Tonight Grandma and Grandpa Miller are having a sleep over for the girls.  Morgin, Jordin, Savannah and even little Avynlee have gone to spend the evening roasting marshmallows, playing, watching movies and having a grand time.  Jaron and I went on a date with some of his friends from work.  We went to see Taken 2 after a yummy meal at Costa Vida and followed by blizzards from Dairy Queen.  That buy one get one free card we purchased in support of a high school band member has sure gotten it's use.  I had a pumpkin cheesequake blizzard, different from my usual Reeses, but I had to seize the the moment of the season.  That left Hudson to squeeze his way into someone's night.  Mom had to work an event at the college, which is often her lot on weekend nights, but Dad was happy to let Hudson come hang out with him.  Dad thought he and Hudson could go see a male vocal group on campus.  Before we started delivering all the kids to their determined destinations, Hudson came down with a headache.  I fed him some food and gave him a good dose of Ibuprofen in hopes he would feel better.  He tends to be like me, if we don't catch the headache in the beginning, it progressively gets worse.  We told him what grandpa had in mind to do that evening and he immediately responded with a protest of the potential boringness of it.  We offered him to get a babysitter at the house, or even we stay home with him for the evening, but in the end, it was decided that if he were given a green dollar bill, he would be a good sport and go with Grandpa to this concert.  I asked him in the car on the way over how he was feeling.   "Better and better by the minute," he replied with very apparent disappointment...in which he followed by asking if it was okay to trick Grandpa and say he was still not feeling good and maybe Grandpa wouldn't want to go to the boring concert.

At the end of the night, we pulled into my parents drive at almost the same time as my dad and Hudson.  I asked Dad if Hudson was good, since our deal was he only got the dollar if he was a good sport.  Dad's reply: Hudson was VERY well behaved.  He let it be known that he was very bored, but as the vocal group began to harmonize, Hudson began to blend his own voice in.  I eventually had to give him a signal to quiet down although I really didn't want to because he was in perfect harmony with the performers!

I was quiet happy with that report on more than one level.  Hudson climbed in the car with his ice cream treat Grandpa has gotten him and eavesdropped on mine and Jaron's conversation the whole way home with an occasional question of "why?" or "what did you say?"  He really is a cute, little impish fellow.

Spud Harvest is here.  The kids are out of school for two weeks.  They take it easy and Jaron picks up double load.  I am amazed at what lengths he is is capable of in the world of a working man.  He works his full schedule at the college, then goes straight to helping in spud harvest.  Yesterday he squeezed in mowing the lawn and filling in a grave (another "little" side job he picks up from time to time) in between everything.  I admire, as well as feel grateful for the efforts he makes in supporting our family.

My good friend Heidi Pehl loaned me a jogging stroller.  Yay for me!  I have always wanted one, but haven't wanted to spend the money.  So the older kids rode their bikes and I pushed Avynlee in the stroller and we went for a little jaunt through Parker.  The weather has been incomparably beautiful-mid 70's, sunny, calm....don't want to relinquish a grip on these good days. We stopped for a break at the school and what do you know? Savannah lost a tooth!

A few Sundays ago (dare I admit this was a Sunday? eek), Jaron had two rental four wheelers from a ride he did with some work-friends the day before.  We loaded up after church and took a leisurely roll through the desert.  I remembered how when I moved to Idaho, I fell in love with the skies.  They are so expansive, so many different hues of blue and brush strokes of grey, with white cotton stretched across and rolled together.  A true artistic masterpiece from Heaven.  I have no doubt that here is the only place I would want to raise a family and be settled.  There is not a more perfect little town than Parker, with a school and a church less than a mile away and everyone waving to each other as we pass by.  As much as I love my home and would never want to homestead anywhere else, I do yearn for the lush, tight surroundings of the forest (Jaron might throw in the word suffocating).  I sometimes see movies in the setting of Oregon/Washington and ache to be where the hills roll and twist, rivers and waterfalls weave, and the sky is like a grey flannel blanket.  Perhaps we will be back to visit, but I now look for beauty in a grain field, beginning the change from bright green to gold, and the silhouette of the rugged Tetons, and an area where the vast majority of the people are saints of God.

