July . . . How does your garden grow?

A little bit of random.

• What a busy month. Nels has been gone for most of the past 30 days. Either he's at work, he's sleeping in the bedroom (which didn't happen nearly enough), the girls and I were out of town (and he was working), or he's out of town. 
• He is currently out of town. He comes home Sunday night . . . and then leaves again for another five days on Wednesday. 
• It's been a long month of being hugely pregnant and a single mom. I really miss my friend.
• My garden? Sad. I think it was the Lord's way of saying, "Rachel. Just don't worry about it this year." I planted three {huge} rows of beans. We love canned beans at our house. I believe that I can count on two hands the number of plants that actually came up. I'm not retarded. I know how to plant beans. I think it was the Lord + bad seeds. 
• Oh well. Less work for me this Fall = still a lot of work to be done in the next month.
• I. DON'T. LIKE. WAITING. I'm not good at it. I don't know how to remedy this. -- Well, with anything other than Waiting.
• Walmart brand wipes are amazing at getting pen off my walls. Which is lucky for me because we have lots of wipes and lots of pen on my walls. (Courtesy of a certain someone whose name begins with a "V" and ends with a "iolet". Also, I'd be remiss in not sending a special thanks to the other people who we will kindly call "deadmeat" who keep leaving writing utensils all over the house.)
• Walmart brand wipes DO NOT get pencil off walls. A very frustrating fact - as that seems to be the afore unnamed person's current weapon of choice. As I sat, nearly cussing, at She-who-will-not-be-named last night, scrubbing away, my mind was going through all my cleaning agents - which are such excellent cleaners that if I were to use them on my walls, they would not only remover the pencil, but the paint as well. "They really need to create something that can get pencil off walls that wouldn't damage the paint. I'm sure I'm not the only mother in the history of this world with this problem." THEN. My mind caught hold of the magic solution! It is called E-RAS-ER. Ha! Like magic! We actually own two that Violet hasn't even chewed up yet!! I'm a GENIUS!!! After two weeks of fighting this losing battle to reclaim my walls from the dreaded pencil, I discovered a MIRACLE! So if YOU are ever in the heat of battle against pencil on walls, just remember this novel solution that I'VE come up with and go with the E-RAS-ER.
• Being pregnant helps my brain to work extra good. Very efficient, creative, and quick. That's me. When I'm pregnant. A Maz Ing. Me.
• Sometimes I think of making a list of 30 Things I'd Like to Do Before I'm 30. Then I realize I already have a list of 75 things that I'd like to do in the next three hours. 
• July is nearly over. August is coming. June was over before I could even catch my breath. July feels like it was a blur of stress and tiredness, interspersed with a few select moments of perfection. I have a feeling that August is going to feel like a tornado.
• Bring it on!

Family Time

We've spent the weekend with my family at our cabin in Kamas, Utah . . . well, technically it's in Samak (aren't they clever? spelling Kamas backwards?), but seriously, who's mapping, right?

My family has owned a bunch of land in the area for . . . a long time and when we were kids, my Grandpa bought the cabin that was also on the property and turned it and the land over to his seven children and thirty-something grandchildren -- 42 owners in all. Awesome, huh?

When I was a Sophomore in high school, my family moved from Coalville, Utah, where I'd lived all my life, to Bountiful, where my parents have lived for the past . . . 14 years. Wow. I'm getting old. :) While some people (Nels) have fabulous memories of everything from their childhoods, I am not one of those people. It seems that often I need physical evidence to jog my memories. Having been gone from Coalville for almost as long as I lived there as a child, I always have a hard time remembering a lot of things from when I was a kid. The cabin has acted a bit like a buffer for some of my memory loss.

