Lunch at the Temple

 This week we continue with home school, and although I know the kids miss seeing their friends, I feel like we are in a place where they are still progressing and have come to terms with the fact that they just need to be strong and "fight the good fight until the battle's won."

Work hard every day to accomplish school, and soon it will be summer and hopefully by the time the fall rolls around we will be back to a "normal" school schedule.

We also talk about other things we miss, and going to the temple is definitely at the top of the list.

So, we decided to take a lunch break from school and go to the temple to eat our lunch. Of course we just sat in the parking lot and admired the view, but it was still so nice to be there and think of some of these special things.

 We ate Chik fil A in our car while the kids were all still in their pajamas.

 Yep! It was just one of those days where they could just stay in their jammies all day because for sure they weren't going to be "seeing" anyone! ;) Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and not stress and I feel like now is the perfect time for that.

But maybe today they will get dressed.

Maybe. ;)

Family Fun

One of our family's favorite things to do lately is to play pickle ball!

It's something everyone can do, you can do it out in the fresh air, while keeping your social distancing, and everyone has fun!

Kesslyn and I spent most of our time on the sidelines cheering and dancing, but I did take a turn with Clint to whoop the boys. ;)

Friday was pickle ball, and then Saturday we worked together as a family and cleaned out and organized the shed which still needed done from the move. After we finished, we rewarded ourselves with a drive in movie and a night at the cabin.

The drive in is only about 10 minutes away from our cabin in Fairview (or is it Mt. Pleasant?)

But we had fun watching Jurassic Park! We also had dinner there and popcorn and ice-cream and just had fun visiting before the movie.

Carew also brought his new girlfriend Kara (whom the little girls LOVE;)

and we played card games, boccie ball, and had home church together at the cabin.

Outside everything is turning so green and it reminds me of "fresh starts." On the way home from the cabin we saw this little lamb family, a momma and her babies, and it made me so grateful for all the ways that we see God's goodness and loving hand in our lives.

School at Home

 We've made it to Friday!!!

We continue to hold school at home and online. It makes for a LOT of screen time, and although we are so grateful for the technology, we can't WAIT for the weekend when we can get out and NOT be stuck behind a screen!

 Dallin and his friend Anson also spent the entire day filming for Dallin's SBO video for the elections coming up next week.

Good luck Dallin!

(This shot is called "Dallin, it's time to wake up for school!! :)

Weekend Fun

 Isn't King Benjamin handsome??? :)
On Sunday while we were having church at home, we once again felt the spirit so strong as my boys prepared, blessed, and passed the sacrament to our family.
I gave a short talk, and then we had Come Follow Me. Clint took the lead and then all of us took a turn being "King Benjamin" and teaching each other from the scriptures, from on top of the "tower." :)

After church was over we all piled in the car for a quick Happy Birthday trip to see our cousin Xaxton who was turning 13!!!
And although our plan was to stay 6 feet apart and practice our social distancing, that DIDN'T happen because as soon as Xaxton saw us driving up he came running out, and then all of the kids had to give him a big birthday hug. :)

We have missed seeing our family so much and it was so good to be together just for a few short hours.

Kesslyn seemed to have a lot to catch up on with Colby...;) ;)

...and not to mention Tank! Boy have these kids missed him! ;)

We sat in the yard for the entire time we were there just catching up, sitting in lawn chairs talking, and watching the boys zip by together on Xaxton's new electric scooter. They had a good time and did not want to leave. Plus, they all wanted to bring their cousin home with them, but I told them, "Soon enough!" Soon enough this pandemic will be over and we will all get to move on to life the way we desire to live it, free from restrictions and FULL of family. :)

Hiking the Living Room

 Over the weekend our family was able to go outside in the beautiful Spring weather and go on a hike to the Living Room!

 We ended up on this hike by default because the hike we wanted to go on still had WAYYYY too much snow still! This hike is supposed to take you to some man made "living room chairs" made out of rock that you can sit on that over look the valley...we didn't end up finding them, but we still had fun exploring and being out together.

 My boys and I all took turns giving Kesslyn piggy back rides, and Dallin even picked his momma this pretty little flower! :) This flower is the same one that Kesslyn ended up with because she wanted a pretty flower too...;)

 These brothers sure love their little sister, and all their sisters for that matter! But I think the baby certainly does get spoiled. ;)

 Although we didn't ever find the actual "living room" we did find a make shift rock chair that we all took a turn "relaxing" on. :)

 The only reason we found this one, was because we saw some people at the top of this peak and decided to run up there and ask them if they knew how to find it.

 When we got up there, they showed us this chair, and said that after being on this same hike 3 different times, they still have never found the living room!

 We will have to try and come on this hike again and see if we can find the living room after all.

Like I  have said many times, these hikes are one of our favorite things to do together, when we are in quarantine or not.

 We have always enjoyed the great outdoors, the fresh air, and the fun of exploring and going on adventures together.