Last Friday we loaded up the kids at 5:30 pm and headed down to Rigby Lake for the evening-just the 5 of us.  Jaron and I relaxed (well, I mostly read..."The Goose Girl.." very good book).  The kids just played and played in the sand and water until the sun started going down and the breeze turned cool.

Saturday was mine and Jaron's 11th anniversary!  Eleven years of great fun, friendship, love, support and companionship.  On the way to dinner I talked Jaron into taking me the scenic way to Idaho Falls.  I was expecting to go through Ririe, but he turned right off of the highway (North?? I never know).  We passed through the cute, little town of Menan (or is Roberts??  I'm pretty sure Menan, but I always get those two confused).  Beautiful farms and old restored houses. I always get so excited driving through new places.  Its kind of bad because we almost can't hold a conversation because I'm constantly stopping mid-sentence to point things out or ask question about what I see out the window.  We ate at Yummy House Chinese in downtown Idaho Falls.  I love the city and that's as close as it gets for now.  We then picked up a few school clothes items for the kids.  Not a huge, momentous anniversary celebration, but quite enjoyable. 

Tuesday was the official Pioneer Day.  Jaron had the day off from work.  With the idea of doing something fun together as a family, we took the kids on their first motor ride that wasn't in our yard (Hudson on his little dirtbike, Savannah on her own little 4 wheeler, Jaron on his dirtbike and me and Avynlee on a 4 wheeler).  We parked the pick up and enclosed trailer on the intersection by Coy and Emilee's house and unloaded.  Savannah apparently had forgotten how to steer (what???).  She almost went into a canal, but stopped and corrected and did better the second half of the ride.  Hudson did great.  We went up past George and Linda's house and headed toward the sand dunes.  It wasn't our intention to actually get to the sand dunes, but the Crapo's have good farm roads to ride along (and beautiful green and golden hills of grain).  Once it started getting too sandy, we turned around because Hudson's training wheels were not conducive to the sand.  Back at the trailer, Jaron rode his dirtbike up and in and Hudson just followed right up (he had never done that before, and was never given permission to try).  His front tire went off the ramp and he was luckily caught by the cables that pull the ramp up.  I was a ways back and yelled for Jaron who had his back to the situation.  He quickly put his bike down and rescued his son.  Hudson slowly walked down the trailer ramp with big tears in his eyes and came to my comforting arms.  He was pretty shaken up.  I thought well, I hope he learned a little something about being more careful...I'm obviously so glad he wasn't hurt.

Fast forward to the next day (so far in the future, I know).  I am driving Hudson over to play at Creed's house and pass the intersection where we had parked yesterday.

SAVANNAH: There's where we parked yesterday.
ME: Yep.  That was a fun ride, huh?
HUDSON: Savannah was scared to ride her 4 wheeler.
ME: and you were scared when you almost went off that ramp.
HUDSON: No I wasn't
ME: yes you were
HUDSON: No I wasn't
ME: I should hope you were.  If you tell me you weren't scared, that tells me you didn't learn about being careful and I won't be able to let you ride anymore. 
HUDSON: fine.  I did a tiny gasp.

