Melted My Heart

Calum has been severely afraid of thunder storms this summer, and have we ever had a lot!  Some weeks there has been one everyday.  He usually hides in the storage room because he thinks it is the safest place in the house.  This may be partly to blame on Jared and I because we said years ago that if ever there is a tornado in our area we would go into the storage room to hide.  He must have remembered this and to this day feels the safest in there! 

While Calum is in the storage room he usually prays.  One prayer in particular melted my heart.  He said, "I'm thankful for my daddy, he tickles me and that makes me happy.  I'm thankful for my brother and sister.  I'm thankful for my mom.  She's so pretty, she's the prettiest lady I ever saw.  I'm thankful for the rain but please make the thunder and lightening stop..."  When Jared told me this my eyes welled up with big tears.  He is the most sincere, brute of a kid I know.  He is always thinking of others and is concerned about others feelings.  Yes, he is rough and tumble and can get angry with his brother and sister, but there is also something soft about him.  The way he calls Armin his Bro and his best buddy, or the way he hugs his sister goodnight or wants to hold her hand when we are in a parking lot.  And when he said I was the prettiest lady he ever saw, boy that won him some brownie points, it melted my heart!!  It also reminded me that even if I feel down on myself I know I have a fan, who loves me for who I am.

But to get him to come out of the storage room once he has gone in is nearly impossible.  Jared pleaded with him that the whole house is safe and how he would never let anything bad happen to him.  Having finally convinced Calum to come sleep in his bed one particularly bad night only resulted in Calum running to the toilet every 10 or so minutes to dry heave. 

All I can do is love this little boy and be thankful each and everyday for the opportunity I have to teach him the true meaning of why he is here.  He brightens my day every time I look at him.  I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be his mom, to hug him and kiss him and call him my own!

Our Pinoneer Heritage

Every July 24th Latter-day Saints celebrate Pioneer Day, in honor of those who crossed from eastern United States into Utah! Lots of lives were lost and buried on the trail. Families left behind all their possessions and were expected to start from scratch. Looking back on all these people went through just for a better life I am thankful I did not live in the time of the pioneers! Yet, we are still pioneers, still paving the way for those yet to come. The world is not an easy to place to live now a days. Technology has taken control, but not totally in a bad way.  There are many good uses for technology, we can communicate instantly with family and friends from far away. Medical advances using technology have made leaps and bounds. We are encouraged to use technology for the good of mankind, to help and to serve.  

This year to honor those Pioneers we had a barbecue, and played games the pioneers would have played. It was nice getting together with fellow church members, visiting and laughing and just enjoying each other's company. Jared and I were unable to stay for the games but the boys stayed and had so much fun.  Our Bishop and our neighbour paired up with Calum and built a human pyramid and did a wheel barrow race. I was thankful for these men stepping up and filling in for us when we couldn't be there. It goes to show that I belong not just to a wonderful church but to a wonderful family of members.

I am also thankful for the pioneers and all they endured so that I can live my religion freely, their sacrifices made it possible for us to be members of such an amazing church.

Fun at Little Bow

Myrna had Liam and Jonas staying with her for a few days and since it was so hot she asked if the kids and I would like to go to the lake with her and the boys!!! After lunch we loaded up the van and headed down for some fun in the sun, or shade rather!!!!

All the boys played so good together, building sand castles and wading in the water. Only Calum and Armin got totally wet but Liam and Jonas had just as much fun getting dirty in the sand!!! We were treated by grandma to a yummy ice cream cone and ate these while the kids played on the swings!!! Liam and Armin decided they wanted to try the baby swings, they didn't fit of course but had fun trying!!

It was the perfect way to spend a hot July afternoon!!!!