I have many memories of playing in the lofts and the sagebrush. Sledding in the winter and taking summer walks toward "our" camping spot several miles up a dirt road from the cabin (only occasionally encountering badgers) looking for Fool's Gold. Many hours were spent on the back porch stargazing at night - as one can only do up in the mountains, far away from the "light pollution" of the city. We rode snowmobiles and four-wheelers and a little red motorcycle. Lots of happy memories. Even happy memories of when Melissa, Jake, and I drove a little white pickup over the mountain and down to (what used to be) my parents' property in Woodland - only to get it stuck in an enormous "puddle" from one of the springs - where cows had been drinking and pooping and mucking about. We spent hours trying to un-stick ourselves from the stinky, maggoty, knee-high mess, only to eventually decide to  start walking the six plus miles back around the mountain to the cabin. It was then that I learned that Melissa (as a . . . seventeen? year old) was still afraid of (even) small, barking dogs and that pretty much everyone in Summit County is related in some way or another to everyone else. :) After walking several miles, we ran into the grandfather of some of the kids we went to school with, who kindly gave us a ride the rest of the way. :) Dad was "really pleased" when we made it back . . . and then he got to help us drive back around the mountain to tow the little white pickup (with the broken four-wheel-drive) back to the cabin.

This weekend I got the chance to once again enjoy the beauty all around with my family and also share it with my children. It was wonderful. Nels spent the weekend in Idaho Falls - pretty much working and working and working - getting ready for Melaleuca's upcoming Convention in Minneapolis. But my parents, all of my siblings and their spouses, and their children were there (at some point or another). Genny and Ben were even there from their summer pest control adventures in Kentucky.

We ate lots of good food (always a staple at any Moon Family gathering), played a few games (hard to do as we all have such young families), and did a LOT of gabbing. As we were talking one night Genny's Ben (or Boo Boo, if you prefer) was talking about why he likes to always have his pocketknife on him - as well as his handgun. He explained that when we walks into any new area, he is always on the defensive - thinking of "what would I do if . . ." situations. He always has an escape plan and wants to always be ready to defend those he loves in a second's notice. I laughed and said that Nels kind of does the same thing. Kelly (my SIL) also said that her brain does that. All of us "Moons" thought that was funny. We don't do that. Which spurred the conversation of "Well, what DO you think of? When your brain has free time -- say in Sacrament Meeting when you're zoning out or when you're driving in the car or walking down the street with nothing pressing on your mind -- what do you think of?" A conversation that probably only "Blue" personalities would find particularly fascinating.

As most of us in our family are primarily "Blues" it comes as no surprise that Mom, Wendie, Ben, Melissa, Genny, and myself all answered that we think about people. Now, exactly how we go about that was slightly varied for each of us. I can't remember the specifics for all of us, but generally we like to analyze people.
Mom seemed more interested in healing a person. What makes them feel the way they do (physically or emotionally).
Wendie is more empathetic. Often to the point of feeling what another person is feeling.
Boo Boo :) answered that he thinks about how to make money. {as predicted by Genny :) }
Chris: What he needs to do next. Making lists. Very task-oriented.
Nels: (I asked him on the phone the next day) Creating something. Music, video. He is often thinking up a story or a "movie idea". How this lighting would be good for this kind of shot and what kind of lens would be best. :)
My all-time favorite answer of the weekend was my dad's.
{paraphrasing}
"Dad, what do you think about when you're on autopilot? Say you are in a meeting that you're not particularly engaged in or you're bored?"
"I think about how I can get out of there." For a moment, I assume he is talking about escape, like Ben and Nels. He goes on to clarify. "If I'm not having any fun, I'm trying to think of a way that I can leave. . . gracefully." LOL. :)
"Okay. Well, what if you can't leave? It's a church meeting and you're required to be there?"
"Well, then I'm thinking of something that I can say. 'Cause if I have to be there, I might as well be having fun and talking."
Apparently, as "Red" as my dad is, having FUN is high on his list of priorities. :)
For me? I like to sit and figure out what makes someone tick. WHY do they think the way they do? What drives and motivates them? Understanding why they are the way they are. I also like to think about things like why the clouds are shaped the way they are? why did they build the road here instead of there? how much dirt did they have to move to cut straight through this hill the way they did and what did they do with it afterward? why does that bird live here? what do you think it eats? is it native or just migrating through? how were these mountains formed? WHY is a big part of my internal vocabulary. :)

I love my family so much. We are all so different from one another (and in many ways so similar), but I'm so very thankful that I had a chance to be born into a family with some of my very best friends in all the world. They teach me and love me so much. They are always there for me when I need . . . anything. My parents are the most amazing examples to me of faith and service. Willing to bless me at every turn.

