Cabin-ing

This was our first time staying in a cabin instead of a tent to "camp".

September, 2011

LeRoy was asked by a friend do some electrical work at a cabin in Island Park. Instead of doing it as a paying job we opted to trade for a weekend stay at the cabin over Labor Day weekend. After the kids got home from school on Friday and we got everything loaded up we started our weekend away. We got there after dark so didn't get to take in our outdoor surroundings until the next morning.

The inside sent me right back to the 80's with the baby blue and light pink floral decorating most of the rooms, needle points framed in ruffled hoops, floral hats on the walls and the green couch that welcomed us in the entry way.

The kitchen was great! I was told that the kitchen would have basic supplies in it but that thing had all condiments in the fridge, the cupboards had all baking supplies and there were even crackers and cereal. I found out later that the cabin is used nearly every weekend by someone in their family so they keep it full of supplies throughout the summer.

The next morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise, took a quiet morning walk down to the lake and enjoyed the peaceful calm of nature waking up for the day. The kids were happy to see the swing and trampoline near the cabin. I was thrilled to not have cell service or electronics interfering with family time.

We are not really a water family but it is still enticing when only knee deep. The boys had fun wading in it and the older boys entertained us with their karate kid impressions on the lone rock.

It was so fun to have Kate, Korben, and Logan join us for the weekend. I love watching the cousins play together and the older boys watching out protectively for all of them.

After a day of wandering and playing we let the boys choose a movie to watch before bedtime. Of all the movies we had there they chose Tangled. The perfect boy movie. The boys didn't even notice Kate taking pictures of them but Erika and Vivien did their best to hide from the camera.

Since we were "camping" we had to have a campfire to cook marshmallows over. Vivien had never had marshmallows before and decided after one sticky, crusty, hot blob of straight sugar that it really wasn't her thing.

Two of my favorite pictures from the weekend:

My teens

My man

It's a Girl!

After years of wishing and waiting and begging, Erika finally has a sister.

Vivien's first night in the USA

It began a couple of years ago when my cousin asked us to host an exchange student. The timing wasn't right in our family and to be honest we never thought it would be to add another teenager to the mix. Then we were asked to host for the International Dance Festival which we thought we could handle for a week but they had only given us 2 weeks notice and we couldn't clear the entire week to commit to just the dancers so we turned the offer away with a "maybe next year" response. We went to the opening night of the International Dance Festival and afterward spent time on the field with the dancers and other host families and committed that next year we would host, making sure that we could clear a week to just party with the dancers.

That was Saturday night.

On Sunday, after church, LeRoy saw that he had another text from my cousin concerning hosting an exchange student. It was the third time he had asked this year. LeRoy called to tell him it still wasn't a good time but while they were on the phone the thought came to my mind, "trust me". I paused just long enough to hear it again and then wrote down a bunch of questions for LeRoy to ask about hosting. After nearly an hour on the phone we told him we would talk to the kids and get back with him that night.

The kids were immediately excited. They probably thought hosting would be a constant party like we had had on the field the night before so we discussed the realities of adding another teenager for the whole school year. In reality, we had no idea what we were in for. We had a family prayer then called my cousin back to have him send us the profiles of the students, with the commitment that we would be a "welcome family" which meant we would pick up the student at the airport and keep them until a permanent host family could be found. At the most we were looking at about 2 months.

We read through 8 different profiles, all girls as we had requested. They were from a variety of countries, had a variety of religious preferences, some liked animals, some didn't, all were from small families, most from split families. We went through a bundle of personal letters from the students and their parents trying to pick a student that we thought would blend best with our family.

After reading all eight profiles on my own I narrowed the list down to three, but I felt very strongly about one girl in particular. I gave those three profiles to Derek and Justin and asked who they would choose. It didn't take them long and they chose the same girl that I had. After Erika got home from her friend's house I gave her the three profiles and she too chose the same girl. Later that night LeRoy and I read through those three together, with me trying to keep my personal preference to myself and he also chose the same girl. The next day we contacted my cousin again and told him that we would like to invite Vivien to stay with us. His e-mail back was just the confirmation we needed. "When I kept contacting you to host, this is the exact girl that I had in mind. I think it will be a perfect match." He even tried to bet us that we would end up keeping her for the whole year instead of just being the welcome family. We were still unsure.

Over the next 2 weeks we "met" Vivien through e-mail and even more pictures. She made her flight plans and arrangements to leave home for 10 months. We reorganized the guest room to be her room and went through a bit of training to know the school policies and ICES rules for hosting a student.

And then August 20th was here. The day we were to meet our new (temporary) family member.