Champion's 105th, Baling and Young Women's Camp

The start of July has been busy for us!!  It started with Champion's 105th Anniversary!! It was lots of fun.  Emry and I convinced Avi, Owen and Maryssa to do the Fun Run Saturday morning.  Emry and I ended up only doing about half of it but we still had fun!  My dad did it with us too and I had a nice visit with him as we walked!  The day was full of many fun things to see and do, the committee who put it together did an exceptional job!  There was a pancake breakfast, a parade, trick dogs, a petting zoo, lawn mower races, and ice cream truck, kids highland games, a movie, fireworks, beef on a bun, a softball tournament and a history display!! The fireworks were spectacular, our poor boys though, so terrified.  Jared ended up behind a big school bus with Calum watching them.  A ton of sand was dumped at the school for the kids to play in and boy did my boys have fun with that! 

We also started baling just before the kick off to the 105th celebration, luckily the tractor broke down so Jared was able to take in the festivities with us!

Baling started a little earlier than we have in the past only because it has been so dry.  Unfortunately though, we broke down soon after starting.  First a bearing on the cutter, then the PTO sensor on the tractor, then a shaft came off of the baler!! Not a great start!  Now we are waiting for rain to clear, but I won't complain about that because we desperately need the rain!  I was able to help Jared rake for a little bit until Dave was able to take over.  I sure love being in the tractor, so peaceful...no radio, just bumping along surrounded by nature!!

 

After all the wind up from the weekend Emry left for Young Women's camp and Calum left for a couple nights with Grandpa Glen.  It was a quiet week with just Armin and I!!

 

Girls camp was so much fun for Emry, it was her first one and she had a blast!  The theme was Christmas in July and it was a Stake Camp so there were just about 70 girls there from each of the Wards.  Emry met some new girls and enjoyed spending so much time with her two favourite cousins!! 

 

 

 

Each girl had to bring an ugly Christmas sweater to wear for one of the activities.  Well, we couldn't find one anywhere this time of year so we made one!! Arren had sent the pin to me from Pinterest and the t-shirt turned out so cute, not ugly at all, but it worked!!!

 

The whole Stake together on their hike.  They did get rained and hailed on a little but still had a great time! 

 

 

Calum got to spend a night in Grandpa Glen's big truck!! He loved every minute of it and wants to do it again!!  They went to Finding Dory together and Calum said it was a really nice show?!! They were up early in the truck, Dad found Calum on the floor and asked him what was up, Calum told grandpa he snores too much!!  Calum also took up the entire bunk leaving my dad with very little room!  When he pushed into him hoping he'd move over a little, Calum just pushed back!!!  They did a lot of walking which wore Calum out but he didn't ever complain!  He got a new Minecraft Lego set!  Saw the new Tesla car and just loved spending some one on one time with Grandpa!  The day Calum was due to come home he said to Grandpa, "Not to be rude, but I'd like to go and see my mom now!"

 

 





So the start of July has been busy, but it has slowed down now.  Back to baling and general house work I guess!!!!

Track and Field

Last Friday was a very busy day!!! It started out with the kids school talent show.  It was great and it didn't feel like we sat there for almost 2 hours.  The school has a lot of talent, from lip synching to dancing to tree climbing to juggling to playing the piano, it was amazing!!  Calum really wanted to do something but was too afraid to stand up in front of the school so when he heard you could submit a video he instantly knew what he wanted to do!  He wanted me to video him climbing a tree!!  He hasn't climbed many trees but one in particular he found to climb, at the Lion's Campground in Champion, he could climb rather high up!! I had a hoot filming it as he talked the entire time.  At the end of the video he gave a few pointers when climbing like always look for the loose branch and don't step on it!  He talked about how you had to use different angles too!! Quite funny!!  Emry didn't have anything to put in the talent show but she enjoyed watching her cousins and classmates!! Gilbert showed everyone how he could juggle, and he did an amazing job!  Leah and her friends danced to a medley of songs and were completely in sync, quite impressive!  Blake and his friend lip synced a rap song, something I think would be very hard to do but they were right on!  And Lily played the piano, Ode to Joy, and did a wonderful job!!!

