Summertime

I can't decide if I should call this post "Summertime Blues" "Summer Lovin" or "Thank Heaven School Starts Next Week". I have been so very distracted this summer it has been nearly impossible to string together coherent thoughts to write in the blog. But this morning I think I can do it even though the kids are currently outside having a water fight so loud I can hear every word and scream. I need to get some ear plugs. Focus, focus, focus! But the good news is that school will be in session one week from today. Do I feel guilty for wishing my children gone? No, I do not. They need school and I need them to be in school. Alana is screaming and crying and Jefferson is just shooting her point blank with the water gun with the happiest look on his face. Good times. No, they haven't done their chores yet today, they were watching Jonas Brothers on Netflix until I made them "turn it off and start their chores". What they heard was "turn it off and go have a fight outside". Whatever. I am too tired to fight them.

So here is what's happening with us lately, Ryan and I have got new callings, we are second councilors in Young Men's and Relief Society, respectively. It is good times. I really love R.S. and the only part of the calling I'm nervous about is teaching quarterly but I taught the first week of July and it went okay so I think I can stop being nervous about that now and just enjoy it. Ryan is having fun with the Deacons and Jeff gets to do double duty with the 11 year old scouts and the Deacons some times so he is getting lots of requirements done which is great.

I have been working on re-covering the cushions in the pit, it is the project that has been my nemesis these long months but they are now all constructed, I just have to put zippers in them. I hate zippers. My goal is to finish them at some future date.

We went camping last Friday - Saturday up near Prescott at Granite Basin. It was my great idea and I invited all sisters and my friend Gaby. Unfortunately one sister had to work and one sister was dying of strep throat so only Whitny was brave enough to come, and Gaby was suffering from lack of sleep due to having a cute little baby and a potty training toddler so she sent her hubby up with her girls and she stayed home to rest. Poor dear. So, Ryan was coming up after work on Friday, Whit and her fam drove up same time as me and they took Nathan to play golf with a friend there in Prescott while we went to the campsite. Granite Basin looked good online but when we arrived with our 10 kids it was all wrong so we headed back to town to get reception on our phones and find better accommodations for our party. We agreed that we were happy that our loving husbands were not with us for this part because there might have been some comments about how we weren't prepared and so on and so forth and I already felt dumb enough. So we headed up to Mingus Mountain instead knowing that Ryan was on his way and would want to know where to go, that Nathan's golf game wouldn't last forever (even though they always seem to), and that Carson would be headed up after work and would also appreciate directions. We scurried up the mountain to Potato Patch which we liked a little better but we weren't fully convinced, Tyler and I went driving around looking for somewhere better which we found rather quickly off the beaten path, no facilities, no other campers nearby (which was ideal with our 15 children) and space to run around and get dirty. Heaven! We moved in and I drove back down the mountain to get phone reception and tell our wonderful men where to find us. It just happened that Ryan was 10 miles down the road from where I got reception (whew! I was relieved that I got there in time!) and we were able to switch cars, I took the boys and tent that he had and he headed to Prescott to pick up our wayward golfer and I went back up the mountain to help Whit set up tents and keep kids from being eaten by wild squirrels. By the time the men arrived we had camp set up, dinner ready and all children accounted for! We ate, then Ryan and I walked down to the main road to see if we could find Carson who was due to arrive soon. Ryan was pretty sure he could get a cell phone signal if we just walked a little farther. . . Anyone seen Tommy Boy? We didn't get a signal but we did find Carson rather quickly which I was kind of bummed about because I was looking forward to making out with Ryan while we waited. Carson gave us a ride back to camp and we got him all set up and we made smores and nobody was poked in the eye by a burning marshmallow and the kids ran around for a while, Alana happened to look up at one point and said, "Why are there so many stars up there?" Poor kid. We got the kids in bed, sat around the campfire for a little while laughing and chatting then we went to bed. It had been a long day.

We woke up in the morning, fed the savages and I took a dozen of them for a walk up the road to find "Coyote Springs" the sign said 1.3 miles and the party could have made it except for the part where I brought a three year old and a hand full of wussy girls with me who thought the leisurely stroll down the gravel road with barely any hills was just too much for their delicate constitutions. I had told Ryan to come after us in the truck after a little while, so I knew help was coming but the wimps and I ended up turning around before we reached the illusive Coyote Springs and I sent the hardy boys on up the path. I told the kids pioneer stories to keep their minds off their dire situation up there in the perfect weather and dappled sunlight and fresh air. I had done some research for a talk I had prepared for church for Pioneer Day yesterday (which I gave and it rocked). I told them stories of their ancestors who crossed the plains. Just as I was running out of stories Ryan came driving up. We all piled in and headed off to find the boys, they had given up and turned back too so we all headed back to camp. My goal of draining off some of their energy was accomplished and they had some fun even though we never found Coyote Springs.

The rest of the camping trip was fun, the boys made a fort in the woods, they shot guns, they fought with each other and got dirty. The girls did all of that also, but to a slightly lesser extent.

Yesterday was Pioneer Day and Ryan and I spoke in Church, it was fun and it went well. Then in the afternoon we went to my Grandmother's for dinner with my parents and sisters. It was fun, I told more pioneer stories and the kids sat still to listen for a few minutes. I am grateful to have ancestors who were faithful and did hard things.

Well, the kids are back inside now, doing art projects and whatever else they can think of to avoid cleaning their rooms. Time to crack the whip!