backyard fun

July has been one looong barbecue and party after another. Can't complain, it's been way fun! Gene's sister, Kathleen, and her family are visiting from New Jersey, as they do every summer, so we hosted another BBQ, this time for my hubby's side of the family the weekend of the 24th (state holiday).

Kathleen, Aunt Cheryl & Dave (Kathleen's husband)

The setup: a few tables & chairs, lots of food, a water mister, a grill, trampoline, clubhouse, swing set and swimming pool + 23 people.

Emma sitting at the little red table (from Ikea). Deanna, Josh, Amanda & Hannah (the teenage cousins) getting some fixin's.

Kathleen, Nicole (Lorraine's oldest) with her new baby, Emmett & "Gramma" (Gene's mom) enjoying our new porch swing and visiting while the kids...

...swim and float and splash and swing and...

...have fun! At one point we counted 11 kids in the pool at once (and you can tell by the color of the water!) The cousins in both photos: Megan, Grant, Sarah, Lydia, Rachel, Hannah, Emma, Steven, Robbie, Nathan & Alex

Alex doing a back flip on the trampoline

Uncle Verle looks like he's floating in mid air!

I LOVE this picture of Morgan! She's cracking herself up & acting giddy because cousin Grant is just her size--they were so cute together!

Lydia & Sarah (cousins only 2 months apart) --best of friends!

independence day parade & barbecue

This is my first year in the Primary, having served the last 4 years in our ward's Relief Society. So this year I got to join the kids in the annual parade. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot more work than I realized it would be. The day before we had to get the bikes decorated, make something for the potluck breakfast that follows the parade and, in addition, get my house ready for company. I woke up around 7 am to a beautiful day!

Gene (left) helped lead the parade by holding the banner.

festive decorations adorning kids' bikes.

And we're off! The parade starts out a little crowded. That's Sarah in the middle with the pink balloon on her flag pole.

We decorated our dumper wheel barrow like a M*A*S*H jeep and let Morgan ride in it. That's Emma and her fun bike & helmet.

Neighbors sat along the sidelines to wave, shout or throw candy. This is Sis. Ferguson, one of my favorite people in the ward!

The back of Emma's bike.

About half way in the route the kids start spreading out a bit more and the little kids, toddlers & mom's pulling/pushing babies straggle behind.
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BBQ & fireworks:
After the ward breakfast we had a few hours to rest and then Jeff & Felicia's family came over around 4 for dinner & fireworks.

We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, brauts, chicken & steak, plus sides of potato salad, green salad, pasta salad, corn on the cob & watermelon. Yuuumm!

We asked Jeff to take over at the BBQ since he is, after all, the master.

Lysette, Sarah & Marianne (Felicia's mom) enjoying our new porch swing & the water mister that Gene hooked up to the tree.

This has all sorts of fun written on it!

Lysette, Jordan "pyro" Wood, Emma, Alyssa & Sarah trying to light their sparklers.

We were one of three or four families on our street to have our own show.

Sarah & Emma getting smoked out.

Our neighbors, who also had their own show, gave us some of their glow sticks--what a good idea, kids always love these things. Uncle Jeff gave Morgan a couple of sticks.

I left the shutter open for a few seconds and this is what Morgan playing with glow sticks looks like. Fun camera, mine.

Some of our yard decorations. She's a grand ol' flag!

The official & professional photo of my nephew, Dean, who's serving in the Air Force and who's currently in Mississippi.

We got to call him before dinner and I asked him if he feels different about Independence Day now that he's in the military, than he did before--if it means more now. He said that much of it hasn't really sunk in yet, but that it was nice, when they went to the mall in their uniforms, to have people stand at attention and clap and thank them for serving our country. Hearing that made my heart swell.

And it got me thinking about the line of men in my family that have served in one arm or another of the military; my dad was also in the Air Force, my brother, Jeff, in the Army, as well as my Grandpa K and Gene's dad. THANK YOU all & we love you Dean!

summer activities

We're busy today preparing for our 4th of July barbecue. We've been cleaning up the yard, the house, food shopping and decorating our girls' bikes for the annual Primary Parade tomorrow morning (I hope to get pics of it this year). The parade is always followed by our ward breakfast under the pavilion. But for now I have a moment to share some early summer photos from the past few weeks. Everyone have a fun & safe Independence Day!


Sarah's soccer team, the "Lightening Bolts". She's the third from the left on the back row.

They're still in the age group that doesn't keep a score, so every body's a winner.

