Some of August

{Coming to grips with the fact that I may always be a little behind from now on.  Will continue doing updated posts when I have time, but also post things that are pertinent to me when they are pertinent, as well.  If that makes any sense at all...}

 -The littles and I watched Jaeger at his house for Kelsey on Tuesday the 2nd for several hours.  We had a great time.  I took my laptop and even got caught up on a little blogging while the kiddos played.  We spent a lot of time outside on the trampoline and letting their imaginations invent all sorts of games.  Beckham went down for a nap just 45 minutes before Kelsey got home, so she kept the boys while I went home and got an hour of work done before returning to pick the kiddos up.  Grayson and Jaeger adore each other and are pretty good to Beckham most of the time, too. 

Lance got us some delicious new & red potatoes & sweet corn out of the field for dinner.  Delicious!  Grayson plays his computer a few times each week.  It is nice to keep him occupied during Beckham's naptime for at least half an hour or so and he learns a lot while doing it.  He still insists on wearing socks on his hands to be an "astronaut" quite often.  I love this kid so much.  And, today was FINALLY Beckham's last day of formula and the bottle.  Yay for one less baby item to buy for now!

-Grayson got to spend time with Gma Linda on Wednesday the 3rd while Beckham and I ran errands and got groceries.  It's crazy how much quicker it goes with just one kid {even with Gray being my better helper of the two right now} and I know he loved the time spent at Grandma's.  He always asks to go back.  I didn't get to spend much time with my grandma Linda as a young kid because she had a baby when I was two, so she was pretty busy being a mama at that point.  It's really neat for me to see my kids establishing a relationship with her now.  {I love my new photostrip app}

After we got home, we went to visit Grandpa Alan in the combine.  Grayson has been really nervous about it this year and not as eager to get near the tractors and this was most likely their last day combining wheat so I really pressed him to try it out.  He insisted Beckham and I come with him, so Grami rode over with us.  He was almost done with the field, so we just went down and back once, but the boys loved it.  Beckham was more enthralled with the air conditioning/vents than anything else, but Grayson loved it again.  He later told me he wished he could ride with Grandpa and me in the combine every day.  Too little, too late.  I need to take the time more often to ride with my Dad myself and take the boys because I love it just as much as them.  It's one of the few places I get him all to myself and can talk his ear off and know he's listening without being too distracted. (:  He even talks to me back.  And, I love seeing the harvest happen.  It's such a beautiful and amazing process and I love watching it.  So thankful we live on the farm. 

-Thursday the 4th was a super full day.  The boys and I left the house early to head to Boise.  Grayson had an eye appointment with Dr. Lee.  He's been wearing his glasses pretty well, but we haven't patched his eye all summer...totally my fault.  I was a bit harried getting over there because of course we left with exactly one hour to get there {takes an hour and five minutes} and my check tire pressure light was on.  Stopped at Schwab's to get it checked and he filled my tire.  Got on the road and there was a minor fender bender on the freeway that made traffic crawl super slow for a good ten minutes.  We were about fifteen minutes late and my cell was in the very back of the car in my diaper bag, so I couldn't even call to let them know we were coming!  It turned out fine though and they got us right back.  I LOVE Dr. Lee and her office.  I love that we were sitting in the waiting room and one of the guys that works there, Larry, saw us and said, "How's our Grayson guy doing?"  They know him, they love him, they take care of him.  He and Beckham both did awesome.  He sat on my lap in the exam room and there is a huge mirror that takes up the whole wall that faces us.  Beckham was dancing and running around and we were laughing.  The lady checking him first thought Beckham was such a ham.  Gray said, "we should take a picture of all of us!"  I said, "We'd be missing someone...daddy."  He said, "that's okay, we can have Dr. Lee be with us."  Haha!  His vision was a tiny bit better.  Dr. Lee came in and Grayson's first words were, "I'm sorry we forgot to bring you some corn and potatoes."  I had told him not to mention it {I'd forgotten & then we were running too late} and he leaked the news. (:  She laughed and checked him out.  She said we have to patch him 14 hours a week if we want to really make a difference, so I've got to get on that.  Everything else was good though and he said, "Do you have to put drops in my eyes?"  She told him no, which totally made his day.  We left and I was so happy we'd had such a quick successful trip to the doctor.

