September

Ogden Temple Open House

We took a mid-week day off to tour the Ogden, Utah Temple.  The tour went so fast - a rushed, crowded walk through - with no opportunity to answer the little boys questions or to even stop for a moment.  By the time we were shuffled out of the building with our very large group it felt as if the moment for our parental hopes of having a reverent, majestic experience fell a bit flat.  However, the time together through our travels, eating out and our brief discussion before family prayer that night made it evident that we had done our part by going and Heavenly Father would do the rest of the teaching to our little army of young men.

I love these people so much! Eternity is going to be a blast.


Back to School

Justin is the lone Edwards tackling high school for tenth grade.
Nathan and Hyrum are "growing their brains" in third and first grades at Hibbard Elementary.


ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Erika Jo and several other managers from Melaleuca participated in the challenge and she nominated LeRoy to do it also.

The poor picture quality is due to me taking screen shots from the video that was posted on Facebook.   I really wanted a picture because out of all the many videos that I saw of the ice bucket challenge, Erika Jo is the only person I saw throw her hands up in the air and cheer after having a bucket of ice dumped over her head.

LeRoy was so excited to do the challenge.  He asked a neighbor if he would be willing to dump a tractor bucket of ice water over him.  His 15 year old son, Cody, was thrilled to do it.

Hyrum did not want LeRoy to be left alone in the ice so he volunteered to do it with him.  I was ready with a towel, prepared for tears at the shock of how cold it would be.

He stood there silently through the whole thing and then ran around in circles squealing with shock and excitement.  Hyrum that is.  LeRoy stood there is a frozen shiver with a big grin of accomplishment.


Free Cupcakes For Sale

Chef Hyrum had an afternoon baking itch which he presented with the brilliant idea to take free cupcakes around the neighborhood.  When asked what he would say to people when they answered the door he squared his shoulders and in his best salesman voice pitched, "free cupcakes for sale".

Once the cupcakes were cool the boys slathered on an unhealthy helping of frosting, lined their trays with cupcakes and headed around the neighborhood to spread a little sugary cheer.

Before they left I explained the difference between "free" and "for sale" to make sure it was clear when they were on other's doorsteps.  Even with that explanation, one little girl Hyrum's age ran off and quickly returned, paying him $1.17 in coins.   "She liked my cupcakes so much that she just paid me anyway!"


Life is a Game

that the kids like to play on Sunday afternoons.

They also enjoy Jenga, Stratego, Uno and Wackee Six.
Each game also includes a round of wrestling, laughing, and the occasional tears.


School Spirit

During the week of Homecoming I asked Justin if he was going to dress up for any of the theme days.  "Mom, my school spirit is about a -1".  I laughed and didn't bring it up again.  Two days later he texted from the school and asked if I would mind if he was a cheerleader (all male squad) for the Powder Puff game (girls playing football).

Mind?  I'll be there for pictures and video! The boys tried to wear the girls cheer outfits but their manly hips, biceps, and pecks were just not going to let that happen.  A couple of the boys sucked it all in to get the tops on but they looked like they were about to bust through the seams with each arm raise.

I've never had a smidgen of desire to have a child be a cheerleader but my mother pride was bursting as I watched him shaking his hips, pumping his fists in the air and interacting with his peers in a positive, entertaining, clean-fun way.  At the end of Homecoming week I asked where his school spirit ranked now.  "Well, after cheering it was probably a +1 but then I skipped the assembly and the parade so I'm back to -1".


Quips

"I know you're gonna love it 'cause it's from me."   ~ Hyrum
He is exactly right.  Never have I imagined a crayola display of puppies above my headboard but my heart does a little flutter every time I walk into my room and see Hyrum's hard work taped up for me to enjoy.