Yesterday, before packing up my kids and heading back to Idaho Falls, we all sat on the back porch shooting guns. In Chris's words, "You can definitely spot a red-neck when their Sunday afternoon activity is sitting on the back porch shooting water bottles and pop cans (and the occasional ground squirrel) with guns." :)

We didn't make it home until quite late last night. I was exhausted - as Violet woke up before six every morning we were there and I stayed up way too late each night talking. My feet were more swollen (and still are) than I'd ever seen them. They still look completely unrecognizable to me. But it was SO nice to sleep in our own beds and see Nels. Violet asked for her daddy and her bed all weekend, in fact.

That being said, we had such a wonderful time. My girls loved playing with their cousins all weekend. I was so thankful to spend the time visiting with my family - getting some much needed counsel and love and support from my parents. Feeling the sweet love and friendship that I have with each of my brothers and sisters. I realized once again how much I love being HOME. It was so wonderful - after so much crazy in our lives recently - to go home. I am so blessed.

Picture Heavy and Swollen Ankles

This month has been incredibly busy for Nels at work. It's been fine, for the most part, because it's been expected. The weeks preceding Melaleuca's big, yearly Convention are always VERY packed for Nels.

However, this last weekend, we decided to take an impromptu vacation of sorts. Nels's sweet mother and sister offered to take the three oldest girls to Mountain Home for a few days and we couldn't help but take a little escape ourselves among all the stress that the last few weeks have been.

Friday afternoon, as Nels was gearing up for his third all-nighter in a row, I met up with my mother-in-law at a good halfway point along I-84 and swapped my little rascals for her peace and quiet. I'm not sure who got the better end of that stick, but regardless, I really enjoyed the ride back home with no more "how much longers". Honestly, I think we all made out pretty good. -- Especially the girls, who were SO excited to get to spend the next 5 days with cousins and grandparents and NO PARENTS! :)

It had been a crazy day, trying to plan for our last minute excursion and then spend four hours driving to Declo and back. After kissing the Chickies goodbye, I ran inside the gas station to refill my water bottle and empty my bladder. I had pleasantly noticed a State Patrolman chatting with the cashier and his car parked right next to mine as I waved off my little ladies. As I exited the building, looking for-ward to some good old singing-to-myself-at-the-top-of-my-lungs time and my keys, the State Trooper was backing out of his parking spot. About the time I realized that (in a moment of pure genius) I'd locked my keys in the car -- along with my cell phone -- the State Trooper (who'd been parked right next to me!) was leaving the parking lot. I contemplated chasing him down, but figured that my pride was worth the hour wait and $40 the locksmith were going to cost me. So I spent the next hour sitting on a bench in front of a gas station. People watching.

I wasn't mad. Just thankful that my kids weren't with me for that hour.

Three hours later I arrived back home. I picked up Violet from Nels's studio, where she'd been reminding his bosses that he isn't actually a robot. We ate dinner, watched an episode of "Hoaders", packed up (did you know that packing for 2 1/2 people, as opposed to 6 is WAY easier???), cleaned up, and went to bed.

Four hours later, at 3:00 in the morning, Nels pulled into the driveway. We loaded the car, packed in a sleepy Vi, tucked Nels into the passenger seat with his pillow and blankie, and hit the road.

We made it to Sandpoint, Idaho before noon and spent the next two days just enjoying the beautiful town, the gorgeous lake and mountains, our sweet little one year old, and each other. Totally worth all the driving!

SO happy to be out of the car! and dipping our tired feet in some nice cool lake water.

 She would have continued this game all night long. Unfortunately swollen ankles and legs can only swing 23 lbs. up and down for about 10 minutes before they risk dropping her in the water. :)

Sandpoint, Idaho is a tourist town of about 7,000 people located about 45 miles north of Coeur d'Alene and about roughly 40 miles from the Canadian border. It's sandwiched right between beautiful Rocky mountains and Lake Pend Orielle (pronounced Lake Pond-uh-ray. gotta love French).

