Sunday Pirates

Some Sundays can feel long...especially hours when Greg is gone. Tonight he's helping with a fireside in SLC and we've got time to fill. There are times I feel guilty that not all our Sabbath Day hours are filled with my "ideal" Sunday activities. But, sometimes you've just got to be backyard pirates! :) 

I hope that Heavenly Father can tell...even in the imperfect efforts...that I'm doing my best to serve Him on ‪#‎HisDay‬ by helping my children know we can find "delight" in the Sabbath even when we send our dad to serve.

A Family that Bikes Together...

I give Greg total credit for our family's current favorite hobby!  He does so much bike fixing I can't believe he's still willing to do it!  But, we sure love it!  Every one of us!  Some nights we'll bike over to the church parking lot and play "Cops and Robbers".  There's a dirt loop near our home that we all love to cruise around on.  And, there is a nice paved trail down to our closest grocery store.  So a few times we've all biked down for a treat.

A couple weeks ago we all biked that far, and then Greg and Nathan biked on to Station Park in Farmington.  The trail goes that far and beyond.  They did a total of about 14 miles.  I'm so grateful for a happy way to get out that "speaks Nathan's language" especially.

Family Home Evening -- Swedish Fish Style

I've been thinking about how I think we are pretty good at teaching about standards and commandments and obedience.  But, how I want us to be better and teaching about Jesus.  I want our children to know who He is better.  To know His stories...and in those ways better understand the "why" of the other things we try to do.

We decided to try focusing on a story each Family Home Evening.  Nathan came up with this idea.  We read the story of Jesus and the apostles and casting out their nets...and talked about how the apostles' examples can apply to our lives.  We can be willing to "leave our nets and follow Him".  And, how Jesus will bring us success when we become "fishers" for him.  Then we made "boats" out of aluminum foil and saw how many fish we could fill the boats with before they sank.  We ate a lot of soggy fish...and had a great time!

A Day in the Life...

One of my favorite parts of motherhood is when we get a whole crew of boys over in the backyard after school to play football.  Something about it feels more like the life I've dreamed of having than almost anything!  When I saw this bike lineup in our garage I thought it was the perfect glimpse of what I love about our boys and this neighborhood and this season of life. 

Soccer Boys

Greg coached Joshua's team this year.  It was a great mix of school friends and some new faces.  Claudio Arancibia (also pictured) helped Greg both with some practices and being another "voice" on the sidelines at the games.

This is Nathan's second year with his coach Trevar Dar...who has been really wonderful for him.  It's a 5th/6th Grade team.  So, Nathan really enjoyed feeling like the "veteran" that the team really counted on.

Doughnut Falls Hike

Fun morning up Big Cottonwood Canyon!  Emily helped me be brave enough to take our kids on what turned out to be a great hike to Doughnut Falls.

Making Memories

With our vacation for this week being cancelled because of Greg's need to not miss work, I wanted to find a way to help us all feel like we were/are still making memories that "count" even though we're close to home.  So, above our dining room table we've made this 5 foot banner.  Each time we do something "memorable" we try to write it on a little paper to post up on the sign...and add pictures when we can.  It's probably been the most fun for me.  But, I see the kids looking at it often and think it's pretty fun create a "scrapbook" of sorts day-by-day.

Ogden Temple

So fun to have the Treehouse Museum be right next door to the Ogden Temple.  

Got to walk around the grounds and "touch the temple" together.  Love these kids!

Ogden Treehouse Museum

Don't know how we've been back in Utah more than 2 years...and today was the first time we've been to the Ogden Treehouse Museum!  We LOVED it!  This is our kind of place!  

The kids especially loved getting to be on stage in a play!

Morning Bike Ride

Nathan and Joshua have started a Ballroom Dance class (by their request) that happens at the school, before school, twice a week.  Decided to take the chance with "just" two kids to go on a quick morning bike ride while they were away.  Aaron is loving having Elizabeth back at home while they're off-track!