Getting Right on That...

I don't know when I will ever learn to keep my mouth shut! And Dad, you don't need to comment on that rhetorical remark.=) I was all excited for our stake indexing challenge--one reason being that it was something I felt I could achieve and thus be successful at. This morning I got an e-mail from our stake indexing coordinator saying that because I'm pretty close to achieving those monthly numbers already she was going to assign me(and six other sisters who are also close to the challenge) an additional  July challenge to enthuse all of the 50 indexers in my ward to get their 1,000 names indexed for the month. GREAT!--now success is actually going to be hard work. I liked Mom's poster. If she's game I may use her idea in my ward. Wish me luck--three of my own family are on that list!=)

My little family is funny! Last Sunday I was noticing that we have continuous congregational family fests. When we get home from church we all congregate in the kitchen because everyone is hungry and then everyone drifts off to do their own things, but consistently during the remaining hours we seem to follow that pattern of congregating and dispersing. It will start with Fred going off to find some solitude to write to Jordan or Skype Mikayla and pretty soon the entire family is in his lap and then 30 minutes later everyone starts to disperse again and eventually congregates around someone else in the family. We are social beings--at least familially.=) I'm glad we like each other.

This past week has been interesting. Our geo was in the shop for the duration so Fred had the suburban (because I wouldn't let him drive Garth out of Middleton) which left us with the truck and swimming lessons in town every day, which was always an adventure. The first day (probably because we haven't driven it since Mikayla left) the brakes didn't work for the first few miles (SCARY!) They gradually started to kick in when you pushed them really hard and I only took back roads, but just driving down the road seemed like an amusement ride in and of itself because of all the shakes and shimmies, We ran out of gas once and had to walk home from Activity Days (because the gauge doesn't work very well on the bottom half. =) It was a little warm and the twins were kind of tired but I'm just grateful we are strong and healthy and that Middleton is small and the weather has been nice. I also feel grateful that at least one of our cars seems to always be in working condition. Lori told me a few days ago that it is one of her dreams for us to have a reliable car so she won't have to feel guilty about inviting us to come into town. Funny, sweet girl--always more concerned about everyone else's struggles. "I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried." Why do so many of her dreams keep involving me? Should I be worried? I can't even seem to get my own dreams fulfilled and having to worry about fulfilling someone else's is a lot of pressure!=) So, adding to the bottom of my list, (on which is already the loathsome idea of running a 5K)...save for reliable car. It's a good thing I have eternity!=)

This week I'm trying to get together a birthday package for Mikayla. She turns 19 next Wednesday and can't even come home.=( I so much prefer to have my children here at birthday time, but I guess I am going to have to get accustomed to them being away. They are all growing up so fast. I don't think I will ever be "ready" for that.

Fred and Abe went to our Father/ Son ward camp-out this past weekend and Eden, Lily, Sophie and I had our traditional "girl party" (shopping, pedi/manicures, movie, all sleep in the same bed etc.--well Eden did eventually take off to her own bedroom around 1AM--smart girl.=) I have an aversion to having paint on my fingernails (for longer than a few hours) because working in the dirt and water just bangs them all up. And shopping is for emergent necessities in my enjoyment book, but traditions are great!!! I will go to great lengths outside of my comfort zone for bonding time. Go team blue!=)

I am reading an old fashioned, idyllic book (my favorite genre) by Gene Stratton Porter (one of my favorite authors) about a large family of 12 children, where the oldest son living at home is loved by everyone and dotes on his mother and the oldest daughter living at home is meeting "beaus" and I can't help but think of my Jordan and my Mikayla. There is just something about those old fashioned authors that draws me in like honey. I'm a library junkie, but I need to start collecting some of my favorites because those uplifting values just never get "old". I've heard some women talk about their longings for their homes and families to "look" certain ways as they look through magazines and browse blogs and I though I rarely get around to perusing either of those fun mediums, I can understand the longings because my heart just aches for land when my nose is buried in those books. I could never give up my reading but I am sure if I put as much energy into "working" my little piece of land and my home and my family as I do wishing and hoping for "bigger and better" I would be so much closer to my dreams. The old cliche is true, that my dreams really should be a work in progress, not a destination. So, I'm getting right on that...just as soon as I finish my blog and my chapter.=)

Quote of the week:

"I have now lived long enough to know that, whatever our situation, our troubles melt and disappear like frost in the morning sun when we dwell upon our blessing rather than our disappointments. No matter how pessimistic one's view may become of the times and the seasons, we can always fall back on special friendship, on faithful, personal love, and on simple, true dealings in our own personal lives." --Elder James E. Faust

We love our Bumble Bees

Our resident Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

Sister time in the great outdoors....with an Ipod

Desperate enough for an outdoors smore?