The Garden Fence

Last week, one of the major things I wanted to get accomplished was to finish expanding our garden.

In preparation for it last year, we moved our playground equipment across the yard. Since then, though, we hadn't done anything else.

This is where it is now. I love it so much more.

However, we finally got to work on it again. Kevin and I took down the fence during the day. When Grig was on his way home, we had him stop by the store and pick up some wire to attach the fence more securely to the posts. He also grabbed an extra post. After we ate dinner, we all went back out and put the fence up.

I was also pretty happy with the dogs. Even though there was a gaping hole in the yard, they never even tried to go out of it. I'm really happy with how their training has been progressing.

Now, one whole corner of the yard is fenced off. We just have to finish turning everything over and we can plant. It's probably okay that we haven't gotten to it yet though, since it snowed a couple days ago. I haven't taken a new picture of our garden area yet, so you'll just have to imagine it from this one.

From the shed to the chain link is now all fenced off for the garden. I'm so excited to plant more this year. The hot-tub is also gone now, and we're removed cement from the ground.

It's really nice to be able to work outside as a family again. We've been really enjoying the warmer weather. I'll try to keep you updated on new projects as we work on them. 

We haven't heard back from the foster care office yet, but it should be this week or next week.

Explanations

It's been a while since I blogged.

I don't have much excuse before July, but during the second half of July, all of August, and the first week of September, I've been out of town.

My grandparents own apartments in Idaho, and for the last few years during the break between semesters, I've been going to help them clean and renovate the apartments.

My parents, who live nearby, kindly agree to watch Kevin while I help my aunt and some of my siblings get the apartments ready. This usually involves painting, patching, cleaning, and repairing the apartments. We were hoping to tile three upstairs bathrooms too, but due to a few unexpected projects, we were only able to tile one of the bathrooms we had been hoping to work on.

It ended up looking pretty awesome though. :)

This year, I worked with my Dad, my youngest brother, my aunt, and my two sisters who are twins. Everyone worked really hard. Half way through, my dad (who is a principal) and my brother (who is a sophomore in high school) started school and had to leave. It was nice to work with them for a while.

Grig had to stay in Utah because of his job (which we're really grateful that he has), and so I got a little homesick sometimes for him and our house. I also missed my two dogs. One weekend, Grig had to bring them up because I needed to see them. Siff has grown quite a bit!

However, it was really nice to be around my family for so long. We live away from them, and sometimes I don't realize how much I am missing. Returning home was a bit bittersweet. It was hard to be away from home so long, and I was super excited to return with Grig. Kevin was excited too.

When I told him that we would be going home with Daddy, he looked at me and asked, in the sweetest tone, "Can I come with you?" Naturally, we told him yes.

However, as we prepared to leave and I stood at the top of the stairs and just watched my family talk and laugh together, I became a little emotional.

I love my home, my family, and my life, and I know we're where we're supposed to be. However, that doesn't mean that I don't regret sometimes that we live so far away. Compared to Grig's family, we're pretty close, but we still aren't able to go visit as often as I would like to.

I don't know how many more summers were going to be able to do this, but it is a blessing in many ways. It's a great chance to reconnect with my siblings and for Kevin to play with his cousins. Even if we can't come for six weeks next year, it would be nice to at least come for one.

Who knows? Maybe next year everyone won't be so stressed with wedding preparations.

The wedding went well too. Right after we finished, my youngest sister was married. She and her husband made a beautiful couple, and we're excited to have him join the family. He and my husband share a name and an occupation, so it can be a little confusing, but he's a nice guy.

Now, I don't have any unmarried sisters. My two youngest brothers are still available though, in case anyone was wondering. One's on in a mission in Chile, and the other is still in high school. My parents have had a wedding every year for the last six years.

I don't think they'd mind a little bit of a break.

It is really nice to be home, and hopefully back on a good schedule. We had a really good Stake Conference yesterday and Saturday night that I want to talk about a little tomorrow. It helped me set some new goals that I am going to really try to keep.

Kevin's been pretty happy to be home too.

I'M BACK!

It's been a little while since I've done a blog post.

It's been a crazy few weeks.

My grandparents own some apartments, and I've been in Idaho since the beginning of August working on them. The college that they're associated with only has a seven week break for the summer, so we have to do all the repairs and cleaning in those seven weeks. One of my younger sisters got married the second week (congratulations!), so we weren't able to start until the third week.

My dad took all of these pictures. I'm borrowing them, because he has my pictures from the wedding.

The wedding was really nice though. I was excited for my younger sister.

During the third week, it was only me and my youngest brother.We patched and painted all the apartments. (My aunt was also around helping, but she had some other responsibilities too, so she worked on the harder repairs when she was able to.)

During the fourth week, my twin sisters joined us. We began cleaning. We were trying to work quickly, because we wanted to tile a couple of bathrooms too, but with only four of us, it was slower going than we wanted.

