The Leake's Week-June 12, 2023

 Hello!

It is almost the middle of June, two weeks of summer are behind us, the weather is AMAZING, and we just got back from six glorious days in Island Park and Yellowstone.  Don't tell Richard, but I think I could move to Idaho.  That beautiful part of the country provides mountains AND water and I could ask for nothing else.  In an attempt to get this email out this weekend, and because I have two weeks to catch up on, I am going with a bullet-list approach of the highlights of our trip and the previous week...

*Church last Sunday.  We went to the Island Park sacrament meeting at 10:00 am.  It was just a very short drive from the cabin we had rented.  When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw that there was a regular looking church building, and then an A-frame log building.  People were walking into both buildings, and both buildings had men greeting people as they walked in.  We were closer to the A-frame building, so we decided to go in there and I am so glad we did.  In the summer Island Park is flooded with people on vacation, so they use this A-frame building in the summer to accommodate.  I have heard that in the height of the summer that there are so many people that the two buildings can't hold everyone and so the congregation spills out onto the grounds.  Amazing!  Anyway, we walked into the chapel, with log walls, minimal lighting, and found a place to sit.  We had been sitting for less than a minute when a young man walked right up to Marshall and asked him if he would be able to help pass the sacrament.  Marshall was one of ten young men/men to pass the sacrament in the A-frame building.  I am so glad he got that experience!  Anyway, the first part of the meeting was broadcast from the building next door.  After we sang the sacrament hymn, the broadcast ended for the sacrament.  Once that was done, because it was a testimony meeting, the broadcast did not resume so that both buildings could have their own testimony meeting.  With the exception of the member of the bishopric who bore his testimony first, I am pretty sure every other person who shared their testimony in the A-frame church where we were was a visitor, including Becky!  It was great to hear her share her testimony, and I am so grateful our kids were able to listen to her too.  All the testimonies were short, to the point, and testified of Jesus Christ.  It was such a special meeting to attend and I hope that at least our older kids always remember it.  

*Big Springs.  Sunday afternoon we visited Big Springs, it was almost exactly as I remembered it!  Gorgeous.  Peaceful.  We walked all around and saw all the different places water bubbles out of the springs.  The kids, and Bob, found it quite fascinating!  We spent time looking over both sides of the bridge and the girls and I saw what we are guessing was a river otter.  We also saw some nice, big fish!  We walked around the path that leads to Johnny's Sack's cabin.  Wildflowers were blooming, the water was peaceful and still and reflected all the scenery around it.  It was a great way to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon.  

*Midway Geyser Basin.  We spent our Monday in Yellowstone and our first stop was Midway Geyser Basin.  This is the home of the Grand Prismatic Spring as well as several other large geysers.  This was my first time ever stopping here and I am so glad we did.  It was other-worldly.  No other way to describe it!  We parked in the parking lot and then made our way to the boardwalk path.  As soon as you get on the path, you see water running down these huge rocks in fairly flowing streams.  And then you start walking on this boardwalk path in this almost constant cloud of steam.  It was so bananas!  The steam made you warm and then a split second later made you cold as it receded before another wave of steam came.  It left us ever so slightly wet and at times really hindered our visibility as we walked.  It was really so cool!  I have no idea if it is always like this, but it sure was amazing to experience.  The first geyser we saw was Excelsior Geyser.  It was huge and the most beautiful blue.  Our cameras did not do it justice.  That is the geyser that had the most steam coming off of it as we walked along the boardwalks.  It was surreal!  After that we made our way up to the Grand Prismatic Spring.  As we got closer and watched the steam coming off of that one, it was blue on the left, then the steam was green, then orange, then pink.  It was so cool to stand back and see that array of color.  The best view of the Grand Prismatic is from a hike that takes you up above, and we never did get to that hike, but we caught glimpses of its bold colors as we walked along and as the steam cleared for a moment or two.  We could definitely see the bold oranges and yellows of its outline, and that was stunning.  Next stop was the Opal Pool and then the Turquoise Pool, those were both gorgeous.  After the Turquoise Pool, the boardwalk put us back by the Excelsior Geyser so we were able to bask in its intense steam again as we finished our walk to the car.  Every once in a while, this steam carried a whiff of sulphur with it, which the kids did not love, but overall, it was mild.  It was such an amazing place to stop and see!  

*Old Faithful.  We got to see Old Faithful for its roughly 4:00 pm eruption.  It put on a great show for us!  We had great seats on some benches and waited for about 20ish minutes.  In the distance, while we were waiting, we saw another geyser erupt, which was almost as spectacular as Old Faithful!  It went on and on and it was fun to watch it while we passed the time.  Old Faithful fooled us a couple of times with some water spitting and bubbling out, but once it got going it was fantastic to see.  The kids were awed by it!  After Old Faithful, we walked along quite a path of boardwalks just to see a fraction of the other geysers that were there.  We walked on a bridge that went over Firehole River, flowing with all that hot/warm water from the geysers.  We saw some pretty cool little geysers and pots, including one that was bubbling and bubbling and Rachel and I loved watching it, at times wondering if we were standing too close with all that bubbling water.  The earth, and what it produces is amazing!  One thing that was fun to see as we drove all around Yellowstone were all the geysers and pools and whatever else steams there.  Sometimes we would be driving, and there would just be steam rising up from different points on the horizon.  So peculiar and fascinating!  

*Rafting down Henry's Fork.  Some of my most favorite and happy childhood memories happened while canoeing down Henry's Fork and I could not wait to do this again!  Richard, despite some hesitations about this, agreed to go and we all had so much fun!  We rented a raft for eight so that we could all go together and it was the best time.  We had a bit of a rough start in shallow water, so Bob had to hop out a couple of times and drag us into deeper water, but that was the only glitch we had!  We floated five miles down that beautiful river and took in all the beauty possible.  We saw loads of pelicans, a blue heron, and towards the end, a deer.  I was so hopeful for a moose, but it was not to be.  As we floated and paddled, I forced everyone to tell stories and it was a great way to spend time together.  So, so beautiful!  Once we made it back down to Mack's Inn, we ordered pizza and ice cream for The Parlor, right there on the river, and ate outside on the deck.  It was honestly the perfect afternoon and the pizza was delicious.  

*Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We went back into Yellowstone on Wednesday and spent the entire first half of our day exploring this beauty.  We started on the North Rim and made two stops there, Lookout Point was our first.  At Lookout Point we had an amazing view of the Lower Falls, which is a 309 foot waterfall.  Amazing.  It was a bit of a walk from the parking lot, but of all the stops we had, this walk definitely gave you the greatest view of the canyon itself.  This made Richard incredibly nervous, so he did not join us and stuck much closer to the parking lot.  :)  It was also very scary for Becky, who walked all the way with us, but stuck very close to the center.  But, the rest of us took in quite a magnificent view.  It was a sight to behold.  Our next stop on the North Rim was Brink of the Upper Falls.  We walked to the Upper Overlook, Middle Overlook, and the Lower Overlook.  Each stop provided a different view and when we got to the Lower Overlook we were just slightly above the Upper Falls, which is a 100 foot waterfall.  So beautiful!  All eight of us were able to go to all these overlooks and take it all in.  Once we were done there, it was time to head to the South Rim.  Grandpa Bob talked Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and myself into walking/hiking to the South Rim, he was quite persuasive!  But I am so glad we did it.  Richard, Gretchen, and Becky drove and met us over there.  For our walk on the North Rim, we were up higher above the river and did walk across a beautiful bridge, which Bob suspects used to be a road.  It was gorgeous.  Then we just walked across a short bridge, which is the current road that connects the two rims.  Once we were on the South Rim, we were down in the forest, closer to the water.  It was so shaded and quiet and peaceful.  We eventually made our way to the first stop on the South Rim, Sunset Point.  Bob and I got here at the perfect time with the three oldest kids because we were able to see a rainbow!  I had read that sometimes you can see rainbows by the falls if you are there in the morning.  We hadn't gotten to any of the stops as early as I was hoping so I had assumed our chances for seeing rainbows would be zero, but I was wrong!  The kids and I were able to see a beautiful rainbow cast by the Upper Falls!  Sadly, by the time Richard, Becky, and Gretchen found us, clouds had come and the rainbow was gone, but I am so glad the rest of us were able to see it and get pictures and videos.  But, even without the rainbow, it was still gorgeous.  We eventually made our way back to the parking lot and ate our picnic lunch there before driving to our last stop, Artist Point.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot it started to pour rain and hail.  We weren't in a hurry, so we waited out the worst of the storm from the car.  The kids were great while we waited and we just took pity on all the people we saw running back to their cars in a hailstorm!  Once it was just sprinkling, we all put on our rain jackets and hopped out of the cars.  We had about a five minute walk to the iconic view of the falls.  You are far away, but the waterfall is framed perfectly in the center of the canyon and it is just gorgeous.  We took loads of pictures and took in the views from every angle possible.  What a morning!

*Hayden Valley.  We had high hopes of seeing a bear for our Bear Cub, but that wish never came true.  But, we did drive through all of Hayden Valley in search of one.  We did see loads of buffalo, far and very near, as well as a coyote right by the road.  We did stop a lot to see buffalo, and that was always fun.  We ended our drive through Hayden Valley at Yellowstone Lake and that was breathtaking.  The most calm, still beautiful thing, with the Tetons in the distance and it was stunning.  We went into the general store to get ice cream and refill water bottles.  We ate our ice cream outside, despite it being a bit chilly.  We couldn't find a good way to get down to the lake, so we stayed on the bluff up above.  We took pictures and took in more beauty before getting back in our cars.  We had a long drive out of Yellowstone, but enjoyed every minute.  We kept our eyes peeled for bears, but to no avail.  Both our days in the park we had heard people talking about bears and how many they had seen, but everyone I had heard talking had come in different entrances than us.  However, when we got home on Friday we went to our ward party and found out another couple in our ward had been in Yellowstone the same days as us and had seen multiple bears right after coming in the west entrance.  What?!?!  She took pity on Gretchen and showed her all the pictures of bears she had on her phone.  :)  We will just have to return another year!  But, despite zero bear sightings, Yellowstone was completely breathtaking and I am so glad we went.  

*Hike.  On our last day, after breakfast we drove to a hike in Island Park, the Upper Coffee Pot.  It is just the other side of Mack's Inn and follows Henry's Fork.  We hiked over two miles in and back again.  It was gorgeous.  We were right along the river and saw pelicans in abundance.  It was just gorgeous scenery and all the kids, including Gretchen, did absolutely awesome.  That night, just before sunset, we drove back to the river and got ice cream at The Parlor.  We ate ice cream, skipped rocks, threw rocks and tried to take in the sunset.  Sadly, a huge cloud was blocking it, but the sun was still casting a beautiful soft pink in the eastern sky, so we enjoyed that instead!  It was a great way to end our trip.  So much beauty.  

*Other random trip notes.  The only downer of the trip was Gretchen got the stomach flu Sunday evening.  She had avoided all stomach flus that went through our family during the school year, but her luck ran out last Sunday night.  Poor thing was quite miserable, and just kept saying she wished she was at home and that she had Ziggy.  :(  She was such a trooper though.  She was just sick from about 8:00 pm to 3:00 am, and even then, it was not awful.  She was able to sleep most the night, even though I did not!  She felt well enough to want to go to Yellowstone with us on Monday and she did so well, despite not feeling 100%.  By Tuesday she was completely back to herself and no one else ever got sick...praise the heavens!  In happier news, we found out just as we were pulling out to head up to Island Park that our rental cabin had just had a hot tub installed!  We ran home and grabbed our swimsuits!  The hot tub was lovely.  The girls got in every single day/night I am pretty sure, and the rest of us were there often as well!  A wonderful surprise!  

Okay, a couple of quick highlights from our first week of summer:

*Soccer tryouts.  Marshall had a big week of soccer tryouts before we left.  He tried out for his club and another club and both teams had two nights of tryouts, so that is how he spent his evenings Tuesday-Friday.  Friday night his coach called and offered him a spot on his higher level team.  Marshall was thrilled and relieved and we are happy for him.  Marshall has played for Tyler for five years, and really likes him.  I kind of stopped liking him as a coach this last year, but it was a rough year with a rough soccer team and Marshall is relieved to be off of that team.  We will see what I personally think of Tyler as we start this new season!  Regardless though, proud of Marshall for sticking it out during a rough soccer year, proud of him for going to tryouts for another club, and happy that he got what he was hoping for.  

*Baptisms for Marshall and Bridget.  Months ago I snagged a baptism appointment for Marshall and Bridget on June 1st.  We didn't have Richard's work schedule yet, but I took a gamble on it.  Turns out, Richard did have to work, but my parents were so kind to take Marshall and Bridget, and I am so thankful.  They had a wonderful morning together and my parents treated them to donuts afterward.  