Erika was very antsy as we waited at the Idaho Falls airport. We had decided to just have Erika and I pick her up since she didn't have any brothers and was from a small family. After 24 hours of travel and an 8 hour time difference we didn't want to overwhelm her from the start. I had to hold back tears as we recognized Vivien through the sliding doors and Erika went right up to her and gave her a hug. She looked exhausted, with a touch of excitement. The trip from Idaho Falls was rather quiet. Vivien was unsure of the language. We were unsure what questions to ask or information to give. She was surprised at the size of the school as we drove past it and even more surprised when we got to our house and suddenly she had 5 brothers.

It took us a couple of weeks to get acquainted. There have been some jealousy issues from our kids, some homesickness from Vivien, some awkward moments, days of crying and uncertainty and all of that has turned into a whole lot of laughter, friendly banter among all the kids, and so many wonderful memories.

The struggles we had overcome during the first two weeks had molded us together as a family and we couldn't imagine her being anywhere but with us. We officially changed our status from welcome family to host family, also changing Vivien's status from temporary family member to life long family member. It will be a very sad day when she boards a plane to go back to Slovakia but in the mean time we will live it up and enjoy the 10 months that we have together. It turns out that hosting IS a constant party. Wackee Six, Apples to Apples, the Tootsie Roll Game, Farkle, In a Pickle, and even Saturday chore time all give us hours of entertainment, side slitting laughter, practice with colors, numbers, vocabulary, story telling and finding that working together can actually be fun.

The best way to relax and laugh without any language barriers during the first week was to play Wackee Six. Vivien got so good at it that she beat us nearly every time.

Even doing homework together has become a party. It's good to see the kids rally around Vivien to help her with US Government, English, Health, Adult Roles, and even practicing lines for Drama.

Another School Year

August 2011

Nathan is ready for kindergarten!!

Nathan has been so excited for school to start. During the month before school started he often requested in his prayers, "please let time go fast so I can go to school and learn everything." He has come a long way from the socially shy little boy that couldn't leave his mama's side and didn't seem to have an ounce of anxiety as I dropped him off with his class. He was even excited for the daily bus ride, loving the 15 minutes of social time with all the neighbor kids.

Waiting for the kindergarten carpool. He was pretending to be pouty because it was taking so long for his ride to come.

Justin is starting 7th grade. This year the 7th grade was moved from the Middle School to the new Jr. High (the old high school building) so preteen Justin is being thrown in with all the teenager hormones of the 8th and 9th graders. Yikes!

Before school started we spent a day at the High School getting Vivien registered and helping Vivien and Derek get acquainted with the layout of the school.

Erika Jo is a senior. Senior-itis hit when she was a freshman so this could be a long year for her. Derek is a sophomore. This will be his first year in the new High School and he seems most excited for his building and science classes. Vivien is registered as a senior so that she can take advantage of all the senior activities and experience crossing stage as a graduate even though her year here will not count towards any of her schooling in Slovakia.

Erika, Derek and Vivien rode the bus on the first day of school mostly because Vivien was excited to ride the big American yellow school bus. One morning was enough experience and now they ride with Erika's friend Ali every morning. After school Derek and Vivien still ride the bus home even though it is, according to Vivien, "crowded and loud". Erika usually wanders her way home with a friend.

And what does Hyrum do while the others, more specifically, his buddy Nathan, is at school?

After running errands with Mom, eating lunch and reading stories there's always time for a nap with Harrison.

Blown But Not Beaten

August 2011

We have lived in this house for three years now and the outdoor garbage can has been in the same place all three of those years. Mr. Wind seemed to have quite an attitude this summer, nearly taking our trampoline to the neighbors yard, knocking in part of the playhouse, blowing our electrical dump pile all over the fields around us, ripping several shingles off our roof (which the boys didn't mind at all replacing), and he seemed to have some trashy vendetta against our garbage can. Several times he blew it over while it innocently waited by the road for the garbage man to come, but even more annoying than that was when he dumped our garbage can into the window well, not only once but three times! He couldn't ever do it on a Wednesday after the garbage had been picked up. Nope, he always chose a Sunday or Monday when it was chuck full.

Big Blue now lives in the garage.

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Getting a we've-been-in-an-accident-and-I-need-a-phone-number phone call leaves plenty of room for panic. Luckily, the one to call was LeRoy, not an officer, and he quickly told me that he and Derek were okay but couldn't give me details right then. It was a long 2 1/2 hours before I got the full story and could see both of my boys to know they were for sure doing alright.

LeRoy was pulling a rented mini excavator home after a day's work, moving slowly because of the winds. Even with all his caution the trailer carrying the mini started fish tailing. The area that he was in had a drop off on one side so he did his best to control the truck to the opposite side of the road and told Derek to hold on as the trailer and mini went on it's side first, pulling the truck over as well. The trailer and mini continued rolling, crushing the cab of the mini and destroying all it's controllers.

