Gwen's Dance

Here are some photos of Gwen's dance recital back in June.  She loved her teacher Aura and had a great time dancing with her good friend Oakley.

Here is Eva showing off her moves before the performance begins.  According to Aaron, she insisted on wearing this lovely attire and refused to wear shoes.

Farm life

 Here are some pictures of our new property that we are trying to turn into a self sustaining homestead.

Robyn's ducks

Here's Aaron in the back ground enjoying our fire pit where we roast corn and give Aiden opportunities to "be responsible" with fire.

Some of our chickens and a few guinea hens.

The neighbors across the street

Aiden, building muscles

Eva enjoying the life of a "free range" kid

Birthdays

This summer we had some birthdays.

Aiden turned 9. He is a very sensitive soul.  In spite of being in the middle of 4 girls he does all he can to prove his manhood.  Sword fighting with his sisters, shooting BB guns, catching bugs, looking for opportunities to scare me (or anyone for that matter), playing in the mud and much more. My favorite part about this "manly man" is at night when the house is quiet I'll here a little whisper from the door "Mommy, will you cuddle me?"  Then he tip toes to the side of my bed and gently climbs in for some last minute cuddles before he is summoned to his own bed.  Then he whispers again "I love you mommy, your the best mom EVER!" I hope when he's old and grown he will still whisper those words to me.

Sweet Eva turned 2.  I can't believe my baby is 2!  Where does the time go?  Her ability to speak is amazing for her age.  Often people think she is younger than she is until they hear her speak.  She reminds me of Robyn at that age.  Her size and speech are so similar, yet she has her own flair.  Eva loves to smile to show her teeth and give "power" hugs where she hugs you really tight and with a clenched jaw she will say "I love you!".  She was a miracle at birth and still continues to amaze me.

Emma turned 11.  She is a beauty, inside and out.  I can always count on Emma to make me smile and to help when asked.  She has a wonderful way of making others feel accepted and loved.  She also has a profound ability to memorize and to recall.  This doesn't always work in my favor.  Emma loves her little sisters.  They often prefer Emma over me.  I am so glad to have a girl like Emma in our family, she makes our home a happy place to be.

WAY TOO LONG!!

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since April!  Where have I been?!  Well I could tell you.  It might take a few posts.  We have had visitors and have been working really hard in our yard though you probably couldn't tell just by looking at it. 

My amazing sister, Gwen and her wonderful family came to visit for a whole week!  It was wonderful to have them around and be with family. While they were here we went to Park city to ride on the Alpine Slides and for the fourth we ran in the Freedom run marathon.  Nate did the 10K while the rest of us did the 1 mile fun run.  I know, only a mile you ask...I did it with Eva on my back and little people trailing behind.  Does that count?  If not, it doesn't matter, we had a great time!

During that time, my dear friend's son, Josh, came to live with us for a few weeks before he shipped off to boot camp this summer.  I can't believe I used to babysit him when he was a small fry and now he is all grown up!!  He helped us in the yard and gave Aiden a temporary big brother.  Aiden was (and is) so sad to see him go. 

Before he left we picked up another friend's niece who is from France.  Carole came here to practice her English and to help with the kids.  She was so nice to have around as well and was a lot of fun.  We took her all over the Salt Lake Valley. 

I also went on a weekend trip to Washington to attend the spreading of ashes of my dear friend Melissa.  It played on my emotions as we drove through the beautiful scenery of the Western Washington country side and into the beautiful Lake Chelan region where, as children, Melissa and I spent a lot of time camping and swimming with her family.  So many memories flooded into my memory and reminded me how much our friendship meant to me. 

I've also been madly working on a few flower girl dresses for my sister in law Sharon's wedding coming up (pictures will be posted soon, they turned out so cute!!).  Now I'm painting Aiden's/ the guest rooms only to host another set of people.  Aaron's brother Steve and his family are coming to stay with us for the wedding.  I'm so excited to have them come to get a chance to know them a little more.  They got married after we moved to Utah so I haven't had the chance to get to know them as a couple.

Not to mention trying to keep up with the schooling. I am so glad that I am well enough to keep up with all this!!

Aiden with his cousin Max getting ready to brave the slide down the mountain.

Here we are with Josh (next to Aaron) after our first marathon at Freedom days in Provo.

My kids with their Boyack cousins

With Carole at Stewart Falls 

Yes, I know, but Carole really needed an American experience 

Here  I am with my family!! Tim (aka Dad), Dan, Erik, Ron, myself, Gwen and Helen (aka Mom).  I got to be with ALL of them while I was there for a weekend in July

Myself with the Waller family at Melissa and Mary's (Melissa's mom who died and had her ashes spread in the same location) spot on Lake Chelan.

Spring, how I love you!

I love spring!  The invitation to warm weather is intriguing and puts me in the most beautiful of moods. I love where we live!  I can step out my back door and hear roosters crowing, horses neighing, and wind blowing through the trees.

We are now working as quickly as possible to prepare our yard for my dream garden.  If you like yard work and want to help we would love to see you on our door step!  This year we will be preparing much of the soil to be able to plant more next year. 

To help our soil, we are raising 24 chickens, 5 ducks and soon we will have 3 guinea hens.  Next year I'm hoping for a couple of goats as well.  Here are some pictures of our 4 weeek old chickens enjoying bugs under our burried trampoline. There is also a picture of our 4 day old ducks.  Aren't they cute?

Archery

Emma and Aiden got the chance to take a free archery class at our local shooting range.  They are having a great time learn to use a bow and arrow. The fun part, aside from archery, is they are joined by a few of their friends.

 Here is Emma with her life long friend Aeryn standing side by side leaning to shoot a bow and arrow

Here's Aiden giving it a try

Princess GG Gwenie turns 5

Are you wondering where the name GG gwenie came from?  For those of you who don't know, Gwen is named after my sister Gwen.  One time both of our families were in Washington with the rest of our family for my brother Dan's wedding.  My sister Gwen was pregnant at the time and my kids kept calling her big Gwen.  Being pregnant, I'm sure this was not an easy thing to hear so her husband started calling my Gwen GG.  My Gwen then called herself GG Gwenie and thus the new nick name was born.

What a joy she is to have in my life.  She is a spunky fun loving spirit.  She's beautiful in all respects and loves to care for others.  The other day I found Gwen with her baby sister Eva in their room with the door shut.  I opened to door to find Gwen changing Eva's diaper.  She quickly came to the door and said "Mom leave, I'm helping Eva get dressed for the day.  If you open the door she escapes".  When she is not quiet she is humming or singing a song.  She has a taste for fashion.  Being a more experienced mother now I don't do anything to squash that ability unless she is wearing something that is immodest.  She brings laughter to our family with all the funny things she says and I am so grateful for a beautiful girl like her.

This is the second year in a row that Gwen wanted a princess birthday party.  I figure this desire will die with age.  The wonderful part about this party is that Robyn and Emma took it upon themselves to plan and create this fun event for Gwen.  So here are some pictures of Gwen on her special day.  Do you like her clothing selection?  According to Gwen all princesses are ballerinas too!