Texas Pool Party

We have passed this same sign many times over the last 18 years but this time LeRoy wanted to stop. The last time we had a picture taken here was when Levi, Erika and Derek were all in car seats.

Lenora (LeRoy's sister) provided a perfect place for us to have the Edwards' family reunion.  She had beds arranged for all of us, food for days, a swimming pool, a pool table, horse shoes, sunscreen, towels and most importantly, air conditioning.  Our time together was wonderful!

Our initial excitement over the pool was quickly hampered by the fact that a tarantula had been hanging out in the yard and pool that day.  The Texas peeps seemed to think flipping him over the fence was enough but us Idaho folk were a little creeped out.  Still, the heat won and we were soon in the pool. . . for the next three days.

Some of us that preferred to be pool side swatting flies, applying (and re-applying) sunscreen and making sure everyone had enough water.

When we were water logged (or dying from the heat & humidity) there was pool inside.

The physical maneuvers these Edwards men pull off for a shot is quite entertaining.

Nathan and Hyrum had been talking themselves up all spring telling Papa they were going to beat him.

Beat him they did! Of course, his decades of pool experience was set aside as his decades of grand-parenting let the boys have their moment of glory.

Mixed in with the pool and the pool there was also plenty of regular old chit-chat and happiness.

One of my favorite moments was watching Ben and Papa compare and discuss their hearing aides.

The Rexburg kids had the privilege of sleeping on the party bus.  It was the perfect setup with 6 beds, plenty of luggage space and its own air conditioning.

Hyrum ended up sleeping with Daymia the first night because of bad dreams (probably from too much travel, sun and excitement) and Derek scared them with his sleep walking/talking. Nathan was initially worried about the size of beds, if it would be too cold/hot, spiders, the dark, and the dogs but the others wouldn't let him out of the party. By the end of our stay we were ready to start the bus up and take it home.


The kids

Ester, Louis, Dad, LeRoy, Cynthia-Darlene, Lenora, Frankie, Robin


The grand kids

Back: Levi, JC, Christian, Derek, Justin, Colby, Cory
Middle: Crystal, Papa, Nanny holding Kaia, Heaven holding baby cousin, Lilli, Haley
Front: Jace, Bert, Nathan, Hyrum, Derek, Trace


The people brave enough to marry into the Edwards' clan

This was such an odd picture to all of us in-laws but part of the reason our relationships work is because we know when to stand firm and when to do what we are told.

Everyone!!

Saturday night we headed to Cool, Texas to stay with Nanny and Papa. However, because of all the rain and flooding that Texas had received, their septic tank was very temperamental so we stayed at a hotel in Mineral Wells. The following morning (Father's Day) we went to church with the Mineral Wells LDS Branch where LeRoy and I both spoke on fathers (his topic was earthly fathers and my topic was Heavenly Father).  It was an honor to be with his dad on this special day! I have so much respect and love for this man!

After church we quickly changed and packed at the hotel in order to check out on time and then had a wonderful lunch that Nanny had prepared.  She was so kind to not only feed us but pack up enough food for our two day trip home.

We couldn't seem to pull ourselves away! We loved having our own time with them and so enjoyed the spoiling from Nanny and the teasing from Papa. The longer we were there the more and more we were laughing. Our favorite was when Papa showed us his muscles.

It wasn't until I was putting this collage together that I realized that LeRoy goes through the exact same flexing routine that his dad did, even down to the belly pat!

As I watched Nanny and Papa throughout the week I saw so much patience and love from them. True, unconditional love. Every one of us thinks we are the favorite, just as it should be.

This last picture is a good representation of how we all felt about our Texas trip.

Genuine fun, love, and laughter!

June

Summer is my favorite food season!

My counter has never looked so beautiful.

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Myth: turtles are slow.    
Fact: turtles are great entertainment.

This handsome fella was rescued from the road, lovingly protected in our yard for about an hour and released into his natural habitat before dark.

Our other pets were curious and cautious about the newcomer.

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In a "small world" moment, LeRoy helped my high school bus driver plant a tree at Krupp Scout hollow for his wife, also a dedicated scouter, who had passed away.

LeRoy ~ Alan Wilson ~ Alan's daughter

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Hibbard 5th Ward Father and Sons Camp Out

LeRoy made his annual Dutch oven berry cobbler and the boys drank an insane amount of soda. It seemed so fitting to see Brock in a picture with all of them. Not a day goes by that we don't see his cute face.

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Derek had his 19th birthday!!
Away from home.
Without me.

What a strange new experience to only talk with him for a minute as he bustled around in his celebrations 3 hours away. I'm grateful he had others to pamper him with a homemade raspberry cheesecake on his special day.

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After a morning of cheer workouts and running, Justin sat at the kitchen table eating his second breakfast and tried to test his heart rate which showed up as 155 on his pedometer but seemed unlikely since he was "resting".  He put his hand over his heart, looked up in shock and stated, "I can't feel my heartbeat at all . . . {pause} . . . my pecks are too big".

