Bargain Favorites

Yesterday was one of our warmest days so far.
It was also BigBuddy's day off, and we don't have A/C in our new home yet, so . . .
our plan was to stay cool - all day.

After getting chores done, we headed to the dollar theater at noon. I knew we could count on A/C there.

On the way home we would be having a late lunch at Sonic.

They don't have those in MD, or at least if they did, I wasn't aware.

I strategically planned so we would be there between 2 and 4 when my favorite drinks are half off. Those would be the Lemonberry Real Fruit Slush and the Limeades. I like Cranberry, Strawberry, and Cherry.

Then, stopping at the dollar store, we found all kinds of great gadgets for squirting water for less than $5. The favorite was the crayon, a long cylinder you can fill and then shoot. My kids were having so much fun, the neighbors came over and joined in. Then their mom came to see what was so much fun and now she's heading to the dollar store. Good things should be shared, and bargains for summer fun are always good.

Mutual was in the evening. 45 minutes before we were to leave LittleBuddy got a phone call that he was supposed to be bringing dessert to go with the steaks they hadn't gotten a chance to cook due to the cougar. I was not about to turn on the oven, but when I opened up the pantry I saw all the makings for s'mores. I've been doing some couponing lately, and had bought two each of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows, getting a $1 off of each. So, I laid down the graham crackers in a glass pan, put broken chocolate and marshmallows over the top and microwaved it for only 30 seconds. The marshmallows were big and puffy and the chocolate was starting to melt so figured that was sufficient. Then I put more grahams on top, and voila - s'mores. Littlebuddy told me afterwards everyone loved it. And, I still have plenty of everything left for our Saturday Night S'mores, which I must say is a great tradition. Something about sitting around a fire, with no where to go, brings out the chat in everyone.

And, no matter how hot it gets in the day, its always cooler at night. We had a thunderstorm roll in around 6:30 last night which dropped the temperature 20 degrees and only lasted ten minutes. Best bargain air conditioning ever!

Bonding

A couple of weeks ago BigBuddy and his dad decided to take the motorbikes on their first Colorado adventure.
I took these pictures of them before they left, everything in the trailer, and ready for a fun day.
They called me a few hours later with glowing reports . . . .this is less than an hour from home,

the trail is pretty easy, great views, not crowded at all, we're having so much fun, we've gotta come again, etc., etc.
I was happy for them. Our dad always has a long list of things to do. He works hard for all of us. Last week it included changing oil, checking gauges, etc. and he promised when he moved us here - more fun!
When they got home, around dinnertime, imagine my surprise when I see my husband. His pants are totally ripped up at both knees and he has a blood streak on the side of his face. No time for pictures, I'm grabbing the neosporin, bandaids, a wet washcloth, etc. When I ask him what happened, he said he told our son he was going to check out a road "over there" and be right back. Suddenly the road became the side of the mountain, and he was going uphill pretty steeply, and fell. Twenty minutes later when he hadn't returned, BigBuddy went searching and found him. He was upright, his bike was okay, but everything wasn't working right, and so they came home. The next night, as he's laying in bed, he (MyMike) tells me, "I should never have gone by myself. I never would have attempted that with our son. I always get myself in trouble when I think I am 18 again. I going to be more responsible from now on. No more overly grand adventures." I nod and tell him how sorry I am he can hardly walk, the scabs on his knees are so thick it hurts him just to sit at the table, and forget kneeling for prayer. I'm sure he's learned his lesson. Pain is usually a pretty good teacher.

So the very next week, we're up at the reunion and BigBuddy talked with one of the park workers who told him about some great hikes in the area. He decides "Eagle Claw" sounds like a great one, and its only supposed to be 3-4 hours round trip which will leave plenty of time for other reunion activities. He tells all his cousins about it, but they don't seem interested. However, his dad thinks that sounds great, so they head out after lunch.

Look at how steep this is! It was practically straight uphill.
Yes, the views were stunning!
Yes, at this altitude you are breathing hard.
Well, they made it to the top. I'm wondering if someone died at the top - hence the cross.

