A Day Up The Canyon

July 20th
We needed an activity one day in July (we always need an activity) and so, in the company of Tysen and her kids and Mikayla and her "kid" (puppy Kila), we went up the canyon to South Fork to play, wade in the water, and eat lunch.  It was beautiful--the sky was blue, the sun was warm, the grass was green.  We hiked through the tall grass, got cold toes, chased the dog, and threw rocks in the water.  It was marvelous.  We are truly fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

 

Ava, Lyla, Tysen, Blythe, Mikayla (with Kila), Brandt, Katherine, Crew, Griffin

Brandt wanted to dismantle a dam across the stream.  

He and Crew moved one stone together,

then he moved another by himself.

Then he was done.

The girls, less me.

I didn't trust Brandt with the camera while standing in the stream.

The boys.

Lyla, Tysen, and Kila.

Tysen does not like dogs.

Time Out

I gave myself a time out tonight.  I was in the midst of making dinner, Brandt was being difficult about his homework (yeah, I know, he's been back at school exactly seven days), and I found myself dangerously close to losing it.  So I locked myself in the laundry room.  No way was I doing anything affiliated with the laundry room, but it has a lock on the door and was close enough to the kitchen that I could hear the timer go off for the cornbread that was in the oven.  I took in the murder mystery I am currently reading, worked through several pages, and after that I felt much better.

It was one of the smarter mom things I have done recently.

Mud Pies and Play

August 1st was a hot afternoon and although I intended on taking the children to swim, they were much more interested in doing a bit of baking.  To be more precise, they wanted to make mud pies.  In July, one of BYU forum addresses was about recreation and both Kent and my mom told me how great it was.  The text is not yet available and I haven't made time to listen to it, but Kent said the speaker, Patti Freeman, stressed the importance of play just for the sake of play.  I'm trying to be better at letting the children do their thing, even if their thing creates a huge mess, and so I let them do their baking on the porch and front walk.  They had a marvelous and messy time.  Looking at these pictures, I realize I should have joined them.  I love the feel of mud squishing between my toes.

The aftermath on the porch.

A Funny Picture

I think Blythe is holding a rock.

I'm not sure why she is showing it to me, or why I am taking her picture.

She sure is cute, whatever the reason.

A Touch of Color

We have been in need of curtains on our back sliding glass door since we moved in.  There were vertical blinds previously, but I don't like vertical blinds, so when we were doing painting prep, I took them down and then threw them away.  As a result, our back yard neighbors have been in a position to see into our house all the time during the past eight months.

However!  I finally went looking for fabric for curtains and found pretty much what I had hoped to find.  I wanted something floral with red, yellow, green, and blue, tying in the blue of the walls in the dining area, the yellow walls in the entry way, and the red couch in the family room, and what I found met all my requirements.  Kent liked it to.  As I am not a great seamstress and wanted the curtains lined, I had the ones for the sliding glass door made.  I did make small panel curtains to go over my small windows, and I love the way they brighten up the space, and block the view of the inside of the house.  I think it gives the dining room and kitchen a finished look too.

The before pictures.

Our windows without curtains. 

And the afters. 

A close up of the fabric.

Evening Light

I don't know what the evening sky looked like where you are, 

but tonight, above us, the sky was FANTASTIC!!!  

It was beautiful, then stunning, then glowing and shiny.