We headed to pick up Cameron, Matt & Jen's 14 year old.  We took him with us to the Settler's Park in Meridian.  We met up with my friend Jamie and her recently adopted son, Brody.  I hadn't seen & hung out with Jamie in about ten years, so it was definitely fun to see her and catch up.  Brody is adorable and after a while he and Grayson hit it off pretty well.  The park was incredible.  I was super impressed.  There is a splash pad area, a huge play area, a smaller younger kid play area, rocks to climb, soft padded ground everywhere, and just way more fun than you can imagine.  It was the perfect day because it was overcast and not too hot-about 72 degrees-so the kids weren't needing to be all sunscreened up every ten minutes. (:  We stayed a couple hours and the boys ate it up.  Having Cameron there was such a blessing and a super smart decision.  He is AMAZING with the boys-especially Grayson-and just followed him around and took care of him so I could focus on the crazy child, aka: Beckham.  Brody tagged along with Grayson and they just ran, slid, climbed, laughed, and smiled a ton.  Grayson really let go of his insecurities toward crowds, big twisty slides, and heights while he was there too, which I know had a lot to do with the two people he was with.  Jamie and I had fun talking about parenting and our kids.  Beckham was an animal.  He is super crazy, completely fearless, and thinks he's invincible.  He climbed up the rocks, stairs, slides, etc., and plowed over other kids to get where he wanted to go.  We call him Tank often and it fits.  He loved the water for a few minutes too, which the other boys never got around to.

After playing hard for a while, we tried {unsuccessfully} to get a dual happy photo and Jamie supplied the fruit snacks for bribery.  We hugged & bid them farewell {so much fun to connect with an old friend!} and headed out.  We stopped at McDonalds for lunch and Cameron is just so helpful and fun to have around.  I can totally see the benefit of spacing your kids that far apart-built in helpers! (:  He is a great kid and I'm so thankful he was willing to give up some of his summer to spend it with us.  He thinks the boys are great and told Grayson that a few time which just built Gray's confidence up even more.  We had lots of laughs from things Grayson said and Beckham was seriously cute all day.  They ate lunch and I could tell they were pretty worn out.  We drove home and Beckham was out before we even dropped Cameron off!  What a great great day with my boys!

-I was asked to speak at a local business for their wellness team on Friday the 5th.  It was a lot of fun and I'm hoping to have that opportunity more often.  I took bars with my business cards attached and had fun speaking about general health and telling a bit about TSFL and coaching.

Zac and I took the boys on a date that evening.  We went to dinner at Fiesta in Ontario and then to ice cream at Dairy Queen.  The boys were awesome and we wondered why we don't do that more often.  Zac and I even had some quality conversations in the midst of it.  While we were having ice cream {outside of Dairy Queen}, Grayson looked across the road and saw Carl's Junior.  He saw the big stars by the name-that are their trademark-and said, "Look!  There's the star chicken nugget place!  They have star chicken nuggets outside, too!"  I'm not a huge fan of CJ, but the boys sure like that their nuggets are shaped like stars.  (:

-Saturday the 6th, Zac took Grayson to visit his brother Brad and the kids.  Grayson played well with Jadzie and had a great time.  They were only gone a couple hours.  While they were there, Beckham and I chilled at Pete's place.  We hung out with Doll and watched some of Princess Diaries.  By the way, I am in total denial that Doll is a senior this year and will probably leave us by this time next year.  I adore that girl.  Have got to make an effort to hang out more before she leaves.  Got home and started dinner a bit late.  The boys came home and Grandpa Alan and Grami Tami surprised us and stopped by on their way home from a date.  It's not very often they hang out at our house, so the boys were excited.  It was nice to visit with them and we always like their company.