*Logan goat show.  Bridget was in the Logan Goat Show the first Friday in June.  We made a girls trip out of it and I took all the girls up to Logan for a night in a hotel.  Melanie also took her four kids, so it was a big party!  Bridget and Cambria had to feed the remaining farm animals before we left, but they did a speedy job and we were on the road by 6:00.  The girls and I packed a dinner and ate in the car so as soon as we got checked into the hotel we got in swimming suits!  Our room was right across from Melanie's and that was perfect.  The kids had fun swimming in the chilly hotel pool and moving back and forth between the pool and hot tub.  They played for a solid two hours.  We all slept well that night, thankfully!  We were up early the next morning and got to the fairgrounds at 8:30 am.  Last year this show was long, and while I was mentally prepared for a long day, I was hoping it would not be so.  Well, it was so, and we were there until 6:00 pm!  Man!  But, Rachel and Gretchen never complained and had a lot of fun playing with the other kids and cheering on Bridget.  Bridget showed three goats and did great.  She is learning more and more with each goat show and I am proud of her.  There were many participants this year, more than last year, and for showmanship Bridget is now in an older age group.  She didn't place in the top 3, but there were 15 kids in her age group, so that is just fine!  Even though she walked away empty handed this go around, she still had a wonderful day and had fun with Cambria and all the other Garlick grandkids.  We got home about 7:30 pm, dropped off Rachel and Gretchen and then went to the farm to feed the animals.  She did not complain once!  I don't know where she gets this, but she sure does amaze me.  

Well, that is it!  We are jumping back into summer routines this week and here's hoping we can all get along and be happy the majority of the week.  :)  

Love each of you.

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)

How could I forget?!  We are currently without Ziggy.  We decided to send him to boarding school for three weeks!  It is technically called board and train, a three week intensive dog training program.  Gretchen and I dropped him off on May 31st and we pick him up on June 21st.  Surprisingly, Gretchen did not cry when we dropped him off, but I did!  Though she has been missing him the most and asks for him multiple times a day, especially when we were on vacation!  Her answer to almost anything was, "Ziggy!"  We are all definitely missing him though and cannot wait to be reunited on the 21st...which is not that far away!

The Leake's Week-May 29, 2023

 Hello!  We have made it through the end of another school year.  We have never had a busier May, and by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, it all hit me!  Talk about physical and even emotional exhaustion!  I was spent.  But, the kids all had a fantastic, fantastic Friday, and we are all having a good weekend.  Here's a recap of the last two weeks...

May 15th:  This was such a wonderful day.  The whole week of May 15th the kindergartners didn't have school because they all had individual testing appointments with Mrs. Conners.  Gretchen was happy to have a week off of school, and I was able to fill it with fun for her, and some for me!  On this particular day, Richard didn't have work either so after we got the kids off to school, the three of us drove down to Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival.  We also met Danny, Stacie, Cal and Chase down there and spent the morning with them.  We loved walking through all the beautiful gardens and seeing all varieties of tulips.  It was all so beautiful.  Cal and Gretchen had the best time together, as they always do.  And Richard and I loved talking with Danny and Stacie.  We also ran into my cousin Liz down there, and she lives up in Tremonton!  That was a special treat to catch up with her for a few minutes.  When we were done at the tulip festival, we had lunch at JCW's with Danny and Stacie before driving home.  Such a wonderful morning!  Rachel had a fun night at dance that night.  Instead of her full 3.25 hours of dance class, it was only 2 hours, and they rehearsed the finale for the upcoming recital and had a pizza party.  Rachel had a blast!  

May 16th:  We had cute little Charlie Atkinson over for the morning.  Charlie and Gretchen played games until it was time to go to the park.  I had organized a kindergarten get-together at Freedom Hills Park and we had such a great turnout.  Almost everyone in the kindergarten class was able to come and most people stayed for over two hours!  The kids were so cute.  Every time another kindergarten friend would come, they would be greeted with sincere jubilance from the other kids.  It was so fun to watch.  The moms sat and talked, and got extreme sunburns!  It was nuts.  When we got to the park, it was cloudy and sunscreen did not even cross my mind.  After we had been there for a while, and the sun had come out, a mom sprayed all the kids with sunscreen, but I don't think a single mom used it.  I, along with many other moms, got scorched!  Yikes!  I honestly don't think my forearms have ever been so red.  I was wearing jeans, but they have ripped knees, and my knees got sunburned!  Later that night, Gretchen looked at me and said, "I'm so glad a mom put sunscreen on me so that I don't look like you!"  Seriously!  After school, Rachel had dance, Marshall had soccer practice, and Bridget had the farm.  It was my turn for the farm, but in hopes of expediting things, I dropped Bridget and Cambria off at the farm at 5:15, told them I would be back in an hour, and to do their very best.  Cambria's mom and I have been hoping against hope that these girls could pull off doing the farm chores mostly by themselves this summer, so Tuesday was a bit of a dress rehearsal for that.  I got back to the farm at 6:15, and while they hadn't finished as much as I had wanted them to, things seemed to be going okay.  I helped them finish watering the animals while they finished feeding, and then we walked over to the chicken coop so I could help them finish watering over there.  The girls had fed the chickens first thing.  As we got closer to the chicken coop, I started noticing there were chickens everywhere, except inside the chicken coop!  Ahhh!!!  The girls realized after they had fed the chickens, they had forgotten to lock the door!  Ah!  The Garlicks probably have about 40 chickens and about 20 had gotten out.  Oh my.  We then spent the next almost 30 minutes herding those chickens back in.  Cambria was the only one of us who was willing to pick them up, and she did pick up a few, but picking up a chicken is no easy task.  The most successful thing I discovered was to have Bridget and Cambria make a wide circle around a group of chickens in order to get behind them and then slowly walk behind them to move them along, in hopes that they would just keep walking, come around the corner, and then I was there to open the door to the chicken coop.  Each one of these attempts was successful one chicken at a time.  It was just bananas.  We eventually got all of them in, but I am certain Bridget and Cambria will never make this mistake again!  My word.  Due to the chickens and some other factors, the farm took a LONG time that night.  When the girls had finally finished milking, just before 9:00, they realized they had forgotten to feed and water the baby chicks...so back to the stinking chicken coop we went.  By this time, I just wanted to be home.  The girls could not figure out the water contraption for the chicks, so in an attempt to help, I grabbed it from them...with my bare hands!  I never touch anything at the farm without gloves on, but I had already put my gloves in the van, and it was a minute before I realized I was handling this thing, covered in chick poop, with my bare hands.  Ugh.  I half screamed, half moaned, when I realized what I had done!  Another low point in life at the farm for me!  We finally figured it all out and left the farm at 9:15.  What a night.  

