last day of school for our
4th grader
8th grader, 7th grader
and kindergartener
we took a trip to amish country to test out the new van two thumbs up for the van and the amish countryside!
we followed some random signs to an alpaca farm and it was fuzzy perfection for our llama loving girl!
forgot to add Mother's Day pics to my spring post, but didn't want to lose them in the abyss of never ending photos on the computer. we went selfie style this year and I actually kinda love these. being a mom is hard. if im honest, most of the time I don't like being a mom. its all I ever wanted to be growing up, so when I recently was reflecting on this never ending job of motherhood and realized that I don't love it, it was really hard for me to process. but the more I've thought about it the more I realize that I don't have to love being a mom in order to be a good mom or to find joy and satisfaction in it. and those small moments of pure joy are the ones that make it worthwhile. plus, these kids are something special and I love them, so even the moments that I don't enjoy are worth it.
a couple moms and I set up a dude date for jack and his soccer friends, all of which have a hard time getting together with other kids from school. we laughed so hard at this picture one of the moms took of the three guys, all at the top of their class, not able to figure out how to open the door to the pizza place in the village hahaha. Brady and Dominique have become good friends to jack.
Memorial Day we went town incredible parade and service in Granville. so fun to see all the youth in our ward that are in the marching band. it was hard not to be overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion as we watched the veterans ride thru the parade.
then we went to Chillicothe to hang out with Doug and Marc's families!
so grateful we were able to visit with Maylee while she was on a quick visit from BYU.
she brought some of great grandma Nancy Brower's recipes with her and she and Ellie made Frito cookies. none of the siblings remember grandma Nancy making Frito cookies, but it was a quick treat to make and we all surprisingly enjoyed them!
we also threw knives and axes...
...and of course we broke out the guns!
we were all happily surprised that Charlie is a great shot! he couldn't get enough and I think he only missed one plate the whole afternoon. thatta boy, chuck!
oh and there was swimming too, although it was quite chilly.
we had a good laugh at this hairdo.
jack has made some really really good friends at church. he and his buddy Colter are both outdoorsman and when they get together they are hunting, fishing, building, setting traps, riding bikes off jumps, and even making jumps for 4 wheelers. sometimes they wrangle their friend drew into their schemes too. this pic is from an afternoon that they came to our house and spent the afternoon fishing and then cooking up a bluegill that accidentally swallowed a hook and died. then they shot raccoons in the backyard (they keep pooping all over our decks).
Owen has spent many evenings catching fireflies in his jammies this summer.
we have great friends in our ward and one of them had us over to swim and fish in the lake. afterwards we stopped at the new BBQ spot in town and took a pic with Malcolm the mascot and entered it into a contest they were having for a free box of all their meats. well, we won!!! and we surprised chris with the "meat sweats" for his birthday. we haven't redeemed it yet, but are looking forward to it.
this is a little buck we've seen around several times since this pic was taken. he has very odd features and jack is hoping to get him this fall or next.
Owen broke his arm. poor kid was running through the yard and tripped on a tree root. he didn't cry too bad so we figured he was ok. but after 3 days of guarding it and (im embarrassed to admit we made him do this) not being able to do push ups or catch a baseball (hahaha, terrible mom moment- "just try doing some push ups, lets see it") we decided to take him in to make sure it was ok. well, it wasn't. it was a slight fracture in the elbow. luckily it wasn't his right arm like it was two years ago, but it was still a bummer to have happen in the summer. and the day before girls camp started too.
he had to leave this soft cast on for three weeks and today we had another X-ray and found out it healed up great! when he asked the orthopedic surgeon if he could go to football camp tomorrow the doctor laughed and said, "no wonder you keep breaking arms, you never slow down! i'll probably see you again in the future Owen".
we were able to have girls camp this summer! and it was on the ward level, so we got to plan it from start to finish. the one downside was covid. while we were planning, we had no idea what restrictions would be in place at the end of June, so we planned for the worst and hoped for the best!
we did a 3 day day-camp and, although it wasn't traditional camping, it turned out being a fantastic experience for our girls.
we did a service project the first day at a farm called PBJ Connections. they do therapy using horses for kids and families.
we cleaned out their giant hay barn to prepare it for the new crop of hay and then cleaned out horse stalls.
we also went ziplining at The Wilds! some of the girls had to face some serious fears, and they did!
we also went on a long kayak/canoe trip on the Licking River. it was so fun! definitely challenging for some of the girls to figure out how to work together and to stick with it till the end. plus, the water was freezing!! but I didn't want to be a party pooper so I had the girls pull me in since I couldn't do it on my own :)
we also had delicious food and a wonderful testimony meeting to end camp. so lucky to have had so much help, especially from my family. chris helped the last day so much, plus jack took time off work at the farm and babysat the younger boys since chris was at work.
this man.
he's just starting to hit his prime. so glad we got to spend another birthday celebrating the amazing person that he is. he asked for a raspberry white chocolate cheesecake this year.
4th of July 2021 was epic!
we did amazing fireworks at our house with our neighbors and friends, a huge party and fireworks show at our friend's the Littles, the village carnival and parade, jack and chris ran the Firecracker 5 miler, and we had friends over for dinner. whew! it was so much fun!
between practices and workouts, jack has also been working at 22 Acres Farm again this summer. everyday he has a new adventure and is learning so much... and he is so incredibly dirty every day haha.
and last but not least, jack and I went to youth conference together. so grateful for Ellie being willing to watch the little boys so I could go as a leader!
it was a great couple days doing service, going to spiritual workshops, and playing. glad I got to do that with my boy.
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