Bigbuddy tells me his dad's legs were shaking by the time there. The rest of the reunion, my dear husband wasn't feeling too well.
I asked him, when he got back. . . what about not pushing yourself like an 18 year old? I had to go with my son, he tells me. I couldn't let him do this hard thing alone.

BigBuddy loves and appreciates him for doing it. He knows it was hard on his dad. After taking me on the rattlesnake hike, which I refer to it now, he knows he needs a buddy to share in the challenges he's ready and eager for. He's excited his buddy from MD comes in a month. He's taken the days off work he needs so they can have some great adventures. Mostly, though, he's ready for his mission. We check the mailbox every day -ANTICIPATION!

Something about challenges, doing hard things, and pushing yourself with other people bonds you together. I think he'll have that opportunity over and over again on his mission, and I've realized that that is exactly what this 18 year old boy needs. His dad and I are about used up and its time for others his own age to fill in the gap and eventually an eternal companion who will age with him. Oh, the wisdom of the Lord. I increasingly am in awe at how every detail is correct and his great love for each of us, to provide what we need right when we need it. Life is good. Heavenly Father is great! We are Blessed!

A Scary Critter Week

You may have seen my post on Facebook, but as it was the talk of church today, its fresh on my mind again.

LittleBuddy - bad lighting, but cute boy, almost as tall as me,spent the week at Scout Camp. On Tuesday MyMike came home from spending the first two days with the boys and said he didn't know why but he had a bad feeling about leaving our youngest son. That brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it, then MyGirl saw me, and said, Oh, mom, do you miss your boy? Yea, that's it, as I'm trying not to think the worst. Mike mentioned that for the next two days they'd be working on their rifle and shooting merit badges, so I started praying earnestly. All right, at one point, I asked MyMike if he thought we should go pick him up, but he gave me the look. We're not molly-coddling him. . . okay, but you brought it up my look responded.

Well, Friday night I'm feeling pretty good. The life-threatening merit badges are over, he'll be home the next day. I'm just getting ready to go make dinner when I get a phone call from his Scoutmaster. Instantly, my heart goes THUMP! First words out of his mouth are, "Hi, I hope you don't mind, I'm bringing your boy home early." "Is everything okay?" I say feeling sick inside. "Well, we spotted a mountain lion around the camp, and thought it'd just be safer to bring everyone home." VERY relieved, I say, "Great, good call, I'll see you in 90 minutes. Oh and thank you for keeping him safe all week."

Apparently, on Thursday two of the leaders and one of the boys spotted it, and felt slightly panicked. The leaders estimated it to be about 250 lbs., the largest they had ever seen, and they are both experienced in the wilderness. They talked with the forest service who advised that all the boys sleep in cars that night, but there weren't enough, so one dad slept with his two boys in their tent, and the Scoutmaster sat up all night around the campfire with his shotgun and bullhorn. Poor guy.

That day they're out at the lake, and come back to the tent area and find that one of their fish they had caught is gone, the Scouts find a leg of a deer in camp (only the leg) and there are big paw prints, over 9 inches across, around the tents, so that's when the leaders said enough. No wonder MyMike felt uneasy. It had probably been watching them for a couple of days before it got bold enough to get that close. A bunch of little Scouts running around looking like antelope, I'm sure. But, myLittleBuddy wasn't too worried. He said other boys were more worried, so he just helped calm them down. He had a great time and would go back again but I'm grateful we don't have to deal with that worry for another year.

On Wed. my middle two were feeling adventuresome so we went about 20 min. north to a unique state park. In the middle of the prairie, suddenly you have this.
Rocks and boulders that have become a canyon, with water running through the bottom.

