Summer Summer Summertime!!

Summer is flying by and August is fast approaching...before it is gone, I thought I would share my top 10 reasons for loving summer...there is no particular order, just the way they jumbled out of my brain and onto the screen...

1- Love having my kids all to myself, and not sharing them with teachers, friends or other activities unless I choose to.  What can I say, I am selfish with my kiddos :)

2- Love my garden...love the sweat and effort that goes into planting and caring for our little garden...love the feeling of satisfaction that comes from enjoying the fruits of our labors...love working in the garden with my kids, and even pulling weeds :)

3- OK, I'll admit it, I LOVE being the Snowie Lady at the Widowmaker Hill Climb...Love earning a little income for two days of work, because for the rest of the year, I am paid in HUGS and KISSES which is satisfying, but doesn't get you anything but weird looks when you try to spend them at the store!  And I love serving up SUGARY GOODNESS to cute little kiddos...what can I say, it is fun :)

4-  Love watching my kids irrigate the lawn, and play in our "poor man's pool"  Yes, it is dirty and hard work, but they love playing together in the irrigation water...I always tell them NOT to drink the water, so far nobody has gotten sick.

5- Love the 4th of July...family...food...FIREWORKS...What's not to love??  I especially love the Henefer Fireworks, they do a great job, and are five minutes from our house!!

6-  Love mowing my lawn...Yep, I know this one is dorky, but I love mowing the lawn...Mostly because nobody bothers me while I ride around and aorund for about three hours...it's a great time for thinking, because the only things you can hear are the lawnmower and your own thoughts.

7-  Love the FLOWERS!!  They are beautiful and cheerful, they brighten my day, and I love filling my garden and my front porch with their cheer...I just wish the weeds were as pretty as the flowers that they overtake :)

8-  LOVE FAMILY TRIPS!!  Love spending time as a family going new places and seeing and experiencing new adventures...This year, we are going to sunny CALI to visit my brother and I CAN'T WAIT!!  I love the trips that we take with the WILDE family each year, and I have missed them these past few summers.

9-  Love going to work with Logan and the kids...Whether it is up on the Mountain to move the sheep camps, or out to change the water, I love spending time with my sweetie...Love going up on the mountain with him, it is so peaceful and beautiful, you can almost ignore the truckful of noisy kiddos :)  I just realized that I haven't been up the hill yet this summer, I will have to remedy that SOON!!!

10-  Love LAZY SUMMER DAYS...you know, the ones where nobody gets out of bed before 10 am...no chores get done all day long...nobody fixes hair...we eat cold cereal for dinner, and it's OK...somehow these days are much more acceptable in the summer!!

There are just a few of the reasons that I LOVE this time of year.  There are many more, like movie nights at the park, the county fair and swimming at Aunt Annie's...I could go on, but you guys would get bored, and quit reading, so I won't.  Here's hoping that your summer is as enjoyable as ours is this year :)

Happy Birthday to You (and YOU and yes, YOU TOO!!)

So, as if you couldn't tell by the title, we have LOTS of birthdays at our home in the month of July.  We started with Reed's seventh birthday on Friday the 15th.  Which happened to fall in the middle of the Gibby Family Campout.  So for his birthday, he got to spend time playing with cousins, having snowcones, and a HUGE cake.  He then got to stay up late for an outdoor movie, topped off with sleeping in the tent ALL BY HIMSELF with Mom.  (I am NOT a camper, so I hope I earned extra brownie points for that one!!)  The next day he informed me that the movie was a girl show (Ramona and Beezus) and that the cake didn't count because it had EVERYBODY"S NAME on it, not just his!!  But I still got credit for sleeping out in a tent with him.  What can I say, you can't please everyone all the time, and sometimes you just have to be happy with what you get :)  Keep that in mind....
Next up was Charlotte's tenth on Monday.  For her birthday, she really wanted to go swimming.  But Dad was out of town, and I didn't think I could manage to take ALL 5 KIDDOS to Cherry Hills by MYSELF without drowning someone.  I talked her into the Zoo for her birthday, and swimming for the next birthday.  I'm a genius, right??  So we spend all day getting ready to go to the Zoo.  I look online for discounts, I pack a picnic, we go pick up Grandpa, and the discount coupons.  Then we go to pick up Grandma from work at 4:00, and we drive all the way to the zoo.  We get there at about 5:30, only to find out that the Zoo CLOSES at 5:00 pm!!  So much for being a GENIUS!!  Am I the only one that thinks it is CRAZY for the zoo to close at 5:00 in the middle of summer??  So I have a carful of really unhappy kids at this point, and I am scrambling to figure out what to do now.  We ended up eating our picnic in the car and then taking the kids to Temple Square instead.  Which was fun, but maybe not exactly what we had in mind.  Like I said, sometimes you just have to be happy with what you get....
Last, but certainly not least is Emma.  We celebrated her 5th on Thursday with a trip to Cherry Hills.  We brought Grandma and her big kid (Grandpa) along with us.  Grandma watched baby Joseph, while Grandpa, kiddos and Logan and I swam all evening.  It was so much fun to play together as a family.  I love watching these kids play and change and grow together.  It makes me happy to be their mom...
So our Birthday Week wasn't perfect, but it was fun.  I am so grateful for these kiddos that bless my life each day, and I surely am happy with what I've got.  Happy Birthday to my sweet JULY babies :)
 

Yippie I'm a Gibby!!

