A Centennial Birthday!

Well a 100 year birthday only comes around once in a lifetime and this year our little town celebrated its centennial year. To say the least, the town filled up with campers, trailers, vehicles and lots and lots of people. Main street was sectioned off so if we forgot the street was closed, we had to drive through the alley to get to our house... Anyway, it was 3 days of major goings on. Saturday, June 29th was the biggest day. That is the one that brought in even yet more people!

Saturday morning we began with a pancake breakfast, which was very tasty. After breakfast the kids looked around a bit to see what events would be taking place during the day. The next thing of great interest was the parade. Now in a tiny little town like ours that has maybe 16 square blocks, it is quite a feat to fit a parade with 112 entries in it on the parade route without it running back into itself! That is exactly what happened too. It started out with a large birthday cake float and progressed from there.

There were some really neat heritage floats done by families that have been here for generations.

And of course a parade wouldn't be complete without horses...

Old machinery...

And all the rest...

The kids loved the candy throwing that always accompanies a parade.

After the parade we participated in the afternoon activities. It was a super hot day, so the shade of any tree was more than welcome. The kids participated in jump for fun games... 

and tractor races that kept them pretty well occupied all afternoon.

There was live entertainment on mainstreet for everyone to enjoy as well.

Naomi, Beth and I even managed to get over to the quilt show at the school. It was pretty amazing. I had anticipated a few quilts hanging on the walls, but the gym was FULL!!! The quilts were all sizes and they were absolutely beautiful!

During the evening the kids went to the outdoor movie at the school and enjoyed watching it until the fireworks began.

Next we had to get through the night... since our town is so small, when the drinking and reveling begin, it's pretty hard not to hear it - especially since it is too hot to not open the windows at night. For two nights our family members struggled to get a good sleep. I woke up every two hours to the same sounds of loud laughing and music. It didn't stop until 6:00 a.m. While I am sure there were many in our little town that had similar struggles with the noise as we did, the overall attitude was that it was OK because of the greatness of the occasion. I would suggest that a monumental birthday should not inhibit the comforts of others - regardless of how you want to celebrate.

Life is like our 100 year celebration. It is full of wonderful fun things to do, opportunities that are extremely enjoyable and good. However, life also offers activities and choices that infringe on the rights of others, things that we are tempted to believe will only affect us, yet in truth, they affect everyone - kind of like the loud music and noise we had to put up with during the night. This weekend has been for me, a reminder of the need to continually review my priorities and make sure that I am involving myself in the most important and wholesome activities I can. As I have thought about this I have come to prioritize my relationships as follows: first comes my relationship with God, my Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ and  also the Holy Ghost. The next most important relationship to me is that of my husband and children. Hence the reason I spent the whole day Saturday, exploring the town and activities we could enjoy as a family. I have to say, it was a LOT of fun!!! The next relationship I then spend time and energy on is that of my parents and parents-in-law, then comes siblings and friends. 

I love watching my children play together, stay together, and have fun together. They were a delight to watch, and while I just went from activity to activity with them - getting a nasty sunburn in the process - it was worth it's weight in gold to have that time with my children. What a wonderful weekend we had.

Realizing Potential!

I have a love - hate relationship with awards day! I have a hard time with the length of time the ceremonies frequently take, seemingly going on and on in their presentations, however, it is all worth it when I hear one of my children called up and given special recognition for their efforts and diligence this year in school.  Love - hate or not, I wouldn't miss awards days for anything!

We started with the K-9 awards.

 Melodee and Charity both received medallions for honorable mention meaning they had an average of 75-80 throughout the year.

Myles received the citizenship award for the grade 8 class. That was awesome, because I see in him a young man that is so willing to help others and take on responsibility. He definitely earned his award, says this proud mothers heart. Later, he received a second medallion for maintaining honor roll grades throughout the year! What an awesome bunch of kids I have. 

Breanna, not being in grade 5 yet was not part of the awards ceremonies - they had their own little ceremonies in their classrooms.

The following day we attended the grade 10-12 awards ceremony!

I was shocked and amazed to have my daughter chosen from a much larger student pool than our K-9, to receive the Citizenship award for grade 10. As they called her up, they commented about how "you will never find a more compassionate girl anywhere." And there I am sitting in the stands watching with a swollen heart. Another proud mother moment. Chad sat beside me beaming. What a joy it is to see our children being good examples in their schools.

Next they awarded the academic awards.

 Beth received an honor roll medallion for her high grades.

 Naomi also received a medallion for her high grades. It was funny because she was the only girl in the group and I don't think she liked them putting her in the MIDDLE of the boys!