During the fifth week, my little brother started school, and it was only the three of us. We finished most of the apartments (except the ones that had girls staying in them), but then we had to go back through and redo a couple of things that had gotten missed. I forgot that as part of my job as supervisor, I had to check on their work and make sure they did it right.

My twin sisters haven't worked on apartments with us through the years. They had watched smaller children so that my aunt could help, so they didn't have the same amount of experience as some of my other siblings. However, they worked hard, and it was fun to get to know them better. When I left home for college, they were eleven and my youngest brother was four.

So, by the time we finished cleaning nine apartments, we only had about a week and a half left. We shampooed the carpets and waxed the floors during the sixth week, and in the first half of this, the final week, the girls switched apartments, and we cleaned, shampooed, and waxed the final three apartment in about four days.

We finished everything late Wednesday night. It was sure nice to have the apartments ready for the girls to move in. My younger siblings have been troopers.

My little brother's back hurt, so I was massaging it and Kevin wanted a turn too!

It has been hard to be away from home for so long. Grig had to stay in Utah for his job, and so I would only see him every other weekend or so. Grig is my best friend, and I really love him a lot. I really missed him.

We had a really fun date one weekend though. We went and watch Age of Ultron, and afterward we got ice cream and wandered around the town. When we drove back to my parents' home, there was a lightning storm going on in the sky. It was beautiful, and we parked in front of my parents' home and watched the fireworks.

We were having a great time, until there was a flash so bright directly in front of us that it blinded me, and a split second later, the car shook from thunder. We decided that was too close, and we ran inside the house.

It was a great date though, and we really felt close to each other after that, despite the near-death experience.

Kevin really missed his dad as well. He loved skyping with him and every time he came to visit, he just wanted to latch onto him. My mom also told me that everytime a male figure came into the house, he got super excited and wanted to wrestle with them the way he does his father.

Kevin also missed his dogs. The dogs stayed in Utah with Grig so he would have company. However, the second weekend that I was in Idaho, we had both of Grig's brothers move in with us. I came back briefly that weekend to help them move in and go to my ten-year-college-travel-study reunion.

Now, we have three of Grig's sibling staying with Grig, so he had lots of company!

Kevin did pretty well. He stayed with my mom while I worked, and he was pretty good for her. He was pretty mad at me though. When I came home, he'd follow me everywhere, and if I had to go into a different room, he'd scream at me. He was a little champ though. The last week, especially, I worked long hours.

He played with his cousins quite a bit though, and he became really good friends with them. That was really fun for him.

It was hard to go to Idaho and work for so long, but there were many blessings that have come with it. The first is that we now have more savings. Grig hasn't yet gotten a new job (he's had some interviews, but nothing's panned out yet), and so we now have enough to live on for a couple of months if it takes a little longer.

The second thing is that I got to know my younger siblings better. Recently, I was regretting the fact that I'm far away, and that my siblings have all of these bonding moments that I can't go to. It was really nice to get to know them as the adults they are now and talk to them about their perceptions of the world.

The third blessing I received is that I regained some self-confidence. I've been feeling kind of overweight for a while, and down about how I look. Sometimes it's especially hard when I am around my younger siblings, and they're all so thin and beautiful. However, as we were working on the apartments, I was reminded how strong I really am. Things that my younger siblings could barely budge, I could pick up by myself. I remembered how much I like being strong, and how I wouldn't trade my strength for a smaller frame.

I like how I look, and I feel good about myself. Do I need to lose a few pounds/inches? Definitely. However, it's okay that I'm a little bigger, because I'm also a little stronger.

It was a great experience, and I'm grateful that I was able to help out my grandparents and aunt. It was nice to work again, but I'll enjoy going back to being a full-time mother. I now have a lot of projects that I want to work on at my house as well.

It will be an interesting few weeks as we readjust to life at home with permanent company, but I think it will be good.

I should be blogging more regularly again, and posting more videos.

Camping and Egin Lakes

Weekend 1: Camping with Family

The first weekend up in Idaho, my sister and brother-in-law invited us to go camping with them. They also invited my younger brothers, sister, and my cousin who was up helping with the apartments. Grig and I had brought our tent, so we were prepared to go. We went to an area near Warm River. The first night, we got there a bit late because we had been working, so by the time we got set up, it was nearly dark.

The boys cut up some firewood, and that was pretty exciting.

We enjoyed cooking hotdogs and s'mores and sitting around the campfire talking. Kevin really enjoyed the camping chairs.

 We went to bed pretty early. It took Kevin a while to fall asleep, but we all got plenty of rest eventually.

The next day, I woke up super early because I was cold and people in the campsites around us were talking really loudly. I thought it was my siblings, and so I decided to get up and help make a fire. However, when I got up everyone else was still asleep. I snuck into my sister's tent to steal a match and then I built a fire.

Most of the group that was there.

We had a fantastic breakfast, and then the kids got their swimming suits on so that they could swim in "Warm River." A very deceptive name, I might add. The river was freezing!

A butterfly that we saw on a canopy.

