I was blind but now I see...

When I took Hannah in for her physical for Cheer/Drill the PA mentioned that she ought to see the eye dr. I was not surprised since Curtis and I have both needed and worn corrective lenses since we were young. We went to Blanding to have Dr. Kirk check her eyes and we found out that she has astigmatism. She won't need to wear glasses all the time but they will definitely help her in school and watching games and movies and driving(when that time comes).

Hannah in her really cool new 'glasses'! Just kidding.

Actually, she found a pair that she really likes that are cute on her (they were almost all cute on her) and in 7-10 days she will be seeing better than she's seen in a long time.

Edited-Hannah's new eyewear. Very cute!!

Good Things: Modern technology that allows us to correct our eyesight...

Rain!...

Health Insurance to help cover the cost of medical expenses....

Answered prayers....

We are always in a drought in SE Utah, it seems. In my memories it seems as if we always had to be careful with our water usage. I remember being baptized in orange well water in 1975. I remember people putting bricks in their toilet tanks to use less water. I remember being allowed to use one square of toilet paper and not flushing until 3-5 people had used the toilet. I remember that praying for 'moisture' has always been encouraged and done.

This year has been no exception. We have had a very dry year, unfortunately for the farmers. But in early to mid July the monsoons started rolling in every afternoon. We have had fairly good amounts of 'moisture'. But on Saturday and again today our prayers for 'moisture' were answered in astonishing ways. We have had significant amounts of rainfall and because we've had good rains previously the ground is saturated so today we got some pretty good runoff.

Today the water poured down Pinyon drive, across Abajo Dr and down our driveway. Most of it went to the SW, across the driveway, washing it out in places, creating gullies and then flowed off the west end. But some of it went down through the chicken coop and south through the ponderosas and off the hill. And some of it was diverted to the north end of our house, flooding flower beds and the doorstep on the NE side of the house.

I ventured out to snap some pictures and the mud about took me down.

The kids of course had to get out and dance and play in it, since its such a rare  occurrence here. We feel so thankful!

Good Things:

A house to keep me dry...

The smell of rain...

A loving Father who hears and answers our prayers...

A river runs through it......

Its creating a Grand Canyon beneath 'Fred'

Carving washes in the driveway and creating gravel bars in my flower beds

It started to go into the garage! Thankfully the rain stopped about then.

Flood plain in the back yard. 

Our chickens have a sweet set up, including a pool!

the whole back yard was soggy and shimmering

SE corner of the back yard, another swimming hole.

waterfalls in the wood piles

We've never had flood irrigation before

I think there are plants under all that water...

Horseshoe falls in the driveway...

Where it all came from....down Pinyon and into our yard.

Too bad it didn't wash away all the junk in the yard.

And away it goes...

James and Charles

Cambria, James, Charles and Hannah

Molkahi

Just recording for posterity and history the manner in which James drinks his 'molkahi'. He always has to use his left hand to play with the hair on the crown of his head.

We love his Hawaiian word for milk. We love his hair twirling. We love just about everything about this boy! What a funny sweet boy!

Good Things:

One last baby boy to love....

No more bottles soon!

No more diapers soon!!

Jr livestock

This is our 3rd year doing Jr. Livestock. The first year Ford and Cambria did pigs through the FFA. They did all the care and feeding and we relied an awful lot on Mr. Walker to help since we as parents had no idea what to do. 

Last year Cambria, Hannah and Sadie all raised pigs. Cambria's didn't make weight so she showed Sadie's and Hannah showed hers, again through FFA.

This year all the girls and Soren wanted to raise a pig so we went through 4H. We've had the pigs since April and they are very good, nice pigs this year. They are all big enough this year as well, in fact some are almost too big!

One of the requirements for Jr. Livestock is doing a couple of hours of service at the fairgrounds. We went early on the Saturday morning when the fair began and spent time helping spread the wood shavings in the show arena, mucking out the steer stalls and pulling weeds. It was fun to watch them do a bit of work and realize it wouldn't kill them!

Jr. Livestock has been good for our family. It has helped the kids learn to care for animals. It has caused them to do hard things like doing showmanship when they'd rather not. It has made them stretch themselves a bit further than is  comfortable. Kind of hard to smile at the buyers when in the sale ring. :) It has been a source of income for them as well. I imagine we'll be involved for many years to come.