-I had an early morning meeting on Sunday the 7th, so Zac got the boys ready for church.  I got home and helped finish up and we headed back.  It was a good meeting and both Zac and I bore our testimonies.  Grayson stood up by the pulpit with each of us.  After church Zac took Grayson to Pete's place for lunch and I took Beckham home for a nap because he was exhausted.  I got dinner put in the crockpot and laid down for a while myself.  The boys joined me after a bit and we all rested.  We had invited the Belville's over for dinner but they had to cancel, so we called Jeremy & Gwen and asked if we could bring dinner over.  They were up for it, so first we stopped and got a tour of their new home they are building.  It's beautiful and will be so nice for them.  We headed to their place after that and enjoyed dinner and chatting for a long time.  The kids played well together and Grayson adores the attention he receives from all their kids.  We all ended up outside on the trampoline after a while and Beckham loved his popsicle {obviously} and being attacked on the tramp.  We got home kind of late and got the kids to bed.  It was a really enjoyable evening.  And, after the boys were asleep I found Grayson like this.  A boy after my own heart.  I LOVE reading before falling asleep.

-Taylor has a new job so her babysitting schedule has been pretty sporadic this summer.  I had lots to get done Monday the 8th, but it's nearly impossible to get any phone calls made when the boys are awake, so I focused on playing with them {more fun than any alternative} and getting what work done I could in between...like while they emptied every pot/pan cupboard I have.  This occupied them for a LONG time-totally worth the cleanup. 

 During Beckham's nap, Grayson and I went to Grami's so I could workout.  While I was downstairs he made himself at home on the couch with a stuffed monkey and a blanket and an episode of Tom & Jerry.  He looked like he was about to fall asleep when I got done and told him we needed to go home.  He asked if he could stay and Grami said yes, so I went home and got more work done.  Beckham woke up a couple hours later and I had some one on one time with him.

 Around 6:45 we all headed over to Pete's to have FHE.  They had invited all their kids and Jeremy and Gwen's family and my dad made his famous donuts.  They are seriously good...like rivaling M&W's whose are homemade and delicious.  Go Dad!  He and Mom did so much work to make the evening nice and I'm so grateful for their willingness to include us in such great memories.  My kids are so blessed to have their grandparents right down the road{s} and I love that they have daily contact with them.  Grayson had a ball in the gator-he's a bit scary-and Beckham just loved eating, playing outside, and having other people love him.  He is such a sweetie-and very mischevious.  He makes us laugh a lot!  We all enjoyed the donuts and the whole evening.  And, I appreciated mom keeping Grayson for me.  It was an unexpected thing for both Gray and I and I know he enjoyed the one on one time with her and it allowed me some time to get organized, help Zac, and get some things done.  Thanks Mom!

-Zac and I went to Meridian on Tuesday the 9th for meetings.  Taylor had the boys.  First we met with Spencer-my marketing guy-and had a great session with him.  Next we went right around the corner to Costa Vida and had lunch with Tony and Brenda while we chatted with them.  It was a great conversation and again we were reminded of the great friends they are.  They encourage us a lot and help us set goals in all areas of our lives.  Afterward we ran Costco errands {I totally love that store-could spend so much time there!} and then we went the Ontario way home because Zac had a conference call to listen to and we get better service through there.  Picked up our boys-who have an absolutely amazing time when they're with T&T, and came home.  Around 7 we got to have Jaeger for a couple hours while L&K went on a date.  He was great and the boys all get along well together.  Beckham is quite a little mischief, though.  Jaeger and Grayson can kind of bully him and he is learning how to hold his own.  Totally cracks me up.  Soon they'll all be great friends!