While Hyrum and Nathan were playing imagination I overheard "I can't do it, I'm going to tap out"! Hyrum's encouragement to Nathan was very touching. "You just need to believe in yourself. You're strong. Come on, be brave."  A few minutes later I learned what all the encouragement was needed for when I walked into the family room Ninja Warrior course and they yelled out, "Stop! You almost stepped into the spikes of death"!

Hyrum has a tendency to start his stories with, "So, I was being dumb . . . " and they often end with bodily evidence of a cut, scratch, burn, torn toenail, or bruise followed or accompanied by a giggle, tear or big exaggerated eyes to which I respond with the appropriate laugh or band aid and always a hug.

Sewing Through the Summer

My first project goal for the summer was to finish a denim quilt.

195 Circles from used jeans
195 Squares from scrap fabrics
2 spools of thread

It turned out brighter and better than I expected! Now, I'm not so sure that I want it to be for football games and camping. I'm considering it for display only.

I love the swirly look on the back and the diamonds, flower petals and circles that can be found on the front. I love reminiscing as each scrap fabric swatch brings back memories of projects past.

Charlie also loves it. He would not get off of it as I was clipping each of the rag-time petals and each time I walked away from it he would bunch it all together and curl up in it.

My next denim quilt was similar to the first but consisted of octagons instead of circles.  I found a curtain at a garage sale in Utah and used that as my colored fabric, carefully numbering each square to maintain the pattern once sewn in.

165 Octagons
165 Squares
2 spools of blue thread
2 spools of white thread

Using octagons created a star look rather than the flower petal look.  Also, instead of using a straight stitch and clipping each petal to make a rag quilt, I used a zig zag stitch to complete each side of the stars.

I started this quilt with gusto but quickly lost interest because I was spending so much time hiding in my basement sewing when I should have been outside enjoying the summer sun.  So, I put it away until the first week of August when I would be spending a week at Kellie's house watching her girls. The project filled the quiet evenings after kids were in bed and I was so close to finishing when all of the sudden, I ran out of thread.

My 4th spool of thread!! I knew it was crazy and I needed to get kids to bed but I loaded up five little ones and braved Saturday Utah traffic to the nearest Walmart (20 minutes away) to get thread so that I could finish.

I entered both of my quilts in the Madison County Fair and received blue ribbons for each. I had not entered anything in the fair since I was a pre-teen in Jr. High so I felt a little silly but it was rewarding to look up at them on display for others to enjoy their unique beauty.

As I gathered my quilts to take to the fair I also decided last minute to enter a couple of my holiday runners.  They also received blue ribbons.

The pre-teen in me was very satisfied with the work I had put into each project and the ribbons for my scrapbook. I imagine Great Grandma Laws smiling in approval.

Gymnastics and Cheer

Gynmastics teams 2015

Nathan has progressed very well in tumbling and his skill level reminds me so much of Justin at age nine.  He does have the advantage of living with one of his coaches so gets extra training on the trampoline and encouragement outside of class.

We really enjoyed their recital and love their new t-shirts.  The "caution:" is real! Besides continuing to take advanced tumbling from ValaRae, Justin also co-coaches many of the other classes.

Just a little showing off before coaching the next class. . .



He has worked hard to get that!


Justin began each weekday morning at cheer practice as a new Madison cheerleader.
Following cheer practice he would head over to Airbound to coach gymnastics.

When he initially told me what his summer schedule would be I was concerned that I might be dragging him out of bed at 5:30 each morning.  However, I did not need to get him up even once.  He wasn't just up; he was cheerful!
I appreciate so much his positive and helpful attitude.

Some mornings he was finished by 10:00 and others he coached until 11-12:30. His favorite mornings consisted of a brief break to run home for Second Breakfast. He did great getting to bed at a decent time each night and was full of energy starting each new day but by the time he was home he was ready to crash on the couch or bed for a short nap and then he'd be ready for the rest of his day.

One morning he thought he could skip the nap but as he was talking to me while I was folding laundry his voice gradually got softer and he drifted off to sleep. I stood there and stared at him for a minute remembering his four years old nap routine. He would chatter and chatter at me while the older kids were in school and gradually talk himself to sleep.  I feel so blessed that he still loves to share his thoughts, dreams, frustrations and everyday details of his life with me.


Some of my favorite texts are random videos keeping me caught up on the latest tumbling tricks. Justin has to work really hard to do parkour flips and stunts because it is more style and creative than the structured and sharp tumbling that he has been trained in. He'd like to have a good balance of both in his portfolio.




During July the cheer team went to Layton, Utah for a three day cheer camp.

Of the four boys on the team, he was the only one able to do the full extension.  All those late night pull-ups in his doorway have now paid off.

Practicing this particular stunt left him with a huge shoe hickey on his collar bone and his hands were blistered from catching her in her shoes but those wounds were very minor compared to the rips and tears he used to get from the rings and parallel bars when he was training in competition gymnastics.  He likes this balance of minor wounds with major fun vs the major wounds for the minor fun.