Annual cornbellys trip!

We were excited to meet our friends the Farris' there. We love it there and try to go every year!

 The new addition this year was a mini kids land. Auto shop, hen house, grocery store, etc.

 All the kids went up to act out a story except Rylee.

 Brielle took her princess roll very seriously

 And Rylee just chilled with us.

 Mollie and Amellia found the princess carriage to get a picture in.

 And what started out as a kids pull....

 quikly turned into a man pull. These guys just couldn't resist in getting in on the fun and showing off their muscles.

 Oh and this zip line was FUN! We all took turns on it and it was really fun!

 And the biggest hit every year is the corn pit. It was funner this year with friends and Rylee and Sarah were especially cute!

 Micheal has quite the belly!

Thanks Cornbellys and Farris Fam for the fun memories! And the many corn kernels that we brought home.

A BIG deal

I almost fell over one day when Bri came home from preschool with a paper that looked like SHE had written her name all by herself. I asked her if she wrote that and she said yes...since she was only 3 I was a little skeptical and I didn't even know that she had been learning HOW to write her name at school. She said mom I'll show you! So I grabbed some paper and a pencil, which she gripped correctly, and clear as day wrote her name! I was so excited! At her recent christmas program her teacher spent a few minutes talking about each child and she mentioned how quickly Brielle learned to write her name. She's so smart!!

Just some cute ones for posterity!

Bronco Day usually looks like THIS at our house!

Carter's scout group attended the fire safety day at home depot. Brielle was very into hammering her nails into her firehouse bank.

 We had great weather while soccer season wrapped up and Brielle and Rylee and the Maughn boys were usually found rolling down the hill and it was really cute to watch them.

 Sleeping pictures of our silly girls

 Brielle and I decorated some halloween cookies one afternoon. She did a good job and we had fun together! Love my quiet afternoons with just me and her.

 A big goofball in a chair! And a monkey on a ball.

 Carter took over 20 pictures of himself one day on my phone. So of course I have to include his silly faces to make fun of him later.

 And little Ry Ry just hanging out in her car seat. She's a pretty good little traveling buddy. Things are ramping up around our house for halloween!!!

Mollie's 7th Birthday!

Mollie has been asking for her own room for quite some time! So for her birthday we decided to give it to her. We found the perfect bed with a desk and had fun picking out lots of fun new things for it. Chad and I both had a flu bug the night we were trying to set it up so that will always be a fun memory of it! 

 In the morning she was surprised and very excited.

 She couldn't wait for her Emoji birthday party but had to run off to school.

 I was still a little under the weather and so was Chad so he stayed home and helped me with the party favors and food. He's a good guy.

 As a special surprise she was picked as student of the month on her birthday too so we got to attend a special assembly honoring her.

 After school, her friends arrived and the fun began! She had 12 little girls running around the house but they were all very well behaved.

 We played a spin the bottle game, and a few others and opened gifts. Girls are so funny when it comes to gifts. It is a VERY exciting time.

 Then off to the trampoline they went!

 Later we had our own family party and pizza and gifts. She sure was spoiled!

We love our mollie and watching the girl she is becoming. I have no doubts that she will always choose the right and make good choices. She came with it ingrained in her! She is always eager to help others and is so good at being kind to others even when they aren't kind to her. That quality alone puts her so far ahead of her peers in my eyes of her level of maturity. I'm grateful for the good big sister she is and for her sweet spirit. Keep on the right path Mollie and let your testimony soar! We love you!!

The viewing and funeral

The viewing on Sept 20 was a hard day. It was at the funeral home in blackfoot and I didn't want to go in. I wasn't ready to see him. That same pain in my chest was back. I snuck in the back and quickly found a chair to sit in while I processed it. My kids wanted to go up right away and some of them did. I hung back. Mollie did too and begged me to go up with her. I wasn't ready and told her no. But she really wanted to go and wanted me to go with her. She almost had to drag me up there. It was one of the harder things I've done in my life. As I expected, the tears flowed freely. BUT...

 His hands looked just the same. Exactly as i remembered them. Big, sun kissed hands. Weathered from life, hunting, fishing, 4 wheeling, raising kids, working hard. And peace settled in. I reflected on the times i sat next to him holding his hand...sometimes uncomfortably or from a hospital bed. But I knew it was a special time too. I've always loved his hands.

 The flowers were of course beautiful and I smelled them right away and that settled me too. Maybe thats why they use fresh flowers at funerals.......

 And then I was able to look at his face. Neatly trimmed, glasses on, eyes resting, and the grimace of pain gone. He did not lead an easy life and was almost constantly in pain from one ailment or another. i hadn't noticed it was there until it was gone. He was at peace and out of pain. And with grandma again. I was clinging to these thought to try to control the outburst of tears I could feel welling up in me.

 Everything was perfect and i like to think though his eyes that he was pleased. There were too many tender moments to include but here are a few.

 The kids were incredibly good and I was happy their good behavior allowed me to grieve in the way I needed to.

 This picture was just funny and I was grateful for a few candid moments in the great moments of sorrow. I asked Ry to take a picture with me and she didn't want to so she fell "asleep." She was totaly faking! Little squirt!

 The following day, Sept 21, would have been his 82nd birthday. We had a different kind of celebration of life. Instead of cake and balloons it was flowers and tributes and memories of a life fully lived of someone who was loved so much. My mom and her sisters gave a beautiful life sketch and Rod gave a wonderful talk.

 Since he was catholic there was a mass and talk by the Father. (He was a bit cheesey, but I'm sure it pleased grandpa.) We joked it was a wonderful "Matholic" funeral. It was so sweet to see the mormons from grandmas church and the catholics from grandpas church come together in love and service to put on a beautiful funeral and luncheon for him.

It was pouring rain almost the whole weekend. As it should be on a sad day. The grandsons were the pall bearers which I've always thought would be a most difficult job,

 I loved this picture because the drops of rain on the casket reminded me of all the tears that have been shed over this man on this day because of the love we all shared for him

 It was a good reminder too to see that Grandma andGrandpa are once again together without pain or failing bodies. Their spirits are free and I can only pray that grandpa will have his heart opened to the truthfulness of the gospel and accept the temple work that will be done for him. I have faith like my Uncle expressed in his talk that the Lord looketh on the heart. And my grandpa had a good one.

Until we meet again my dear loved ones! It was a treat before i left town from the estate sale to get to help decorate their grave with my aunts. Rest in peace grandma and grandpa. i know you'll be watching over me.