I was happy to take them, until on the way there, BigBuddy informs me that our guide book says the hikes aren't too difficult, but watch out for rattlesnakes. I'm not too worried. That's one person's opinion, but I casually ask the gal who gives us our day pass at this state park, if they've seen any lately. Her response, "Yeah, a bunch down by the damn, and a few around, but just stay on the trails and you should be fine."
Not comforting, and frankly, I was on the lookout all along our hike, but we saw the area and it was interesting. However, my kids didn't think it was very fun that I didn't want to hike all the way to the damn. . . . PLEEEEEEASE! Besides, it was hot, and in spite of my hat, glasses, and long-sleeve, SPF 50 shirt, I was just feeling baked. Came home and had a nap and felt much better about everything.
Friday morning, a much more fun adventure, meeting Maryland friends at one of our favorite spots. All the teenagers were so happy to be reunited, and we spent all morning chatting and walking around.
The father was serving as bishop when I was Relief Society President so we have a good working relationship, and the wife and I have served together in YW as counselors, then I was her visiting teacher for several years. She was also LittleBuddy's Cubmaster for his last two years in Cubs, and Cowgirl and I both taught her children piano and I taught their two oldest in Sunday School for a year. Bigbuddy and their oldest daughter have been great friends all through their teenage years, and LittleBuddy and their middle boy were also good friends, so seeing them here, in our little spot on the map, was so fun! . . . Until the Ranger came to warn us that the local rattlesnakes were "having fun playing with people," (his exact words) so stay on the paths. Welcome to the Wild West - where the creatures are scary but the weather is beautiful!
Hoping for a non-creature week this week! The only thing I want to see is cattle out the back window. And maybe a deer or a little fox. Or a hawk . . . things lower on the food chain, you know what I mean?

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I called her up. She had fun taking my nephew to the MTC, going out to lunch with Cowgirl and my brother's family and touring the new BYU broadcasting studios/stations. Yesterday. . . off adventuring with my oldest two, getting ready for YW last night, calling her, making homemade pizza, but never quite made it to the laptop.

I don't really love this photo of me. I showed it to my mom in the camera and she said its because we're getting old. First thing my middle brother said to me at the reunion after giving me a hug - "Like your hair," translating to "I see you're going pretty gray." I smiled, and told him it was "All natural beauty." Oh, I'm going to look forward to looking young again in heaven!

Even, then, however, when I stand next to my young-looking mother, she is going to be the one everyone wants to flock towards. It was so cute to see all the grandchildren call out her name more than once, wanting to make something or play a game, or sit by her. We are going to have a GOOD TIME being neighbors! I only hope I can remember to keep getting my laundry done and the bathrooms cleaned once a week. Somehow she always manages to get those things done as if they're no biggie, because she's ready for the next activity - Always! I'm still scheduling my life, trying to make it all fit, and hoping when I get behind on bathrooms and laundry that things won't turn ugly on me too quickly. My mother makes being a homemaker easy, and its not that way for me, so I admire her greatly. I should have paid more attention when I lived with her, but I was always trying to get everything done as quickly as possible so I could go out for my own next adventure . . . and I wonder where BigBuddy gets his attitudes from . . . mmmmmm.

She's a wonderful mother and grandmother and I am thrilled to spend more time with her in the future! Happy Belated Birthday, Mom. I think today is the first day we haven't talked in a week.

Little Buddy is at Scout camp this week. I am missing him SO MUCH! His dad was with him for the first two days and I missed him SO MUCH TOO! I am missing all those cute nephews of mine too. . . withdrawals from the reunion. . . not fun. Hopefully when Little Buddy gets back I'll start getting over it.

Recent Cards

Since I knew I was going to be seeing so many family members I made several cards last week. Some for Father's Day. Some for birthdays. Some just because I hadn't given them a card in a while and I wanted to. Most of them are pretty simple, but that's the way I'm rolling these days.





The best thing about making a homemade card is that while I am making it I am thinking about the person I am going to give it to and my love for them increases. However, I know many of these cards get thrown out after reading them, and I'm okay with that. I don't give them to be treasures. I give them because I love the person and this is how I show it. Occasionally I make cards to have on hand, but its not near as enjoyable for me. Creativity from the heart, that's where the joy lies.