The community has made a BEAUTIFUL beach area and park right in the middle of downtown.

I've learned to get used to being the model for Nels's incessant picture taking. I just pretend he's not there. :) As a result, there are MANY pictures of me looking absolutely ridiculous (most with my yapper half open). Lucky for me, I get to decide which ones make it onto my blog. :)

Sometimes I just wish he'd put the darn camera away and actually join in being an active part of whatever we're doing. Funny enough, most of the time I have to remind him to actually take pictures of people. Often we get home, only for me to discover that most of his pictures and video are of moving water, random fishermen, trains, bugs, you name it. :) He reminds me of my dad in that way. At the same time, he does such a great job and I love some of the sweet moments that he captures of our family.

However, every once in a while, I do steal the camera away. Mainly so that someone else can lug around that luscious little one year old we have, but also so that I can occasionally prove that NELS WAS THERE! :)

Sadly, when I take pictures of his handsome mug, the top of his head sometimes disappears. :) I don't know how to work his camera. And even though he's tried to show me a hundred times how to adjust the ISO and such, I'm just not that interested . . . Much easier to have an excuse when the picture isn't perfect. :)

A few pictures from the Schweitzer Ski Resort - above Sandpoint. SO beautiful!

We headed home Sunday afternoon, driving through Montana. At one point, there were a lot of warning signs along the road.

Apparently these fellas like to frequent the highway.

Of the 15+ hours we spent in the car last weekend, I probably drove about 12 of them. As I'd vaguely mentioned before, Nels had spent all three of the nights before we left working until anywhere between 3:00 and 9:00 in the morning. At which point, he'd come home to sleep for about 4 hours (tops) before heading back into work. Needless to say, anytime we were driving, he was snoozing. He did however drive the last 4 or so hours home on Sunday night while Violet and I slept. I was apparently more tired than I'd acknowledged to myself, because I have an incredibly hard time sleeping in moving vehicles but I barely remember anything between Missoula and Idaho Falls. :)

It was a quick trip up to the Northern reaches of our country with two of my very best friends, but it was such a nice reprieve. Violet, as the fourth child, rarely gets to be an only child for any extended amount of time and I think she enjoyed being with just Mamadaddy (her phrase, not mine) for a couple of days. And as for me and Nels, it was so nice to spend the time together - contemplating the future. :)

Stop and Go

Sometimes blogging just seems like too much. Now, don't get me wrong. I still yearn to be recording what's going on. I still think in "posts" when I'm doing monotonous things like folding laundry or doing the dishes ---- or just have any "alone time" in my head at all. -- Sometimes children even seem to invade my head . . . .

Here's a couple of problems I'm encountering when it comes to blogging lately. There's a lot that I need to catch up on. -- As I mentioned in one of my more recent posts. I still haven't posted any pictures from Christmas! Birthdays! Vacations! or even just Fun Stuff! I don't know why. Maybe its the mountains of laundry and ever present children and messes that accompany my every waking moment. Maybe I'm just pregnant and lazy (likely). Maybe I've been watching too many shows on Netflix in the evenings instead of doing what I really want to do (probably). Maybe I've been doing a lot of other projects. Not ones that have been on my list of "Fun Projects to Do" for years, but the spur-of-the-moment-someone-asked-me-if-I'd-make-her-some-Ariel-jammies-and-I-couldn't-say-no-and-then-made-nightgowns-for-all-the-rest-of-us-as-well kind of projects.

Yeah. Kind of a combination of all those, I'd say.

Also. Sometimes I just have so much on my mind that it creates a traffic jam to my fingers. I don't know what to share and what to keep in, so I just don't say anything. ---- Actually, if you've talked to me in the past two weeks, you'd know that that is entire NOT true. I've been talking and stressing non-stop. I just don't seem to know what to type.

But I have had a few ideas.

