Visiting Tova, Bribes and Hyrum's "horrible, no-good, very bad" week

 A few nights ago, Piper was relaxing in bed, doing what all good 15 year old girls do...checking out all the latest knives in the BudK magazine.  Liesl was snuggled up next to her, quietly watching until one particularly ferocious-looking knife stood out to her.

"I want that one," she insisted to Piper.

"Oh, yah?" Piper curiously replied.

"I need it to cut brownies."  Innocent enough?

**********

I am in Texas now, visiting my darling daughter and her husband, Ben.  I am also getting to bond with their black lab/retriever puppy Zoe, who I am highly allergic to, but we're trying to figure out how to manage that with allergy meds :D.  Tova recently finished getting her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and is currently on the lookout for Master's Programs so that she can get into "play therapy." Who knew that was a thing!  Just imagine how much more fun it would be for moms and dads all over the planet to realize that playing with their kids is actually theraputic!  

I know that I have a hard time just getting down on my knees and playing with them.  The other day, Elijah was fixated on having a nerf gun war in the house. It was a pretty bad emotional health week for me, so I just couldn't get myself to do it. He took matters into his own hands and soon we were playing a nerf gun war whether we liked it or not--weapon or not.  

In the course of one hour, he managed to accidentally hit Xai in the face with nerf bullets. He lost the privilege to use Nerf guns, despite his protest that it was just an accident. "Well, if you're not able to control your shots enough to NOT hit someone in the face when you don't want to,--three times in one hour--you don't have enough control to be able to use them."

Everything lately has been a matter of debate and discussion with him, Maia and Liesl...I am sooooo debated out!

Shortly after the guns were removed, Elijah started sword fighting with Liesl. I am not sure if it was voluntary on her part, but what I do know is that it didn't last long.  Elijah managed to poke her in the eyeball with a hard play sword.  No lasting damage (a little red in the eye) but then that weapon was also confiscated.

Later that night, Quinn and the other older kids came home from a temple trip they had just taken to Kentucky for the day. They also stopped by the Louisville Slugger Museum, which apparently has some pretty cool free take-home toys. I walked into the living room after hearing that they were home only to see little 2 feet long wooden bats in the hands of all my little darlings.  Elijah was armed and dangerous again!

*********

Back to Texas, we got here without too much difficulty.  There was only one leg where we had to deplane and reboard an hour later on the way there due to faulty systems.  Penelope was super fun and adorable to travel with.  She loved running back and forth on chairs, smiling and waving at everyone, and snuggling for the airplane rides.  During the leg where we had to board and then deplane and then reboard, there was a child (I'm guessing 3-ish?) who was mad.  And the whole plane knew it.  As I listened to the grumbling of fellow passengers, I looked at Quinn and smiled ruefully.  We both knew what it felt like to have "that" child on the airplane.

Several people around us were super complementary of Penelope, who had really been calm and sweet (or sleeping) most of the rides.  We assured them that this was not always the case with her (and our other children) and that we had also been in the shoes of that poor family with the screamer.  While no one likes to hear it on a plane, I think it is infinitely worse to be the one with the child causing the ruckus.  I guarantee that there is not a parent I can think of who is deliberately upsetting their child just to torture everyone else on the plane!

This girl LOVES to dance!

We have played games, eaten delicious food, chatted and laughed, went to a BOOKSTORE (yes, I got some books) and just enjoyed each other.  Ben is coming home today from a trip, so soon he will be here too!

***********

Before we left, I tried to spend the day bonding a bit.  The two little boys and two little girls went on a bike ride with me, while the older three girls went out for a $20 on the town shopping adventure in another part of Athens.  The library has free bikes, so we checked those out for the boys to use and I tugged the girls in a bike trailer.  They were super awesome at being responsible with sharing the road space with others, although it did get a little feisty any time one of them wanted to pass up the other one.  Xai was able to stay in the lead for the most part and I let them have their good-natured competition.  Xai doesn't beat Elijah in many physical contests (Elijah is so strong and coordinated!) so it was good for them both. Elijah took it good-naturedly and ended up hanging back with me. I really tried to keep up, but I did have to ask them to slow down a few times.

Meanwhile, the girls had some fun!

Then they shared that fun with the baby as they kept her busy while I checked out a couple of carts of bribery to keep the kids in a food/media coma while I'm gone.