This summer is cruising by with out slowing down. The kids and I went camping In a tent for a week at Green Canyon. The kids did a swim camp. Two hour-long lessons each day and several hours of free swim. It was great fun, but I was definitely reedy to come home by the end. We are leaving tomorrow to camp for two days, this time with jaron, yay! To Red Fish Lake by Stanley, ID. I also did Relay for Life a few weeks back-always an amazing experience. Before all this camping and other activities began, I set up a Miller Family Summer Camp. Each day has a theme. Miracle Monday (be someone's miracle by doing an act of service). Tell-a-tale Tuesday (go to the library). Wet Wednesday-play in water. Theater Thursday (either catch the children's matinee at the cheap theater, or make our own theater at home). And Free Friday- to do any fun thing we want. A few weeks ago a new family moved into our ward. I kept having the thought to invite them over to dinner. I kept thinking, that'd be fun...but didn't take the thought seriously. Finally it hit me that maybe this is an impression...act on it! Then I thought oh no. I don't have the courage to do these kids of things. Especially since I was getting Ready to leave town in a few days and needed all my time for preparations. But it was Monday morning and we hadn't thought of a miracle to do yet...so before mentioning my idea to the kids, I told the Lord that I didn't have anything good to make. If he would help me think of something good to make, I'd comsider it more seriously...yep, the idea came...i had everything for fajitas. So I went on the quest of getting a hold of this family, feeling dumb about being so last minute. I called the mom at her work, which inalso felt dumb for doing. She didn't answer so I left her a message. She took a few hours to call back. She actually wasn't in her office that day, but luckily got my voice mail. They were more than happy to come, which was a relief...I hate thinking that I've been presumptuous, or put someone on the spot. It was a wonderful, comfortable dinner. A nice littl miracle to feel the blessing of reaching out, even when I'm not sure of myself.

We have had beautiful weather this week!  On Monday the kids and I went with some friends to Egin Lake.  I used my kayak for the first time.  It was awesome!  Did you know you can see the Tetons from from there?  Tuesday Savannah had her tournament games.  They lost two in a row and were eliminated.  She actually got a foul ball.  That's the most ball/bat action she's had all season!  I told her I'd pay her a dollar if she hit the ball.  After she struck out, she was walking back to the dug out, all happy about hitting the foul and yelled to me, "Will you still pay me a dollar?"  I was a little embarrassed as I was sitting next to a few moms I didn't know.  They both looked over at me and said, "Don't worry, we've all done it."

Power of Moms

I just found this as a draft, but decided to finish it and post even though it's a few years old.

Last July I was "coerced" :) by a good friend of mine to attend the BYU Idaho education week.  I was only able to go for a half day, but was privileged to attend classes that had a big impact on me.  One class I attended was taught by Saren Loosli, daughter of parenting experts, Linda and Richard Eyre.  In the class Saren mentioned the website Power of Moms (powerofmoms.com).  I jotted it down quickly and actually remembered to check it out a little later.  I was immediately drawn in by the down to earth, uplifting, principle-based articles.  I also found it fun to read the blogs of the co-founders of the website, one being Saren and the other a girl named April Perry.

Another resource that really appealed to me was the podcasts put out by the Power of Moms.  They only had about six and I went through them fairly fast. I really enjoy putting them on my i pod and doing late night cleaning when everyone else has gone to bed. So I emailed the website requesting more.  A few days later I had an email from April Perry herself asking me if I would be willing to participate in a podcast with her.  I was floored!  I did not have that in mind at all, but felt quite honored, so I accepted.  You can listen to the entire podcast here.  I felt like I made a good friend that night as we recorded the podcast as a telephone conversation.  We planned to make it a quick 20 minutes, but it turned out to be closer to 45.

I also have been honored to have the Power of Moms publish an article I wrote entitled "What if it's Enough?"

I love this website because the thing I very most wanted to be for as long as I can remember was a mom and this website helps me to do it deliberately and with intention.