-My friend Megan and her little girl Mattox came over Wednesday the 10th for a while.  It was fun catching up with her.  She is the creator of the team I'm running the dirty dash 10k with.  I am so nervous about that and don't want to think about it.  After Megan left, the boys took a nap/quiet time and so did I.  I got lots of housework done and talked to a couple new clients too, which is always enjoyable.  Around 5 me and the boys headed to Cleaver's to hang out.  Zac was working with his dad and they met us there.  Grayson got in the pool and was really brave this time-walking around on the bottom a bit {usually he parks it on the ladder}.  Beckham ate popsicles, got ran over by Acey, and just loves to be outside.  Aunt Morgan was nice enough to climb in with the boys and Grandpa convinced Beckham to get in with him for a while.  He warmed up to it pretty quickly, but didn't want anyone but Grandpa for a while.  He eventually went to Mo for a bit before getting out.  Love those kids!

-I had a meeting with a new client Thursday the 11th in the afternoon and we met at the newest eating place in town, "The Neighborhood."  It's owned by a friend of our family and it is darling.  Val has really done a great job.  I had the turkey bacon chipotle panini and it was DELICIOUS.  Their homemade coleslaw was also excellent.  The place is adorable too and she sells cute craft stuff in there, so it's very warm feeling.  The meeting was so fun-I seriously love that my first job is being a mommy to the kids I love and I also get to coach clients who become great friends.

Did the usual afternoon routine and then Zac and I got ready for our hot date.  (:  Morgan graciously came over to watch the kids & put them to bed since we'd be gone late and the boys were excited to play with her.  Zac and I headed to Boise.  We parked at the Taco Bell Arena {BSU stadium} and walked to Chili's to eat first.  It was PACKED.  At least a forty minute wait, which we didn't have, so we walked down the road to the Pita Pit.  Super casual environment, but super yummy food.  That was our first time eating there and it was good.  It's rather healthy too, if you watch what you put on your pita.  We finished there and went to the Arena for the Michael Buble' concert.

We had somehow scored some pretty amazing seats and had a great time!  A band called Naturally 7 opened for him and was incredible.  Then the adorable Mr. Buble' came in.  Both Zac and I think he's pretty great and he didn't disappoint.  He is quite the comedian as well!  The whole show was just magical and Zac and I even danced a little by our seats for a couple of the songs.  Such a fun night!  At the end of the concert, Michael did two things that I loved.  First, there was a little girl in the audience who was holding a sign that said, "kiss me Michael!"  So he brought her on stage and gave her a kiss on the cheek-totally cute.  Second, at the very end of the concert, he had the band quit playing {amazing band, by the way}, he put away his microphone, and he took out his earplugs and wrapped them around his hand.  Then he sang, a'capella, and it was absolutely beautiful.  The way he could project to the entire arena after singing for a couple hours already-so clear and so much talent.  Amazing.  We were giddy about the whole experience and had fun reliving it on the way home, getting ice cream, and finally arriving home around midnight.  The best part of the night for me though was driving home with MB blaring on the stereo and Zac said, “I’m living my dream right now.”  I asked, “what’s that?”  His reply, “I’m with you, listening to good music, in my dream car.  It doesn’t get much better than that!”  My heart was all fluttery-like we'd just started dating-and I am just so in love with that man.  I blogged about the experience in different detail HERE.

-Friday the 12th we had a treat and got to have Maryn over for almost the entire day!  Grayson was in Heaven!  She is 7 and pays such great attention to the boys.  She played with both of them all morning and then Beckham went down for a nap and she and Grayson played outside, built a huge fort, read books, and used their imaginations for a few more hours till her mom came to pick her up.  It was honestly such a help to me to have her here!

A couple short hours later we got another treat and had Madelyn and Zachary over to spend the night. Zac picked them up on his way home from Boise and they are also amazing with the kids.  Because they didn't get here till 6ish, it wasn't a super exciting time, but they still had fun.  They played for a while, ate pizza, and watched Rio and Gnomeo and Juliet.  Super cute movies.  Grayson tried hard to stay up with the big kids, but laid down on the living room floor and fell asleep about a quarter thru the second movie.  I moved him to his bed and everyone slept great all night.

