered quickly that it was the Tennessee Waltz and in a moment they were arm in arm off dancing. Unforgettable moment for me! (This is the song that was playing on the Music Player when the blog first came up.)

Jesse got a fever while we were there. Hopefully it wasn't contagious; I think she had just overdone it. On Sunday morning after Mom and Dad had gone to Church (we didn't go because of Jesse's fever), Jesse took a Tylenol and started to feel better. When I woke up from a nap, I was laying on the couch and she went to the piano and started playing piece after piece. It was heavenly to lie on the couch and listen to her play!

I went over to Rodney and Angie's and got to see these cute kids! Carson put his hands up to me for a hug. He has really grown up, walking all over the place.Angie - so sorry I missed you. I guess Mom and Dad's clock was wrong, because I thought I was there in time. I hope your song went well! Rodney showed me all around the house. It's so great! I can't believe all the room you have downstairs to expand. What a great find!

Back at home, Bruce was busy coaching Joseph's soccer team. They lost again. They are playing club teams that pay thousands of dollars to play, and have professional coaches, so it's tough. It's good experience for them, though.

Mary's team lost also, although it wasn't so bad as the first game. Thanks to those who coached for me on Saturday! Josh played almost his whole game this week, and they WON 2-0! He also performed again on Saturday night for the Booster Club, altough he said that performance wasn't nearly as good as Thursday night.

We had Zach and Sarah with us this weekend, while Gary and Heidi went to Colorado to get the Van from Grandma and Grandpa. What a great thing that will be for them. Well, I shouldn't say they were with "us" since I was gone for two days. Peter and Libby had fun playing with them.

Here is a puzzle that Joseph made up:

This exercise is designed to test your ability to FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. In the end, this should turn a brand of Dictionary into a famous author. Write this on a sideways sheet of notebook paper, using the blue lines as a guide. Write out each step.

1. Print WEBSTERSDICTIONARY – Record your starting time
2. Remove the first letter
3. Change all the vowels except for the letter E into Ts (Y is not a vowel)
4. Switch in position the second letter and the sixteenth letter
5. Change the third letter into an O
6. If any of the same letters are in succession with each other, remove them all
7. Change the thirteenth letter into an E
8. Insert a J before each E
9. Move the letters in the fifteenth and sixteenth position, keeping them in order, to the seventh and eighth position
10. Remove any of the same letters that are in succession, and from left to right replace the first set of letters with one L, and the second set of letters with one K
11. Switch the letters in position 10 and position 13
12. Change the first C into a T
13. Remove the first D
14. Change the letter in position 9 into an I
15. Remove any of the same letters that are in succession with each other
16. Switch the letters in positions eight and nine
17. Remove the last letter
18. Switch the second vowel with the third consonant
19. Switch the first vowel with the second R
20. Print the name of the Author – record your time

Post your answer in the Comments section!
(sorry to anyone who has already done it -- it was wrong but has been fixed!)

Life is about loving

Wow, I miss a week and there's so much to blog about that I will have to keep this post mainly to pictures.

The first big occasion was a week ago Friday night when we had a community celebration for the Special Olympians that were in town. For his Eagle Project, our good friend Devin planned and carried out the event. Part of the entertainment for the night was Josh and his friends singing the Star Spangled Banner, and an acapella number called "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The Show Choir from his High School also performed two numbers that were awesome. Jesse's Competition Clogging team also performed. At the end, they had the Special Olympics athletes come down on the floor and learn a line dance, along with anyone else who wanted to do it. There ended up being probably 200 to 250 people out on the gym floor doing line dances. The athletes were loving the dancing! One guy grabbed the microphone and started thanking everyone in Italian. I understood "magnifio America, and morte beni". It was awesome! There was so much energy out there and everyone was just grinning from ear to ear, laughing and having the greatest time!

A week ago Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening with these dear people!
Bruce's brother Stephen and his wife Kendra decided to have a family gathering in honor of Devyn, our nephew, who was going to leave on a mission. Because of a weird schedule, he gave his talk in Church about a month ago, so during a family fireside on Saturday night, he gave his talk again. Other adults in the family also had the opportunity to give him advice for his mission. This was a marvelous meeting filled with the Spirit. I think there's no better setting than home for the bearing of testimonies.

Shawn and Janel drove all the way up from Utah to be here. And Michelle and Matthew flew in from Washington.I was about to take a picture of these guys from the other direction, and then decided the lighting was bad, so I walked around behind them.Michelle had to make a wise crack about getting their better half!The family got to meet Heidi, Sarah and Zach for the first time. We're so glad they came from Oregon to be there.This is what the cousins love to do at these gatherings. Hit the basement and hang out and play games!And here's the man of the hour! Devyn and Grandma,
and Devyn with his parents, Stephen and Kendra.
This is Devyn, now officially an Elder , going into the MTC. This Elder is the definition of what the bretheren want in a new missionary. He's intelligent, clean, humble, personable, well-versed in scripture and doctrine, filled with the Spirit and just an all-around wonderful person. What a good example he has set for our children. I'm so proud of him!