This experience could have turned out so differently and as I think back on the finer details it is obvious that the blessings far outweigh any hardships that came from this. Sure, we were without a truck, we were suddenly in an insurance battle over the repairs of the mini, the truck was eventually labeled "totalled" and we had to find and make purchasing arrangements for a new truck before the whole thing was settled BUT

1) they didn't go over the side of the mountain.

2) There were no major injuries - Derek did have sore knees from being thrown into the dash and a seat belt burn from hanging in his belt until LeRoy could climb over him and out the passenger window - they didn't want Derek to go out first in case he fell on LeRoy while trying to get out.

3) I was so grateful to be fighting the insurance, or rather, having LeRoy make all those necessary phone calls with the insurance and attorneys, instead of me making major medical decisions or funeral arrangements without LeRoy.

3) The mini only had minor damage to it so the cost to us was minimal. Certainly not cheap but it could have been a whole lot more.

4) Our insurance reimbursed us enough for our truck to pay off the mini and still set us up to get another truck that left us with a lower loan balance and monthly payment.

5) Derek drives with a caution that I have yet to see from my other teen drivers. He doesn't drive with fear but with awareness, knowing full well how quickly something can happen.

It's still a mystery how LeRoy walked away with no injuries. His window was knocked out as it hit the road but his head did not hit the window or the road. Even with the shattered glass around him he did not have one cut. The driver's side dash and floor area was compressed into an A and yet LeRoy's hands, legs and feet were unaffected. Our biggest concern was his back. He did feel a little sore and we weren't sure if it was a new injury or just from being jarred around and then climbing out the window like a contortionist. After an MRI scan we were relieved to find that his back is in a lot better shape than any of the previous scans before his three surgeries.

Two weeks later:

LeRoy's Birthday Highlights

Happy 44th Birthday

August 3, 2011

With a ping pong table in the basement LeRoy has become quite a competitive ping pong player. Of course, pool still holds the number one spot for his favorite game but ping pong is a close second. When Erika and I were in Chicago we went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant and as soon as Erika saw these she knew that's what she would do for her Dad's birthday. They had watched Forrest Gump earlier in the year so it was like sealing a memory for them.

I wanted to give LeRoy a couple of pictures of myself. He has one on his nightstand but it's from 10 years ago and he had hinted that he needed an updated one. I went all out . . . way out of my comfort zone. I called Michelle, my photographer girlfriend, and arranged to have some pictures done. I think he liked them, even though I hadn't made the time yet to get frames (it gave us something new to do on a date).

The first one got an "ohhhh" reaction. It was a nice picture, the more quiet side of Kimber.

The second one got a big old "ooh, la, la" reaction. The kids and I were a little embarrassed.

I have never don't usually pose like this but Michelle made me do it. It was worth a lot of good teenager-ish, yeah-I'm-pretending-I'm-hot laughs, a fun afternoon with my friend and sister, and it did get the reaction from LeRoy that Michelle had promised. Just the boost I needed as my biological clock ticks awfully close to 40.

I did peanut butter cupcakes (peanut butter is his favorite) and decorated them as pool balls. For the pool rack I shaped no-bake peanut butter cookie dough and framed it around the "balls".

After each of us ate a section of rack and a ball we headed to the basement to play ping pong and pool. I'd like to say that we let him win since it was his birthday but in reality he creamed us as usual.

Oh, What Do We Do in the Summertime?

Summer 2011

We play baseball for hours

And take outdoor showers

We ride wire spools

And catch the full moon

We relax on the swing

And do crazy things

Especially Justin on the trampoline

On Sundays we take a long drive

And enjoy the fresh air outside

A Boyd Visit

July 2011

We always look forward to our summer visits from Shawn and Kellie's family. Our families seem to blend well together and of course Kellie and I love staying up through the wee hours of the morning chatting without an ocean or phone line between us.

The smaller kids had a great time playing in the sprinklers and pool and we went through quite a bit of sunscreen in 2 days. It was so nice to sit on the porch swing and watch them from the comforts of our own yard instead of needing to put on momma bathing suits and try to keep an eye on our own kids among a pool full of strangers and splashers. And there was no panic (or very little panic) of drowning involved.

We love simple summer dinners! Bread & milk or burritos and everyone is happy...even the moms who don't have to bake in the summer heat or clean up a big mess in the kitchen.

Our kids pair off perfectly and each pair has it's own unique qualities and cuteness. Derek and Brendan both love to create and build things with their amazingly brilliant minds. Justin and Jeremy are the entertainment of the crowd. Not just loud but funny. They can take off together or pal around with the younger kids but they are seldom alone.