"I'm going to save all my golden dollars until I'm a dad 'cause I've figured out that dad is actually the tooth fairy and I need to be prepared for when I'm a dad so I can be the tooth fairy."  ~ Nathan

"I'm thinking so fast I'm getting motion sickness!"  ~ Derek

"College is kind of fun.  Yes, I just said the "C" word."  ~ Levi

"I eat so much less now that I have to buy my own groceries!"  ~ Derek


Updates

Levi moved to Idaho Falls, is attending Eastern Idaho Technical College majoring in Web Development, and works at Radio Shack. His web development classes are more of a preview for him since he spent the past year doing online tutorials but his psychology class is a challenge he seems to be enjoying.  Daymia is living in Rexburg with roommates since her family moved to Mississippi, and just recently started working at Super Cuts.  She was glad to get rid of the drive to Idaho Falls every day, and working on Sundays, from her working days at Great Clips in Idaho Falls.

Erika was promoted to supervisor at Melaleuca.  She loves working days rather than nights, loves the teams that she works with, loves the paycheck, loves the bonuses and free products each month.  Bret is constantly doing homework, tests and projects as he finishes up his last year at BYU-I and also puts in very early morning work hours doing freight at the Dollar Tree.  Zyla, a sweet little kitten, recently joined their family.

Vivien is busy with her last year of high school, tutoring English, taking piano lessons, and working at a grocery store. On the 29th she turned the big 20! I've had a hard time arranging for a family picture this year, knowing that there will be a hole without her here. Photoshop?  We miss her so much!

Derek has moved to Logan, Utah and is working at Conservice. He spent the first couple of weeks walking the three miles to work and walking again the three miles home.  He tried riding his bike to work but was hit by a car which injured his foot and ruined his bike, forcing him to learn the free bus system. Sierra also moved to Logan to attend USU and Jacob went on a mission to Canada.  The house is so quiet with so little entertainment!  We miss their silliness, smiles, hugs!

Justin is in 10th grade and coaches gymnastics every day after school, adding up to 7-10 hours of work each week.  He has learned the names of nearly 100 kids, their skill levels and tricks.  It's fun to see kids recognize him at church or around town.  Some have run over to do knuckle bumps with him and some give a shy wave from a distance.

Nathan is progressing as quickly in gymnastics as Justin did and he brags about having Justin as his coach.  He loves going to Cub Scouts, taking piano lessons and having his two best friends in the neighborhood.

Hyrum's favorite new skill is reading chapter books.  He carries a book around with him almost everywhere.  He built an "idea wheel" with an aluminum pie plate, a cardboard arrow and a skewer and wrote on it "baking, read a book, cuddle time, build something".  When he isn't sure how to entertain himself he spins his idea wheel.

LeRoy is busy, busy, busy.  He has so much work he dreams about it, stresses about it, prays in gratitude about it and does his best to keep up.  It makes for long days and long nights (especially those in Jackson) but is also making it possible to overcome some of the built up debt from the struggles of the last few years.

Me?  I'm in the middle of a mid-life identity crisis.  Having half of the kids in my home move out and the other half go back to school leaves this Momma somewhat lost for about seven hours a day.  Without all the extra people at mealtime, I've had to learn how to make small meals and the need for goodies in the cupboard has all but disappeared so the baker in me feels a little less than fulfilled.  The adjustments are nothing to complain about; life is wonderful!

Abundant August

* Food *

Our raspberries went crazy!  They came on earlier, were bigger, tasted sweeter and continued to come through the entire month of August (which has not happened in the 14 years we have been growing raspberries). The little boys often went missing but we always found them searching among the bushes for their favorite fruit.

Nathan and Hyrum kept picking my tomatoes before I could get to them. It was nice when they finally ripened all together instead of one or two per day so that we could all sit around the plants and enjoy the fruits of our watering labors.


Derek and Sierra are not shy when it comes to cooking in the kitchen.

Sierra has requested a copy of the cookbook that I made for Erika so that she can continue with some of her favorite recipes that we make in the Edwards Kitchen.


* Family *

Kara, Max and Zane came to visit us for the last hurrah week before school started.  The boys all played so well together that it gave Kara and I plenty of time to catch up from our busy summers.

They spent nearly as much time wet as they did dry.

Refueling

Our little super heroes went around the block several times protecting our neighborhood.

We didn't go even one day without a Spider Man or two running around.

**********

Bret and Erika left for Colorado at 4:00 in the morning beginning the day with McDonalds.
I recognize that early morning glare.  Bret was very brave to get her up that early.

