Things have been slowing down with my posting although I write posts in my mind all the time. I love our collection of blog books which is a complete set from the year we got married. I can't just let it go :) Life just seemed to amp up a little this year somehow. When we went to the zoo or the church to play in hte gym or to the park, it was all of us going and it was busy. But now Aubrie is doing something and Robbie something else, Hallie a different thing, and so on--so it feels like I need to multiply myself to do all the driving and being in different locations to watch different things. (maybe we should have had a child every year for 6 years;))
Monday Clara turned 7. Her I loves yous that night was so sweet. We all just love her so much. She is such an obedient soul and so genuinely happy almost always. She is a gift to our family. (I don't ever want the other kids to think that we love Clara most, parents just don't work that way and there are so many different unique wonderful things about each of them. Being easier doesn't mean more loveable--at least I hope not. I definitely wasn't the easiest child. ) Blakes birthday was the previous Thursday and Clara's was Monday. Aubrie took them out of school at lunchtime each day for their present and took them to My Pie (her work) for a lunch date. They loved it. Blake's main gift was a new (to him) mountain bike that is in GREAT shape and we had it tuned up. Disk brakes, full suspension...he is pumped about it. Clara's main gift was to get her ears pierced. Also, one excited girl when she found out. When we pulled up for the appt I told her to "get your mask and your brave on". She didn't flinch. I was surprised. She picked out a set of earrings to switch to in a few months, a cute little dolphin pair. She looks so cute with her ears pierced. It's hard to believe Blake is in double digits and Clara isn't a toddler anymore. They are getting so big so fast.
Tuesday was a real treat. I told Hallie and Clara they could stay home from school and the three of us went to Brighton for most of the day. I love skiing with those two in particular. They are both so chill and exude confidence. After crashing (clara and I) on the first steep hill first run, I wasn't so sure it was a good idea. But two runs into it I started to really enjoy it and ended the day so happy we went and glad to hang out with those two all day on the ski lifts talking. Hallie is incredible gradeful when she skis. She kept going over to the terrain park alone on our way down and doing jumps to practice. I love watching her quietly working on things.
Karla was on a girl's trip this week so I had Danny and Jacob for the morning which ended up being so fun for Lucas. I am glad for him any chance he can play one on one with kids his age. We love living by the Pratts. It has been for the most part such a good thing to have each other here and to hang out almost daily. Sometimes Ryan and I will even walk over after kids are in bed and sit in the living room and chat with them for a while. They are a great family!
On Thursday Lucas and I needed to pick up our 1/2 of a cow and headed up to Heber. It was such a beautiful drive and he was so good. I ordered a grilled cheese (jalapeno bacon) and some tomato bisque soup and ate it outside while Luke played and then we walked around looking at cows and then played soccer with a tennis ball for a while since we weren't in any rush. It was a great morning! and now our freezer(s) are filled to the brim with SO much meat.
Friday is a remote school day for the three middle kids. It's equal part hard and awesome. This week I told the kids they could ski first thing and do school later and that worked SO good for Hallie and Blake. We might have to do that again. Gloria Hyland, our neighbor in her 80's invited Clara over to her house along with Macey to have a mini St. Patricks day party and do a craft. She was so excited to go. Gloria is a saint and sooooo good with kids. She and her husband both just love kids. During hte last year they have left puzzles and games every week for our kids on their porch to pick up usually with a treat. Then they have dropped off a treat or note every few weeks for us. They are so awesome! Anyway, this is the second time in two weeks that she has invited Clara over for some one-on-one time to hang out. Last week she went over and did puzzles with both Gloria and Richard and got to have cookies. I just am so grateful for our neighbors.
Yesterday we skied as a family after having a garage sale (which is always a lot of work but the kids made $100 so that is good). It was Lucas's first time skiing and he got it by the 2nd run. We were shocked. Hallie and I worked with him for a bit and then Ryan took him on the lift for the bunny hill and went over and over with him. He skied the last 3-4 runs without any help all the way down, stopping on his own whenever Ryan yelled pizza. It was incredible! And he was doing bunny hops (like he does on his scooter) every so often-that was the cutest. He never complained about cold which I was very surprised about. I was so glad we all went and I loved seeing Luke ski. Robbie landed a 360 for the first time too and Blake went off the biggest jumps on the terrain park and landed them.
Today I took most of the kids on a walk after church and on the way went we stopped at George's house (an older gentleman we met a few weeks back) to see his goats. He saw us out there and came out. We ended up staying for over an hour, and he let the girls walk the goats, everyone feed them and Luke sitting on the tractor, etc to see it all. It was such a treat. I got to know George a lot better which is so fun! HE invited Hallie to start taking care of the goats and asked if Robbie could start working for him doing yard work. On the way home I ran into Lisa down the street and we talked for probably 45 minutes catching up on kids etc. (they have 5 kids and go to the Presbyterian church around the corner). Her oldest is a sophomore at Cottonwood and is really into dirtbikes. Hopefully, he and Robbie can meet and get to know each other. I kept walking and BOnnie was outside and we got to talking and then I went inside to see what she is doing in her kitchen and stayed chatting for over an hour. She decided to walk me home and on the way, we ran into Ryan coming to look for me (all the kids had gone home by then) because I had been gone for like 3.5 hours. It was such an enjoyable afternoon for me. I love our neighbors!
