Things are settling down... a bit!!!

Since the last post... much has happened! I will try to catch you up!

Ashli got married to a great guy.. Josh! Isn't it crazy how life is so backwards and inside out sometimes. The last few years I have been struggling to deal with the fact that my kids are growing up and leaving our home. The home is different and the table is smaller. Now I turn around and my family is growing and the table needs the leaf put back in!!! Isn't family wonderful!

Presten had an amazing track year! He was the region champ in the 100 meter, long jump, medley relay race, and 2nd in the 200 meter. The team also won the region championship. We went to the state meet at BYU and he did well there also. State champ in the long jump, medley relay team, and..... the team took the STATE TITLE!!!! He was so happy to be a part of that!

Naomi won all kinds of awards for academics including top ten in the national testing in 7 areas. Plus she was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society. She finished up volleyball by placing second in the intermountain volleyball tourney with her team in May.

Austen is still going like gang busters. He is currently preparing to participate in the Utah Summer Games with his soccer team. He is also preparing for toe surgery in July. If he ever grows into his feet he will be towering above us all (he has already passed me and he's only 12).

Larson is non stop energy. He wants to swim EVERYDAY!! Right now he likes spending time on his new bike, playing baseball, and this week his dad taught him how to pan for gold. He was so excited to see those little gold flecks in his pan. What a thrill!

Rick is getting stronger and better every day and I am so grateful for the technology and knowledge we have in this day and age. He has such a great attitude and just keeps on moving on and smiling along the way. The garden has been great therapy too.

Tia is working part time in Springdale, and really likes working with the many different types of people who come to visit (except the grumpy, cranky ones :)) She spends nearly every free minute with the singles ward and friends. She is also taking more and more photos and getting really really good at it!

Rototilling

As I mentioned before, we are doing some super duper remodeling of the backyard! (Don't even get Rick started on it... it just gets him all worked up). We had a rototiller break down, so Rick rented one for the day and he a Presten went at it like gangbusters. I think if the truth be told they were really having fun with a Big Boy Toy!

Getting Wood

We have been trying to get the whole family to go to the cabin so that we could enjoy the beautiful fall colors and also to clear some of the dead trees nearby, but the kids are so busy with school and "such", they can't go so Rick took the day off and we went with his mom and dad.

The boys did the cutting and the girls did the loading. We didn't do too badly either. Three loads in about 2 hours.

We ate a little bit of lunch then headed back down the mountain and got home right when the kids were coming home from school.

Now the kids get to do the splitting and the stacking!

Fireplace Therapy

We had a bit of cold weather sneek up on us a week ago. Rick was just waiting for me to give him permission to build a fire in the stove insert that we bought last winter. Well, I gave him the okay one night after sitting outside all afternoon (probably at a ballgame). It was so wonderful!!! We all just congregated in the living room and sat watching the fire.

It reminds me of the words John Denver sang on Grandma's Feather bed...

(except the spit and chew part) :)

"After supper we'd sit around the fire

The old folks'd spit and chew

Pa would talk about the farm and the war

And granny'd sing a ballad or two

I'd sit and listen and watch the fire

Til the cobwebs filled my head.....

That's exactly the feeling you get when you sit and stare at the fire. Rick loves to tell people about his new therapy program... build a fire and then sit and stare at it until you fall asleep on the couch. I love to watch him when he falls asleep there all relaxed! The kids are especially excited to have a fire to wake up to in the morning. Unfortunately the cold spell passed and we're back to days in the 80's. So the fire therapy has been postponed for a few more weeks! But we're anxiously awaiting the nights of therapy again.