May 17th:  Wednesday morning was Gretchen's kindergarten testing and she did a great job!  She has learned so much this year.  When she started kindergarten, she knew most of the letters and sounds, but she was still a little iffy on a few.  Now, she is reading, and reading SO well.  Numbers were a little tricky for her and even in March she was still getting 12 and 20 confused and at the beginning of 2023, she hadn't quite figured out the number patterns to get counting past 20.  She now rocks all of it!  I am so proud of her!  Anyway, after testing, we drove up to Layton to Danny and Stacie's.  Grizz and I had lunch up there and then I left her to play while I ran to a quick doctor appointment in Kaysville.  Gretchen and I got home just before kids started coming home from school.  After school, our life was busy, busy.  Bridget had horseback riding and my wonderful neighbor brought her home for me because I was at a cross country meeting at the high school.  I thought it would be a quick 20 minute meeting, nope, one hour later it was finally done!  But, we are excited for Marshall!  Richard got home from work shortly before he needed to get Marshall to his soccer game, and I was still at the high school.  When Richard got home, he found a bunch of neighborhood kids in swimsuits at the top of our yard running through our sprinklers up there.  Upon a little investigation, he realized that the sprinkler zone had been on ALL day.  Yikes!  I had not really been home since 10:00 am and clearly had not noticed it, plus it really is the one at the top of our backyard, so you can't see it or hear it from inside our house.  Man.  It hasn't happened since, so we are chalking it up to a glitch in the timer/valve that day.  Yikes.  After dealing with all of that, Richard got Marshall to his soccer game and I covered dance for Rachel that night.  Bridget went to the combined YM/YW activity that night where they played gym games.  Another very full day!

May 18th:  That afternoon was parent day in Gretchen's dance class, so I was able to go and watch her ballet and jazz class.  I will admit, I dozed off a couple of times and I was crossing my fingers no one noticed.  But later Gretchen told me, "You slept for a few minutes in my class!"  Clearly, my dozing off did not escape her!  But, all the parts I was awake for, I loved!  Gretchen has not been loving dance class for the last few months.  She always goes, and she always has fun, but when I tell her it's time to get ready for dance, she is not thrilled.  I have been on the fence about signing her up for next fall, but I did love being there to watch her dance.  She does love her jazz class, and smiled through it all.  Rachel had a group piano lesson after school, and Bridget and Cambria once again had the farm with me!  I tried a different approach with them this time.  We got there at 5:05 and together we did all the chicken stuff together, with which the three of us only took 10 minutes!  I then left them and told them I had no idea when I would be back, because our evening was once again crazy.  I finally made it back there about 7:15, with Rachel and Gretchen, and I was shocked and over the moon happy to find that they had just finished milking and everything else was DONE!  I could not believe it.  I double checked that they had milked all 11 goats, fed everyone and I checked everyone's waters.  Done!  I cannot tell you how happy I was and how much hope this gives me for the summer!  I honestly feel like I have gotten years of my life back!  Haha!  To reward such an amazing focused and determined work ethic, I let all four girls play for 30 minutes, and they were all very happy about that.  When we were headed home Bridget and Cambria told me their goal was to stay totally focused, work fast, in hopes that they would be done before I got back and their plan was to tell me they hadn't started milking yet in hopes of making me mad!  Ha!  The little jokesters!  Turns out they made my night!  

May 19th:  This was a day!  And I am beyond lucky that Richard just happened to have the day off; otherwise, it would not have been possible to manage!  I was up at 5:00 am and out the door at 5:40 to help judge the junior high dance company auditions that started at 6:00 am.  This was my third year doing this, and I love it every time.  A great start to my morning.  Richard managed the morning at home seamlessly.  On my way home, I was able to see Bridget and Rachel walking to school and stopped to give them a hug and a kiss.  My heart.  I love them.  I was home for just a bit before leaving again to go back to the junior high.  Marshall had his band solo that morning and I was his accompanist.  This solo had been hanging over both our heads for the entire week.  Marshall was much less diligent about practicing this year compared to last year.  We had been playing together since Sunday, and let me tell you, our Sunday and Monday practice sessions were ROUGH.  I am pretty sure on Monday he yelled at me to just follow him and match what he is doing.  I kindly pointed out that if he does not play the right rhythm it is near impossible to follow him!  We got better and better together though as the week went on, but I was still very nervous!  I am happy to report that it went quite well!  He played the first page so beautifully, maybe the best he's ever done.  There are some incredibly high notes on the second page, and he didn't quite get a couple of those, but overall, we stayed together, ended strong, and played one of the best we ever have.  Win!  We were both so relieved to have it done!  I zipped out of there and drove to The Coffee Shop downtown.  Richard had dropped Gretchen off at Genevieve's house and we were meeting Ricky and Katie for brunch.  We spent the best two hours with them, and we could have easily spent two more.  We ate delicious food and talked all about parenting, kids, the highs and lows, summer vacations, work, and just the craziness of life in general.  It was the best morning.  After that, I was supposed to drive down to Lehi to have lunch with Lara but her son threw up at school that morning, so she cancelled, and I will admit, I was quite happy to get the afternoon at home, even though I definitely missed seeing Lara.  I picked Gretchen up at Genevieve's, came home and snuggled her and promptly fell asleep on the couch until Richard, Becky, and the girls all came home.  Bridget had a wonderful afternoon and evening.  Soon after getting home from school, she went with three friends to do baptisms at the Bountiful Temple.  She and her friends have been trying to make this happen since January and thanks to a wonderful mom who snagged four open slots that morning, it was finally able to happen!  After the temple, they went back to her friend's house to change clothes and then they all went to Boondocks for a 6th grade DARE celebration.  They had a great, great afternoon and evening.  Cambria's mom picked them up at 8:00 and then the girls played laser tag outside in our yard for a long time.  That evening, the rest of us, including Grandma Becky, were cheering on Rachel and Gretchen.  Rachel had her spring piano recital at 5:30 and then her dance recital at 7:15.  Gretchen's dance recital was at 6:00, so it was a busy night!  Becky, Richard, and Marshall went to Rachel's piano recital and her piano teacher was so kind to accommodate us and had Rachel first on the program so she could leave right after.  Richard got a video of her playing, and she did a wonderful job!  She loved her recital song and played it totally memorized with wonderful dynamics.  As soon as she was done playing, they zipped over to Viewmont and were able to walk in the auditorium with me.  Gretchen performed great in both her ballet dance and her jazz dance.  Despite claiming that she does not like dance, when we got to the high school she was so excited to get back with her class, she and I both forgot to put on her ballet shoes!  I had them with me, we just spaced putting them on.  But, regardless, she did great and is darling and I love her.  Rachel came back with me to get her after her jazz dance and those two sisters were so cute together.  Rachel is a master at showing affection, and those two just ran to each other and Rachel picked her up and gave her a huge hug and told her she danced so well.  My heart.  I wish I had my camera out!  After Gretchen's recital, I stayed in the hallway to finish getting Rachel ready for her recital.  Gretchen stayed with us and had fun running up and down the halls while all of Rachel's teammates kept telling her how cute she was.  :)  Becky, Richard and Marshall stayed in the auditorium and sat through another recital that didn't have any of our kids in it.  :)  They are wonderful sports!  I finished getting Rachel ready just in time for her recital (still hate false eyelashes) and then Gretchen and I went back to the auditorium.  Rachel was in four dances, so she had a big night, and I left the auditorium after each of her dances to help her change, and Gretchen always followed.  It was a night!  Rachel and her team did SO well.  At their first recital before competition season in March, all the dances were good, but now they are amazing.  Even Richard, the non-dancer that he is, saw great growth.  And I also loved looking over and stealing a glance at him through the night-he was always looking at the stage, whether he had a daughter up there or not.  He is a great, great dad, and is turning into quite a dance dad!  This spring he has done more dance pick-ups than me I think!  I love him.  Okay, back to the girls...Rachel did so awesome.  I love watching her.  Her team also performed a ballet piece, special for this recital, and she danced beautifully.  And even though Gretchen was in and out with me helping Rachel change, when we were in the audience, she was captivated.  She never sat on my lap, never complained, never asked when it would be done, and when we got home, informed me she wants to keep dancing!  Yay!  I immediately signed Rachel and Gretchen up for a summer tumbling class at the dance studio.  :)  It was a long night of dance.  I think Richard, Becky and Marshall were in the auditorium for three hours!  But the girls were so grateful for their support.  Richard bought two bouquets of flowers for the girls at Coscto that afternoon and here I am typing ten days later and they are still beautiful!  Rachel's bouquet has three lilies in it and one still hasn't opened but the two that are opened are the strongest smelling lilies.  I am loving it, their scent is seriously permeating our entire main floor.  Richard and Marshall don't love it and push the vase away from them each morning when they sit down for breakfast!  