The Reunion

For the Jacobs Family - what a great way to spend a Father's Day Weekend! We were excited to see elk on Friday afternoon when we arrived - three big ones right next to the car.
While we stayed in lodge rooms, here is the room where we gathered all together . . . the Birch cabin. I gotta say, every time I was in here - You could feel the love.

From card games to crafts to our big birthday party, it was where the fun was had.

Another place we all met was the Aspen Dining Hall - Let's hear it for no cooking for 48 hours! We needed three large tables every time we all got together - 18 of us in all.

This was our youngest family member, Rich's little boy - How darling is he!!! Nothing like a toddler to help us all feel young again.

There were fun activities to choose from, like early-morning archery,

A big hike - these two literally went straight up the mountain on a four hour hike.
They climbed all the way to the top of the mountain behind him. For BigBuddy, Life is always an adventure!

Of course, the best part was being with loved ones. . . Rob, my little brother.

Rich, my next youngest brother, and his posse of nieces and nephews
The two Steve's - one my son, one my baby brother. When my boy was born, he was going to have another name. It had been picked out for weeks, but when he was born, MyMike looked at me and said, that's the wrong name. He needs to be named Steven. I said, my brother will love that, and so it was. Who could have guessed he'd grow up to share the same height, same build, same hairline, same blue eyes, same noses, same ears, similiar voices, same gentle personalities, with a love for all things outdoors? There are some major differences, however; son is right handed, brother is left, and personality traits, of course, but seeing them standing together reminded us all how much we are a family!
Lots of creativity took place this weekend too - here the professional artist with his wife.

Kate was making God's eyes, where they first became part of our family experience at my grandparent's fiftieth anniversary party in California. The little boys really liked this activity too. My youngest was so relieved when he realized he hadn't left his when we got home. Rich is drawing on mugs with markers, another popular activity.
Cowgirl and Rebecca are making frames for our photos, and covering them with paper and embellishments. All the girls made at least one. Cowgirl had brought a huge pad of MyMind's Eye paper, purchased for only $5. Go Craft Queen! Call me when the next major sale is - I'm coming!
MyGirl and I made this mosaic box at the craft cabin. Actually I just laid down the glue. She did the hard work.
Cowgirl made herself a cute necklace. On her wrist you can see the wristbands my dad handed out, saying, "Jacobs Family 2011." Live Strong Jacobs Family!
Surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, this truly was a beautiful place. Here are some of the girls together on the way to lunch. The far right, is Steve's girlfriend. She was lovely.
I loved it all weekend when spontaneous love just burst forth. It's hard to capture in photos how good it feels, but when I pulled up this photo, it seemed to say it well. I had to laugh as LittleBuddy and his cousins were plotting the whole time how they can see each other more often. Of course, we are hoping with grandparents next door that will help! And if their dad could get a job out here. . . here's to wishful thinking! It was a great time to just immerse ourselves in everything family.

And did we ever!

Papers IN!

Silliness

I haven't posted these before, I think. I bet if I looked on all my photos I could find at least a dozen more of these type of pictures.



Some things are just so cheesy and silly. And yet my boys never fail to run and stick their heads behind them. Still. This last photo was just taken a month or so ago at the zoo.

In Stake Conference today the mission president's wife spoke about the miracles that take place even by boys whose frontal lobes aren't fully developed.

The lightbulb went off for me again.

It reminded me of the moment when I heard a man say that when the brain and body of a boy catch up, good things begin to happen.

I see great growth and development in my boys. Yet for all the wonderful, sweet, loving, hard-working, sensitive things my boys may be, they definitely have moments where I just say to myself - they are so silly and goofy!

Today I was reminded that I am the silly one. What else can I expect?

They are genetically programmed to be this way. Gotta ride the tide here and just wrap my arms as tight as they'll let me, and love 'em good. And be grateful that they still are boys who love the Lord and love each other and love me. And in the end, that's all that really matters to me. The Lord will work his miracles with them and through them when the time is right. He already has. For now, they're still growing up.