The two parts of parenting that I dislike the least so far are potty training and removing training wheels off of the bike.  Especially in the first child.  It seems like they will never get it!  But they do :)  Savannah has been trying for 2 years to be able to ride without training wheels.  It's hard where we live, we have a very big driveway that WOULD be perfect, except its all gravel.  Hudson actually taught himself last summer (he actually potty trained himself, too).  It turned out to be a good thing because Savannah thought if my little brother can do it, so can I.  Every year for the the last Accelerated Reader celebration at school, all the classes go on a bike ride through Parker.  Last year I let her stay home because she couldn't ride without training wheels.  This year it was our goal to be ready for it.  We were lucky to have a mild winter and snow melted early which gave her a chance to practice a lot.  I was so proud of her when she finally got and and she was so excited!  We did a couple practice rides though Parker-one being on a very random hot day-92 degrees sandwiched in between 50 degree days.  After the school bike ride I took Hudson's bike to the school to pick up Savannah and let the two of them ride home while I drove behind very slowly.  Switching to the words of Hudson, "We were riding past some bigger boys.  They were talking very quietly.   They thought I couldn't hear, but I could.  They said, 'What a tiny bike'." (Hudson happens to be riding Savannah's first bike we bought for her when she was three years old-spray painted black-and it is small for him.)  I asked Hudson how he felt about that.  His response, "Medium."  Love that boy.

Savannah has been playing softball this spring.  I have really enjoyed going to her games.  It got me thinking about why I love baseball.  I've never played on a real team before (I think I'm going to add to my bucket list--to play on a co-ed team with Jaron), so why does playing baseball feel so natural to me?  Then I remembered where I really learned.  My fifth grade teacher at John Rogers Elementary, Mr. Macaneny (Mr. Mac for short), used to have us play all the time.  I wish I remembered more.  I imagine that we were rewarded for good behavior and school work by kickball or softball outside. I think he was quite influential in my appreciation for sports and physical activity.  I ran track under his coaching.  My main event was triple jump-I even got the highest score in all-city!  We were also required to participate in other events like the relay (I've never been the fastest runner, though).  When I went to sixth grade they didn't have triple jump so I didn't do track anymore.  I should have stuck with it, even though I knew I wasn't the best.

Savannah plays a lot of outfield, which she has figured out is slow.  It is kid pitch, which can be discouraging, also.  She has been hit by the ball at two different games, which was exciting because she actually got on base!  Both times she ALMOST made it home (which she calls a "home-run") by stealing, but was tagged out.

I'm going to encourage her to stick with it.  Her team and the opposing teams range from 2nd-4th grade.  There is a big difference in those ages and what an 8 yr old is capable of, verses a 10 year old.   She's cute in her uniform and she's smart about strategizing, so I think she'll grow into it, if she's willing to stick with it for a few years.

Memorial weekend has been productive!  We stained and put in all the plugs to our stair banister (finally finishing it after almost 5 years).  Jaron did half of our brick mail box.  We had bids to have it done for $600-1000.  We had enough brick left over from building our house just sitting.  I'm glad Jaron decided to just try it himself and save all that money.  It may not be perfect, but in my opinion it looks pretty dang good for just watching a you tube video and giving it a first time try!

Savannah has a school bike ride fieldtrip coming up.  They did it last year as well, but she couldn't ride without training wheels, so I let her stay home.  This year we have been working hard since the snow melted to get her confident without her training wheels and she has done great.  I wanted to take her through Parker to practice since the school just rides around the town.  So Hudson and Savannah rode bikes, I jogged and Jaron took Avynlee on the 4 wheeler.  It was a beautiful morning and so much fun!

I also got a green accent wall painted that I have been wanting to do ever since we moved in.  My mom got me motivated and offered to help, so I took her up on it and I am sooo happy with how it turned out!

Took the family to Pizza Pie Cafe in Rexburg (their all time favorite all you can eat pizza bar).  Avynlee told me she had to go to the bathroom once, then began eating pizza again.  I figured I'd take a few more bites then take her to the bathroom.  Two seconds later.  "Mommy, I wet."  "What?!?? No not here!"  Yep.  nice little puddle on the restaurant floor.  So I was able to whisper a request to the bus boy for some antibacterial spray and a rag.  He brought it (such a nice boy, very discreet).  I cleaned up the puddle, wrapped her in my raincoat and we finished our dinner.

This morning I went to the temple to do some initiatory work.  The Spirit was unusually strong.  Three different workers got emotional while performing the ordinance.  Specifically when talking about the protective power of the Holy Garment.  It was weird.