First being: The Good Lord has a FANTASTIC sense of humor. I love the irony of life. I love to laugh. I love to find the hidden funnies in the every day. Also, if you've ever called me with a complaint, you know that I'm not always the most sympathetic listener. I'm a fixer. I am. I can't help it. I give advice and generally tell you to let it go or change yourself. You may not like it, but you pretty much always know what you're going to get. And for some reason, people still seem to call me with their problems on occasion, so I'm guessing that they're just wanting it. :)

Now. What do I do when I encounter real dilemmas in MY life. What if I can't take my own practical advice? What if the same situation that I was counseling my friend through, then turns around and happens to me? Do I laugh? Cry? Yell at my kids? Stress to the point of having contractions and not be able to sleep at night? You betcha.

And I tell you what. What goes around, comes around. And even THAT'S a little bit funny. SOMEONE is getting a good laugh. That's all I know.

Second thing: There are some situations in life that seem to be exactly what I've been praying for and yet seem to be the most stressful thing that I can possibly imagine. There are some situations in life that you want so bad, but at the same time, don't seem to have ANY perfect endings.

I don't like that.

There are some situations in life, that NO ONE has the words to make simpler. That no amount of talking will work through.

And yet you still know that the Lord is in control.

My answer to myself?

Pray more.

It really is the only answer. I know that He is in control. I know that He loves my family. I know that HE ANSWERS PRAYERS. Even when the only answer that can be given is Peace. And then I realize that those crazy situations drive me to Him. Where I am safe. Where I am calm. Where I don't need all the answers. Where I know that He loves us so much that all will be exactly as it should be. A place I think I've been missing the last while. A good reminder.

And so I know. Whether it's complicated or streamlined, life will be perfect. We just have to take it a day at a time.

Fabulous Friday

Wow. What a blah person I've been on here lately. I'm so sorry. I've been no fun at all --- and, you know, I'm usually just such a barrel of laughs (ha ha) that I just can't stand it anymore. I need something positive and upbeat on here.

In my defense, the past month has been crazy busy. We've gone to Utah once, spent a week and a half over in western Idaho, had family and friends staying at our house four or five times, on top of working and appointments and trying to have some free time on occasion . . . Yeah. It's been kooky.

So, I don't have time for much, but I think that we can breeze through a little Friday fabulous-ness.

1. I've got just over eight weeks until this baby is due. I just can't believe that. Less than two months. Today my cousin said, "Well, you'll be in your third trimester soon . . . " Umm. Yep. Passed over that bridge a while ago. :) Crazy. I don't have anything ready, but that's okay. I don't like getting things ready. 'Cause them I'M ready. And once I'm ready, it's time to get it done. And we're not there yet and I'm not ready.         So.          Eight weeks is a long time anyway.

2. My two big girls played at a friend's house this afternoon for four hours. Violet also took a two and a half hour nap while they were gone. And Elsie was happy as a lark to play by herself and just check in with me every once in a while. What a weird day. And now they are back home, asking a hundred questions, and Violet is just awake, sitting on my lap wanting to go outside, but refusing to go with her sisters, and crying her little tears and wiping her big boogers all over my shirt while yelling for her daddy.

-------------- Ummm. That was supposed to be fabulous. -------------- And somehow as I was writing it, everything turned upside down. ----------------- Hmmmmmm . . . well. I got a few semi-childless hours in today. It was nice. And prior to the last five minutes, the child-filled moments of my day were really wonderful too.

3. Today I woke up to a clean kitchen, fed the kids cold cereal (because I've decided that I'm on a "breakfast cooking strike" for at least a couple of weeks), a long shower - complete with shaved legs, actually blow drying and curling my hair, makeup, and painted toenails. I then took the kids to the pool - but only long enough to have fun and not so long that I have to start wondering why I torture myself with excessive ambition. :) Afterward we picked up the daddy that my kids hadn't seen in several days (due to repeated late nights at work), got lunch, and had a picnic next to the river. It was lovely.

4. The Fourth of July was spectacular! Last Saturday, Nels was hired to work a camera at a big shindig taking place up in Driggs, so we decided to pack up the kids and take a drive over and enjoy a few hours together as a family beforehand.

The event was held at the Huntsman Springs Resort (owned by "the Huntsman Family" - i.e. The Huntsman Cancer Institute and Jon Huntsman, Jr., presidential candidate). There was a big carni (do you know how hard it is to type while a one-year-old is trying to alternately force a rock and a crochet hook into your hands WHILE your typing and isn't taking NO for an answer????) - carnival - complete with bouncy castles and funnel cakes - during the day and then that evening Glenn Beck was speaking (which is what Nels had been hired to run a camera for) followed by a fireworks show. Other than the obvious things, like food, it was all free - with any proceeds being donated to cancer research.

