Father's Day

Father's Day is an awesome day!  I have enjoyed reading and looking at everyone's comments and pictures on Facebook today about the men in their lives.  It's very inspiring to me.  My own father couldn't have been better for me.  He was consistent and righteous and diligent and kind and supportive and and and... I could go on and on.  I wish I had more pictures, but this one is one of my favorites, sitting on the piano bench with Audrey when she was a baby.

 Brian has been a wonderful father.  There is no way I could have had 8 children without his unfailing support and his unflappableness (if that is even a word!).  He took every nasty disaster and tantrum in stride, not making a big deal out of them and pitching in to help clean them up, which didn't stop once they were all potty trained!    I love both of these men!  Happy Father's Day!

Here is Brian as a first time father looking at Audrey in the nursery

Brian holding brand new Audrey

Brian and Little Lauren

Sports and injuries

Peter has been doing very well on his T-ball team.  The first few games were rained out and during one there was a tornado watch.  I happened to video him during that wind storm and you can see and hear the wind!

They called the game shortly after this.

Here is a video from yesterdays game:

Last night there was a three ward mutual activity at the stake president's house in preparation for trek.  They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and watched 17 Miracles outside on a screen.  They also played basketball.  Andy was going in for a lay up and smashed his foot into a pole.  His foot felt a little weird inside his shoe, so he took off his shoe and his ring finger toe was pointing the wrong direction!  Fortunately we had the physical therapist there at the activity and he popped the dislocated toe back into place!  Andy has been using his "injury" to try and get out of all his jobs today!

Boysen Reservoir

We had a great time today with our friends the Russell's at Boysen Reservoir.  It's about an hour south of us.  The Russell's have a jet ski and they pull a tube behind it.  Everyone took a turn, even Peter, and had a grand time.  The mosquitoes were VERY thick and poor Emma has many welts on her back to prove it!  We ate hamburgers and messed around until the mosquitoes drove us away.  We came back and headed over the the Russell's for Smores in their fire pit and then stayed and talked for a long time.  It was a wonderful evening!

Lucy and Peter on the tube with Chuck Russell on the Jet Ski and his wife Kami watching

There Pete and Lou go!

Ellyse and Andy took a turn and Chuck tried to knock them off by turning really sharp, they were troopers and held on!

Here Andy is almost falling off!  

Andy and Ellyse 

I believe this is Emma and Saydria, Chuck was nicer to them and didn't try to make them fall off!

Lucy happy and waiting for her hamburger

Em and Lou!

I got a few videos of them as well.

Here is Lucy and Peter

This is Emma and Saydria Russell

Here is Andy and Ellyse Russell

Eric rode with Lucy, but I didn't realize I didn't get any pictures of them!  Brian took a turn driving the Jet Ski and I took a turn as a passenger.  We turned down the opportunity to ride on the tube!  The water was cold and the wind was blowing!  It was a great afternoon and evening!

Awesome picture of the week

This is my cousin, Karen McCoy Clothier's husband Brian.  They live in Oregon and he is a physician who is in the Dominican Republic for some humanitarian work.  He found Palmer and sent this awesome picture!

Return from Utah

Andy and I got back from Utah last night.  He had been participating in the BYU football camp.  It was a great experience for him and he felt like he learned a lot and got to meet Bronco Mendenhall as well.  Plus his only injuries were two jammed fingers!  I drove up on Wednesday, spent Thursday running around gathering things for our girls camp and for trek and spent time with Lauren, Matt, Audrey, my sister, and my mom.  I had plans to visit other people, but the time went too fast.  I had an enjoyable trip home with Andy, it helped the 6 hours and 35 minutes go a bit faster!

On my solo drive down to Utah South Pass was looking especially lovely.  That area can strike fear in my heart when the weather is bad, which seems to happen suddenly and without warning.  I have been driving in 50mph winds, zero visibility, ice, snow, torrential rain, etc.  Many prayers have been uttered in the hour it takes to go across those mountains.  This time, however, it was breathtakingly beautiful.  With all the rain we have been getting it has made those mountains come alive.  I had to stop and take some pictures.  These pictures reminded me of something I might see in Ireland.  