May 20th:  Saturday morning was filled with yard work and planting flowers.  We all went to Marshall's last soccer game of the spring season.  This has been an interesting soccer year for Marshall and the spring season was rough.  I think we are all kind of happy to see it come to an end and Marshall has soccer tryouts this coming week.  He is trying out with his current club, but for the first time ever will also try out for a different club.  We will see what all that holds.  Anyway, the girls were great sports about going to his game, which was nice since Marshall sat through three hours of dance the previous night!  After the soccer game, I took Bridget to an end of the year party for student council.  One of the boys on student council has a pool and his family was kind enough to host those kids for five plus hours that afternoon and evening.  Bridget had the time of her life!  They swam and swam, went down the slide, had dinner, roasted smores and she just had the most wonderful time.  As a whole, this 6th grade class is full of really great kids and the twelve kids on student council are no exception.  Bridget got home shortly after 9:00 pm, showered, went straight to bed and slept for 12 hours that night!  While Bridget was gone, the rest of us went out to dinner at a new place in Woods Cross (it was pretty good!) and then had a relaxing evening at home, which is exactly what we all needed!

May 21st:  This was the kind of day we all needed.  Slow and relaxing!  Richard did have bishopric meeting and ward council that morning and Rachel and I actually went to the sacrament meeting before ours, so our morning wasn't that relaxing, but still so wonderful.  This year Rachel has had a dance teacher who graduated from high school last year and has been teaching at the studio this year.  She got her mission call a few months ago and she actually lives in the neighboring ward.  She invited Rachel to come hear her speak in sacrament meeting and Rachel really wanted to.  I was happy to take her and it worked out perfectly.  We walked over to the church just as the ward was finishing the sacrament.  We snuck in the back and found two chairs.  The chapel and gym were packed, we were in the last row just in front of the stage!  The youth speaker was another girl who dances at Project Move and she referenced dance and Rachel was riveted.  The next speaker was Rachel's teacher, Liv.  She gave an amazing talk, and even though we were so far away and Rachel couldn't see her, I could tell she was listening to every single word.  When Liv was done speaking, we went back out to the foyer in search of some comfier chairs until it was time for our ward's sacrament meeting.  When the meeting ended, the bishop for Liv's ward asked that people who wanted to talk to Liv do so in the east foyer, which is exactly where we were.  Within seconds of the closing prayer, Liv was out in the foyer and no one else was and Rachel got a good minute with her.  She was able to give her two hugs and it was just the sweetest.  This Liv has left a lasting impression on Rachel in more ways than one and I am definitely grateful for it.  

May 22nd:  Sadly, sweet Rachel woke up with the stomach flu on Monday.  Oh I felt so bad for her.  This was her third stomach flu since the beginning of the year-zero fun!  I had a student council breakfast with Bridget at the school that morning at 8:00 am.  I gave Gretchen the option of coming with us to the breakfast, or staying home, getting ready and then going over to the Atkinson's at 8:30 to get a ride to school.  She opted to get a ride with the Atkinsons.  I got her breakfast at 7:45 before I left with Bridget.  I told her to get totally ready for school after she was done eating, and then I set an alarm for 8:27 and told her when the alarm went off to get her shoes and backpack on and walk to Charlie's.  She did it all!  My goodness, I was so proud of her!  A growing up baby bear cub!  Poor Rachel slept all morning on the couch, and I am glad nothing terrible happened with her while I was gone.  I am so glad I was able to be at the school with Bridget for the breakfast.  The student council advisor gave each child an award and shared the nicest words about each of them.  As I was helping to clean up and leaving the school I was able to hear Bridget doing the announcements over the intercom.  It was so fun to hear her darling voice.  I spent the rest of the day planting flowers and helping Rachel.  Poor girl.  Thankfully, after school and lunch, Gretchen played outside with neighborhood friends the entire afternoon!  Aside from the misery of having the stomach flu, Rachel also missed her first night of dance tryouts.  The director of the studio was so completely understanding, and Rachel seemed okay with it until that night when she broke down in tears.  Sweetest Dokie.  I tried to put all her fears at ease and she was able to calm down and sleep well that night.  

May 23rd:  Tuesday was a wonderful day.  Rachel woke up feeling 100% better and everyone else was healthy too...always a relief when stomach flu germs are lurking in your house!  I didn't have anywhere to rush off to that morning until I volunteered for the last time in kindergarten.  I have loved volunteering there once a week, and Gretchen has loved it too.  I got so much done that day around the house and that felt wonderful.  The kids all had good days at school and Bridget spent the better part of the school day swimming at the Farmington Pool.  She went off the high dive four times and I am so proud of her.  Thankfully Rachel felt well enough to go to the last night of dance tryouts that night.  I took Rachel and Sara, got them checked in, gave them both hugs and then left.  I was there to pick them up 2 1/2 hours later and they gave me the full rundown.  The hard thing is that because Rachel and Sara are on one of the current teams going to nationals in July, they don't tell the nationals dancers what team they made for next year until after nationals is over.  I totally agree with this, but the waiting is killing Rachel and me.  July 10th seems SO far away.  Bridget worked at the farm that night and thankfully Cambria's mom took them!

