Happy Fathers Day!

I want to pay tribute to all of the Father figures in my life. My Dad has taught me so many valuable lessons in my life, such as; how to work, generosity, how to wrestle, respect, and many more. The one thing that stands out the most is unconditional love. I am so grateful for his example of love with NO judgements or strings attached. As I reflect on my own Dad I realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful Father-in-law also. He is such a huge support to me and my family. I know that I can call on either of these two great men for anything that I may need and they would be willing to help in any way. Thank you for all your support and love. Now for that awesome man that is the Father of my kids. I can't express enough that I am so glad to be in this journey of parenthood with him. Matt is such a wonderful Dad for so many reasons, and here are a few; he honors his priesthood, he works really hard to support our family in every way, he is always trying to teach the kids something whether they want to learn it or not, and so much more. Thank you for being here for us everyday. Another group of men that I would like to honor are my brothers and brother-in-laws. I can reflect on my kids baby blessings and conformations and see them encircled with the protection of the priesthood provided by these great men, and I appreciate that so much. As I watch them father their own children, I can learn from their great example, and I thank you for that. Finally I would like to share my feelings for my Heavenly Father. I know that he loves me and wants me to be happy, and I know this because of the love that I have for my own children. If any of mwey kids were in pain, and I could take it away I would do it in a heartbeat with no hesitations, so I can only imagine the pain my Heavenly Father must of felt as his son asked "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matthew 26:39). The fact that he could of easily stop Christ suffering but knew that it was needed for my eternal salvation and choose not to, tells me that he loves me beyond measure. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Fathers plan and strive to live with him again someday.

We had my Dad and brother's family over on Fathers Day for Matt's and Dad's favorite dinner (steak and potatoes). I was trying to make the day a little lighter for Matt by serving dinner to all our kids (he will usually do this at Sunday dinner), and when everyone was finally eating I looked up and this is what I saw, all three of them intently watching Tiger Woods. I guess it was Fathers Day after all.

Corey and his family headed out and we decided to end the night with a game of pinochle. Kyler and McKade and all my kids where outside playing. The next thing I knew Jade was running in the house to tell us that she had learned how to ride her bike withOUT training wheels. It had probably been about 10 min. tops. Lets just say that I had spent at least an hour running up and down the street in my flip flops trying to teach her to do this a couple months ago. I guess that there are just some things that kids can do better. Jade has been on her bike nonstop since Sunday, thanks McKin, Kyler, McKade and Gavin for helping her, and now could you teach Lilli?

It must be a dream!

We have officially (in my eyes) started the yard. I know that Matt is laughing right now as he reads this because he thinks that he started last year. So he moved a little dirt, and maybe placed a few rocks (huge boulders) but now that we planted trees the yard has really started. I know that there is so much more than grass and trees to a yard, but I guess that is the part I can't wait for. Thanks Matt for all your hard work and after 14 years of marriage you know that patience is not my strong suit.

Girls Camp

We had our Young Womens Girls Camp last week and I am so glad that I got to go. This year was on a ward level only so we were lucky enough to go to a cabin of one of our camp directors. I was so grateful that we were not in tents because it rained everyday but one. Our theme this year was S.A.L.T. (stand a little taller). We had a guest speaker teach us that we can stand a little taller by getting on our knees. I had a lot of fun having McKinley at camp with me, and I know that she loved every minute. The spirit that is felt at camp is so awsome. I am so grateful for the chance to work with the Young Women.

The first few days out of school

I love to sleep with the windows open this time of year. Now that school is out I have been sleeping in a little longer, and I notice that there was a strange noise that was waking me up in the mornings. As I laid in bed I realized that it was someone spraying the orchards. All of the memories came rushing back from my childhood of living on a farm. I never actually had to spray the orchard but I remember Corey and Craig hating it. Like in this picture you could see a mist of spray surrounding the trees, and I knew that Craig and Corey were in the middle of it.

School has only been out for a couple of days and I am already finding it difficult keeping my kids unplugged from the computer, DS, TV, Wii, ect.. So on Sat. McKinley was asking if she could plug in again, but I had this great idea for her to go help out her Grandpa by mowing the lawn for him. He had to work that day and had plans that night so I thought that she could mow his lawn. You have to remember that we lived with them for 10 month, where I know that she mowed the lawn. She asked a few questions about the riding lawn mower and then she was off. The last words I said to her was if you have a problem come and get me. Well she had a problem. She ran right over the top of one of the sprinklers. Dads sprinkler system is not in the ground and it is not made of plastic. The mower chopped the metal top right in half and broke the pipe that is down in the ground. I wish that I had gotten a picture of the water shooting 6 feet into the air. She said that she did not see it. Now here is where I have to take some of the blame. I really should of taken her over and instructed her a little, but I was just glad that she was not going to be plugged in. So much for helping Grandpa, but he was so understanding and she said that I made her feel worse than he did.

This summer we wanted to have something for the kids to work on and earn a little money (not be plugged in). Here is our soon to be pumpkin patch. We are going to be planting around 5000 pumpkin plants and I hope that we can get at least 10,000 pumpkins. Who knows maybe we won't get even 1 but we are going to give it a try. I hope to bring you pictures in the future of lots of pumpkins.