LIFE ON THE FARM -
It was nice to be home with not a lot on our calendar when August started. It only lasted a week, but that week was nice! The kids got their rooms organized, I continued to unpack, and of course we had lots of things to do outside. The days were nice and hot so we would usually go out first thing for a few hours, then come inside for the afternoon, and then after dinner go out again until dark. The kids would start frog hunting right around dusk and caught so many frogs. They wanted to keep them all as pets, but I wouldn't let them bring them inside. I reminded them how happy the frogs would be if they stayed outside in their natural habitats. My animal-conservation-loving kids couldn't argue with me on that, so they would put them back each night after a few hours of examination. It was so fun to have them outside so much running and playing.
One of Jed's big projects was getting things set up for the horses and our dog Gigi. He put together a dog kennel and the horse pens. He expanded the round pen. He put another couple of panels up for gates. Then we were finally able to bring the horses over from Tresa and Jeff's house. I'm sure they did a happy dance as Jed pulled out with them after 3 yrs! It was so exciting for everyone to finally have the horses right out the back door. Kasen wanted to help with all the feeding and chores. It was almost impossible to keep Dallin from jetting out there every second. Jed even rode the horses a little each night and let the kids take turns riding too.
The heat of August really got our flowers and weeds growing. I swear it would take me all day to clean up one flower bed (although like I've mentioned before, I'm not sure if much was done in the previous two years so I was doing a lot of gutting.) The kids were such good helpers. Kinsley was my best weed picker. We found some many massive ones! Ava was my best flower dead-header. She got really good at that. Kasen was really good at trimming tree starts at the base of the trees. Dallin just loved being outside - he was really in his heaven roaming around and then after awhile he would come over and reach his chubby, little hand out to you and grunt without making eye contact. It was his way of asking for someone to come play with him. During the afternoons when it would get really hot and we would come inside, Ava would work on her cooking classes. She made us some delicious stuff like bbq chicken pizza and orange/pineapple slushes.
NYC WEDDING TRIP - On August 9th we dropped our kids off at the Ball house and drove to SLC to catch a red-eye flight to NYC for my sister Katie's wedding. We were so sad to leave the kids and excited at the same time. I was so sad that my kids wouldn't be at my sister's wedding because Katie has been such a huge part of their lives and such an amazing aunt to them. They would have loved to go to NYC, but with just moving and all the expenses of that we couldn't afford to take them. I knew they would be in great hands, but I also worry a lot about leaving them and was especially worried about Dallin. It was nice to get little updates from Tresa. They spent a lot of time visiting Tyler and even got to go swimming!
As much as we missed the kids we were also excited for a little get-away just the two of us. I had been to NYC about 6 years ago (doesn't seem that long!) with my sister when Katie first moved out there and Jed had been there for a short time about 10 years ago when he was applying for podiatry schools. So it was really fun to go back out together! We stayed just west of Central Park. It was a great location so close to everything. Our hotel was very modern and interesting. It had ivy growing all over the ceilings, industrial pipes, brick, and crystal chandeliers. Pretty much had every design style there was. lol All my siblings were able to go, but Jed was the only spouse that was able to come. The first day we got there we went out to explore Manhattan a little bit starting in Times Square. Marilyn really enjoyed Time Square more than the rest of us I think. :)
We all did a double-decker bus tour. It was the same one Mal, Katie, and I did 6 yrs ago and hadn't changed that much other than instead of a tour guide they now handed out earphones and you listened to it. Which was a lot nicer anyway. The weather was fantastic the whole time we were there! It wasn't too hot, but warm enough to wear sandals and no jackets.
We also got passes to a night cruise on the Hudson River. It was really fun and a great way to see a different view of the city. It also took us right up to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The next morning we rented bikes and went on a ride through Central Park. It was also a highlight. Riding bikes is just fun sometimes. My dad made all of us girls wear helmets which was super embarrassing. On the way back a small group stopped at Levain's Bakery. It wasn't quite as good as I remembered it. I got a few extras to take and share with the others and right when I was riding through an intersection my bag broke and the cookies fell out. I had just got to the other side so you better believe I stopped and picked them up. ??? To my defense they were expensive cookies, but then I started thinking about how many disgusting, gross things have touched that street corner and I couldn't bring myself to eat them later anyway.
That afternoon Jed, Josh, and I went and helped Katie run errands to Costco. It is kinda funny that there is a Costco right there when no one has a big enough apartment to store anything. Also funny was that when people go to Costco they have to uber themselves and their groceries home. Later we finished our bus tour to the south part of Manhattan and got off at Ground Zero. The monuments they have built there are pretty amazing. Last time I was there there was nothing as they were just starting construction. The big draining pool was really amazing. It sits right in the spot of one of the towers and is the size of the tower. The other sculpture was built to look like a bird flying out of the ashes and rising again. It was pretty sobering and makes you feel all sorts of emotions. I can't believe 9/11 was almost 16 years ago.