May 24th:  Wednesday was another slower day...felt so wonderful!  I ran errands while all the kids were gone that morning.  The junior high passed out yearbooks that day.  I gave Marshall some money and told him to sign yearbooks as long as he wanted and then walk to a restaurant with Johnny when they were done.  It took some convincing, but he finally agreed.  He and Johnny had fun hanging out at the school and then walked all the way to McDonalds!  After eating a late lunch there, Johnny's mom picked them up and he hung out at Johnny's house for the rest of the day.  The rest of us had a chill evening at home.  The girls and I took Ziggy on a walk and then I stopped for a primary visit at someone's house and told the girls to finish walking Ziggy before heading home.  Well, those sweet girls and dog got caught in one of our near daily thunder and rain storms and got home soaking wet!  Rachel loved the whole experience, the others, not so much.  :)  A memory for sure!  

May 25th:  Marshall spent his school day at Boondocks and had a great time.  The elementary school had field day and I had signed up to help with the morning session...face painting!  My girls were highly skeptical of my decision to sign up for face painting, but I was all about sitting in a chair, under a canopy, and just working with one child at a time instead of masses of children!  I am happy to report that face painting was a complete success and all my darling clients seemed absolutely elated when I showed them the finished product.  I only asked one girl to change what she wanted...a fire breathing dragon...I knew I  could not pull that one off!  Rachel and Gretchen were in the morning session too.  Gretchen did come to me to get her face painted, bless her little heart.  I kissed her cheeks once, but I stopped myself from kissing her 20 more times!  She made my day.  And she also just asked for a heart, so that was nice and easy!  Rachel didn't get her face painted at all, she claims zero confidence in my artistic abilities, but I was not the only mom doing face painting!  I just saw her from a distance, but at least she waved to me!   The rest of our Thursday was chill, and that was wonderful.  

May 26th:  Last day of school!!!  Marshall actually didn't have school, but he was still so good and got up for scriptures with us and let me take his picture.  Gretchen had kindergarten graduation that morning, so soon after I got the girls off to school, I was back down there.  Graduation was darling.  The kids sang a few songs and then they got called up one at a time to get their diplomas and shake the principal's hand.  Gretchen gave a great hand shake.  She has had a wonderful kindergarten year!  After graduation, we went to lunch with our neighborhood kindergarten buddies, Charlie and Jackson, and their moms.  Jackson's family moved on Friday and we are very sad to see them go!  This little kindergarten three-some has been great and listening to their carpool conversations has been hilarious.  We went to Chick-Fil-A for one last hurrah and we all had a great time together.  On our way home from lunch, we picked Bridget up from school who had shed a few tears about the school year ending, bless her heart.  But, she didn't cry long because it was time for the 6th grade party!  The party was from 2:00-7:00 pm at Freedom Hills Park put on by some really wonderful moms.  Bridget and her friends had a blast, despite a downpour and thunderstorm around 5:00.  After the party, the girls decided they wanted to go to Target and shop.  :)  My neighbor was so kind to take them and those four girls had the best time wandering the aisles of Target.  :)  They came home with matching stuffed animals around 10:00 pm, what a day!  Rachel went home with friends after school and went to go see their friend's seven 5-week old puppies.  After that they jumped on the tramp with the sprinklers, played in the hot tub, did each other's nails, had pizza and just had the best time.  Marshall had Johnny over here all afternoon and evening and finally at 5:00 I invited Naomi to come over and hang with Gretchen.  It was quite the afternoon!  By Friday afternoon I found myself exhausted!  May has been so, so busy and I think just knowing that all the school craziness was over depleted all my adrenaline!  Plus, it also seemed that I was hit with the realization that though Marshall will still be at the junior high this coming school year, he will be in 9th grade and officially in high school with his graduation just four short years away!  What?!  Also knowing that I will have two kids at the junior high and Gretchen moving into first grade makes me feel all the things...happy, sad, excited, old, the list goes on!  I will soak up this summer for sure, and then I can be excited and sad all over again come August 17th.  

We have had a different weekend, but it has been nice.  Richard was on the road by 9:30 am Saturday morning with the three girls to head to Vernal.  We finally found a time for Bridget, especially, to get out to Vernal to see the baby horse!  Midnight is about six weeks old by now, but better late than never!  The girls were all so excited.  By all accounts, they have been having a wonderful time and I have loved all the pictures and videos.  They come home this afternoon and I can't wait to hear all about it.  It has just been Marshall and I here at home, and that has also been nice!  I have spent hours, literally hours, cleaning up the loft and throwing away A LOT, boxing things up to take to DI, and boxing away some things we will save for grandkids.  I found 11 socks up there from Rachel.  :)  Marshall has been kind to help me when I have asked him for it.  He has spent a lot of time outside playing soccer, which has been good.  He and I have also played games, watched The Office together, and Saturday night we went to Maddox for dinner.  He has been fun to have around.  

Here's to summer!  We kick it off with a goat show on Friday for Bridget and Saturday we head up to Island Park!  We are excited!

Love to each of you,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)

The Leake's Week-May 14, 2023

 Oh my goodness.  This week has been insane.  I have been in and out of this house and gone more than home, with only small slivers of time in between one thing and the next.  I hate to admit that my patience is running thin...and at times I have probably not been so nice to my kids.  I am losing my mind!  Multiple times this week I have had at least two kids asking me a question or needing me for something while I am trying to reply to a text about another child!  Ah...my mind!  Way too much stimulation this week.  I am craving down time.  All I want is a day at home with absolutely nothing to do.  That seems totally not achievable, but I will have to trust that some slower summer weeks are ahead!  I feel like my blood pressure is rising while I am writing this paragraph!  Ha!  Here's the rundown of our week.  

Before I start though, because I just re-read the above paragraph...the week has been crazy busy, but full of SO much good.  I am grateful our kids can do all this stuff, I am grateful I am healthy and strong and can help facilitate it all!  I am grateful we are all learning and growing and surviving the challenging things that come our way!  So, while life is packed to the brim, I am grateful for it.  