Sarah & her best friend, Christina (aka: "Noonoo")

Poor little miss Morgan contracted Roseola toward the beginning of June. After a pretty high fever she broke out in this rash that lasted for about 5 days.

Once the temperature stayed consistently in the 80-90 degree range Gene set up our pool. Here it is only half full, and a bit cold still, but the neighborhood kids came running.

Five little girls playing & splashing & dancing in the pool equals hours of squeals & laughter.

This picture screams "put some sunscreen on our pasty white legs".

Look what Sarah got as a reward for good grades...guinea pigs! Three of them.

Sarah, Emma & Gene named them "Stripes", "Rainbow" & "Colors". ???

They live in their cage on the top of the club house. Neighborhood kids like them too.

Here's a view of the top of the clubhouse, among our apple & cherry trees.

Doesn't it look like he's pleading with me to let him out?!

The guinea pig named Colors (brown & white are colors).

Sarah swinging on the rope swing from the cherry tree. We made those window flower boxes last month on a craft day.

our flower garden

This year, for some reason, our flowers are extra abundant and gi-normous! I've heard it's because we had an extra long, cold & wet winter so the temperatures and moisture are just right. Whatever the reason I'm just happy that my yard is doing so well. For example...

my new favorite flower--the peony!

peonies on our kitchen table, they almost look fake.

One of our rose bushes (if you look closely you can see Emma's mug in the front room window)

Our trellis of Clematis Jackman just last week...

...and here it is this week! It's insane!

And there's still dozens of buds that haven't even bloomed yet

the Clematis flower heads are as big as saucers! Crazy beautiful!!!

books

I just had to post about my two book-worms. Sarah loves reading so much that we can hardly keep her in books. Currently we buy her books because we feel reading is such an investment
that, at this age, the books will get good use and be passed down to younger sisters. Emma's not crazy about reading yet--she's only 4--every now and then she likes being read to, but playing with toys still tops her list as favorite things to do. Eventually, however, we're going to have to get Sarah's books at the library if this keeps up (and I hope it does). This Thursday I need to return the K12 curriculum we used for schooling this past year, but before I do I wanted to take this picture:

All the books that Sarah, herself, read this past school year

(with the exeption of a few that are lost).

Clara and the Bookwagon was the first book she read, and it took her a week, but now she's going through 200+ pages in a few days. I couldn't be more proud!

This is my other book-worm, little miss Morgan. :) Though the books get more abuse being tossed & chewed on, rather than read, Morgan is always drawn to books first, toys last. I snapped this picture when I went looking for her (because it was too quiet), and this is how I found her. Sweet!

mentor & protege

Blessed. I know that Heavenly Father truly loves me, and because of that He will compensate for my failures.

Roughly a year ago, maybe longer, I felt "impressed" to reconnect with a friend that I hadn't seen in probably a decade. We've been friends for 23 years, and have kept in touch via Christmas cards and an occasional email, but even though she lives only 20 minutes away we have not seen each other in 10 years. How sad! How even more sad that I failed to follow my impression to reconnect last year. I was prideful, worried that I might be infringing on her time and scared of rejection to a point. Clearly Heavenly Father decided that I was too thick-headed and that he needed to work through a different vessel, my friend, Laureen, in order to get us together. And thankfully she followed through with His promptings.




Last night we finally got together and had a 3 hour dinner (that included yummy fried green tomatoes). If you are ever lucky enough to have a true friend; the kind that tells you how it is--that you've got your skirt tucked into your pantyhose--hold them close. And you will also understand the great joy I felt at our reunion. We sat and talked (I hardly ate my meal) and laughed and cried the entire time. Gratefully I was able to tell her how much she's meant to me over the years; how she saved me in my youth (she was my Young Women's Laurel advisor), and guided me and encouraged me in a way no body else did. She paid me the most incredible compliments I could ever ask for, gushed about my mothering skills, the spirit felt in my home and said how it's been her honor to know me. Talk about an ego boost!