Following the academic awards they awarded the students from last year that received cash awards for their number of credits earned during high school. Alisha was called up. She wasn't there, so her dad proudly received her check for her.

This is her check (I have faded the sensitive parts of this check). This amount was awarded for Due Diligence in having more than a total of 140 credits in high school.! Way to go Alisha!!!

I have such amazing kids! (Of course as their mother, I have the right to feel that way.) They certainly do bring me the greatest joy I have ever had. I love to see them standing out among their peers as the examples of goodness that they are. What a blessing it is to have the eight of the finest children on the earth. Chad and I have been so blessed to have the privilege of raising and getting to know these wonderful young adults!

My Tee Pee Trio

Sometimes it is interesting to imagine what it would be like to live in different times than we do... there have been people who have lived in log cabins, sod huts, mansions and tents... 

This year Charity and Melodee did some studying in school on how the native Americans lived. As part of their class assignments, they each built model tee pees and decorated them. Charity's is pictured with the yellow background and Melodee's is pictured with the red background.

Charity and Breanna and their friend

With so much thought put into tee pees at school, Charity and Breanna and a friend decided to build a model they could play in. They combed the wood piles for sticks and rocks to build with. Their friend brought some fabric they could use to cover their tee pee. They built it in the shade of a tree and brought some logs over as benches to sit on. They even created a fire ring for a mock campfire. I love to watch them using their imaginations together in creating something they could enjoy. Later Melodee also came and contributed to their efforts.

The tee pee was really too small for three girls, but somehow they managed to cram two of them inside for a photo.

I love the creativity they exhibited... adding the clothesline complete with laundry and clothes pins, the little bench, and just below you can see the fire ring just behind Melodee. They even thought of a mat to wipe your feet on before entering the tent!!! That's how a woman thinks!!!

 This creative project was done in our front yard in the shade of our largest tree. I love to watch and observe my children exercising their creative abilities. They had so much fun with this project! I loved their enthusiasm as they would often come find me so I could come and see the latest development! It's funny because I am the same way! When I get excited about the projects I am doing I love to involve my friends and family in those moments of personal achievement! They wouldn't mean near so much if I couldn't share them. What joy I feel when I get to share special things with those I love. I know my children felt and experienced that same joy with their project! Sharing is the best!!!

Lessons in Cement

Last fall we started the finish coat of stucco on our house. I LOVED the new look. It was wonderful. I am so blessed to have such a talented husband! Well this spring, we've continued on with the project, this time finishing the parging in a dark grey color. My husband and son worked together on the project...

Before: There is a little bit of black in the corner, but this is what it
looked like before the parging was done.

First layer of the parging is on!

Now adding the texture. Myles
supplies the cement for his dad.

The finishing work being done!

There it is. This side of the house is done!!!

Now when we did the white last year there was one small wall we weren't able to do because it needed a new window following the nasty hail damage we underwent. So this spring we were able to get that done as well...

There it is. we still have to paint the trim. We ran out of stain so
it didn't get done at the time it was put on. However, it is
sure good to have that wall done too!

Since it was such a small wall, we had a little bit of white left over so we went into the back yard and used it up there...

Our shed has been scratch coat grey for a few years
and we decided to give it a face lift!

There it is! One finished wall!!!

I love what my husband has been able to do this spring. We have made so many changes and improvements! Things are coming together so nicely and my garden sanctuary is even more enjoyable for the whole family now.

There is such joy in the process of work. It feels so good to do a job well and get it done! I love that our children are involved in these projects and take ownership in the improvements that are made. It is so healthy to be able to see your progress and find joy in it.

I love cement as a creative medium - however, it is not a forgiving medium to use. I remember several years ago, when we poured the footings for our house and had some cement left over... rather than just dumping it off somewhere, we made two sections of sidewalk. Now at that point, we hadn't done any landscaping or anything, so we just placed the forms for the sidewalk where we thought we wanted them in relation to the doors on the house. I remember the cement fellow telling us, "Remember, once it's there, it's permanent. You can't move it." Fortunately for us, we haven't had to move those chunks of cement, though we did have to level one..  Since that time we've worked with cement in a number of ways and when you have to rip it out, or off, or move it, it is a bear of a job!


Sometimes in life we are tempted to cement or encase hard feelings toward others into our belief system. When this temptation occurs, it is important to remember what that cement guy told us in the beginning... "Remember, it's permanent!" Hard, cement like, feelings don't have to be permanent, but like cement, they take a lot of work to remove. May we always choose to cement beautiful thoughts, feelings and truths into our lives. Doing so, will give us a face life much like that of my home - it is literally transformed! What a joy it is to see that change, not just in my home, but also in the lives of those who mean the most to me.