**********

While I am gone, Hyrum will still take on some lifeguarding shifts, Piper and Havala will travel south to help one of the current "Helping Hands" projects--flood disaster relief in Kentucky.  Babysitting is a crazy combo of Auntie Loni (our fabulous ward neighbor who is staying in my parents' house while on their mission in Nauvoo), the older kids and a fantastic homeschool friend--Miss Penny--for the last day.  

Things got a little tricky because Hyrum accidentally totalled our car in a stop and go accident last Tuesday. Poor guy. First he finds out he doesn't get to play football this season and then totals the car.  To rub salt in the wound, we made sure he got "dirty Nora" every hand of Hearts we played that night.  He's having a rough time of it, but seems to be taking it in stride, amazing young man that he is.

*********

We had a few miracles, though, that show how near God is to us.  We received a random reminder of a doctor's appointment three weeks away exactly 50 minutes before the appointment I had scheduled that day...and forgotten about. It was the perfect amount of time for Hyrum and I to get our things together and jet.  I was so grateful! It is his physical for his mission so that he can finish submitting his papers. I am so happy for him and we were both SO grateful that we didn't miss this appointment!

Also, last night, when the kids checked on the animals, someone had left the guinea fowl gate askew and all 24+ birds were nowhere to be seen.  They are not old enough to be out on their own yet, so this was not a good thing.  We all prayed (several times) and this morning the kids found them near the coop and herded them in!  Yay!  Guineas are great for eating ticks, and BOY do we have ticks for them to eat!

*********

Piper is one of two girls on her cross-country team at Fed Hock. Hyrum was only able to recruit 5 boys (including himself ) to commit to the football program.

We explored options with nearby schools and were treated respectfully with one district and abominably with the other.  The first helped us explore OSHAA rules to see if we could make it work, but it didn't look promising.

The second, even before really being fully aware of the details of the situation, proudly declared that he never allowed homeschoolers to change districts...nor did they ever have homeschoolers participate in high school sports until the state of Ohio made them.  I was okay with the verdict--which was the same as the other district.  What I was not okay with was the flagrant prejudice exhibited by someone in that kind of position of authority.

I took a little too much time to write him a few emails.  But it felt right.  Captain Moroni kind of "right."

Missionary Letter, Sports and Death Threats

 Howdy missionaries!

I came across a scripture and thought of you:

Alma 30:39-41

39 Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.

40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no ^aGod, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

41 But, behold, I have all things as a ^atestimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true;

I was reading the Come Follow Me stuff for this week in Job and the prompt question was: What are my reasons for remaining faithful?  It made me think: what are Job's reasons?  He testifies about how the people around him--and even he, himself--can easily turn on their testimonies.  However, Nature and things around us are constant in their testifying of Christ. 

JOB 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every ^aliving thing, and the ^bbreath of all mankind.

I paused in my study and looked out at the trees, saw evidence of the breeze, the light speckling through the canopy...and felt more steady.  Somehow, they do. Just in their existence.

I loved that you closed your email with a scripture, Drew. It was a powerful one. I could feel your light.  It reminded me of the music video that Maia picked for the devotional the morning before Lily left:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2022-01-0002-trust-in-the-lord-music-video?lang=eng&alang=eng

Lily and I both thought this video really showed how missionary work is shining your light--like their dancing, living the Gospel joyfully--and others have agency to choose to come, choose to reject, choose to listen for a moment then turn away,...choose.  And we can keep on dancing.

I love you both so much and miss you. I know you will be happier moving forward with this stage of life than staying here at home, so it is a bittersweet missing. I am happy for you.  Happy for Canada and Australia and the light that you will shine there as your draw closer to God, shine your love of Him, shine your love of those around you.t

Penelope is currently trying out different markers on the calculator (not -er) across from me (had to try spelling that a couple times before I got it right, lol!). Eli is rocking the spiky hair still...and spiky personality.  Yikes.  I really hope we all survive until he transitions out of this phase!  I think I've listened to more death threats and exclamations of hatred towards me in the past week than I have for a few years put together :S.

Xai and Liesl built fairy houses in the yard.

We discovered this morning that the mini-kitten is still alive and present and currently living underneath the air conditioning unit.  We also found a rogue chicken who has been trying to live outside the coop...for over two weeks!  Apparently it has a favorite tree it roost in right next to the house. It's super skittish but brings our count up to 21, which we thought was down to 20 for quite some time now. Crazy.