-Zac and I had a meeting in Boise Saturday the 13th so the boys played at Aunt Kelsey's with Jaeger while we were gone.  It was a huge lifesaver to know they were having so much fun.  The meeting went well-I even had to speak for 15 minutes-and we hustled home after it was over, lots of conversation flowing on the way.

That evening was the adult session of stake conference and the boys got to go to Aunt Alison and Uncle Bob's house to play with Trista, who was babysitting them.  They were super excited. (:
The meeting was SO GOOD.  I needed everything that was said and went away with a huge desire to be better.  Here are some notes I jotted down:
Brother Timmons
-Let's evaluate the patterns in our lives
-Patterns of Repentance, Revelation, and Action
-In Alma, he experienced a mighty change of heart
-Overcoming desires {from conference talk}
-Wear our 'trifocals' {past, present, future}
-Apostles have a constant vision
-In Proverbs, 'where there is no vision, the people perish'
-Review the patterns in our lives to see if they are leading us closer to our Heavenly Father

Beth Wolfe
-Stopped teaching to stay at home with her kids.  Hard decision & sometimes she missed teaching, but she badly wanted to be at the crossroads with her kids.  Best thing she's ever done.
-Start training kids early.  If you want your children to dress modestly, start teaching them when they are toddlers, etc.
-Consistently have family prayer {in a circle, knees together}
-Be a United Front {as couples}
-Don't let your kids divide you
-Keep church as a priority.  It's not an option.
-Talk when you're in the car.  Unplug the headphones/ipods/phones/radio, and talk.
-Always express love and don't hesitate to do it often
-Bear testimony to your kids often

Solon Wolfe
-Being a righteous husband {wife} and father {mother}
-The welfare of our spouse should be our number 1 priority {LOVE this}
-Show reverence for motherhood {fatherhood}
-The most important work you'll ever do will be within the walls of your own home
-No other success can compensate for failure in the home

President Peterson {aka: Dad}
-in 3rd Nephi Christ called the little children and blessed them.  The words he spoke were too sacred to record.  He said, "Behold your little ones."  He loved the children and saw something in them that we often don't.  He respected them and knew their greatness was far more than we often see.
-Christ groaned within himself about the destructive influences surrounding those children; now, more than ever, our kids need our prayers.
-"I haven't always made the right decisions and I've made some stupid mistakes, but my kids have always known I have a testimony of the gospel."  {I would add that we knew not only because he voiced it frequently, but because he LIVED it noticeably. Definitely one of the greatest blessings I've received from this man}.
-No child in this church should be left with uncertainty about their parents testimony.  Help them understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing in our lives.  Our belief and relationship in and with Jesus Christ is the greatest gift we have.
-What do our kids know personally from us about the gospel?  Often times parents think they're doing great because they feel secure in their heads & hearts about their testimonies.  But they aren't voicing it often to their kids.  Do our kids see us kneeling in prayer?  Do they hear us praying not just about them, but for them?  Do they see us searching the scriptures, attending the temple, paying our tithing, having Family Home Evening, and enjoying a daily relationship with Heavenly Father?
-So many of the things we do to show love for our Savior are an outward expression of an inner commitment to serve our Heavenly Father.
-Don't look back, something may be gaining on you.  Simply move forward.