 We had actually wanted to hike to Lakes Mary and Martha on this day, but when we saw 6 feet of snow still on the ground up there on the mountain, we knew that those hikes will have to come later. :)

 So, we look forward to many more hiking adventures to come this summer when we can be free to go explore even more! Happy Wednesday!

We Continue to Laugh

We've been getting really good as a family at looking for bright spots in the coronavirus storm. :) We've actually been living in the light and it's still been such a good thing for our family. The other day Dallin was looking out the window and said, "Mom, look at how pretty the mountains look! It's like they are glowing!"

Yep! Another bright spot in "the storm." :)

As a relief society president at this time, I too am looking for ways to "watch over" our little flock, and although these are different times, I can see the good that is coming in so many ways, especially how families are becoming stronger and relying more on each other. Most moms are busy being school teachers from home and are busy just taking care of their own.

We decided as a presidency that we could use this "emoji emotion chart" to quickly assess the state of our sisters without taking too much time away from them and their families.We are texting this chart to them, and if they want to talk, we can, but if not, they can quickly respond to us with a quick "click"...

I hope it works.

If I could use the emoji emotion chart to describe THIS sight that I saw in my home, it would be rows and rows of the smiling face that is crying tears of laughter!!! ;) ;) ;)

While Kierra and Riley were here, Kierra decided to try on all of her old prom dresses, and that little cutie could still fit into those tiny things!

I just never expected what I saw when I walked in the room and found that Riley decided to try on her dresses too!

This was quite a sight for my eyes ;) and brought lots of smiles and laughter, even and especially for the little sister onlookers! ;)

So grateful to have had these sweeties here in our home and for the blessing they are in our family, even from afar.

So grateful to be able to weather the storms of life with these people that I love SO much!

Easter 2020

 Our Easter Sabbath was celebrated at our cabin this year! 

As much as we love going to our cabin, I never really thought we would ever get to celebrate Easter there, because Easter has always involved going to church on Sunday, and we have always loved going to our home ward as part of that Easter celebration. But, with the current state of the world, and "home church" in full force with the global pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, going to church was NOT an option, so what better thing to do than go to our cabin for Easter??? :) :) :)

  The day was chilly, but beautiful, and we slept in and relaxed the morning away.

We listened to beautiful music, and watched Easter videos, and had fun talking as we prepared the food for our Easter dinner.

  Once we had everything in the oven and the crock pot cooking, we sat down together and had a sacrament meeting there in the cabin. The spirit was so strong as my boys prepared, blessed, and passed the sacrament as I thought of His broken body that makes me whole.

 We sang songs celebrating our Savior's glorious Resurrection and took turns reading scriptures out of eggs that held tiny symbols that helped tell the story of his death, burial, and Resurrection. Kesslyn loved the lesson, and I love the spirit that comes when truths are taught from the scriptures.

 After church was over and we had eaten our Easter dinner, we all went outside and played games together. We played boccie ball, and took turns hiding and finding an Easter egg (mostly Kesslyn and Kambriella), and we laughed at the neighbor's dog whom we lovingly call "Moose" as he chased after the balls each time we would throw them, but they were too heavy for him to pick up and bring back to us, so they would just be covered in slobber from him trying to pick them up...ewwwweee!!! ;(

 We also had quite the adventure on Saturday night (although I can't believe I forgot to take a picture!) and we went to the Basin Drive-in movie in Mt. Pleasant just about 10 minutes from the cabin!

We saw the movie Trolls World Tour (worst movie EVER).

 And although the movie was SO dumb, I will never forget the experience! We saw our friends the Affleck's there, it rained off and on the whole time, I spent an hour before the movie trying to situate mattresses and blankets in the back of the suburban for everyone to have a comfy seat, but then Clint's back has been bothering him and he just couldn't get comfy, so we turned the car right around and just watched the movie while sitting in our seats while the girls layed on the mattress in the back. The boys rode in Dallin's truck and went back and forth from the hammock chairs to inside the truck to hide from the rain.

All in all it was a horrible movie experience, but SO fun as a family experience.The rain, the discomfort, the awful movie...none of that mattered as we all agreed that this will be a very unforgettable time during the coronavirus pandemic where we got out as a family and did something "normal."

We laughed and laughed together at how dumb the movie was and how we were all dying from the first minute of the movie...but the laughing together that came at the end of the evening really was priceless. AND Kesslyn LOVED the movie. So, it was a win. :)

(I'm so glad little ones are so easy to please. ;)

 We packed up and cleaned up and headed home that night because Clint still had work in the morning, and all the kids had school in the morning too, and there is no internet at the cabin, so we had to come home.

Lucky for us, we came home to love notes on our door, and treats too. 

We felt so loved, and had a great time watching the doorbell videos of the loving people who left those things for us on our porch. :)

It was a fun Easter and Spring Break week, and one that will go down in the history books...literally! :)