A lot of our (Josh, Jed, me) time was spent running errands for Katie. We were going to run up to the Yankees game that night but had to instead run errands. It was fine though and we were happy to help. I'm really Jed came and we still had so much fun spending time together. It was also fun to be around Josh, I felt like it was the first time in a long time where we saw some of the old Josh that is happy and funny.
Saturday, August 12th was the big day! Katie surprised us all and we went over to her apartment and a lady did all our makeup for us. It was pretty fun. Katie looked gorgeous. Her dress accentuated her tall, slim figure and she just looked so classy and elegant. Deantre also looked very GQ. After getting all done up we ubered to Central Park for the wedding. Katie had a lot of great friends that were helping organize everything.
I'm not exactly sure what the area of Central Park where they were married was called, but it was near the Northeast corner of the park. It was very beautiful. Again the weather was perfect. Katie's branch president married them (he is a fashion designer) and there were probably about 50 people there. My dad walked Katie down the aisle and then Deantre's niece and nephew brought the rings. It was a wonderful ceremony.
The first time in a few years we've all been in the same place at the same time! We had to remind my dad that it was actually a big blessing to have 5 girls with a special picture. :)
A picture of the entire wedding party! Good thing special agent Josh was there to keep everyone safe. lol
After the ceremony we all left Central Park and crossed the street to a special hot dog stand they had rented just for the wedding party. When Katie was saying she was going to have hot dogs/sodas for everyone after the wedding I couldn't quite figure out what she was thinking. But it turned out to be awesome. It was such a NYC thing to do and honestly everyone was starving so it was pretty perfect.
It was really fun to meet and get to know Deantre's family. His parents were wonderful and so were his sibling and in-laws. Katie just inherited some of the cutest nephews and niece ever!
After eating most people left, but the immediate family took ubers over to the other side of the park to a place where Katie and Deantre really wanted to get a picture with everyone. Central Park is such a cool place. It would be somewhere I would love if I lived in NYC.
The reception was held at a building near the rive and one of the bridges over to Brooklyn. I can't remember which one. It had a great view of the city lights. It wasn't a typical Mormon reception like we get used to. For instance, only people from the wedding party plus a few others were invited. It wasn't an open invitation to everyone you've ever known like Mormons do. So everyone was there from beginning to end. It had a flow which was nice. Cocktails (they decided not to serve any alcohol) & appetizers were served in the beginning while we waited for the bride/groom to arrive. Then when they got there we ate. The food was so good! Throughout dinner different people got up to toast or say a few words. Then there was the father/daughter dance & the mother/son dance. That was followed by the couple's first dance. Then everyone danced. The whole night was MC'd and that person did a great job keeping things moving and entertaining. Dancing was actually really fun, but man there is so much truth to the statement that white people can't dance. Black people just have natural moves no matter what song is playing. Midway through dancing there was dessert. It was a really fun night.
There was a photo booth set up with lots of props. Given how many pictures we took you would think we were in there all night, but we actually discovered it right at the end. As much as I love a Mormon wedding, Mormon receptions are so incredibly boring. This one was so much fun. It wasn't so structured that you couldn't mingle around, but it wasn't a boring line while everyone else just sits there. It was fun to go out on the balcony and dance and do the photo booth. I'm going to encourage my kids to do something like this. It was like a combination of the luncheon/reception into one.
We got lots of updates from Tresa which was fun. She couldn't believe how much Dallin loved the broom! She did say that he got really upset when the big kids would go outside to play and leave him inside. It was nice to know they were in great hands. Tresa and Jeff are always so great to the kids. They had a great time without us. I always get so nervous before we leave (which isn't even very often), but it is really nice to get away without the kids once in a while. There were times that I was pretty sad they weren't there with us - especially for the wedding because they love Katie so much - but it would have been so difficult with Dallin.
DALLIN 15 MONTHS - This boy continues to grow and be as funny as ever. He is really getting a personality now. He loves to climb up on our bed in the morning and jabber. His most favorite thing to do I think, is to destroy cupboards. He empties out cupboards like it's his mission in life. My bathroom cupboard is one of his favorites - which is really annoying because it takes forever to pick up. He really likes packing around hair products and especially my mascara. He has picked up this funny quirk of balancing on his head. He will be walking along and then just stop and bend down until his head touches the ground and he looks out between his legs at what is going on. It just started suddenly one day. It doesn't matter where. He tried to do it the other day outside on the pavement and scraped up his forehead.
