Crazy Summah, Hangin wit the Boyz, Lovin Kidz

The summers at our house sometimes get so full we barely have time for ourselves. Shane is now the Adventure Scout leader. Gladly he was released from being the Elders Quorum President. Having that calling is quite a burden. He was gone most nights during the week, his phone was always ringing or making his text message sound. He going to work at 3 in the morning and some nights not getting to bed until 10 or so at night. It was a difficult calling but he loved it, he grew to love the men under him and found ways to encourage them to become better, stronger, happier men. I admire Shane for that. I wish sometimes i could be more of a believer in myself like he is. That is not to say that he doesnt have his down times but his are far fewer and between than mine and are much shorter. He is different that is for sure. Most things for him are black or white, but he is starting to learn there may be grey in there. I think having 3 daughters has really helped to soften that pert of him. I am so glad we had the girls first. Not sure the boys would have had a chance in the universe if they had come first.

Well this summer there was a high adventure planned, a pig roast/turkey roast planned which also included a fund raiser for the scouts. On top of that we had to clean out the last of my mother in laws house, tear down some things in side the house, get rid of the things the mother in law needed to get rid of, there was quite a bit of work out there. In fact, on our Anniversary we were cleaning out her house and tearing apart things, it was frustrating that was for sure. I was pretty up set about that for a minute,but then i figured get over it, family needed help a bit more.

This photo is at the end of my mils house. The clouds were so beautiful that day. Off to the right of this photo across the highway is a raceway, for drag racing. It is loud but fun to watch.

This is the last photo of the home where my in laws lived. There isnt much left inside or out...but hopefully we can sell it for her soon so she can have some savings for her future. 

Once that was over, Shane had planned to do a high adventure with the scouts. Well they needed money first. They set to work to figure out how to make money. Shane offered our services(which went with most disagreeable noise) and the pig roaster to make some money. A plan was hatched and Pig/Turkey roast happened. Along with some of the games we do. It was tough to pull off. To make it harder, Laura needed a senior project. So photos had to be taken from beginning to end. Even on her journey to the pig farm...she had to be in the middle of everything. When all was said and done i think she is going to have a wonderful project when it is done. She learned a lot of really great skills, planning, organizing...so many things. It was a long tough day. I would say the best part of the day was the fact that a sweet wonderful sister offered to bring us dinner for 2 nights. My boys were so grateful for green salad and fruit salad, they were in literal tears when i told them they didnt have to do any more work. It was one of the best meals they had in a long time.

The boys and I had a day together, i had some errands to do and i like to take them with me. We happened to be by the new Meridian Temple. The construction is not finished. The spot is super beautiful. Off to one side the river flows by. We happened to park down by the river so we could see what was going on with it. This year the water in the river has been horrendous. The winter bought us so much snow and rain that by now all of the reservoirs are completely full. The river is so high it has come over the banks. It has been wild, no floating the river this year. If you look at the photo above. The road is just behind the boys. The trees you see are usually not even close to the water. They wanted to skip rocks and see if they would go down the fast moving water. Interesting to see how Mother Nature has taken over. 

Jake took this photo, he did a great job. They kept talking about how big the angel was It looks so huge, i have never seen a angel Moroni so close up. They are usually atop a huge spire, high in the air. 

Every temple has these words above the front door. Its exciting to have have this temple built so close to us. The Boise temple is a good half hour drive, this one is only about 15. That is a far cry from going to the Boston temple which is what we had to do when we lived in Maine. I have had some questions from friends about the temple. There is a beautiful Stake Center (chapel) next to it. I am excited to see the inside. The open house is coming in October, I hope some of my friends will want to go. The inside of the temples are so beautiful. 

As an aside see those boys...they are growing into men. I am sort of in awe of them. They work so hard with their dad. But have both decided that blue collar work is not for them. John wants to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. He reads medical books like they are going out of style. He reads other books and researches them. Its interesting cause some of the things he researches are so wild...the other day it was hours on the CIA and NSA and why and how they work. Jake wants to go into the military, police officer or lawyer. He is super smart as well, but has more common sense than John. John just doesnt have time to worry about the small things and so he skips over things, all of the important things. It is interesting to watch. I love them both so much. They are getting taller, stronger, huskier...i think with all the work they do they are very husky. They have a good layer of chub, but hey look like Henrie boys. 

They have been working all summer for a person in our ward. The man they have been working for is very impressed with the boys and how hard they work. They are super willing to do anything he asks them to do. They have dug out his yard, hauled rock, moved the dirt...they earned enough money to go to the movies. Transformers was the one they wanted to see with me. So we went... it was great.