I got to help with the summer reading program here at our small library.  I did a 30 minute story time 3 times in a row as the kids rotated stations.  I had anywhere from 15-30 kids in each rotation, so it was pretty easy to manage.  I couldn't get any of the kids to check out any of the books I had on display, however, which was kind of sad!  I think they are just there to be entertained for a few hours and don't think that they can continue to enjoy stories at home!  

It's great to have Andy back and to be together as a family again.  It was a little hard to have Palmer leave and Andy gone, the house felt too empty!  

Weekend fun

Andy has been in Utah since Wednesday.  He left with our neighbors who were going to Bountiful.  He then caught the front runner train down to Orem where Audrey picked him up.  He will be going to the BYU football camp on Monday.  He has been having fun hanging out with his friends, cousins, sisters, and grandma.

Since we only have 4 children right now we wanted to do something fun last night.  We thought about camping but settled on breaking in our new fire pit.  We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and then set up the tent in the backyard.  The kids watched a movie in the tent and then Peter, Lucy and Eric slept out there.  Emma came in to sleep in a bed and so did Brian and I.  Around midnight the thunderstorm hit and here came the kids inside!  It was a good thing our camping consisted of our backyard!  The rain here has been non-stop!

We tackled all the bedrooms yesterday.  We moved Eric downstairs  into Andy and Palmer's room, moved Lucy upstairs to share with Peter and helped Emma clean out her room that she now has to herself.  It took all day, but the results look really good!  Peter isn't too happy about sharing with Lucy, but hopefully it will work out well!

Emma taught her first dance classes today and she did really well!  She had 6 students today and will have 4 more next week since people are on vacation.  She has 3 classes that are an hour each.  Lucy stays and helps in all the classes as her assistant.  The 3-4 year old class was the hardest because their attention span is challenging.  The 7-9 class went really well and I was impressed with how well Emma interacts with the kids.  She will make $300 doing this for the next 6 weeks and has to give 20% to the woman who owns the building, which is the original Catholic Church and is 100  years old.  The floors are beautiful wood and the stained glass windows really give the space an awesome feel.  It's perfect for dancing!  They also teach yoga there, which I've been to as well.

Brian didn't have to work today and the lawn is mowed and laundry is done and house is clean and it's only 3:00!  Looks like it's time to do something fun!

Setting apart

Today marks the last full day with Palmer for 2 years.  We worked hard and got him completely packed and his room cleared out!  Brian and I took him to lunch at Goodies.  We saw a couple of girls from the other ward there and they came to say goodbye to him.  He also had some friends from high school stop by to wish him well.

The stake president came by tonight to set him apart as a missionary in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission.  The Bishop came as well with three of the priests from our ward.  The stake president met with Palmer first alone upstairs.  Then he had us start with a prayer and then set him apart with the Bishop and Brian assisting.  It was a beautiful blessing.  I would like to share a part that I remember well without compromising the specialness of that blessing: the stake president said that Palmer will meet friends from the pre-earth life there who will listen to his message.

After the setting apart the stake president said that since Palmer has never given anyone a blessing he would like to give his first blessing to his mother!  I was blessed to have Palmer place his hands on my head and give me a sweet simple blessing.  Our stake president is truly a special sweet man who really wants the best for those members of the stake.  It was a wonderful evening.  Our ward members are very kind and the best of people.  It was thoughtful of the bishop to bring a few of the priests over to support Palmer tonight and to be such an influence in his life.

We are all set for tomorrow.  I know the separation will be hard at first, like ripping a bandage off really fast, but Palmer blessed me in his blessing that the time will go fast for me and I will be comforted and be able to share his experiences and my experiences with people in our ward and as a missionary to the people here in Worland.  I will trust in that blessing from my wonderful son.