Life in Idaho

Well, Heston has been here in Idaho for over a week now. He's starting to fit right in...

And for the finished product...

A missionary haircut!

We might not have a garden this year...

...but we sure grow big weeds around here.

Yep, it's a dandelion leaf. Yikes!

Happy Belated Birthday

Earlier this month was my father-in-law’s birthday. I want to take a moment to write about a few of the reasons I am so thankful for him.

I am thankful that he is so diligent about his commitment to the gospel. He never wavers on this. He serves willingly in his callings, and he has even travelled across the world, to Romania, where he is currently serving on a mission. Because of his example, my husband has learned to be a faithful and diligent member of the church.

I love how he handles the ups and downs of life without showing discouragement. Both he and Peggy always have a “everything will work out all right” attitude. One of my favorite stories about them is when they had lost their home, and they had a few weeks before they could get into a new place. They had no where to go, so what did they do? They took their kids camping! All of them! They literally lived in the mountains for weeks. Now, many other fathers who had these financial trials may have let themselves sink into depression, but not Bob Sr. My hubby, Bob, has fond memories of this camping “trip” with his family. That is a trademark of Bob Sr., he just keeps doing his best with determination, no matter what life deals out.

He taught my husband how to fix things, to think critically and analyze every situation with intelligence, and to love learning. Bob and his Dad love to learn about everything. Bob has told me how he and his Dad would read National Geographic magazines, and talk about all sorts of subjects. Bob Sr. does love to read, and he has so much knowledge about all sorts of subjects. And, if he doesn't know something about a subject, he'll certainly never let on that he's not an expert! ;)

He has a great sense of humor, and that is one of the first things I noticed about him. From the time when he was convincing me that you really needed to "scratch" chickens to get them to lay eggs, to all the other times when he makes jokes with that serious "poker" face, then breaks out into his great smile, he can always make us laugh.

He knows how to have fun. He really enjoys spending time with his family. I love the memories of eating popcorn while playing cards, or watching him ride mountain bikes, light fireworks, or float the river right along with his kids. I don't think he's really realized that he's "grandpa" age.

He is a wonderful Grandpa. He is loving to all of our children, but never overbearing. I have often noticed his special gift of being able to appreciate each one of his grandchildren’s unique personalities. That is especially difficult when you have around 50 grandchildren, but he relates to each one of them in a way that shows that he understands them and appreciates them for who they are. I’m so grateful that he is a good example of a righteous priesthood holder for all of my children. And they love how he often sneaks them treats (like black licorice to Courtney when she was only a few months old!)

I love to see how he and Peggy have managed to raise 14 children! It is a challenge, but they have found joy in raising their children. I know that they didn’t plan on having this many children, but they kept feeling again and again, that there was “one more” child that needed to come, and they sacrificed so much to raise these children in a loving home, with the gospel. I feel like I have a lot of children, and I only have one more than half of what they had! Because of that, I know he will understand why I am posting this a few weeks after his birthday, instead of on his birthday. And that is another of my favorite things. He and Peggy never judge us or place stress on us. We always feel loved and encouraged by them.

I am so grateful that he is my father-in-law, and I love him very much!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Last night was our Stake Pioneer Day celebration. We had so much fun!
They provided yummy sack dinners for us - sandwiches, chips, brownies, and apples. There was also watermelon, water bottles, and soft drinks. Zach enjoyed the root beer a little too much, and was up probably about 25 times during the night to use the restroom. (He always tends to wake me up every time he is up. I'm t-i-r-e-d today! No more carbonation for him. Ever.)



Our niece and nephew, Stephanie, and Heston, are here visiting from North Carolina. Heston loved all the activities! Especially the dunk tank!

There were wagon rides, and horse rides

Abby was nervous only for a second on the horse, and then she got a huge smile on her face. Bob and Aliysa had to leave early for Aliysa's soccer game, so Bob asked Abby later if she had ridden a horse. Her eyes got HUGE, and she stood up, and began seriously and proudly "telling" him all about it, with her face really close to his face. It was so cute!