Elder Robert Chambers {visiting authority}
-To the young men: live your life so a father would arrange a date for you with his daughter.
-A guru once said, "Relationships are the most important thing in life."
-Our gospel is a relation based one
-3 Relationships Matter the Most
     1. Son/Daughter to a Heavenly Father: He yearns for our happiness.  Only agency and our mortal existence can make us truly purified beings.  We are responsible to become converted to His plan and His gospel.  Having great desires- PRAY-KNOW-FEEL-GO-DO, it's a becoming of the Heart.
     2. Husband & Wife: 'I'm far from being the perfect husband, but I married MY perfect wife.'  Our one goal in this life should be to become eternally appealing to our spouse.  The only time Sariah complained, her husband, Lehi, sought to comfort her.  He didn't show disgust, tell her to buck up, he just loved her.  Control our words to our spouses.  How, what, when we say things.  Tone of voice.  Certain words and phrases have no place in a marriage, ie: 'You knew who I was when you married me.'  There is always room for change.  Stick up for your spouse.  Stand up for each other.  Men especially need their wives to defend their character and who they are.  Give us the encouragement we need to go on. {this hit me especially hard because I think it's so easy to automatically put men in the "man's man" position.  They work, they support the family, they do it all.  They don't complain, they don't show insecurities or emotions, etc., but if we as wives don't encourage them in these endeavors and let them show a bit of fear/worry/emotion, then who will?  Love this.}
     3. Mother/Father to a Child: Establish righteous traditions in our home.  Starts with primary, but if you aren't doing those things in your home, the kids will eventually copy what is done there, not at primary.  The responsibility rests on us parents to teach our children. {heavy}  {He told a story about a woman on his mission.  She lived in a tiny one room apartment and had about 35 birds living there.  Everything was covered with plastic and she walked around with a spray bottle & wipes.}  From this I learned the following lesson, 'Never invite anything into your home or life that is not capable of elevating itself to your standards.'  Even when there is resistance from children, be strong with your standards and expectations {in a righteous and loving manner} and this will lead to the development of their patience, love, and a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Establish a pattern of living that is capable of elevating us to an eternal standard.

Wow, GREAT meeting!  Both Zac and I came away with happy hearts and a stronger united front.  The boys had a great time with Trista and although we always have family prayer at night, we went right home and started a new tradition.  We knelt down in a circle and had our knees touching {this allowed us to keep everyone together instead of one or two kids sneaking off as is sometimes the case}.  Such a small thing, but it went well and I'm so grateful for modern day revelation to help us in raising our littles.  {who are two of the craziest sleepers I know!}

-Sunday the 14th, we woke up and got everyone ready for stake conference.  It was a smooth running morning and we were even ten minutes early-woot!  Mom had saved us a small side bench toward the front and the boys did fabulous the whole meeting.  L&K were in front of us with Mom and Jaeger and he spent some time in our bench too.  I really was proud of the boys for being so good and the fact that in two hours of conference, neither boy was taken out.  I didn't take notes, but I soaked in a ton of the things that were said, and from memory {which is shaky at times}, here are just a couple favorites:

President Peterson {aka: Dad}
-Spoke on the 13th article of Faith which says, "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
-He really talked about how we have to stand firm in our beliefs and be moral in our daily lives and decisions.  He talked of how our friends, family members, and community members are always watching us and if we don't live what we preach, we are setting false expectations and not having integrity.

Elder Chambers
-Talked a bit about each of the talks shared and bore strong testimony of Christ which was powerful and impactful.
-He said that his wife is a great example of benevolence to him.  He told of one experience that showed him just how benevolent she was.  They had family prayer each night and at one point needed to go home and pray as a family for something very close to their hearts.  They'd had a long day, but still got home and pulled their little family together for prayers.  After saying most of the things he wanted to say, he said something he often said in their nightly prayers, "Please bless that our kids might sleep fitfully," and then closed his prayer.  After getting the kids in bed Sister Chambers kindly said, "Honey, do you know what fitfully means?"  Elder C said, "I think so, why?"  She said, "go look it up."  It said, "characterized by irregular or intermittent activity, impulses, etc.; spasmodic; restless."  He thought, "Oh no!  Why didn't you say something before?"  She said, "because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."  He said we would do well to all treat our spouses that way.  And he mentioned that his prayer was answered that night! (:

After church we ate lunch at Pete's and my folks headed to McCall by themselves for a couple days.  It was just us & L&K because T&T were still in Hawaii with Becca and her kids {lucky!} and Doll was at a friend's house.  Yummy food and good company though.  Headed home for quick naps and then had Zac's folks and Morgan over for brownies that evening.  Gwen, Jeremy, and kids surprised us by stopping by to hang out with brownies too and the kids had a blast playing.  Z got to show Jeremy his car and me and Gwen had fun chatting.  Good times!