Fall Harvest Party 2018

Yesterday October 20, 2018 we worked through the morning and then met grandma and grandpa at Carson's flag football game. When we came home all of us had ham and cheese sandwiches, donuts and grape juice. After lunch we went to Brady's last soccer game. After his game grandma,Mom and I went up to the E.O.U to pick up my friend Kayle. Then we started heading up to the Livingston's. We had your fall harvest party out at the their house. It was a super fun activity. There was a 60 foot rope swing it was my favorite. There was also a hay maze that was also very fun. There was a haunted house and hay rides. We also had dinner out there. The first thing that Kayle and I did was the maze then we saw the rope swing. The rope swing was tied on Todd's tree truck and there was 1 hay bail that was for little kids. then there was 2 and then 3 hay bails stacked. That was the one that I swung off of. That was really fun; that's the one that I enjoyed the most. Then we had to wait in line forever to go into the haunted house. Then when we went in it we could not see anything to it was a little scary. Carson was in their with me and he got scared so we tried to hurry.

                                                                          Emree Hutchins

Don't quit.

Well I had planned to go to the temple today and I was so excited. Until I called to make a reservation, the 10 and 12 sessions were both full.  My friends that I was going to go with couldn't leave at 545 and I did not trust myself in being able to stay awake.  So, I had to cancel our temple trip.  Very sad. I was so looking forward to it. So now I have a day at home that I hadn't planned on.

Yesterday I went into work early so I could come home early and go for a run, which I wasn't going to have time to do today, cause I was supposed to be at the temple.  Anyway it was brutal.  I usually don't run 2 days in a row and now I know why.  I was slow and I felt terrible! But, the thought that kept going through my head was, "I haven't quit on any of my runs yet, and I am not going to have today be the first." It reminds me of one of the talks by a general authority, who said something like you've made it this far, just keep going.  I feel like that sometimes. When things get hard and you feel like crap and your progress is so....slow.... why not give up and just walk? My running at that point is probably as slow as walking anyway, but the point is there is a lot of pride and discipline that go into "just keep on going." Who cares how slow it is? You finished! Who cares how pathetic you look or feel? You are awesome! You are a child of God and you can make it! And when I do, I pat myself on the back, and say "See you could do it all long! Good job!" 

We beat ourselves up so much, I am pretty sure that is not how Heavenly Father wants us to see ourselves.  He wants us to know our strengths, He wants us to know how much "we rock!" We are Gods in training for pete's sake! Sometimes we just need to buck up and recognize all that we can do and push through whatever limitations we think we have. And if we are willing to do that, He is right there beside us cheering for us, and probably throwing in some extra energy and a little push here and there!

Make the Sabbath a delight.

Warning: This is going to be a very honest post. Don't judge me. Last weekend for conference one of my questions was, "how can I make the sabbath more of a delight for our family?" The sabbath hasn't been my favorite day for hmmmm a long time.  I don't think Chas has been home, well ever, on sundays. And I have my days where that is a hard thing.  But I have been determined to make it a delight, even if he is not around. The only thing that we had in common with the sabbath being a delight is that "fight" rhymes with "delight." Having late church and no dad and grouchy kids who have a hard time being inside all day, makes for a very long non-delightful day.

Anyhow after listening to conference last week, I was determined to make this sunday (yesterday) and any proceeding sundays a day of rest and delight.  I think just changing my attitude to, wanting to make a change instead of dreading the day, made a huge difference. Yesterday was one of the first sundays in a long time that we all went to bed happy.  We used to dread the upcoming week and all of the stress and turmoil that went with it, so sunday nights were just awful.  But last night was good.  I made sure yesterday that Brady was busy, he did family history almost the whole time before church.  If he is busy, I can keep the others busy fairly easy.  And it worked.  It was glorious.

 I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who recognizes our efforts to change and try to be better and then he blesses us for it 10 fold! So I feel like I can keep on striving to make it a delight , to make it a day of rest and a day where we find joy in feeling the spirit and learning and striving to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Indian Summer