Their 2nd anniversary was spent feasting on sushi and hanging out with the Hellbusch family.


**********

Hyrum taught Levi how to ride a bike with training wheels.

**********

Levi surprised Daymia on her 21st birthday with a hot air balloon ride.  They loved it!

They even got to witness a ballooner-eclipse.

**********

When Levi was 11 years old he won a Yamaha Clavinova at a piano festival that he participated in.  A couple of years ago several keys started sticking but since it wasn't being used much I didn't pay to have it fixed.  It has served as a dust magnet in our basement.

Erika has missed playing the piano so asked Levi if she could take it to her apartment. He didn't want to send it to her broken so the two of them watched YouTube videos, read online instructions, took it apart and fixed those sticky keys.


* Friends *

Nathan and Hyrum were thrilled to have pool parties with their friends!

Brock

Camdyn and Jensen



* Fun *

Nathan had a surge of creativity that led he and LeRoy to build a marshmallow catapult.

Can we ever have too many trampoline pictures?  Yes. The answer is YES.  But when they keep calling to me to take pictures of their tricks I have to.  I can't let this kind of skill go undocumented.

Justin hides some of his talents.  Wiggling his ears, wiggling them one at a time, doing a rabbit nose and chipmunk cheeks while wiggling his ears; he just needs to share more.  That's what moms and cameras are for.

* Fluffy, Fury Felines *

They keep the mice and snakes away.
They cuddle up with us when they are in the house and know they shouldn't be.
They laze around with us on hot summer days.
They chase us when we run through the yard.
They sit on the edge of the trampoline or under it, begging for attention.
We love them.

Arizona, Egypt, and The Flood of 2014

ARIZONA

Are we there yet?
How much longer?
How many more hours?
That covers the first 20 minutes of our travels.

MacGyver, Dr. Quinn, and Merlin filled the remaining 30 hours.


LeRoy is not one to stop and smell the roses so the trip to our destination is always straight through with only required potty breaks.
Pictures at 80mph are the only solution.

Hyrum called out in excitement as he found "mom's mountain with a K on it".
The rocks, caves, bridges and burning mountain were only a blurry spec on our way through.

LeRoy had meetings with Legal Shield each day from 10-4 so the boys and I spent time wandering Phoenix.  With Phoenix at 112 degrees we spent most of our time in the pools at the resort or indoors with air conditioning.

One of the highlights of our wanderings was a Crepe Bar that Justin located online.
We drove the 30 minutes to find it and were not disappointed!

The small shop was overcrowded and we waited in line for 35 minutes just to order but the service and food were completely worth the wait.  The boys were so satisfied with their meals that they all wrote messages on a napkin to leave with an unexpected tip for our waiter. He was shocked as Nathan handed it to him as we left.

On the way home we stopped to see the Grand Canyon.
Our brief day there did not even cover a smidgen of glory that it holds but what we did see left us breathless.

The Watch Tower at Grand Canyon

Justin did his trademark handstands and an advanced plank, "just to see the bottom."

He was pretty impressed with himself for keeping the rules and not stepping on the sundial.



EGYPT

I wish I could say that we hopped on a plane somewhere near the Grand Canyon and headed right over to Egypt but our penny banks are not that hefty.  While we were in Arizona on a family trip, Vivien and her mom were having their summer family trip in Egypt.

We went on a trip to Luxor. For me it was just a bunch of old rocks. But everybody seemed to like it :D I mean I did too but its kind of hard when its 104 outside and you have a backpack and a camera, you also don't wanna drink too much cause you don't wanna be peeing in those bathrooms. Yes it was hot. Very hot. And exhausting. But I am  glad we went anyway. Seen some tombs in the kings of valley and well other old rocks I don't remember the name of :D we also had a stop at a place where they made vases and little statues and stuff from rocks - alabaster. I really enjoyed that one. They showed us how is it made and its impressive what can they do just with their hands and some old tools. We also had a boat ride on Nile! Got some wind there :D

On our last day Friday we went to that missed trip. Were on a boat which had a glass bottom so you could see the fish and corals. Then we changed boats and went snorkeling. More fish and corals! Cool stuff. Our guide guy was really good! He was swimming like crazy! :D He has a diving license too. And he was playing titanic on the boat, He was standing on the railing just like that. I would have fallen into the sea just sitting on it! I have a picture of him :D then we went to a island which was nice too! The water there was so shallow you walked 100metres and it was still just u to your ankles :D then we went exhausted back to the hotel and realized we were going home! Sad sad moment.