I think i watched them during the movie more than i watched the movie. They were so happy to see it, there were more oos and ahhs and open mouths and lots of quiet...Love those boys. 

Summer crazy is slowing and now we are prepping and waiting for our grandson to arrive. I am still a bit weirded out by that but its okay. Watching Brenda has been fun, she is amazing and doing a fabulous job working on being a mom. I know she is nervous and probably a bit frightened but she is going to be great. She is going to love him so much, as much as she loves Skyler. It will be fun to watch. Baby shower is coming up, photos will come....

I think for a long time i was afraid to really love my kids. I really had to work hard to show love and affection to them mostly i think because i didnt love myself. I know i am late to the game but i am really trying now. i am really working on love, what it means, how it affects me. I want to be able to let them go when i have too, with out too much heart ache. 

I suppose that is what life is about? Finding ways to love with out too much heartache? I wonder often how others do it. I am working on me, that is hard enough...and another blog for another day.....

Pregnancy, New Niece

It has been a while since i have been able to blog. There has been so much going on that keeping up with everything has been exhausting. The months of May and June filled up so quickly, there has barely been time to breathe let alone take time to do anything around the house. I had a monday off in June to take a girlfriend to a surgery. Her husband is a long haul trucker and so i told her i would take her to the surg and sit with her for the day. Fortunately, her sweet husband surprised her and came home early to take care of her. It was so sweet. I got the day off. Usually i get fridays off but i moved my days around. Good thing, this particular day Brenda went to work and just could not do it for the day. Laura works at Subway in one part of Caldwell and Brenda works at the other. Brenda needed to leave work so they called Laura into work for her. I drove Laura over there and as soon as Brenda saw me that was the end, so i took her home to sleep. She was so worn out. She hadnt slept the night before very well and was feeling really huge that day. So i took a photo and sent it to her hubby to tell him all was well. She slept for a few hours, while her brothers waited patiently for her to wake up. Pregnancy is sometimes not fun, not fun at all. 

She has about 5 weeks left and is ready to be done i am sure, but she is being very patient. I know its hard but she is doing great. 

Speaking of pregnancy and babies. My brother and his wife had a baby a few weeks ago. I was so excited last year to be able to go to Boston and see my brother Darryll get married to beautiful Amy. Meeting her was amazing. For the small amount of time I met her face to face, I was impressed at her ability to be so connecting and loving. I wish I could be more like her. Somewhere in the family line that kind of loving compassion stuff just didnt come down to me. I try but it doesnt always work. We found out a month or so later that she was pregnant and they requested to not have it known on social media. So i just kept the news within our family. 

Let me go  back a bit though, i never guessed that my big brother would have children, or get married. He has dated quite a few wonderful women in my lifetime whom i have met and loved. D is a very quiet man, when he speaks usually its meaningful. His sense of humor is so dry the ocean would dry up if he kept being funny for too long. I discovered when i visited family in England/Scotland last year that he tends to be a lot like my granddad Thomson. I saw some younger photos of my granddad and D looks strikingly like Granddad. D has always been someone i have looked up to. We dont see eye to eye often but he is very kind and understanding about my family, my husband and the way we raise our children. I think deep down he has always just wanted what is the best for me, and i for him. I just love him, he is the best big brother i could have asked for. 

Fast forward and Ms Amy had a beautiful baby girl a few days before Fathers Day. 

This was the first photo we got, poor Amy looked exhausted. I did not envy her position as i looked at this photo i thought, damned a cesarean section was the result? Damned. I found out later she had endured quite a long labor some 40 hours and sweet pea would not budge so the drs took better measures and brought her into the world. 

Now i said my brother is a man of few words....wait maybe i didnt, he doesnt talk much, his extent of wishing me happy birthday is a text with this...hbd....makes me chuckle every year, but i love it. Literally, the photo of Amy and the baby was what we got for a day or so with no name...so guessing was what we did....i sent a photo back of my boys excited to meet the new little in our family. 

I finally got to chat a bit with Amy and she sounded exhausted and annoyed at the whole endeavor, which i told her i agreed with. She was not comfortable or happy about all of the people interfering with her and the baby but at the same time she was so impressed with herself. She put in so much hard work to get this sweet bundle here. I am not one to give much advise unless specifically asked, so i just said let the nurses take her and rest, rest, rest, rest. She had been through the war and needs to recover. I told her let D take the baby and drink water and rest. Everything from here on out is a learning process and just take it one day at a time. 