The count for high schoolers at the Federal Hocking football team practice was down to three last night. Hyrum is hanging in there.  Piper was one of three girls on the high school cross track team.  He sent home a form of his policy...that there are minimum acceptable excuses and that he will kick people off the team if they don't abide by all the rules.  Hmmmm...with as heavily as he's been recruiting, we're not sure that's going to be the case.  Maia showed up for one practice but he pushed her a little hard and she decided not to do it anymore.

Dad is still working on fixing up his motorcycle using ingenious ways.  I think he could use some prayers.

God bless you both,

Mom

Swimming and Showers

We love our pool summer membership and espectially love to torture the staff regularly with our presence...and the local patrons. It's been even more fun since Hyrum got a job lifeguarding there.

1st story: The other day, shortly after Hyrum started working there, Quinn did his dead-man's float in front of his station...for a LONG time. (Quinn is a champion breath-holder.) Hyrum told him to knock it off (since he's a lifeguard and can tell his dad to do so) and Quinn stopped with a smile.
Five minutes later, Quinn did it again and Hyrum exasperatedly explained that if Quinn didn't knock it off, then the whole pool would go into lockdown to make sure he wasn't really drowning and Quinn would be kicked out. Ahhhh, no fun. Every party has a pooper. And speaking of poop...

2nd story: We went swimming at the pool again yesterday because we had to pick up Hyrum anyway from his lifeguarding job.  One of the pools was closed because someone had POO-d in the big pool and it had to rest for 24 hours.  Dad generously offered to do a similar service in the leisure pool we were swimming in but after a close vote, he took his bowel movement into the bathroom.  And speaking of bathrooms...

3rd story: Apparently the women's locker room shower head is broken.   I was trying to figure out how to use it, since it jet-streams out and I have two little girls that I didn't want to pulverize with water pressure.  I thought, "Maybe if I turn it up into the air and make it like rain, then it will be gentler on them?"  So, following my usual modus operandi of acting without thinking, I turned the spout upward and called out, "It's raining!"

Yells, shrieks and curses from the changing stall immediately next to the shower confirmed that I probably should have thought that action through a little more first.   I apologized profusely, but somehow I don't think that a genuine apology helps dry soaked clothing. :S I felt dreadful.

Liesl "speaks" Hungarian and Goodbye to Sister Lily Biesinger

 Today Piper and Havala were quizzing each other on Latin declensions for their upcoming scholastic group this fall.  Liesl watched them for a while and then asked what they were doing.  

After they explained that they were learning how to say "land" in Latin, Liesl said, "I know how to say that in Hungarian."

"Oh, really," replied Piper supportively.

"Yep, like this!" Liesl rubbed her tummy in the ASL sign for "please."

****

More significantly, perhaps, we took Lily to the airport this morning so she could fly to the Provo MTC.  Wow, I'm going to miss that girl. We all are.  Anyone who knows Lily knows of her ability to love without judgment.  To care. To persist. To persevere in behaving compassionately in the face of pretty crazy opposition.

She is strong.  She is determined.  She is love.  

Australia is super lucky to have her.

Last night we had a mini "farewell" for Lily to share a talk/testimony before she left since she didn't for church.  It ended up being a blessing in disguise because then we got to invite grandparents and out of town siblings to video chat in and hear it as well.  She picked "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" verses 1 and 3 for the opening song; shared her thoughts about missionary work, testimony, the role of members and the Holy Ghost in conversion and retention and quoted a bunch from Alma 26.  It was great: at the beginning she couldn't stop giggling. I just love that girl!

She chose "Have I Done Any Good" for the closing song.  Then after we said goodbye to the online group after chatting for a few minutes, Quinn gave Lily a super sweet blessing--about loving the people, trusting God, capturing the essence of missionary work, peace in her travels, that she would be able to get along with her companions and the Australian people and, of course, a reminder that her Father in Heaven loves her and that we love her.  He also asked Heavenly Father to bless her that her sense of homesickness would be alleviated.

By the end of the prayer and especially after the hugs, both hers and her daddy's eyes were moist,  a rare instance for these two sillies.

Quinn is sure going to miss her.  Every night she would rub his feet and after we finished our section of reading for the night he would ask, "Does anyone have any thoughts....Lily?" before even finishing the question, a mark of privilege :D.  Every night, she would have some thought drawn from our scripture section, even the harder to connect with ones.  

Beyond that, she works hard, teased gently, never took offense that I can remember, and just enjoyed her dad.  And he could feel it.  They have a sweet relationship and I am glad for both of them.

Letter from Elder Drew: Week 1 (in the field)

 Howdy, Y'all!