Through our conversation we found that we continue to have much in common and have arrived at somewhat the same place in life, with regards to our marriages, emotional growth and understanding of the gospel. We talked about books that have changed our lives (hint: Bonds that Make us Free, by C. Terry Warner), leaders that have inspired us, the difference between kind and nice and also unloaded some baggage in our process to catch up. Laureen is freakishly smart, quick and has a wicked sense of humor. I love her to pieces! I have a feeling of why we were meant to reconnect at this time in our lives, but time will tell. I'm so thankful for this friendship in my life and I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father loves us enough to not give up on us even when we're stupid.

into the wild blue yonder

My nephew, Dean, graduated from the Air Force basic training in Lackland, Texas, this past week. I couldn't be more proud of him and this decision he's made to serve his country and secure his education, not to mention the fact that he scores extremely high on the tests (and the Air Force is especially picky about the quality of person they let in). For the time being he's stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi for schooling, then he'll be back to Texas until he gets stationed somewhere overseas. He wants to go into electrical engineering. I wish I could've been there, but here are some photos that his mom, Felicia, sent me...

Dean (wearing glasses in front of the green flag) at his graduation ceremony.

Dean with his brother, Jordan (sister Lysette in the van), on their last day together.

Love you, Deanie!!!

some thoughts

The month of May has been busy (I know I say that a lot, but it's true--and scroll down to catch the pics after this post) and there's been some thoughts and experiences I've wanted to write down for a while now, so I'm taking full advantage of the Pepsi that I drank earlier and everyone being asleep.

1) The Pediatrician. We visited the pediatrician's office this past week because Morgan had a rash on her nose (mild impetigo). We hadn't been there in a while. I realized that I have a few issues with going to the pediatrician. I know--what mom doesn't, right? But for starters they moved to a new building, and after spending over half an hour on the freeway to get there, the only way up to the offices is by one common elevator (unless I want to walk five flights of stairs--with three kids) which opens up to one giant waiting room. Ugh! Any air-born germs I would've liked to avoided I just spent a slow 45 seconds inhaling and if that didn't secure any impending illness the crowded, non-sectioned waiting room will. Why is it that I feel the need to wear a sign around my neck stating the reason for our visit "WE'RE MILDLY SICK SO KEEP YOUR DISTANCE" or "WE'RE ONLY HERE FOR A WELLNESS CHECKUP, SO KEEP YOUR GERMS TO YOURSELVES"? And may I ask, that in the year 2008, what mother allows her child to brazenly touch and handle other people's babies? How is it possible that she hasn't learned, and thus passed on to annoying little boy, about personal space and talking to/touching strangers? Also I love our Pediatrician don't get me wrong but..... he's a guy.....and I have three girls, one of whom is eight and almost a "tween". I think it might be time to find a female Pediatrician. Ugh. Pediatrician shopping...but I think the building floor plan might be the thing that wins me over.

2) Food storage. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I feel adrenaline pulse through my veins at the sound of the words...in a good way. Our current major project (other than waiting for one kitchen cabinet to arrive) has been our food storage room. We took everything out, dusted, washed, took inventory and then organized as we re-stocked the shelves. For what seems the longest time now I have felt...impressed.....an urgency to add to and update our food storage. The last time I felt this way was before the Y2K scare. I don't think it was the possibility of computer failure that prompted me as much as it was the year...the new millennium and all. So I've been wondering what has me feeling this way now, and then it hit me--the Presidential election!!! It seriously has me more motivated than ever before. As much as I'm glad that Barack will kick Hillary out of the running, I feel that neither Obama nor McCain are qualified to run the country as President of the United States. I think the duties of a CEO or Governor would prepare one better. But that's okay. It's supposed to get worse before it gets better anyway, right? So in the meantime we are applying my method of taking the ingredients for 28+ recipes and X'ing them by the number of weeks in a year minus shelf life/expiration dates and "storing what we eat and eating what we store". Woohoo!

3) Conditions vs. Boundaries. There's been a couple experiences in my life lately that have involved one or the other, and until recently I used to think that they were synonymous, but have come to find out they are, in fact, quite different. I think sometimes people confuse them. Giving conditions or being conditional is to try to control others or change them or tell them what to do, to make someone subject to or dependent upon a set of conditions. It is derived out of fear and lack of understanding and is the counterfeit of caring.

Setting or having Boundaries is control of self, an internal reinforcement of your affirmations, values or requirements. Boundaries define where you end and the other person starts, so by definition it starts and ends with ones-self. No one can ever "make" someone else feel something, and therefore we cannot be responsible for another persons reactions. All we can control is what is within our own boundary. Healthy boundaries derive from love and understanding. Your happiness depends on you not on your loved ones acting a certain way. I think it'd be easy to give someone a set of conditions thinking that your setting your boundaries, but if it is by asking or suggesting or telling the other person to do/act/be a certain way then it is instead a condition.