That being said please meet Ms. Clara Thomson Fernald. Clara is the name of Amys Grandmother who apparently was an amazing woman. Strong and amazing...i would love to be named after someone like that. Thomson is our mothers maiden name.(also a strong and amazing womans name)...

This is my brother Darryll holding his precious jewel. I am still in awe when i see this photo. I know i have photos of him holding my babies, but this one takes the cake for me. The joy in his life over the past 2 years is amazing i am sure. I am sure he still cant believe he is a parent.  The best part about this photo for me? The fact that i can see my mothers gentle face in him looking at that girl. It takes my breath away.

This one is by far my favorite of the bunch right now with all 3 of them. Amy looks amazing, tired but amazing. D still has that face of unbelief...its fun...

Just when I thought my heartstrings were tight and nothing could make my tear up any more, Amy sent me this photo. Here is my brother with is girl, just loving her. I wonder if he feels about her the way I felt when my babies were born. I think often of the closeness he had with mom. He may not think this but i do, Ms. Clara went directly from moms hands to his in one instant when she was born. I am a firm believer that my mother has played with my children before they came here, that she sent them here with knowledge of her. I think she should have the right to hold them and love on the as well as my parents here on the earth. Maybe that is too far fetched for D and Amy but for me it makes me happy. It makes my heart full to know that Malcolm and Mom got to hold Clara, play with her, talk to her and love her before she came here. Speaking of Malcolm, Ms. Clara has a sweet Fernald mouth that makes me chuckle, that little mouth is a mix of all of my brothers. 

It takes a great man to become a father, i have always thought my brother is a great man....i would say he has become greater. A new part of you opens when you become a parent, now lets watch. They are going to be amazing parents, they have wonderful people who have become family around them. It will be so fun to watch. I love them both so much, and Ms.Clara. I cannot wait to actually see her. Here is to me making another trip sometime? who knows? 

Until then, my brother has become a father, I am becoming a grandmother...its kind of a weird year. 

Makayla Jayne Graduated...How Awesome

The other day i was out doing errands for whatever reason, stopped at a light i saw this:

So you see that thing where an antennae should be? That my friends is a bullet!!! Now why? you ask? Why??? well first off its Idaho, second the people in the truck (which was a bit under the weather for a truck) were missing some teeth and probably could have come from a certain family line close to me, just sayin.....(on my dads side people) I found it super funny and laughed about it all the way home. Then showed Shane, what did he say?...oh huh looks like a bullet, nice. NICE??? what does that mean? whatever i will just move along with my life and pray those never become part of my vehicle decor....

So Ms Makayla Jayne graduated from High School, yes, yes i know you are all surprised we are as well...but alas it has happened. She is a pretty good girl, in fact she is a pretty great girl. She started out in Special Education in her elementary years and blew that out of the water when we got to Idaho!!! She got a ton of extra help and support and then a specialized program for a few years in JR High and onward to High School, she struggled with (get this) ECON (why the hell anyone would choose to do Econ in HS is beyond me but whatever) and some Trigonometry (cause that is what you do in your senior year, not me i barely got out of good ole Sacopee Valley with any good grades) This girl has 2 college courses under her belt (maybe more) and is ready for the world. I love this girl she is pretty great!

We got the entire house cleaned and Brenda came over and redid my wall of photos.

It took her most of the day but that was a lot for her. She is learning pregnancy takes a ton out of ya...its also not fun to try and hang things on our wall, because it sort of sucks to try and get the nails in....

For her graduation we got her a necklace with Scottish sea glass, a small whale charm (family joke), another charm that has a heart with mom and dad on it then a little bead that is her birthstone. I ordered it from Scotland so it took a bit to get here and it is absolutely gorgeous. Her favorite memory is going on our trip last summer to England/Scotland, i wanted her to have something from Scotland so she could remember our trip and know how much she is loved.

 Makayla is the girl in the back row in the right hand photo with her hands crossed in front of her.

This is her walking across the stage...i am so proud i actually cried a bit. She is so wonderful if you dont know her you need to get to know this girl.

All she really wanted was a cake from Costco...hence the massive cake of glory.....AND

a veggie platter, she is my veggie kid with extra green peppers. She is weird i know, but we love her. 

If you look close over her left shoulder....yup that is Johns head sticking out

We had some of the most awesome people come over. She only wanted a few close friends over to visit on her day and it was perfect. She is really low key. Small things make her happy, she is generally always very happy, kind and loving. She is going to be a great woman as she gets older. I cant wait to see where her life goes.