    Today is officially Day 7/seven/sept, it is is gnarly! 

    We started in the airport at 4am, because wicked early times are the best times. And because everyone is either a husk of a being, or is absolutely wired!  But it was pretty gnarly.  The whole flight was chill and we got to the Canadian Airport on time.  Then we went through customs... 

...Alright, so it wasn't that bad. It only took a few hours of sitting in the same room, but it was still faster than waiting in line at Krispy Kreme during "Talk Like a Pirate" Day.  After that, we were welcomed by the two Assistants to the President (AP), who were absolute fire, and were the epitome of the scripture, Alma 38:12 "Use BOLDNESS, but not overbearance". It was a pretty gnarly experience. 

     So we got to Canada, and spent a day and a half at the Mission Home.  During the first day, we went contacting on The Metro, and it was hyper cool (French Accent) because we just got right to it! I met a lit of really cool people (even one who was reading Wind Breaker, a lit Webtoon/Comic about bike riding), but I think the absolute best was this one lady we met within a few minutes of getting on The Metro.

    So, we get on the car right before the death trap, supposedly called Doors, closes. We move to the center handhold, and situate ourselves.  We look over to the left and start talking with this nice gentleman who, we discover, is a strong Muslim and he isn't so interested in our message or us.  We politely say goodbye and wave as he leaves the car at his stop. We resettle ourselves and notice this excited lady to our right, looking at us. As I am trying to formulate the Franglish sentence, before I can even start, she makes eye contact. She doesn't blink. And she opens her mouth...

... "That was definitely not what she said," I think to myself, "My mind is just putting random sounds together"

    So I ask her to repeat herself "S'il vous plaît" 

   "Je suis Prophète! Je suis un prophète musulman!"...

Outside that, I understood very little, but my temporary missionary companion told me she wanted us to join her fold. It was an amazing way to start this mission!!!!

    So now I'm in my area, and I'm a part of a trio, with one of my trainers as District Leader (DL) . We got to Québec City, Québec few days ago, and it is so cool to see so many people and buildings!!! We have done a lot of street contacting and I've enjoyed it so much!  Granted, a vast majority of people will make eye contact, and then kinda block us out. but there are so many people! So we just try to leave a good impression on everyone, and talk with the people who are open to it!

    Also, I'm so stoked, because the majority of people in Québec only speak French! And so many of them have this heavy Quebecois accent! I really want this when I get back! It's literally a southern drawl, but while you're speaking French!! We met this super cute elderly couple, and they told me that I looked like Tin-Tin.  First, I looked like a mix of Jack-Jack and Mr. Incredible, and now I'm resembling Tin-Tin. I could nail a career as a Look-Alike Celebrity!

  As far as my mad skills go, my French is really coming along. Even though the French in this area barely sounds like what I heard from the MTC, it is really cool to see what I can hear/understand. My first Sunday was lit, and I understood 4% of the meetings, and the overall message of most of the talks/lessons. I was even able to give a short shpeel for Sacrament! It didn't sound great, but that will come with time and beaucoup/a lot of practice!!  

"French" of the day:

    Ciao-le

  So it's pronounced almost just like it looks. With the Italian "Ciao" and the French "Le". 

  This word essentially means "Goodbye", just very informally. (Also, it is super disorienting here, because everyone speaks French, but will randomly through in an English word. Just makes life a tad bit more interesting).

Alright, c'est tout pour le moment.  Just after I say goodbye, I will share a cool scripture.  So be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!!!

 Ciao Ciao-le

Elder Biesinger.

  Mosiah 4:19-20 

     19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

The Great Chicken Slaughtering, part 2

 We have no pics of part 1.  We came home from some events and nine of our chickens had succumbed to too much heat (super sad).  We processed them that night and then let the other fifteen birds develop more meat.  And boy did they!  When we get them out of the freezer, the later ones are about three times as large as the first ones!

Here's some of the blurry bloody pics from that event. Our neighbor, Auntie Loni, stopped by and jumped in--it looked so fun, lol. 

Both times we did the slaughtering, it ended up downpouring...and nice steady summer rain.  We were totally drenched and didn't mind the extra rinsing at all.

It took a LOT to be able to start the butchering process, not to mention handling them, feathering them and eviscerating them.  (Yanking out the guts!)

Piper's bloody legs.

The chopping block where Lily, Piper and Havala were stationed...voluntarily.

Draining...

Quinn would boil them for a little bit to make the feathers come out more easily.