Magically, out of the multitudes of people that were in attendance, we managed to plop our blankets down right next to the family of some of our very best friends (who are currently going to school in Wisconsin) and another family that's in our ward. It's a small world. And the kids had a great time playing until the show got underway. Hazel listened to most of Glenn's talk with me, saying over an over, "I really like what he's saying." When I quizzed her about what exactly he was saying and what she liked, she told me, "Everything. Like how great America is." I love my little patriotic girl.

Even though Nels didn't get to be with us as we watched fireworks that night, I was SO happy that we'd gone. The show was BIG and we were so close. The looks on all four of my children's faces were absolutely priceless as they all snuggled up next to me - I mean, on top of me. Violet snuggled up with me and loved pointing to the "pritties", Elsie laid half her body in my lap, Hazel tucked herself under my free arm, and Lilie lay her head on my other arm. My sciatic nerve was flaring up like crazy and what wasn't hurting had (mercifully?) fallen asleep under the weight of me, my uterus, and multiple children, but I would do it all over, again and again, to watch them and hear them sing - at full volume -

"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA." (Both girls learned this song in school last year.)

I don't care if it is corny, I love that song as much as I did when I first learned and sang it as a grade schooler. And it makes my heart swell with gratitude and pride and my throat choke closed with emotion to hear my children forcefully proclaim love for our great country. It took us about an hour to get out of a crowded, dusty parking lot at eleven o'clock at night and then drive the additional hour (plus) back to Idaho Falls (we barely beat Nels home - who had stayed to help pack up all the camera and video equipment and then drive home with some other crew members), but (again) it was all worth it.

Monday, the Fourth, Nels had the day off work and we spent it playing with our kids, cleaning up, enjoying a visit and a game of Cribbage with Grandpa Chick and his motorcycle-riding buddy - Craig, and watching more fireworks.

I love our country. I love my freedoms. We are so very blessed.

5. Life is good. It's often times crazy and/or frustrating, but it's so good as well. I've felt so strongly lately - as I've contemplated the make up of our family - how wonderfully blessed we are with our four little girls and how happy I am that they are as close together as they are. How blessed my little chickies are to have their sisters. They are absolutely the very best friends. They always have a buddy. They always have a partner in crime. They always have "someone to play with" and someone to help. They are close enough in age that this is possible. They are all growing up together. Sisters make the very best kinds of friends.

I'm so thankful that as they grow, they will know how to interact with other women, how to have healthy relationships with other women. I have realized in the world today, this is often times lacking. Many of the sorrows we encounter in our lives stem from women not knowing how to have healthy relationships with one another. So often feeling as if other women are "competition" rather than the wonderful "sisters" they have the potential of being.

I love both my brothers dearly, but having been raised in a family with four girls, by a mother that also had wonderful relationships with both her sisters, has been an enormous blessing in my life. I'm so glad that my girls will have this opportunity. I'm so excited to have another little sister join our family soon. They will grow to be such a force for good in this crazy world.

6. Tomorrow I have 4 uninterrupted hours with my husband. And he can't get away. We even have a babysitter. It's all scheduled. Now, it's "busy time" at Melaleuca right now. Nels is working long hours -- which will continue for pretty much the rest of the month. To what do we owe this "special" SATURDAY of him giving me his undivided attention? Are we going somewhere romantic? Are we going to do something fun? Are we going to have the time of our lives? Sure! We're going to a mandatory childbirth class at the birth center where we're going to have our baby! Hooray!!! Our FIFTH child and we are taking the Saturday off - with a babysitter and everything - to take a childbirth class. That's hilarious to me. But you know what? I bet we both learn something new. I bet we both have fun. I bet we're both are excited to have four hours of talking about uteruses and perineums . . . wait, what? Okay. Excited might be the wrong word for that one, but doggone it. We will be child-free and it's gonna be FUN!