I told my girls that they have to walk to school every day until the end of the school year.  They have rocked it and my heart simultaneously bursts and breaks as I see them out the door each morning.  Gretchen's cheeks, I could kiss those squishable things one hundred times a day.  By a miracle, Rachel and Gretchen have not taxed Bridget too much in her extreme punctuality and Bridget has been a little more flexible with them in the mornings, which I very much appreciate!  Once all the girls got off to school, I dashed over to my Mom's house for Stacie's little baby shower.  All Utah Toney women gathered to celebrate Stacie and baby boy #4.  We ate delicious food, had mostly uninterrupted conversation, and just had a great, great time together!  Even though I didn't get any sisters when I was younger, I sure lucked out in the sister-in-law department, and I am beyond thankful for each of them.  And I cannot wait to meet another Danny and Stacie baby boy-he is destined to have perfect blue eyes.  The rest of Monday was a whirlwind.  Shortly after Gretchen got home from school, we waved her hair and put on some make-up.  We have never waved her hair before and it made her look like a teenager.  Then we threw on some blush, lipstick, and mascara and she all of a sudden turned 17.  The first stop with Gretchen was her Let's Play Music recital.  My Mom was also able to come and she and I cheered on cute little Gretchen.  The Let's Play Music kids sang and played their bells and even disguised themselves as little chefs.  It was all darling.  Gretchen did great!  She has LOVED music class this year and is very excited to start on the piano in the fall!  The second the recital was over, we took a picture with my Mom and then left for the dance studio.  Gretchen had dance pictures, and even though we were 5 minutes late, they were also running late, so Gretchen didn't miss out on a thing!  We quickly got her changed into her costume, finished her hair, touched up her lipstick and boom, she was ready!  Since she is in two dances, she got two group pictures and two individual pictures.  That girl was in heaven and was not shy at all posing for the camera.  As we were walking to the car, she had this cute little sassy walk going on, which I was loving and all of a sudden she turned around and said, "I hate dance."  What?!  Dagger through my heart.  I asked her why she hates Before we put the kids to bed last Sunday night, I told the girls they have to walk to school every day until the end of the school year.  They have rocked it and my heart simultaneously bursts and breaks as I see them out the door each morning.  Gretchen's cheeks, I could kiss those squishable things one hundred times a day.  By a miracle, Rachel and Gretchen have not taxed Bridget too much in her extreme punctuality and Bridget has been a little more flexible with them in the mornings, which I very much appreciate!  Once all the girls got off to school, I dashed over to my Mom's house for Stacie's little baby shower.  All Utah Toney women gathered to celebrate Stacie and baby boy #4.  We ate delicious food, had mostly uninterrupted conversation, and just had a great, great time together!  Even though I didn't get any sisters when I was younger, I sure lucked out in the sister-in-law department, and I am beyond thankful for each of them.  And I cannot wait to meet another Danny and Stacie baby boy-he is destined to have perfect blue eyes.  The rest of Monday was a whirlwind.  Shortly after Gretchen got home from school, we waved her hair and put on some make-up.  We have never waved her hair before and it made her look like a teenager.  Then we threw on some blush, lipstick, and mascara and she all of a sudden turned 17.  The first stop with Gretchen was her Let's Play Music recital.  My Mom was also able to come and she and I cheered on cute little Gretchen.  The Let's Play Music kids sang and played their bells and even disguised themselves as little chefs.  It was all darling.  Gretchen did great!  She has LOVED music class this year and is very excited to start on the piano in the fall!  The second the recital was over, we took a picture with my Mom and then left for the dance studio.  Gretchen had dance pictures, and even though we were 5 minutes late, they were also running late, so Gretchen didn't miss out on a thing!  We quickly got her changed into her costume, finished her hair, touched up her lipstick and boom, she was ready!  Since she is in two dances, she got two group pictures and two individual pictures.  That girl was in heaven and was not shy at all posing for the camera.  As we were walking to the car, she had this cute little sassy walk going on, which I was loving and all of a sudden she turned around and said, "I hate dance."  What?!  Dagger through my heart.  I asked her why she hates dance and she replied, "It makes my arms and legs tired!"  I asked her if running back and forth in the living room makes her legs tired...nope, nope it does not!  After school, Marshall had soccer practice (thankfully carpool saved me that day, and Richard picked those sweaty boys up on his way home from work).  Once Rachel was home we started on her hair and make-up.  She also wanted her hair wavy.  She looked darling.  Rachel's pictures were scheduled from 5:30-6:30, but of course that ended up being 5:30-7:00 with four group pictures and at least one individual photo for each dancer.  I was beat.  But, I did love watching my girls have fun with their friends and play around with poses.  Rachel and I were home by 7:15 and finally had dinner that I had made three hours before!  Ha!  

Tuesday morning I helped get a teacher's luncheon ready at the elementary school and then I volunteered in kindergarten.  Tuesday afternoon and evening was full of dance for Rachel, the farm for Bridget (I didn't have to go!) and a primary meeting that evening for me.  

Richard had Wednesday off, which was so wonderful.  Bridget got up at 5:45 and went to the Bountiful Temple with the young women and had a great, albeit, early morning there.  After all the kids got off to school, Richard and I tackled cleaning up our outdoor table and deck on the east side.  It was not the easiest job as it seemed something died on that table, but it is all cleaned up now and hopefully sanitary!  After lunch, I checked Marshall out of school for an orthodontist appointment.  Unfortunately, he had two lower brackets that had fallen off (which he didn't realize-probably tells you how well he is brushing his teeth!), and those teeth had already started to regress.  So the orthodontist had to fix those and then just put things back to how they were at his last appointment, so not much progress is being made there!  Sigh.  After school, my Mom came and picked up Marshall just after 4:00.  She saved us that night.  She took Marshall up to Roy for his soccer game and spent the whole evening with him.  With Marshall's injury from the previous Saturday, Richard and I were hesitant to have Marshall at a soccer game without one of us there or a grandparent.  My Mom stepped in and helped us out big time!  After Marshall's soccer game, they went to Cal's t-ball game, picked up dinner, and Marshall was finally home about 8:30.  Thank you Mom!  That afternoon, Richard took Bridget to her piano lesson and then as soon as those two got home, Richard and I left.  All the way back in 2019, Richard got us tickets to see They Might Be Giants in 2020 to celebrate 30 thirty years of their album, Flood, one of Richard's favorites.  Richard's friend, Marshall, and his wife, also got tickets.  Well, we all know how 2020 went, and this concert ended up being postponed two more times.  So, four years after we bought the tickets, we finally got to go!  So nuts!  Richard and I got dinner, found a place to park, stood in a long line, got into the concert venue, met up with Marshall and Marietta, and had a great evening.  The majority of the music they played came from Flood, which was a lot of fun since Richard loves it and I know it quite well myself!  Thankfully, They Might Be Giants is getting old, and has less stamina, so the concert was done about 10:15 and we were home just before 11:00!  Ha!  It really was a great time though, and even though we didn't get a lot of time to talk with Marshall and Marietta, it was still so great to see them.  The girls did great here at home.  Rachel had dance that night, so for a huge chunk of the night it was just Bridget and Gretchen home together and by all accounts they had a great time.  All the girls were sound asleep when we got home, and even though we told Marshall to go to bed at 10:00; of course, he was still awake when we got home!  Cute Bridget let Gretchen sleep with her that night.  Love.