Today was a beautiful day! Chas took Brooklyn and Brady to the temple early this morning for a youth temple trip.  The 3 younger ones and I stayed home and did some chores around here.  We got the house cleaned up then went to town and helped the Rogers pick their grapes.  I pushed the kids on the merry go round and they were good little workers.  We got done fairly quickly and they gave us all! of the grapes to bring home.  There are a ton!  We headed to the recycle center and dropped a bunch of stuff off there.
Then headed to walmart.  Emree really wanted to get some "boot cut" jeans to fit over her cowboy boots that now fit her. Now she can ride her new horse "Rocky" is style.  We caught him and saddled him up as soon as we got home.  She rode probably for an hour, even trotted a bit on him.  It is so fun to watch her do something she loves. It gives her confidence and I love watching her grow and learn new things.
I got about half of the grapes done and juice.  I am so grateful for the generosity of others.  We have been beyond blessed by so many people and I am constantly in awe at how much we receive from them.  I hope that we are doing our part to give back and help others when they are in need.
It really was just a fabulous day.  It was warm and sunny and beautiful and we spent most of it outside.  I got the lawn mowed one last time and everything looks so nice and clean and ready for winter. I look forward to the slower days of winter.  The harvest season is always so busy and seems to last forever.  I am always so grateful for all we are blessed with during the harvest , but am equally grateful when it is over and everything is put away and stored for the rest of the year.
I love when the kids are home and helpful and everyone is happy.  It sure seems like it doesn't happen very often.  So when it does I really cherish and try to remember that everyone does love each other, and no matter what, they know they have a family behind them.
The church and gospel seem to be going crazy right now.  The kids in our ward have people just coming up to them and asking them if they can come to church with them.  How crazy is that? I can't even imagine! The kids are such a light and example and other kids just want to know why they are different.  Another incident last week happened.  A kid at school asked another if they could hang out together because he is really trying to get away from the bad friends that he has.  I think the youth are going to be where most of the converts are going to come from.  It's so fun to watch and be a part of!

One Year & Family History

I am sad that it has been a whole year since I have journaled much of anything.  I finished reading covenant keepers by Sister Nelson and have made a commitment to the Lord to do Family History work, everyday that I don't have to go into the office.  I have been researching and getting names ready for the temple, which has been, actually, quite a bit of fun.  I had the thought this week that preserving our own family history should be included in that work as well.  So here is my 999 attempt at keeping up our blog, so we can publish it and have these memories recorded.
It is October 12 today.  No school today, yay! Chas took Brooke and Brady to the temple for a youth temple trip. They left early this morning, so the little kids and I are home.  They really aren't that little anymore, but that is how I distinguish between the two. ha!
This week Emree got a new horse from the Livingstons.  His name is Rocky.  He is nice and gentle and a perfect start out horse for her.  I got to ride up on the trails with Mrs. Donivan on Wednesday, which was perfect and oh so beautiful!
Anyway I will try a few different ways to keep things straight and recorded, I am going to start by doing it on a daily basis.
Last night Brooke had a volleyball game against Baker.  She has had a hard year with volleyball.  But she played really well last night and had a good time.  Vball girls are not the nicest girls and Brooklyn doesn't do well with drama or rudeness.  And they are both.  It's been good for her to be active though, but she is glad it is almost over. Junior year has been crazy hard and she is adjusting to have to do homework and study.  Who knew! She is learning how to prioritize her time and be smart about how she is spending it.  Life lessons!
Brady only had soccer practice and so was able to come with us to watch the last half of Becketts football game. He is loving soccer and I am so glad.  He has some great friends on the team, and that makes it super nice.  He is anxiously awaiting high school basketball which starts in only a couple of weeks.  He can't wait.  It will be super fun to watch him!
Beckett had his last football game.  He had a great first season of tackle football.  He loved it! He did really well and even got to play quarterback a few times.  The games had gotten pretty cold being at night, but we survived! He is doing great in school, is a good friend and good kid.  The other day the busdriver asked him to stop messing around and he was so, so worried that he would get "written up" and kicked off the bus.  Probably the first time he has gotten in trouble and it wasn't even bad! I love that about him.  He always tries to do the right thing.
Emree had a low grade fever and did not feel well and so decided to skip open gym with her basketball team. She is loving middle school.  She has a great teacher and class.  Last summer I really had been hoping and praying that somehow another girl would move into our ward, so that she could have a good friend to go through school with.  Well, guess what? Our old friends, the Chandlers, moved back into the ward and Ginger and Emree are like 20 days apart in age.  What a blessing and an answer to prayer!
Chas had a stake bishops meeting. I really haven't even hardly talked to him all week.  It's been a hard week.  It always is when that happens.  Church and work have pretty much got him running all hours of the day until about 10 at night.
Carson is loving flag football.  On another note: He came down this morning with, "Yay!! Mom you didn't go to the temple.  I wanted to come down and check and then I saw you and I was so excited!" I really am trying to remember these very clingy, very momma boy days and nights that we are going through right now.  He will grow out of them someday, so I am trying to enjoy them right now.  Some days are better than others!
Conference last weekend was fabulous! I can't even believe that we will be going to 2 hour church.  That will seem so weird! They really are focusing on more gospel teaching in the home.  Which honestly sometimes seems overwhelming.  The last couple of weeks I've really been trying to figure out how to simplify our lives and make our house a place where the spirit can dwell. I haven't got any specific answers yet, but have faith that they will if I keep doing my part.  Life seems so crazy, overwhelming right now and I am struggling to keep my head above water. And I don't like it. But I just "keep moving forward" and trust that Heavenly Father will make up for all those things that I lack.  He has his work cut out for Him! HA!