Eli was great at being dramatic about the whole affair.  Maia enjoyed it when we had company, like Loni (and her Aunt Heidi and cousins the first time).

The rain had already begun.

Letter from and to Elder Drew Biesinger I

Bonjour Y'all!

This week went by pretty quick, but it was pretty gnarly!  We did a lot of SYL (Speak Your Language), so it has been a blast working with my district. We have been working a lot on grammar, and teaching lessons effectively, so mon collegue missionaire and I have mastered teaching.  I'm pretty sure we're professionals already.

    We took a language assessment this week, and it was really cool! They evaluate what you sound like and the program gives you feedback on how you sound, by playing an audio clip of someone learning English speaking . I am totally understandable, almost!

I also got a free tie signed by my district for my birthday, it was pretty cool.

We sang a beautiful song called "Souviens-Toi"!  It is in the french Hymn book, and it is beautiful!! I would recommended looking it up, listening to it, and translating it, you have to (laughs snobbishly, in barely intelligible french)

   Also Covid-19 has been hitting the MTC, and one of our sisters got it. she was condemned to prison in isolation, and we would stop by occasionally to see if she was still alive.  It was through the window and wasn't creepy at all, because the whole district did it....

Anyway, the word of the day is...

     Chouette!!

   Now, this word translates to "Owl", however, the elder generation would use this word as "Groovy".  In a sentence, it would look like this "C'est chouette" ~"It's/That's groovy".

    Now, I gave a few photos, and they are of the overall MTC experience.  This is my district, and the one with the whiteboard is the best picture we have of the Quebec flag (which is also the only flag we have flying in the room, because it's the only flag necessary, and the french flag would give of the wrong impression [because the white flag implies surrender, and that's not what we're about as missionaries]).

   (Quick side note, not at all related to the previous paragraph. My teachers have told me that those who go to Quebec, generally come back with an unreal loyalty to Quebec. "Because most missionaries come back, and will tell people that where they served is the best place ever. However, when Quebecois missionaries return, they won't stop talking about why Quebec is the best place in the world, until you are convinced".  I am pretty sure I won't let it go to my head, because I don't really need to do much to convince others of the superiority of Quebec.)

Amour et Paix,

Elder Biesinger

***

Yo, Elder!

Love your confidence at being professional level already at teaching ;).  How's that going in the field, lol!

How was your travel? I am excited to hear an update today.  Thanks for the pictures, too!  Both these and the one that you sent via messenger through your comp.  Is he still your companion?  I love all the French you use in your emails!  It's so beautiful.

That is so cool that you got that great feedback, too!!  And I LOVE that they signed a birthday tie for you!  How cool is that?  Who's was that idea?

I found a really cool video that included that song "Souviens-Toi".  It was so beautiful!  They recorded it on the beach of Normandy with a cool tribute to that day in history. I really loved it.  And yes, I will definitely need the translation.  Here it is in case someone else asks:

Remember, My Child
Remember, my child : not long ago,
your divine parents held you in their arms.
Today you are here, marvelously present.
Your gaze still shines with the reflection of heaven.
Talk to me, my child, about that blessed place,
because for you the veil is still thin.

Remember, my child, the forests, the cities.
Can we down here imagine them?
And the night sky, is it rosy or gray?
Is the sun waiting for snow or rain?
Describe to me, my child, the color of the meadows
and the birdsongs of a forgotten world.

Remember, my child: at the dawn of time,
we were friends playing in the wind.
Then one day in joy we chose to accept
the Lord’s grand plan of life.
That night, my child, we promised through love,
and through faith, to be reunited.

I am really trying to get your phone to you!  It is Lily's one week in the online MTC so we have been finalizing stuff for her Chase account and doing all that last minute stuff, so kind of crazy!   

Penelope is currently throwing an adorable, violent tantrum, throwing everything within range at me that she can.  It is super sweet and super sad. Hopefully I will finish this email.

We are back now, with a binki and a blankie and a somewhat mollified child.  She indicated through her "please" and "more" signals that there is apparently something else that she "needs."  For a hot second, I thought, "When she is able to communicate it will be easier." And then my mind flashed to the moment yesterday or the day before when I got to listen to my very communicative one, Elijah, who has apparently mastered the English language to not only describe all the things I do NOT do for him, but also all the ways that he would orchestrate my death.  At the top of his lungs.  For over 20 minutes.

Maybe it won't be easier once she communicates.