Right after the talent show was the track meet, not Emry's favourite thing to do and when she found out I wasn't needed to take her group around she got quite teary :( she really wasn't feeling well, she had a sore throat and a stuffy nose so instead of making her sit out in the hot sun I took her home where she could rest!  I think she did get some much needed rest.  Taking her home made it easier for me to watch Calum compete during his events.  I didn't have to split myself in two!!  He did his best and had fun.  He isn't much of a runner, hopefully that will come as he gets older!!  During the 200m run he started to really lean forward so much so that he eventually fell right to the ground landing on his shoulder.  But he got right back up and finished the race!! I was so proud of him.  He got mostly third and fourth place ribbons with one second!  A job well done!!

 

 

It was a hot and windy, exhausting kind of day.  And when the boys and I got home we just kind of collapsed!!  We did have to get ready for the Year End Family Dance, but put that off until it was almost time to go!!  The boys had so much fun running around and dancing!! Armin sure has the moves and could care less who was watching him.  He had fun with his buddies and Jared and I even took him against his will around the gym doing the Butterfly dance!!  But he had fun with us despite his protests!!  Emry played basketball outside with Jared periodically throughout the night and had fun doing that, she did dance with a few of her friends but she still wasn't feeling 100%.  I even danced with Arren and Lily and as awkward as I felt it was fun to let loose and have fun!!  We even got Jared up to dance the YMCA with us!!!  It was a fun night after an already busy day!!  I love our little school and I am so thankful our kids can go to the same school Jared and I went to.  And we have been so blessed with the teaching staff we have right now, amazing teachers who truly care for their students.  

Cattle Drive

Usually after calving is almost all wrapped up we trailer the cows and their calves down to the sand where they can graze on nice lush green pasture!!  Well, this year Jared didn't want to trailer them down because we always have to borrow a truck and trailer from my brother in law, and then there is the cost of fuel and the chance of calves being hurt from being crammed in the trailer with their big mommas!!  So, after calling our neighbor about what he thought of the cows walking down and if  there was a possibility of damaging some crops on the way, we got the okay to go for it, he just wanted us to try and keep them out of the pea crop.  I think it actually worked out perfectly!! The cows took a sniff of the peas and decided nope, no way!! The barley on the other hand was too tempting and they did eat a little bit of it as they walked past!!  But there was so much tall, green grass in the ditches that this made them pretty happy!! I drove the tractor with a bale on it and for the most part they did follow me!! Every so often I would call out to them saying, "Come on cows, lets go...!"  I'm not sure if this worked or if it was just my imagination!!  But I do remember my step dad calling out "Come Boss" when he wanted the cows to move and they always started moving!! I tell myself what I did helped!! We took them straight down the road for 1 1/2 miles and then we had to turn, Myrna drove her car up ahead and stopped on the road blocking the area we didn't want them to go and it was such a huge help!! We took them another mile and then had to turn again and only about a 1/4 of a mile and into the new pasture.  Jared was the most worried about them going into the pasture since they had never been through that particular gate.  I pulled the tractor through and got out and stood on the road with Emry, Maryssa and Armin to prevent them from going past the gate and surprisingly our little crew was able to steer them in the right direction right through the gate.  Thinking about it after I am quite shocked that they didn't go through us, the kids and I couldn't have done much if they had tried!!!

I knew my older sister Avi, and her daughter Maryssa were going to be at my moms for the weekend so I invited them over to help us walk the cows down!  Maryssa rode the quad with Emry and Avi drove her SUV behind.  They were actually a huge help!  We had one calf born only three days before and was actually quite weak, he was taking such a long time walking that Avi offered to have him ride in the back of her car!!  She was so excited to help out she said she didn't even care if he peed or pooped in the car!!!  Thankfully, though, he didn't!!  Though the next day he did die, I think he was too weak right from the start and didn't get the initial drink from his mom that he needed to survive.  Other than that our cattle drive was a success!! A couple of calves had to be rounded up after and trailered down but that went good!!  Jared roped the first one with no problems the second one took a little more effort!!