The day after this was Sunday, and Josh and Joseph sang "My Country Tis of Thee" with Connor and Drew for the special musical number in Church. It was really nice.


That evening we had Josh's Eagle Court of Honor.No broken bones this time!Our dear friends Todd, Fred and Larren spoke on the points of the Scout Law. Thank you so much for doing that!Jesse administered the oath.

This is the Eagle's Nest congratulating Josh.

Thank you to so many people who attended! We planned it so quickly that many people didn't hear about it in time. Please - if you didn't make it we me missed you, and apologize sincerely for the lack of better notice. It was one of those things where we knew we had to juts get it done.
All day the next day Bruce watched the slide show we had made of Josh, and then came in and said, "How come I'm so nostalgic for our chidren today?" We're both feeling like it's time to put the brakes on this train called "kids growing up".

On Monday evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's hotel and swam in their pool. Thank you for the invite, we really enjoyed it!

On Tuesday, I found out that Teresa, one of my best friends from high school, college and the many years in between, had to have some tumors removed from her leg. After finding out, I went in to Mary, who was home sick that day, and told her what I had just found out. She didn't say anything, she just reached over and gave me a hug. She sat and hugged me while I cried for a few minutes, and was a great comfort to me.

We were on pins and needles until yesterday, when she found out it was benign, not malignant. WHEW. What a relief. And it will save us a lot of money because I was headed out to Indiana for sure if she had received a bad diagnosis. When I told him the good news this afternoon, Josh said, "I have been praying for her. I said in my prayers, 'Please bless Teresa (I can't remember her last name, but You know who I'm talking about) that she will be a better person for the experience, no matter the outcome.'

On Wednesday, Buttercup, our cow, had her milk come in. Bruce thought the calf would be born within a couple of hours. Well, we're going on three 1/2 days, and still no calf! Hopefully it will be here soon...

On Thursday I got called in to sub at a local Middle School, and then Friday I also worked for my old team-teacher and taught her classes at the High School. I enjoyed teaching these two days, but it was baaaad, for the cleanliness of the house. What? If Mom's gone, it's a free-for-all? How does that happen? Easy enough, I guess.

Last night we went and played some games with our friends (The Way blog), and then went and saw Twilight (it finally arrived at the dollar theater). I thought it was a great adaption of the book!

This morning Jesse had a volleyball tournament. They lost the games in the morning but went on to win later in the afternoon. Bruce, Joshua, Joseph, and I all refereed a Futsal tournament. This was my first time to referee Futsal, and it was pretty fun! Futsal is basically soccer on a basketball court. I'm proud of myself for doing something new and just a bit scary.

After the morning events, I picked up Jesse and we drove the backroads to get to the local university to compete in her first official Clogging Competition this year.

They won a 1st place for this dance. Jesse is the one in the front with the number pinned onto her. Her hat was too low, so you can't see her face very well. That's something she'll have to fix for the next competition! It's so fun to watch her dance.

And, to bring us up to tonight, Josh went with Raigen to the Tip-Off Dance, and the theme was 70's!
I don't know where the guys came up with these outfits, but they were hilarious.Last week at his Court of Honor, I was SO disappointed that Josh didn't have his haircut. And now this week, I was glad he put it off, because it was totally 70's!Sorry, you gotta crank your neck on this one.
These girls are so beautiful, and they really did the 70's theme up right!
And the boys, well, bring on the disco!Peace, love and GQ looks.This was impromptu, but a lot of the parents showed up to take pictures over at the neighbors of all these great kids! That's why Josh has such good friends, because their parents are the salt of the earth, and we just love them all. (So how Josh came out so good is a mystery - he just CAME that way.) We ended up going over to chaperone at the dance, and boy, was there a difference between what these kids were wearing and what many others were wearing! Thank goodness for modest 70's prom dresses!

And amidst all this fun, inspiring, and wonderful activity, here is the comment I want to leave you with on this Valentine's Day:

Last week before school started, Bruce had Libby all wrapped up in his arms and playfully said to her, "Life is about eating Libby." Without missing a beat, she replied, "Life is about loving."

Now I swear that she said "Life is about loving Libby", but he swears that she said, "Life is about love." We simply can't agree on who was right! So we disagree agreeably, and choose to remember the gist of what she meant, that truly, life is about loving!

Happy Valentine's Day!