Sadie bucking a bale of wood shavings...

Hannah, raking the fluff around...

Cambria

Hannah and her trusty rake...

Soren trying to shovel it, which is like trying to shovel cotton balls.

Cambria, Soren and Sadie

Soren, Cambria, Sadie, and Hannah

Making ourselves useful, getting those service hours in...

Midday getaway...

looking across to the towers on Abajo Peak.  11,000 ft.

Summer in the Abajos. Best time of the year to be here. Curtis and I finally got away for a couple of hours and took the four wheeler ride I've been longing for. We drove up to the saddle again and on down the other side a ways. We wanted to see if the rain had brought out any more flowers and we were not disappointed! We took Subway sandwiches with us and had a little picnic at the Robertson Pasture trailhead. We had beautiful views, a nice lunch, and good conversation uninterrupted by kids. Win!

I think this needs to happen more often.

The beautiful wildflowers in an alpine meadow.

Robertson Pasture Trailhead. We had to race the rain back down the mt.

More wildflowers.

Oh, how I love going up the mt and getting into the cool aspens.
We have two four-wheelers but it's hard to have a conversation if I ride my own,
so I choose to ride with Curtis.  Not a hard choice!

Good Things:

A date with my sweetheart!

Beating the rainclouds to Monticello. Barely!

Being 5 minutes from the mts. 

Hamburger Rock

On this summer day I wanted to do something on our bucket list, to get out of the regular routine at home. I looked toward the mountains but the clouds up there discouraged me. Then I looked just to the north of the mountains and realized that clouds in that direction meant a good day to go to Canyonlands. So we quickly packed ourselves a picnic lunch of sorts and headed north. We decided to check out Hamburger Rock. I remember playing here a couple of times when I was a kid and thought that my kids would have a blast. It has changed a little, nicer picnic areas and a vault toilet, but the easy-to-climb-on rocks are still the same. We spent a couple of hours climbing, running and jumping before heading back up the mountain to home.

James, Soren, Sadie(hiding-surprise!), and Charles eating turkey, cheese, bread and veggies.

An easy place to climb on...

"This spot is just right for me!"-Soren

"King? of the World!"-Sadie

You want me to crawl in there?-James

"Think I'll just stand."

Sadie was a good help with the boys..keeping James in sight

Whether James wanted the help or not!

Sitting on the top with the Abajos in the background.

Sadie and James

Soren found his own rock

Running across the top as far as they can

a bit of shade is nice when the sun comes out.

My baby girl is 12, gulp........

I remember when I was expecting Sadie and I thought she was my last baby. I thought about the future and what I'd do with my time when she was in school and I'd have days to myself and when she'd be a young woman and how all my children would be almost grown up....

Well, she has gone and turned 12 and while she is almost grown up, I'm sure glad I still have three little boys at home to keep me company and keep me busy. 

I think Sadie has been waiting for this day for a long time, watching both of her sisters enter YW and go to Mutual while she stayed home with the boys, watching them get to go to High School activities while she stayed home with the boys. It's got to be hard to be the youngest sister....

Nice bowling technique!

Not all her waiting days are over, but she has finally hit the milestone of 12 years. A few weeks before her actual birthday she had her ears pierce by Aunt Wendy before the Crane's moved to St. George. That was also a milestone in Sadie's life.

Annsheri, Journey, and Sadie

To celebrate with friends this year Sadie decided she'd like to go bowling at the new bowling alley in Blanding. She took her good friends, Journey and Annsheri with her and they sure had a good time. Sadie was the only one who chose not to use the bumpers and needless to say, her score was not as high as theirs. That didn't bother her, she was just happy to share this day with her buddies.

Bowling Beauties!

Annsheri, Journey and Sadie

Someone always has to photobomb!

On her birthday, she helped make her own cake and we invited Grandma over to help celebrate.

Sadie and her yummy Cinnamon Swirl cake!

The celebrating crew-Dad, Grandma, Soren, James, Sadie(hiding of course!), Hannah, Cambria and Charles.

We feel so blessed to have Sadie in our family. She is a diligent student, good helper in the kitchen, a tease of a big sister, and tries very hard to do the right thing. We look forward to the milestones she will hit in the future, to see who she becomes. So fun to watch my girls become capable women who strive to be the best they can be.