Right now, Dad is downstairs with aforementioned Elijah and Liesl "playing" ping pong.  Which reminds me, for our anniversary date, I took Dad to play pickleball for the first time.  His first time, not mine.  That showed in the first game. I won.  Then he won the succeeding four as his experience with racquetball and ping pong adapted itself to some pretty masterful strokes.  I actually scored. I was happy.

We are already missing Lily. I think it is more real because we all feel you being gone.  Now she is almost gone and the kids are kind of panicking underneath at the idea of Hyrum also joining the "goners."  We know you will be back, but as an emotional Piper said the other day, it just isn't the same and maybe, like Kel and Tova, we won't even see you very often.  It is a hard reality, one borne from genuine love and appreciation of the beautiful spirits that are in our home.

Speaking of my conversation with Piper, it brings to mind something I wanted to talk to you about.  She has been getting more and more edgy.  A few of us have thought, "kind of like Drew."  Like you, she is warm, bouyant, fun loving, intense, intelligent and sensitive.  She can also be acidic and spicy and condescending and vengeful when she wants to be :S.  As Lily and I were noticing this, I decided to talk to her 

I brought up the internal family system that I described to you: the core self, the exiles, the managers.  I mentioned that I had seen her managers kicking in and wondered if there was something her exiles were experiencing that needed to be voiced.  At first, she drew back and became harder, but as we spoke, she started to weep and voiced her sorrow that things were changing.  People were leaving. It wouldn't be the same.  I listened to her, we validated that sadness, that sorrow.  That reality.  We talked about how her managers can be good servants to the core self, but if the core self is not in charge--if the managers were trying to assert themselves to cover the pain--it could be harmful and unhealthy.

I thought about you and the years of rejection you felt from Kel. There was a lot of good, but there was a lot of ugly.  It's SO important to recognize when you feel rejection and acknowledge the sorrow or sadness you feel when someone does it--now, later, in the past.  Or any other sad or ashamed emotion.  Just be mindful of when your managers (or your addictive behaviors/tendencies) are asserting themselves.  It is an indicator that you have pain. Pain acknowledged is just pain.  Pain unacknowledged is suffering.

Let yourselves cry and feel those sad emotions, my son.  You have so much good.

Btw, the Church website has a marvelous new video: "Let God Guide You From Weakness To Strength." I can only seem to pull it up on YouTube, but I think you would absolutely LOVE IT. 

Btw 2, I miss your hugs, brightness, thoughts, ah-hahs, expressions, laughter, presence.  Just saying...Montreal is lucky.

I can't wait to hear where you are serving and what it is like!!

Way to turn the COVID into a chance to be creepy!  Love it!  And "owl" is groovy?  Who knew?

Lol, Quebec is the best, eh?  Hmmmmm....j/k!

Again, thanks for the pictures.

The previously mentioned verbose young man is now telling me that something is as stinky "as when you sweat!"  Love it?

It is raining. The tomatoes and peppers still seem to be alive despite this unreal-ly wet summer (we already lost the cucumbers to rot). Maia is loving her new email address.  Hyrum is trying to recruit enough so Federal Hocking has a football team--the odds are not in his favor.  Piper is hoping to do silks--a welcome distraction from all the changes happening. Havala is super excited about starting classes in the fall and sings, sings, sings. The other night, I forgot that she was home and as I was walking back to the house, I heard the voice of an angel drifting on the breeze. It was Havala. She is also learning the guitar.  Xai is thrilled that he is a science genius.  Liesl just drove up with a huge creation built out of Duplos.  Penelope is going through the "Meet it, Eat it, or Beat it" deck.  (That's a lot of cards.)

I hope to get your phone picked up asap.  Just send that phone number and I can move forward ;).  Love you!!!!!

Mwa!

Mom

Kind UPS Man and Missionaries

The UPS man came for a pick-up today, my first ever!  This is my third attempt to get Drew’s cell phone to him.  Between his and my luck, it will probably be sent back at the border, lol.  He’s officially in Canada and we are going to find out today where he is serving, and I’m so excited to hear from him!

Anyway, back to the UPS man, he caught us in quite the moment.  Maia and Eli were cutting the corn off the cob from last night’s dinner with a ton of corn from the neighbors.  Xai and Liesl were helping to add the salt and lemon juice to the tomato jars that held tomatoes from our garden and our neighbor’s garden that we were processing.  Havala was rotating tomatoes through the hot water bath to scald them so they would peel more easily and Piper and I were skinning, quartering and stuffing jars.  