The Flood 

The rains came down

and the floods came up!

What we thought was just an exciting rain storm out in the country was actually a flash flood that hit the center of Rexburg. While Daymia, Nathan and Hyrum were playing in the rain, major damage was caused around town.  BYUI had flooding in several buildings, a couple of main apartment complexes had lower levels completely under water and many basements and main levels flooded in homes around town.  Roads were converted to waterways because the city drains could not handle the sudden deluge and main street businesses also dealt with water seeping under the doors. The situation left many students and families without homes but empty apartments were filled, families took in families and service became the theme of the July 15th flood.    

Madelyn

Shawn and Kellie needed to make a trip to France in preparation for their move to Africa.  Madelyn's passport didn't come through in time so . . . we got to keep her!!!  For two whole weeks!  It was the most peaceful two weeks of the whole summer.
We fell head-over-heels in love with her!

She turned two months old while with us so Kellie planned ahead and sent her "2" onesie so that we could take a few pictures for her.  We used the outfit Kellie sent but then Hyrum wanted to put his favorite bow on her.  I think she wore the thin blue bow almost every day, just for Hyrum.

When I was on my way home from Utah with our new baby girl, Erika kept texting me to see how close we were.  Since I had a couple of stops along the way I would update her and then travel on.  When we finally pulled into the subdivision Erika came running down the driveway to meet us and before I could even get out of the van she had Madelyn's car seat out and was headed for the house.  Erika came over every day for those two weeks.  She went into complete mommy mode doing diapers, feedings, fussy time, baby talk, making silly faces, and cuddling.

There was actually a little fighting over Madelyn.  Everyone wanted her.

Nathan and Hyrum each had hurt feelings because they always wanted to be the first one to feed her.  Hyrum insisted that she be by him to do his summer workbook and every morning he would sneak up to her bed and peek in on her to see if she was awake.  Even when the boys were outside playing in the pool they would pause long enough to run over and check her car seat to make sure that she was still happy and the sun wasn't shining on her.

Justin was a bit more distant but even he couldn't resist those big eyes, beautiful smile and the possibility that she might giggle for him.

Derek was receiving his Patriarchal Blessing while she was with us and because Justin was nervous about having her all by himself I decided last minute to take her, figuring that she had been awake all during church, had just eaten and was ready for a nap.  Without grabbing a diaper bag or anything else we snapped a couple of pictures of her with Derek (because he was holding her while I got the car seat and my shoes and the comparison of her tiny little body with his lengthy body deserved a picture) and we left.

This is a blessing that Derek will never forget and I'm pretty sure he will tease his younger cousin about it for the rest of her life.  She did fall asleep within minutes and stayed asleep during the first part of our conversation with the Patriarch Flamm.  She stirred a bit, opened her big eyes, gave me a grin, pushed until her face went red, and filled her diaper.  I didn't even bring the diaper bag!  Derek seemed to be the only other one who noticed it - LeRoy and the patriarch are either deaf or oblivious - and it smelled!  Her transition from breast milk to formula was doing a number on her digestive system and the results were stinky!  I had to get her out of the car seat because she started fussing but I also had to worry about a diaper blow out because she had repeated the grunting explosion a couple of more times.

Derek and I had eye contact several times while the conversation was taking place, again, with LeRoy and Brother Flamm clueless to the situation.  When Brother Flamm stood to give the blessing, Madelyn was getting fussier and fussier.  Man, I really wanted to stay!  Derek winked at me and mouthed, "it's okay".  I said a little prayer in my heart that Madelyn would calm down long enough for the blessing, I stood to carefully cradle her without putting pressure on her overfilled diaper, and popped that pacifier in her mouth.  As soon as the patriarch started, she calmed down, fell asleep, slept through the blessing and also me transferring her to her car seat to go home and she didn't wake up until I was in the process of changing her overflowing diaper.  We all had a good laugh over that, especially when the smell took over the van on the way home and Derek and I filled LeRoy in on all the details.  Ah, Madelyn, you'll never live this one down.