So summer is racing right along and dragging me behind it!!  I can't believe that July is already half gone, and I will be sending my kids back to school in just over a month!   This has been such a fun summer that I don't want it to end!

This week, our family had the opportunity to host the annual Gibby Family Campout.  It was held at our local town park, and I had such fun showing my aunts, uncles and cousins all around Croydon.  I took them to see the Widowmaker hill and the fish ponds, and up to the farmyard to see our baby piglets. (I felt like the country mouse showing my city cousins all around the farm :))  Later Friday afternoon, Logan took all those that wanted to go up on the range four-wheeling.  They came back covered head-to-toe in dirt, and sun-burned to boot.  But they were laughing as if they had the time of their lives. 

Friday evening we had dinner as a family. and then settled in for a big-screen movie in the park, or laughing and visiting around the campfire, making smore's (of course!!)

Saturday, we had breakfast, played water balloon volleyball, and started to pack up for home.  I was happy to be the Snowie Lady for one more weekend, making snowcones for all the little kiddos (and quite a few not-so-little kiddos as well!)

It was so fun to see my family again, and to be able to share part of my life with them.  I realized how thankful I am to share the bond of being a GIBBY with them.  I am thankful for the heritage that we share.  It was so good to be able to renew our friendships and share laughter and memories with my family.  I can truly say Yippee I'm a GIBBY!!  I hope that they all had as much fun as I did this weekend!!

In His Hands

Once again, I have been overwhelmed by the love that our Heavenly Father gives us.   I have seen His hand in our lives so many times this week.  I am amazed by the tender mercies and love that he has given the Wilde family this week.  We have truly seen miracles happen in our family this week.
On Tuesday morning, my nephews were involved in an ATV accident.  The Ranger that they were riding in tipped on its side, causing all three boys to fall out.  The twins, Jacob and Caleb were riding in the front seat, and were not seriously hurt. Their little brother Ian, was riding in the back, and when he fell, a post driver landed on top of him, causing severe head trauma.   He was life-flighted to Primary Children's Hospital, where they were able to put him back together again.  Thankfully, he is doing well, and is expected to make a full recovery.  He is amazing the doctors with the progress that he has made, and they are hopeful that he will be able to come home today.  You can read more about his injury and progress at iansinjury.blogspot.com.  
Since the accident, my phone has been ringing off the hook with friends, family and neighbors calling to see how Ian is and what they can do to help.  The love that this little community shares is incredible to me, and I have never been so glad to live in a small town, where people know and care about each other.  I have been truly humbled by the outpouring of love our ward and community have shared with the Wilde family.  
The twins have been staying with us since Wednesday evening, and we have loved having them here.  I have been so grateful for the bond that they share with my kiddos.  It is so fun to watch them play and work together.  I think that it has helped the twinnos to have life feel a little normal, by being able to go to work with Uncle Logan and the cousins.  We have had sleepovers in the family room every night, the kids think this is really fun.  (I am a little tired after three straight late nights!)  I did send them to Grandma Nancy's last night, because I didn't think I could manage to nurse a baby and get all EIGHT kiddos to church by 9 am!! (I am NOT a MIRACLE worker, just a mom)
But God is a miracle worker, and I am so thankful for the one he has given the Wilde family this week.  I truly know that our lives are in His Hands, and that he loves us.  He puts people in our lives to help us and care for us, and he is aware of our every struggle.  Please keep praying for Ian, there is no such thing as too much FAITH!!   

Thank you to all of those who have touched our lives this week, you know who you are and we love you for your care and concern!

Hail the Conquering Hero!!

My brother and his family are staying in Heber for a few weeks, and last Sunday we headed up there for dinner with my family.  We had a great time visiting, eating and watching the kids play together outside.  While we were there, we had a little bit of a scary moment with one of my nieces.  The kids were all playing outside, by the pond.  Logan and my brother-in-law, Troy were standing on the deck, grilling burgers and dogs, and keeping an eye on the kids playing below.  I was in the house, with my sister and sister-in-law, and all of a sudden, I hear my sister  scream "ANNIE" and go running for the door.  My four year old niece, TiAnna, had been walking down a drainage that fed right into the pond below.  She must not have realized that the pond was right there, (it was covered with moss in that spot) because she walked straight into the water!!  Then I heard this enormous thud, and I ran outside to see what was going on.  I came out just in time to see Logan scooping up Anni and getting her out of the pond.  She was terrified and soaking wet, but not hurt at all.  So it turns out that the enormous thud was Logan jumping down off the 6 foot deck onto the deck below and then into the pond to rescue TiAnna.  Turns out that the water where she had fallen in was only to Logan's knee, but the rocks were covered in moss and slippery, and she was so scared she couldn't get her balance to get her head out of the water.  He probably could have ran down the stairs to save her, but as he said, he didn't think, he just reacted and his first thought was get to TiAnna NOW!!  I am thankful that he was quick to act, and that she was okay.  When I think about all the drownings that have happened recently in our area, I feel like our family was very blessed that day.  I love my honey and am proud of the good man that he is...I am also thankful that he is quick to act and thinks clearly when things are tense, because my tendency is always to panic and rin around like a headless chicken!!!
We all hugged our kids a little closer after that, and were grateful for their safety and health that night.  All ended well that night, and we decided that Logan was a good man to have around in case of an emergency!!