Thursday morning after everyone had left for school and work, I picked my Mom up and drove her to Murray to pick up my Dad's car from the dealership.  Anytime with my Mom is so wonderful, but especially when it is kid-free because then we can talk without interruption!  I might be a tad selfish about this!  I did love my 30 minute drive with her.  Soon after getting back home, I loaded Ziggy up and off we went for a dog-training consultation!  Haha!  We are potentially thinking about sending Ziggy off to obedience boarding school.  Richard and I are loving the idea, and we just really need to commit to it.  The kids are heartbroken about it and don't think they can live without him for three weeks.  I just want a more obedient dog!  Keep you posted!  Ziggy and I made it home just before Gretchen got home and then we had a pretty quick turnaround to get to dance.  That afternoon Rachel also had her 4th grade program.  I was able to go and see it and cheer her on.  She was a darling pioneer and spoke her part so well.  She also got to hold up the Davis sign when they were singing the song about the counties in Utah.  Great program, and I am so glad I could be there.  After school, I picked up Gretchen who had gone home with Genevieve after dance, Rachel had piano, Bridget had the farm (I didn't have to go again, though I have a double whammy this coming week), and Marshall's band concert.  It was a whirlwind.  The band concert was actually really fun.  It was outside at the junior high and people brought blankets, lawn chairs and dinner and we just lounged around and listened to music.  Made me excited for summer!  My Mom was also able to join us and Richard met us after work.  We missed Bridget, but Marshall was glad the rest of us could be there.  

Friday morning I sent everyone off and then ran to Home Depot super quick to get pots for my big hostas!  After dropping those off at home, I went to the elementary school to help with the 4th grade Rendezvous!  I was at the rug braiding station so I spent two hours teaching boys how to braid!  It was equal parts fun, hilarious, and exhausting!  I was supposed to have another parent with me, but they never showed up!  I survived though and it was fun to help Rachel's group when they rotated to my station.  When I was done helping there, I picked Gretchen up from Naomi's house and we came home for lunch.  After lunch, I put on pajamas and loaded up the van and Gretchen and I went to the church to set up for a primary activity.  Why on earth did our primary presidency decide to plan and host a primary activity in May is beyond me, but in March it sounded like such a good idea!  Ha!  It was very successful though.  We had all the kids come in their pajamas (pj's) and we talked about prayer, journals, and scriptures.  I think it was mostly successful and I was thrilled when it was done!  I got a 20 minute nap in at home that afternoon, which was very much needed.  Cambria and Naomi came over to play, and all the girls had a great time together.  When Melanie dropped her girls off, she mentioned what time she would pick them up because Cambria had an appointment at the junior high to select her instrument for band.  What?!  Thankfully, she forwarded me the email and I snagged a 6:00 pm appointment for Bridget.  Nothing short of a miracle!  After friends left, she and I zipped over to the junior high and Bridget has officially decided to play the trumpet!  She was deciding between the clarinet and trumpet and she was able to play both of them.  She actually did great getting sound out of the clarinet, but the trumpet was significantly easier for her.  Months ago when she told me she was thinking about the trumpet, I admit, I tried to persuade her to another instrument.  But, a couple of weeks after that we were at Marshall's band concert and a girl who lives next to my parents played the most beautiful trumpet solo-I was sold!  I am elated Bridget picked the trumpet and I think it will be fun to have another instrument in our home!  We had a late dinner that night as a family, but I do think it was the only night we were all home together to sit around the table!  After dinner, we had a relaxing evening at home all together, which is exactly what we needed!

Marshall and I were up early yesterday morning for a 9:00 am soccer game in Huntsville.  We were out the door by 7:30 and had the most beautiful drive through Mountain Green.  It is SO green.  I have never been to Ireland, but I imagine that is how it would look...minus the snowy mountains I think, but man, just fields and rolling hills of green forever it seemed!  So gorgeous!  Marshall's team tied, but they played well against a very physical, and might I add, very rough language team.  Yikes.  The game was at Huntsville City Park and the street we were on was charming.  Buildings straight out of the 1800s, but they all looked so well preserved.  We drove by their city hall, at least that was the sign that was out front, who knows if they still use it, but it was no bigger than 20x20.  The town bells chimed at 9:00 am, right at kick-off...it was amazing!  The first thing Marshall said to me after the soccer game was, "Bridget should live here!  She would love it!"  It was so quaint and charming.  During dinner last night he told her she should live in Huntsville.  She immediately asked, "Does it have cars?"  Marshall told her yes and she quickly replied with, "Ruined! Horse and wagon only!"  Ha!  He reminded her that Vernal (where she dreams of living) also has cars.  He then told her she will have to join the Amish if that is the lifestyle she is looking for!  Anyway, back to the day...Marshall and I got home just before lunch time.  Richard has had to work from home 10:30 am to 6:30 pm both Saturday and Sunday, so that has been lame.  Marshall, Gretchen and I did yard work yesterday afternoon.  I transplanted two more hostas and Marshall helped me prune a demon bush and wonderful Gretchen clipped off all the dead daffodils!  So helpful!  Bridget went to Lagoon for the first time this year and she and Avery only stayed two hours, but she had a great time.  Last night Bridget had Cambria, Claire and Avery over and Gretchen had Naomi over.  It was a wild house full of girls, but fun was had by all.

Today has been a good day!  Richard pulled off a breakfast for me, all the while thinking he had ward council at 9:00 am.  I mentioned to him earlier in the week that it was odd they were doing ward council on Mother's Day.  But, off he went, and was back five minutes later.  :)   Turns out he did indeed read the email wrong about ward council!  The kids were mostly good and kind to each other this morning.  I was showered with school gifts of the best kind and a new necklace and earrings.  I even got a 20 minute nap this morning, praise the heavens for 12:00 pm church!  The primary kids sang in sacrament meeting today, and I honestly don't think I have ever heard them sing better.  I soaked up having Rachel and Gretchen up there.  During the second hour and Bishop spoke to the women for about 20 minutes and then we had pie and got to visit-it was amazing!  Word is that two men covered singing time in primary for us today.  One brought his acoustic guitar and the other man brought his electric guitar!  The kids LOVED it.  For the third year running, I had individual snuggle time with each of the kids this afternoon, though with Richard working in our bedroom, we were displaced to the movie room, but it was still great.  It has become such a fun tradition.  The kids semi-helped with dinner tonight and then my parents came over for the evening, which was wonderful as always.  We talked, put up with Marshall's antics, ate cake, and played a game.  A wonderful evening.  Richard is now back to working, just wrapping things up, but hopefully he will be done soon!

And since it is Mother's Day, I should probably say a few words!  As if I haven't written hundreds of words already!  Ha!  I am so grateful for my Mom and Richard's Mom.  The older I am getting, the more I am realizing that being a mother is never-ending, no matter how old you or your children become.  Endless support, love, prayers, worry, stress, help...it is all there, all the time.  And in my own role as mother, I am so grateful for it.  All I ever dreamed of as a girl was being a mother, but I only ever imagined being a mom to little ones.  Now I feel like that time has slipped through my fingers and I am left wondering where it all went.  But, I am also learning how much I LOVE being a mom to the current ages of my kids.  They are at such fun ages and I love all that I get to do and experience with them.  They stretch me in ways I didn't know I could be stretched, and sometimes that stretching seems like too much, but here I am, continuing to try each day.  I wouldn't trade it.

Love to each of you.

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)