After we gave Madelyn back I was looking through pictures and realized that there is not one of the two of us together (unless we count the one of me giving her a bath in the little sink in the kitchen where my arms are almost visible).  All those hours and days and smiles that we spent together and not one photograph to prove it and I won't see her again for at least a year.

However, I will forever remember the cuddles, the peace, the almost-giggles, the cries, the late nights and early mornings and the love she brought to our home.  Having her with us was a blessing that I didn't know I was praying for.

As we headed down to Arizona for our family trip, we dropped Madelyn off with Kara.  Kellie would return from France in two days to get her.  It was so incredibly hard to let her go.  The boys were even begging that we take her with us and then leave her with Kellie as we returned home.  When we got to Kara's house Madelyn was more than ready to eat so while Kara gave us a tour of her new house I held Madelyn and fed her.  By the time LeRoy was in the van, honking for me to come, Madelyn had cuddled up on my chest and I just didn't want to give her away.  I realized then that the circumstances of me taking her from Kellie had been a blessing.  We had been rushed going two different directions in two different vehicles so Madelyn was in her car seat when Kellie had to quickly leave. Kellie choked up and was teary eyed as she kissed her on the head and said goodbye.  As I handed Madelyn over to Kara I was so grateful that Kellie didn't have to hand over her sweet baby to me, even knowing she was in good hands and would be loved. It would have been even more painful than kissing her goodbye in her car seat.

A couple of weeks later, Madelyn was blessed and the Boyd family packed up and moved to Africa.

I can't wait to see them all again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My other baby experience for the summer came more in the form of grandma training than mommy.  I went to Cami and Ben's home in Twin Falls to stay with their children, George and Sarah, while Cami had a c-section and Hannah joined their family.  It was fun to fill the grandma role while my mom serves a mission but it was strange to leave my teenage run household to join the scheduled home of toddlers.

I've only seen George and Sarah a couple of times but we became fast friends and I loved my three days with them.  We went on walks around the neighborhood, went to see the Twin Falls Temple, and walked to the hospital to visit their mommy.

Ben, Cami, George, Sarah, Hannah

Before I left Twin Falls I went to the hospital to spend some a couple of hours with Cami.  I enjoyed hearing all of the details of the delivery and meeting her Harley riding doctor.  We laughed and cried together and holding her little red-headed Hannah woke up so many memories of being baby hungry.  I admire Cami and Ben and adore their children!

July

Color in Motion 5K
Justin, Kimber, Daymia, Levi
Michelle Ray with her children Carsen, Mady and Ethan
Terra Sargeant with her friend

Even with our late night 4th of July Celebration, we were up bright and early groggy and at the "butt-crack of dawn" to walk a 5K.  It took some coaxing to get my tired body out of bed and threats to get the others to roll out of theirs. Levi and Justin were grumbling and complaining that I had forced them to sign up and made it clear that they were only there for me but when the color started flying they lightened up and joined in the fun.  The music playing throughout the park also helped.

LeRoy was our photographer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We bought a donkey!

Our family has been following the Dando Amor organization created in Rexburg as they have built orphanages in Ecuador and Africa.  We also keep tabs on a family that is adopting a teen boy from Ecuador and have included them in our prayers. I dream of taking my kids on a trip with Dando Amor but for now the best we can do is spy on them, watch and encourage friends as they make the trips, help in the shoe drives, help put together hygiene kits and now, buy a donkey.

Nathan and Hyrum were looking at Dando Amor pictures with me and I read to them the reasons that people buy donkeys to donate to the families and orphanage in Africa.  They ran off and I assumed were going to play.  They both came back to the computer with their spending jars and said they wanted to buy a donkey. I was more than a little surprised since they had been saving their spending money for our big trip to Arizona and by the time they pay tithing and set money aside for their long term savings, their spending money doesn't add up very fast.  They dumped their banks out onto the floor and started counting.