FAll

Fall this year is absolutely beautiful! The colors are so vivid and bright, I love our house in the fall.  We have so many big, huge, trees that it is just a haven of color.  The kids have spent hours raking and playing in all of the leaves.  I love that it is a time to prepare. Prepare for winter, get everything taken care of and put up and get ready for the slower days of winter. I love the crisp cool mornings.  I am a sucker for the fog that rolls in across the valley, most days its doesn't creep up this far, but it is beautiful to watch.  I love the smell of wood smoke, the feel of sweatshirts and boots.  Fall is like 1 last breath before everything goes to sleep for the winter.
All 3 boys are playing football and are loving it.  Chas is coaching Beckett and Carson, and Brady just finished his last year of middle school football.  He had a great year playing center.  Its fun to watch all of them play.  The girls both played volleyball and both had great seasons.  They improved so much!

Just breathe

Yesterday I got mad and was so frustrated and was venting my frustration when carson said, "Mom, just breathe, remember.   count to 10, in through your nose, out through your mouth."  Oh my heck this kid.  He makes me laugh every day!

Self Talk

The other day carson told me, "Mom I had to do some self talk today.  I told myself, just focus on coloring, don't listen to them."  The other kids were apparently goofing off and he was trying to stay on task.  We used to call that talking to your self, now it is "self talk" sounds a little more normal?...
Made me smile.
We had family in town this weekend, it was cold and miserable, but Ez and Linz braved it and came out to watch Beckett and Carson play football.  Carson had a nice "flag pull" and said, " I was just so excited, i pulled it and then slammed it on the ground!"  Beckett caught a nice touchdown pass, turned over to us and jumped in the air with a punch, he loves it when grandma cheers!  It has been cold and rainy the past week or so, but this week has just been beautiful!  The sun is out and the fall colors are just amazing.  When I was in school in Hawaii i remember how much I missed the fall.  I had my mom send me some leaves to hang up on my wall.  Fall is just amazing, another testament to me of our Heavenly Fathers love for us.  Now that football and volleyball are over with, basketball open gyms are starting.  Everyone is so excited! our favorite sport of the year.  We try to capitalize on nights when everyone is home, which isn't very often, but last night the kids played outside until dark.  The boys love it when Brady is home to play with them.
One of the quotes I can't stop getting out of my head lately is "Sharp rocks at the bottom? yep. Bring it on!" from Emperors New Groove.  Don't like the movie much, much but that quote has always stuck with me.  He doesn't care whats coming, he can do it.  Just bring it on.  I tell myself that often when things get tough, or the hill is too high to climb, or I am feeling overwhelmed or whatever is hard.  Reminds me to keep going, I can do this.  Also I loved Elder Ellis' quote from conference, "Hard is good."
Love the gospel, love my family and especially my Savior who suffered and died specifically for me. 

Walking and teaching seminary

Yesterday I got to teach seminary.  It was so fun.  I taught myself how to make a power point presentation, which turned out pretty good.  I love being with the youth.  They are just so good, they have so much to deal with and for the most part, they handle it pretty good.  By the time I got home, I was pretty tired, so what do you do when you are tired, you go outside and exercise.  So I took the little kids with me and we walked up to the green gate.  Both the kids and I have been feeling like we don't spend enough time together, so it was nice to take them up and we could all chat on the way up.  Emree is a chatter box when it is just her and I, I love it!  We have only gotten a few nice days this fall, and this day was one of them.  Sunny warm, with a little nip.  It was beautiful!

Beckett

B: Mom I am going to skip playing soccer at recess today.
Me: WHY?
B: I am going to sit on the sideline and eat so I can get fat.
Me: WHY?
B: So I can be big enough to play tackle football next year.
Me: Laughing hysterically...." If you want to play that bad, you can play."

A couple of weeks ago we were talking about how beckett should maybe play another year of flag football before tackle, he said no way.  He was fast enough to out run guys who can tackle him, we said we'd have to talk about it.  So he came up with his own solution a week later...hence the previous conversation! Such a funny kid.