Makayla is pretty great, i love that girl...She is already signed up for college through an online program with Brigham Young University. Its a program she can get a lot of help with her classes because the teacher/student ratio is very small. She is very excited about it. All of the the current credits she has will transfer to this program called Pathway and she will be on her way to a college degree in a few years.

Whether she gets married or not i dont care, i only care that she reaches whatever highs she wants. That she doesnt hold herself back because of the trials she has. She has to work on gaining more strength in herself (dont we all). She IS smart, she IS wonderful, she IS.....just IS....now she will be amazing...I love you girl, your daddy loves you too....always and forever whale, always.

Camping Mountains Fishing

Let me start off by saying one thing i do not like to do is go camping. I am not a fan of the outdoors for a few reasons. 1. sleeping on the ground 2. no showers 3. no room to take my pillow 4. lack of a bathroom. Regardless of all of those reasons i still go anyway. I go because of the following reasons 1. my boys/my girls 2. my husband 3. bacon 4. sausage 5. campfires. I also have found its a great place to catch up on reading. I love to read and often i do not get a chance too i feel like i am always being pulled in a million directions. I found 3 books put them on my kindle...what i learned? Heart is one of the most awesome woman fronted bands of all time, Living in the Appalachian mountains at the turn of the century working in the coal mines = crappy life, George Burns is hysterical in writing and adored his sweet wife Gracie Allen...

On to the camping trip::::: side bar:::: might i say its a bit disconcerting when you are at the movies with your daughters you come out and there is the Stake President (btw wearing a Metallica shirt) telling me he knew by photo exactly where we camped...weirdo good thing he is moving :( actually that is really sad, he is a great guy and has been a wonderful influence on Shane. :::::::I am back from the sidebar.....

Our tent is a sheepherders tent we bought it a few years ago, well quite a few now that i think about it. It took our family 2 years to save up for just the tent then another year to get the poles and stakes for it. Our dog Jill is in the bottom left corner, but she is the best dog ever. I like her. Not sure what my kids will do without her, but I suppose we will have to get another dog soon. Whenever Brenda and Skyler come over she is so excited to see Brenda. She is a good pup. We take her whenever we go camping. She knows it too, this time she climbed in the truck to wait for us to go.

 The kids get really relaxed when we go camping. Shane never wants to be in the photos but i say he doesnt have a choice. The bottom photo is just one side of the tent, on the other side we have a table set up and in the corner is a wood stove. One of the days we were out this time around it rained all day. we were cozy and warm because of the stove. There were some breaks in the rain the kids decided that was the time to go swimming. At one point Jake said "My Chesters are cold" chesters = testicles. Not sure where that came from but there you have it. From a 12 year old boy. John was afraid of going in the deeper water and Laura swam to him to assure him that he could. It was nice to see them working together. It shows that in the end they are there for each other no matter what.

If you look really close you can see their heads bobbing out there in the water. I should say this was between rain down pours and it was chilly.

This time around we rented a canoe, i think there was more excitement about the canoe than most any part of the trip. Jake and John spent a good amount of time in the canoe. I went out with Jake for 20-30 mins and came back completely burned. To a crisp burned, my face arms and chest. not a good thing I am now suffering with that, but i have to say it was fun to be on the lake with him. When you get Jake alone he really likes to talk about life. Its fun to chat with him.

Shane and the boys went fishing and had a blast. They enjoyed themselves, they had a bit of a contest on who would catch the most fish of course Dad won. I think the best part was having them cook them over the fire and eating them hot off the fire. I loved that fire. I spent a lot of time sitting in front of it putting wood on it, reading and watching the fire burn. The smoke kept the mosquitoes at bay thats for sure. By the way mosquitoes out here in Idaho are much MUCH smaller than the small birds sized ones in Maine. I certainly do not miss those bugs.

There is a bit of a glitch on one side of this photo but the rest does it some justice. The sky was so lovely with clouds and the green of the trees. I loved it. I should have taken another one or  12....

These are both from the same place just one is zoomed in and the other just where i was standing. The one on the right is so pretty. The rain had come in and it snowed in the high country, there in the middle you can see where the snow in the mountains. We were camping at 5000 ft, so those mountains should be at about 7000 ft or so. It was so calm and peaceful. Lovely although i did have the music of Heart going through my head....OH and we got home and the air conditioner in the house is broken (no worries it will be fixed this week, its just annoying when its 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit out)