The night ended with some good Idaho old-fashioned fun, mutton bustin'. Heston really wanted to do this, but they were asking for a parent's signature on a release form, and I didn't want to be responsible if he broke his neck. So, I only let Spencer. (Jace is gone to scout camp this week.) Spencer did well, but I didn't get the beginning of his ride on camera. I only got the end, when the sheep decided that he was no match for Spencer, so he dropped to the ground. Spencer was wishing for a much more wild steed. Maybe next year.

Wrong lip, Mom

Yesterday, I could tell that Andrew's lip was hurting. I said: "Is your little lip hurting?" Andrew replied: "no, my big one is."

Andrew's First Stitches

Well, today Andrew received his first stitches. Bob couldn't go with me to take Andrew, so I took Aliysa for moral support. It's a good thing I did, because, well, you can read more about it on Aliysa's new blog:

http://redheadedfreckleface.blogspot.com/

Discovering Nature

Abby loves to be outside. Her joy is so contagious when she smiles about discovering bugs, flowers, and dirt.

Playing peek-a-boo

Dressed in my Sunday best...

Sometimes parents and children are have different priorities in life.
Well, the pictures really say it all:

Some good thoughts

Bob shared these thoughts with me, from one of his classes. Some of the thoughts are from his class, some are his own notes about the reading assignment. It gave me a lot to think about.

Marshal Goldsmith – When should you keep your ideas to yourself?
Sometimes we should keep our mouths shut when someone comes to us with an idea. It is easy to see an area that can be improved upon, but when we make a suggestion it tends to diminish the individual's fire and commitment to “their” idea. What we may gain in effectiveness we often lose, plus more, in drive and passion. Look in the person’s eyes and ask yourself “will my ‘added value’ make this person more, or less committed to doing a great job?” If they are so committed and excited about what they’re doing that your suggestion takes their ownership away, keep your mouth shut.

Always ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” Am I saying this to make our team more effective or just to add to conversation and show how smart I am?

In our families always ask, “Do they really care about the sermon I’m about to deliver or am I just annoying them?” If they're not receptive, just take a deep breath and let it go.

“Achievement is all about me, leadership is all about them.” Why not drop all communication about “how smart, special, or wonderful I am,” or “how bad, stupid, or inept someone else is?”
About 60% of interpersonal communication is about those two topics. That’s a lot of life to waste on two unbeneficial topics. Put your energy into things where you can make a difference, not things that do not make any improvement.

Stars in our eyes

So, tonight I'd finally gotten everyone to bed after our ward party, and Courtney's soccer game, when my Dad called and asked if we were in bed yet (10:25pm) I told him I was still up, and he asked if I wanted to get the kids up. Of course I had to know why and he explained that the International Space Station (ISS) was about to cross the sky.

It orbits the earth every 90 minutes, but at 10:37 tonight it would be visible to us. My parents had noticed the ISS last night when they were sitting on the porch looking at the almost-full moon. They saw the ISS cross the sky, and thought it was a satellite. Then they were surprised to see another light follow the exact same path almost a minute later. My dad thought they must have just seen a UFO :) He looked it up and found out it was the ISS, and the second twinkly light was a Russian spacecraft that is docking on the ISS.

Bob was gone to a flag football game (it started at 10pm! Crazy college kids.) So, I grabbed the binoculars, and and a Dagoba "New Moon" dark chocolate bar (the best chocolate in the world) and got Aliysa, Jace, Courtney, Spencer, and Mallory up. I told them to grab a blanket and crawl out the window on to the roof. When we got out there, I thought that some trees were going to block our view, so we got off the roof and sat out on the front lawn snuggled in blankets, eating "New Moon" chocolate, and waited. Sure enough, soon a bright light crossed the sky (quickly!) and it was followed a bit later by a less-bright light. Pretty neat.

FYI- The space station is travelling at 17,211 miles per hour. Wow!

Thanks Dad, for encouraging us to make this fun memory! Tomorrow we'll be learning more about the International Space Station.