Nathan and Andie are just adorable together. They are like a little couple. They are best friends, they argue, they can sit quietly to read or color or they can have the whole toy room set up as they play imagination in their own pretend little family.

Hyrum and Hailey are our babies. Hyrum adores Hailey and she doesn't seem to mind the hugs. This time around the age difference didn't seem to get in the way near as much as they played together and filled the role of "kids" for Andie and Nathan's playtime.

Nathan and Hyrum get so excited when Shawn comes. Since LeRoy's back surgeries he is unable to wrestle with the boys or throw them around like he did with our older kids so Shawn fills in. He can really make them laugh with his stories and they always feel so important after hanging out with Uncle Shawn.

Kellie was able to sneak a picture of Levi on the way to Arizona. He usually hides from the camera so we are always excited to catch one with him looking and smiling.

Levi and Shawn have been buddies since Levi was four. They wrote back and forth through Shawn's mission and a tour to Afghanistan and Levi even joined Shawn and Kellie in a picture at their wedding where it would look like he is their kid. Shawn and Kellie started taking him on trips with them when he was about 12. They have been to Disneyland, Las Vegas, many museums, Peru and Machu Picchu, a Grand Canyon camp and hike, and this year they went to Arizona for camping and hiking. Levi fits in so well with Shawn's family that he is almost like one of the brothers but he also holds a bit of the big brother roll for Shawn and Kellie's kids.

I regretted not having any pictures of Kellie and I together from when she lived here for a couple of months so this trip I made it a point to get some. It just so happened that I was having a friend, Michelle, take pictures of me as part of a birthday gift for LeRoy and Kellie was going with me for the pictures. She also knows Michelle so it was very comfortable (and FUN) to get our pictures taken together. It was a really good thing we did it this way because the two of us aren't in any of the other pictures that were taken this trip.

Edwards vs. Edwards

LeRoy and Louie

July 2-5th

It was a great to have Louie, Donis and Lilly with us for a few days. Little old Rexburg doesn't come close to California but we had a great time together. Derek and Lilly were once again inseparable and silly to no end (just like last summer during the Edwards family reunion in Texas). And it was quite obvious that Lilly and Erika are related. They could be sisters.

Day 1: LeRoy, Louis, Donis, Lilly and Derek went to Jackson Hole to play tourists. LeRoy worked there for a couple of years so is quite familiar with it and makes a very good tour guide.

Day 2: we loaded up our families and headed to Yellowstone Park. The older kids and I hadn't been there since Derek was a toddler and we had gone in on snow machines so it was like visiting a completely different place during the summer.

We started with a picnic lunch near the entrance of the park. The kids had a blast splashing in the river. . .

while LeRoy made up the traditional Edwards' picnic lunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

We spent the entire day wandering through only the first 30 miles of the park yet it never got boring. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was perfect and it was so great to be out of cell phone range. We were mesmerized by the paint pots, steaming "whistles", animals, remains of the Yellowstone fire of the 90's and the beautiful new growth since then.

After about 4 hours of walking, the older kids parked it on a bench on one of the trails. They (mostly Lilly and Erika) donned random accents and started asking everyone who walked by where they were from, trying to get the same question asked of them so they could wow and impress with their linguistical talents - or lack thereof. Most people kept walking and ignored them, some would simply answer where they were from as they walked by and there were even a few who stopped to chat - they were the ones visiting from other countries.

There's always some kind of competition with these two. Even to see who can handle a camera the best. Louie won. He just had a better camera, even if it was brand new and he didn't really know how to use it yet. This is the result of them staring each other down in a photo taking contest.

On the way home we stopped to see Mesa Falls. The mosquitos were so bad, swarming actually, that we literally ran to the falls, took a quick picture and ran back to the cars. It was torture standing still without swatting hands while being eaten alive! I was so thankful that Erika had volunteered to keep the younger boys in the car. There was a lot of panicked "Shut the door! Shut the door!" yelling going on as we loaded up as fast as we could.

Day 3: We went to the Rexburg 4th of July Parade. Donis and I had a great time sitting back in our lawn chairs to soak up the sun while LeRoy and Louie made sure the kids didn't get run over while snatching candy out of the road.

The Edwards boys put on an evening fire works show for us. They seemed to have fun even with the burned fingers, deafening noise and a cold Idaho evening.

By the time they got ready to leave I had to make sure that Louie or Donis didn't sneak Hyrum into their car. He took quite a liking to the two of them and they were so enamored by not only his adorable smile and fantastic hugs but his complete lack of teenage sass that I was afraid they'd take off with him.