Later that night, which happened to be Monday night FHE, we invited the rest of the family to join us and with our combined coins, dollars and Paypal account we purchased a donkey. Two days later we were sent pictures from our friends who were in Africa helping with the donkey purchases.  The little boys now have a framed picture of their donkey, that they named Jesse, hanging in their room.  That souvenir is much better than anything they would have purchased in Arizona.

P.S. Nathan was reading a book about animals and during the quiet time he asked, "mom, what's an ass?"

I tried to hide the giggle in my voice, "that's another name for donkey".

"Oh," he replied, "so we bought an ass for that family in Africa!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The latest in acrobatics at our house is the 1-2-UP! that the boys invented.  Justin holds hands with them while they bounce together and when they have a good even bounce Justin hollers out 1-2 and on the UP! he gives them an extra bounce to boost them high above him.  The idea is for them to be one straight line and they get pretty darn close.

One of the boys snuck the water hose over to the trampoline while they were jumping with Levi.

They laughed and squealed and took turns being in charge of the hose.  After taking turns jumping over the water spray, Hyrum insisted on washing Levi's pits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I often ponder at how different Derek and Justin are and how Nathan and Hyrum seem so much like them.  They each have their own skills, talents, preferences and personalities but there is an obvious pattern among the four of them.

Justin does like to spend time outside, usually on the trampoline or flipping around in the yard but he does not necessarily like camping, gardening or yardwork. He does mow the lawn without complaint because he can sit on the mower and listen to music without getting dirty.  He does not like physical labor work with LeRoy or getting his hands and clothes dirty in the shop.  He would rather be learning and doing computer programming, working up 3D projects in Blender on the computer or watching TV series through Netflix.

Nathan is practically his twin.  He spends adequate time outside but prefers to be indoors playing the Wii or watching shows.  Rarely is he in the dirt piles or rummaging through Dad's treasures (aka, junk pile) and though he goes camping with us, he is usually grumbling that he is bored.

Derek on the other hand only does computer stuff when it's required for school or necessary for work.  He would much rather be outside building and creating, usually pulling his materials from the junk pile.  His pants always look dirty;  his pockets are always full of nails, screws and sawdust; his hands are smashed up from hammers, scarred from burns and cuts and he thrives on the great outdoors.  Winter is hard for him because he gets bored inside so he'll bundle up and go create outside until he is freezing.

Having a cast on did not slow Derek down at all. That thing was filthy and smelly!

Hyrum has shadowed Derek enough that now he wanders out to the trash pile on his own to "build stuff".  He seldom makes it through a full TV episode or movie before he is acting it out playing "magination" and he isn't at all afraid to go hang out all alone in the shed.  He easily gets restless when stuck in a vehicle for long and church is practical torture in his mind.

Derek's latest shields are built from old water heaters that he and LeRoy replaced.  He removed the insulation, cut the heavy steel bladder into thirds, attached handles onto the back, cut the shape he wanted and drew the design.

 These are HEAVY, 17.4 pounds to be exact, and very large.  That is a cello next to his shield, not a violin.  With the sword that Derek built (pictured above), he, Jacob and Chris have battles where they actually swing the long, heavy, deadly sword  and protect themselves with the equally heavy, bulky shields.  The marks on the shields are actual battle wounds (as are the bruises from misplaced hits).


Some of Hyrum's newest creations are his "Thinking Cap" and "Something Cool." For nearly two weeks he would put his thinking cap on before doing his workbook pages each morning. How does it work?

"Well, this long screw pokes into your brain and your thoughts suck up the screw into the hat part and then go down the hooks so that you can see them.  It really works!  I promise!  But sometimes it can hurt a little." - Hryum, age 6

His "Something Cool" bordered on dangerous.  I wasn't home when he finished it and brought it to the house to show Justin.  He had taken an rusty can and damaged motor fan, some plugs and odd objects and hooked them all together.  When he plugged it in the fan sparked and started running.  The sparks scared the heebie jeebies out of Justin and he wouldn't let Hyrum touch it again until LeRoy got home.  He was then given a simplified version of how electricity works and promised not to plug things in again until Dad checked them out first.