And Penelope had decided moments before to lose it and start screaming at the top of her lungs. 

I had just reached down to pick her up and try to calm her down when I happened to see the UPS man coming to our door.  I was a little stressed about whether I had followed the packaging directions correctly so had waited to attach the documents.  Once he assured me I was good, I started to tape on the forms when he stopped me.  

“I can tape it up, ma’am.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I have plenty of tape.”  Then, with a significant glance at the house that contained a wailing baby and clouds of steam from processing tomatoes and working children, “I am happy to do it.  You have your hands full.”  As he respectfully took the package from me and walked away, I thought ruefully, I bet he doesn’t walk into a home environment like this every day.

It was a fun moment.

The kids rocked out with Looney Tunes to celebrate being done with picking and processing (and jobs and basics);  Hyrum was busy driving comps for Quinn and grabbing some last minute goodies for Lily, who is departing for the MTC in Provo tomorrow (and Australia the week after that!!!!!); Piper was watching political debates; so Quinn and I decided to head out for a little run.  Well, hard for me, little for him until we parted ways and I headed back and he headed on.  We’re both out of shape but that means two different levels of expectations ;).  It was good to get out together. The day wasn’t too hot nor humid and there was even a slight breeze at first.  

Penelope is now sleeping. Liesl is insisting that she needs to learn how to read RIGHT NOW. Eli is resting on the couch, relaxing to the quiet time YouTube video we have on; Maia is relaxing in her room, as is Xai…one reading, the other doing math, most likely.  Piper is back to political debates, Havala helped me get some Rhodes rolls going for Lily’s last dinner for a long time with us (trying not to be hugely heart broken about that), and now I’m going to go out and play a game with Lily until we start video messaging with Drew in about 30 minutes. I did sneak a shower in; the laundry is almost as high as an elephant’s eye; my closet is trashed, the house is relatively straight. I am feeling peace in my heart as God teaches me how to accept and love myself…He’s actually quite good at it once I really opened my heart to listen.

Youth Camps, 4th of July, and Losing Chickens

 A couple of nights ago, we were kneeling in prayer with Quinn being our voice when I heard the distinct sound of liquid drops rapidly spattering on a plate. I looked over to see Eli trying to hold in his urine, while it freely flowed onto a plate as he stood over it on the couch. Yuck!  Crazy kid.  Poor kid. I know he doesn’t like to have bladder problems just as Xai doesn’t like having bugger problems.  

Lily has started writing in her journal more regularly. It’s cool. I’m excited for her and her posterity.

Yesterday was a good day. I woke up late (Penelope was up with a thunderstorm a bunch and we went to bed late) and hurried out to let the chickens out. (Whom I forgot to close all the doors to last night so hopefully they are okay!)  Speaking of chickens, we have caught two raccoons in the hen run in the past two weeks!   Eli technically caught them in his empty, unbaited trap, crazy kid.  Hey! I used that again!  He is a sweetie!

Yesterday we also started our “Secret Sibling” exchange here at home since the girls (and soon Hyrum) will all be going to camp and the younger ones wanted something to look forward to.  So they did that.  Lily and I dropped off Maia and Havala at the girl’s camp drop-off at the church and then went and played pickleball and basketball.  I beat Lily at pickleball and felt a little bad. I have had a lot of racqueting experiences and wanted her to have fun and want to get better at it and not just feel defeated. She won the first game pretty soundly but I won all the ones after that. I don’t like playing too hard because it feels mean. I guess I know how Quinn feels now?

Well, she got a turn to school me at basketball after that. I also arranged to pick up a booklet for Havala while we were there, we picked up some plants to fill in the holes in our garden and then grabbed some food at Wendy’s.  

We have also been trying to donate a lot of shoes and clothes and books that we don’t use or need anymore and I think we finally got the last of the current batch out after Hyrum dropped some books off at the FVRC last night when he was driving through Stewart after working out with the football team.

I have a lot of worries for my kiddos: mainly worried that they won’t have the experiences they need to have a fulfilling life. I guess they don’t have some things, but it seems like even having those things (social, athletic, scholastic, etc) still doesn’t preclude success in later life if modern young adults are the measuring stick.  

Hyrum watched the kiddos yesterday while Lily and I were gone and they played games (including the running and screaming and laughing hysterically kind :D!) and watched some Bluey.  He is such a good kid.

I feel bad that I didn’t take the time to braid Maia’s hair tightly for camp before she left. 

