Vegetarian Bear

I mentioned Conrad's poem before, but decided it needed a permanent place on the blog...

Vegetarian Bear 

By: Conrad Ballard

There was a vegetarian bear

Living on top of our table

With his mouth wide open

Waiting for food to plop inside

I fed him celery

I fed him peas

I fed him an almond

I felt like he needed a fish

I woke up and saw my bear

Eating a Swedish Fish!

But who had fed the bear?

It must have been my dad

THE END

Choir Tour

Hazel and Eliza spent 10 very full days traveling through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah sharing their light and testimonies through song. They took the first flight (that they remember), gave 5 concerts and sang at one Fireside, visited Kirtland, the Sacred Grove, and other church history sites, rode countless hours on buses, stayed with host families, spoke last minute in sacrament meeting for an ASL group in New York, and had the time of their lives! The Utah Valley Children's Choir has been an incredible blessing for them and they've made memories never to be forgotten. 

I'm proud of these amazing girls for how hard they practiced and worked to be ready for this tour and the light they bring into the world. And, I'm SO glad they had an incredible, fun, faith-promoting trip!

Fun, Family, Fireworks

 
This is the first year in several summer that everyone has been together on the Fourth of July. We had an amazing day beginning with a family hike...

... then a BBQ lunch with Grandma, Grandpa, TJ, and Alicia. The four of them were working hard to move Alicia from one of Teri and Tony's rental properties to another. 

Then we finished off the evening with fireworks. Lionel was amazed! And our neighbors lit off SO many fireworks that we got to enjoy an great show.

Meanwhile Michael, Hazel, and Eliza worked at Stadium of Fire to earn the last bit of money for the girls' choir tour. They had a good time and loved the fireworks afterwards, but didn't love the hours and hours of traffic they sat in before making it home. 

We probably should have spent the day packing, but I'm so glad we took a day off to enjoy time as a family and appreciate the freedoms we enjoy. 

Visit to the Farrells

We knew we HAD to squeeze in a visit to the Farrells before we moved away, so on the girls' birthday the kids and I headed up to Idaho for a few days (while Michael stayed home to pack like the amazing man he is!)

Ellie made the girls birthday cupcakes and Heather helped them re-bind a book as a gift. 

While we were there it was non-stop fun, sewing, playing, chatting, and laughing. We made some great stops too. We visited Soda Springs where carbonated water bubbles up from a spring! After making our own "sodas" with drink mix and the spring water, the kids played on the most perfect old-fashioned playground ever. They now understand why they don't put those giant tetter-totters in playgrounds any more!

We also took turns tubbing down a section of the river near Lava Hot Springs. It was a blast!  

Another day we hiked through these beautiful fields of mustard in full bloom to the top of a peak overlooking Pocatello. The flowers, the light, and the views were unreal. 

The little kids put on a funny skit while the big kids filmed a silent movie of Robin Hood. We just love these people so much! It's amazing that we're still such good friends with we met in Iowa all those years ago. If only they were coming back to Iowa with us. 

Boredom Isn't Bad

Packing, cleaning, and preparing to move, then unpacking and organizing have monopolized a HUGE portion of my summer. More than any time in recent year, our kids have faced long stretches of the day with no plans and only limited amounts of our attention. But, I've been reminded, that's not an entirely bad thing. In fact, we've seen some amazing moments come from those bored hours. 

Things like sibling bonding... 

Creativity, curiosity, and compassion..

Resourcefulness and just plain silliness...  

One day Conrad, Orson, and Lenora decided to host a lemonade stand. They scouted out a good place, walked to the store for ice, made posters, and worked hard for several hours in the HOT sun all without an ounce of help for me. (Of course I did head down a buy a cup of lemonade).

They ended up earning over $75! They were proud of themselves (and so was I). 

Even the teenagers got creative designing and sewing their own swim tops and bonnets (not to be worn at the same time, except for pictures of their progress)

And are you even moving if you don't spend time playing in boxes!?! 

So, while we did some really fun and wonderful things this summer. We also had a lot of boring days where Michael and I spent a lot of time packing and the kids were left to entertain themselves and help with the little boys. They did wonderfully!