Routines

I love summer vacation with all its flexibility and opportunity, but I also love the routines of our life that make us US. MyGirl got back from camp today. All week long she went to bed after 11:30 pm and had to wake up at 6:30am. That is about three hours less sleep than she gets each night, so she came home and slept for five hours. I woke her up for dinner, and then she showered and went right back to bed, and will probably sleep until I wake her up for church tomorrow. She had a good week. But, as her socks and matching nightie say, "I don't do mornings." I'm proud of her for doing what she needed to as a camp youth leader, but we can all appreciate her comment during dinner, "It sure feels good to sleep in a bed again." Its a routine I sure enjoy too!
Three years ago when we were in California visiting Mike's parents, Cowgirl had to leave early to be a bridesmaid for her friend getting married in the Denver Temple. Today she is visiting those same grandparents in Calif, and now we are in Colorado. This time she gets to be a bridesmaid for a friend getting married in the San Diego Temple. She called me and told me what a lovely afternoon she had in one of my favorite cities after leaving the temple that morning. And, she has had a good time to visit with her grandparents too, so I am happy for that. She is so busy with full time school and full time work, so its been nice for her to have a break from her busy routines.

As mentioned last week, we did have another S'more Saturday night, but MyGirl wasn't interested in participating. "I've had enough of campfires this week." However, she did have some new adventures, on the zipline, shooting a rifle, and shooting an arrow at the archery area. She kept saying, it wasn't like Maryland girl's camp, but I still had a good week. Sometimes breaking out of the routine is a way for us to grow and try new things. I'm glad she's had different experiences. She's being stretched and she's rising to the challenge, and I'm grateful.
My boys woke me up this morning for another fishing opportunity. Back to their favorite lake, their favorite spot, with their favorite bait, and each other. Our routines are nothing spectacular, but they are relaxing and enjoyable to us. My neighbor down the street with four children under 12 is busy taking her kids to this camp and these lessons and she told me she barely has time to wipe her counters every morning. I remember those days, and don't miss them at all. I'm enjoying our leisurely routines - books, fishing, s'mores and lots of time to chat and cuddle. Summer will fly past soon enough. I want to remember that tonight we laughed around the fire, hearing BigBuddy tell tales of past Scout camps and Dad reminisce about belly flops off the high dive. We had to keep repositioning LittleBuddy and his dad as LittleBuddy kept accidentally hitting his dad's bad knee with the hot marshmallow sticks. We heard tales again of Dad and BigBuddy's big motorcycle adventure on Thursday. We all loved feeling the warmth of the fire, and realized we need sweat jackets in the summer evenings when the sun goes down now that we live by the mountains. Its a new life for us here with new routines, and while there are things about our old life we miss, we are settling in pretty well to our new routines too.

Grandma Jacobs

I am getting excited for our family reunion coming next week! I've been working on a good creative project, and have used the reunion as a deadline - a scrapbook of my paternal grandmother. I really love both sets of my grandparents. I have been blessed to know them all, but my grandparents in California were the ones I spent the most time with, and was able to see the most frequently after I had my children. However, the first one to pass away was this grandma, Jetta Jacobs. She died just six months after my first child was born, and then not-coincidentally, I think, my youngest child was born exactly ten years after she passed. His middle name is Jacob is honor of that side of my family. So, although it took me fifteen years to get around to creating it, its done.

My grandfather gave me a box of photos and papers a few years after she passed away when I went to visit him one time. I was so glad he did. At first I went through it and took all the papers, read through them, and was able to write her life story. It's about twenty pages long. I finished that about fifteen years ago. I just didn't know what to do with the photos, but when I went to my dad's in April, he and I sat through and looked through the few pictures that were actually there. My grandma had written on the back of them with ink pen, and some of the acid from those, are already starting to show on the front, but by creating the book, and taking digital photos of it all, now I have what I hope will be a permanent record of her life. I'm looking forward to sharing it with my family. Its going to be good to make new memories together and to remember our shared history as well.