I ate too much and poorly yesterday. I’m having a hard time doing this “intuitive eating” thing when I’m tired and feeling down. My arm is also very sore. Whenever I do a lot of work with it, it starts hurting. It’s my right arm and I think I must have injured it while falling on it when chasing Eli at the temple grounds back in March. I’ll have to ask my brother Jon about it.

Lily and I cleaned up the house, which was still a little off from our painting project in the basement last week and our Fourth of July celebration with a BBQ with friends, going to the lake and watching fireworks. So fun! But time to clean.

I spent a long time herding chickens with Quinn last night. We have been losing a lot of them recently and are trying to slow down the trend.  They are pretty spooked and don’t come as easily as they used to to the coop.

We are still trying to find a good home for Kujo.  He needs someone who wants to hunt with him. That is what he is, a hunting dog.

Missionaries, Weeds, and Bedwetting

 We have a huge garden.  I may have planned for too big of one.  We also have all sorts of root rot happening since we have such a humid climate, but spent a good amount of time this morning trimming out the bottom of the plants so the sun could reach them and hopefully dry them up.  Last year we lost all of our tomato plants pretty quickly to it. This year, we have already lost all of our cucumber plants. :(  Maybe I can plant them again?

The kids have been troopers.  Lily has been the corn weeder (a HUGE portion of the garden).  Piper has knocked out the sections with cucumbers, butternut squash and canteloupe and they look amazing.  Havala has been taking care of the tomato plants very well, Maia the peas and lettuce, Hyrum the super hard onions and carrots and Xai the peppers. I have been helping here and there and it's wonderful to come back later and see no weeds growing where I weeded.  Yay for in depth weeding! I still have kiddos who don't bother to get the root out and we have to weed and weed and weed some more.  I think they are starting to see the benefit now.

After we took care of some weeding and culling, we straightened up the barn for Mirabel, our pregnant cow, to have a place to lie down out of the rain. Elijah used the push lawn mower for the first time and did awesome!  Maia took up the push mower and finished up the area and also did awesome!  Hava, Liesl, Penelope and Xai helped me weed the strawberry plants and then we put a net over it. We are finishing all these projects that I've just been putting off.  

Maia is mastering her math facts!  She knocked out addition, subtraction and multiplication very quickly! She is super frustrated with not being a genius in 10 minutes, but I KNOW her genius just takes a little time and love to manifest itself. She read all seven Harry Potter books in about a week of reading.   I think her favorite character is Snape. Or Moody, actually, even though he dies. She loves fashion, ice cream, friends and Oreos.  She had a great time at camp, and made several friends in the Stake.

Havala and Maia are currently taking voice lessons and love it! Their teacher, Gracious Pack, struggles emotionally and mentally, but they enjoy when they can meet. :D Maia is singing a French song and Havala an Italian one.

Xai is super sweet. I just love him.  He is a pretty good worker, loves math and science still and is learning how to not exact perfection from everyone around him :D.  He and Piper did VERY well on their end of year scholastic tests.  All the other kids rocked their tests, with strengths and weaknesses in different areas.  Those two just seem to take tests better than the others.

Maia has been fun trying to help our new little kitten. We have a strange situation where our mamma cat had another little kitten before her other two kittens were full grown. Now they are nursing from her, too!  It's really weird.  Hyrum found the little baby mewing from the back of the trailer that is full of wood. I trust that the momma knows what she is doing.

Lily is starting the online MTC next week. Drew is still in Provo, leaving next Tuesday, which is a week before Lily arrives. SO fun. I am actually missing him a whole bunch and am trying not to think about missing Lily so much :S.  Hyrum has also started his mission papers...so much fun!  And so sad, all at the same time.

We have a new treadmill. Piper told Quinn that if he would purchase a treadmill, then she would tell him her deep dark secret from Medina, NY.  $200 later Quinn got himself a secret and Piper had a treadmill! Well, we all do, but she is super excited about it!  

Hyrum is trying to help save Federal Hocking football so he can play his senior year.  We went to a school board meeting to support any action the district could take to make it happen.  We'll see!

I love snuggling with Eli and Liesl before they go to sleep at night. And Penelope still goes to sleep with Quinn and I and then we move her to her port-a-crib where she is happier. Eli and Liesl still struggle to not wet the bed at night. We lost the previous two devices that alerted them when they wet the bed so I just ordered two more. Liesl is going to be super sad (and maybe Lily too) when Lily leaves to sleep on her own soon.