 Despite the fact that it was freezing, we decided to wade in it. After a few minutes, you couldn't feel your legs anymore and it became tolerable. I had a good time, and the kids were laying down in the water. My little brother offered them 25 cents if they would do it. They're tough little kids! We had to leave our site by 11:00 a.m., so we packed up quickly.

This is a woolly caterpillar we found. My niece LOVED it. She had a really hard time putting it down. 

 Once we finished packing up, we drove up the road a bit and went huckleberry picking. Huckleberries are delicious, and Kevin fell asleep on the way. For the first little while, I held him while he slept and everyone else picked berries. He woke up after a little while and we joined in.

 At first, Kevin wanted nothing to do with the berries. We tried to give him one, but he spit it out. However, once he got a taste, he became addicted. He started picking his own and popping them in his mouth. We took turns picking the berries with him and taking pictures of everyone. It was a fun trip, and I'm excited to eat our now-frozen huckleberries.

 We'll probably make huckleberry pancakes. Those are the best.

Weekend Two: Egin Lakes

Grig and I had been meaning to go to Egin Lakes all summer, so we invited a family-friend and her family to come with us. She and I have been friends online for a while, but it was nice to spend time with her and get to know her better. Kevin and her son instantly became friends.

 After a while, we began building sand castles. This is the one Grig and I built. The hole in the middle goes quite deep. We didn't quite get to the end of it before we had to leave, but we rather liked the end result.

 We didn't catch any salamanders or tadpoles, but we still had a really good time. I love that place.  The weekends really helped the work week go quickly and gave me something to look forward to.

I love these guys!

Working in Idaho

As I mentioned before, I have been working in Idaho for the past month.

My grandparents own college apartments, and nearly every year since I was 11 I have helped clean and maintain them during the summer.

My grandparents have been very generous with me, and when I realized that they weren't going to have much help this year, Grig and I began to talk about Kevin and I going up for the summer break. We felt pretty strongly that I should go, and I am so glad I did!

Not only was I able to help my grandparents and my aunt, we also really needed that extra money in ways that we didn't realize. A little while ago, Grig got a root canal and I had some cavities filled. Grig and the rest of his coworkers were asked to not come in for a week in July and September. Those two weeks off really hurt us economically. Add our trip to Virginia to that, and we were in pretty dire straits. If we hadn't had the supplementary income, we would have been in big trouble. Thanks to my work in Idaho, we have had sufficient for our needs and the means to pay off our doctor bills.

That has been a huge blessing. We were hoping to save up more money, but Grig's work is approaching the busy season, so we should be able to do that.

For the first few weeks, we deep-cleaned and repaired the apartments. The last couple weeks were focused on preparing a few spots in the parking lot for cement. I had a good time working with my family and spending time with them. Some of them I got to know a lot better since I haven't spent much time with them individually since I moved out of the house. I also lost around 10 lbs!

Kevin got to know everyone a lot better too. He wasn't always at his happiest, since I kept leaving him, but he could be awfully cute. He got more used to me leaving as time went on and cried less when I left, but he was really clingy when I got home. That could be kind of frustrating, especially when I needed to shower, but I appreciated that he missed me. I missed him too.

Dakota spent her time outside sleeping. I think she enjoyed being out there for the most part, though she was always really excited to see us.

Grig tried to come up every weekend, but a couple of times I ended up going down to Utah instead. We had a few crazy weekends.

I'll probably write about them in more detail (and link that detail to this page) in the rest of this week's blogs, but I'll provide a summary here:

Weekend 1: Wednesday's blog

Camping with Family

On the first weekend, we went camping with my youngest siblings, my sister, and her husband and children. We had a great time wading in the falsely named "Warm River." It was freezing! We had a great time though and saw some beautiful wildlife.

After we packed up, we went huckleberry picking. Kevin really enjoyed picking eating huckleberries.

Weekend 2: Wednesday's blog

Egin Lakes

Egin lakes is a well-kept treasure in south-east Idaho. Placed in the middle of the Sand Dunes, it is a series of shallow lakes. We went there with a friend and it was really fun to get to know her and her family better. We swam in the lukewarm water and made sand castles. Kevin had a great time with one of her sons, and they enjoyed throwing sand at each other.

Weekend 3: Thursday's blog

Sister's Wedding

This weekend we drove back to Utah to attend my sister's wedding. She looked beautiful and we're happy to welcome her husband into the family. All of my family, except one sister who is on a mission, was able to be there. That was really nice. Many pictures were taken, though not all willingly.

We also made a special stop on the way back to Idaho and reached a momentous decision that's really going to add some excitement to our lives. I'll talk about that on Thursday. Be excited! I sure am!

Weekend 4: Friday's blog

The Fish Story

Over Labor Day weekend, I returned home to spend some time with Grig. My parents, who were going to the Ogden Temple open house, dropped me off, and I got a ride back to Idaho with my brother and his family.

While I was home, we had three unexpected guests (or dinners as the case may be), and an amazing temporary house guest.

I had a great time, but it is so nice to be home!