Sunday after Jared checked the cows he noticed the little calf that was weak was not doing well at all but he couldn't do anything about it right then because he had church meetings to go to.  So after Sacrament Meeting Jared and I headed home to see if we could save him if he hadn't already died.  Well, he was dead so we decided we needed to get his momma out and back home where hopefully we could pair our last little bottle fed guy with her.  It took a bit for us to get her out of the herd and onto the trailer, the alfalfa and grass were really irritating my allergies.  I am sure I sneezed 150 times in the span of 5 minutes.  It was brutal!! We finally were able to get her loaded and home.  We didn't have another halter to put on her to tie her up so we had to wait to pair her with the calf until Monday.

Monday came and Jared was able to get a halter.  We got her in the squeeze, haltered and hobbled her back legs and Jared started milking her to see how her milk was.  For the most part it was good, limited supply but good, except one teat.  One was quite large and the milk coming out of it was chunky...since there was no blood it was probably okay but her teats were rough and cracked, not nice looking at all.  We put the calf on and he seemed to know what to do but wasn't getting a whole lot of milk so he would come off.  Since Jared was satisfied he could drink he let the cow out of the squeeze and held her by the rope to lead her to the fence where she was to be tied up!  Well, she wasn't too fond of being haltered or hobbled so she kinda went crazy!!  Jared did get her to the fence but only to have her turn on him and chase him over the fence.  Even after he was over the fence she still wanted to get him.  We decided to let her calm down and go in for some supper. Once she was somewhat calm and Dave was able to help Jared they were able to lure her to the fence with one of the other cows tied up there.  But her milk still wasn't coming out great and the little calf was getting hungrier and hungrier!!  They decided he will remain a bottle fed calf and she will either go back with the main herd or become many tasty dinners!!! 

So, as successful as our cattle drive was there is always a slight damper to our success.  Cows are so unpredictable...

Since Sunday was my nieces 12th birthday, Avi and I planned an impromptu surprise birthday party for her to take place after our little cattle drive!!  She was thoroughly surprised and the kids had fun celebrating with her!! There were balloons, silly string wars and cake...what more could you ask for!!

Year End Kindergarten Celebration

Armin recently celebrated the end of Kindergarten!  I am not calling it his graduation because he will be doing another year of Kindergarten starting in September!  We struggled with the decision of what to do, let him go to Grade One still quite young or hold him back for another year of Kindergarten where hopefully he will be a leader in the class instead of a follower?  After seeing how well his speech improved over the year it was a no brainer to hold him back so he could continue to get more one on one time.  Grade One is great but there is not a lot of funding for one on one aids in the classroom, Kindergarten automatically has a teaching assistant so he will benefit from the one on one he will get.  Plus it appears to be a very small class starting in September!

There was a grand march as each child walked into the gym and the teacher, Mrs. Kaiser read about the child's likes and interests.  Armin had a heart warming smile stretching from ear to ear on his face as he walked in, such a sweetheart!  Each child was given a diploma and an award specific to how they affected the lives of the teachers in the classroom.  Armin was given the Character Award because he always managed to make his teachers smile, he got their humour too!!! 

He had brought a bear to Kindergarten for show and tell that he had gotten for Christmas and he was asked what his bears name was.  In a gruff voice he says, "his name is go to bed Armin! and his middle name is I don't care!"  He told Mrs. Moore that there were rocks in his shoes and she said back to him at least there weren't rocks in his head, to which he laughed hysterically!!! They set up chairs for all the guests coming to the Kindergarten grad and after they were all finished Armin looks back and says in quite a concerned voice "what if no one comes?"  His little mind is always going, always thinking the next thing. 

He is my baby boy, my little spider monkey!  I am proud of how far he has come in the last year and how much he has grown!! He definitely deserved the Character Award!!!!