Another funny habit this month is his intense love for Kinsley's baby doll. He packs this doll everywhere. He can't say "baby" but he will let you know when the baby is not close enough to him. He is mostly gentle with the baby and likes to hug it, but we have caught him a few times trying to poke the eyes out...
Dallin loves to be around everyone. We have joked that from day one he has suffered from FOMO - fear of missing out. But this month he has started to show a little more independence and will wander downstairs playing with his toys without someone by his side. His favorite one is the door basketball hoop. He loves balls and Jed and the kids have taught him how to "shoot". He loves it and thinks it is so funny when he puts the ball in the hoop. He will yell and cheer for himself.
BACK TO SCHOOL PREP -
It is always exciting to have a new school year approaching. The kids are always excited to go back to school. This year was a little different though. There were lots of nerves as they were all starting at new schools. Ava especially was feeling the butterflies. She had decided to continue with her plans to do the self-contained GT program at Heritage. It meant that I would have to drive her to and from school everyday. Because middle school starts earlier and ends earlier than elementary school, it would also mean that I would be driving the other two to and from school everyday. Ava was excited to go to middle school registration and get her schedule and finally get a locker for the first time. Jed and I can't believe she is old enough to be in middle school. We also can't believe we are old enough to have a middle schooler - after all we met in the 7th grade! We finally got the hot tub working and spent some time trying to relax in there before the first day of school.
Everyone got back to school hair trims, but no one was more excited about it than Kinsley! We had an American Ninja Warrior themed Manwaring FHE to end the summer with. Always a fun time!
POCATELLO ROPING & SOLAR ECLIPSE -
The weekend before school started we went to Pocatello for a roping for Jed. We stayed at Jake & Megan's house overnight which is always fun. The kids love playing with their cousins. Dallin was one of the highlights for everyone because he was crazy as usual. He would hug people one second and then try punching them in the face the next. He really loved the cats outside. He would try touching them and just giggle hysterically. His whole body would shake. We always have fun when we stay in Firth and our cousins are such good hosts.
Monday, August 21st, 2017 was a pretty remarkable day. A complete solar eclipse passed through North America and right over Rigby, Idaho. It was such a big deal and had been talked about and planned for more than a year in advance. Luckily for us, the Pocatello roping was that weekend prior and so we stayed for weekend and for the eclipse. We watched it up at the ranch in Swan Valley which was pretty awesome. The kids were super excited about it, especially Ava. Malorie and her kids came up and she helped everyone make solar eclipse masks. Ava made a special solar eclipse treat - homemade oreos with yellow frosting to look like the sun.
We spent the weekend hanging out. The kids loved playing with their cousins. Ava and Kasen were the "leaders" of the little Foster army. We had spent time on Friday and Saturday watching Jed at the roping so Kasen wanted the roping dummy out to practice on. Dallin wanted to be like the big boys too I guess. I found him outside a couple of times trying to rope the dummy.
The complete solar eclipse started at 11:33 am. We started looking for signs around 10 am. The kids played with their shadows and we laid out a white sheet to see the "solar snakes". You could see through the eclipse glasses how much of the sun was covered. As the total eclipse got closer it was so surreal. The temperature decreased dramatically, the sky got darker, birds stopped chirping, the dogs started running around more hyper, etc. It was an amazing 2 minutes when the sun was completely blocked. In an instant it was so obvious how much we need the sun and it's light. Something we take for granted everyday. The other amazing thing about the eclipse was when the moon passed enough for the smallest sliver of sunshine to be unblocked again. It felt like someone just turned on a spotlight back on the earth. It felt so bright and warm again with only the tiniest bit of direct light. It made me think about the Savior and how he is referenced as the Light of the World. Even the smallest bit of His light and goodness in our lives makes so much of a difference. It also made me think of how sometimes we don't even realize that we may be in darkness (figuratively speaking) until the tiniest bit of light breaks through and we realize how dark it has been. The eclipse was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life.
This was right after the sun was totally eclipsed. I love everyone's faces. Dallin especially makes me laugh!
We had to drive home the same day so after the eclipse we loaded up to go down and visit Grandma and Grandpa Erickson before we headed west. We said goodbye and Ava had to point out that she was taller then both Grandma and Abby now! We had to laugh as we pulled out of the driveway onto the highway. Across the street in the neighbor's field there was a sign posted that said: Private property. Under surveillance. Trespassers will be prosecuted. There had been so much hype about the eclipse for so long that a lot of the stories had grew and people were being told by other people that they read in the NYT or saw on the NASA website or whatever, that millions of people were going to descend upon Eastern Idaho. Rumors were that cell towers wouldn't work, grocery stores would run out of food, people would take over other people's property, etc. While there was a lot of people that came up, especially from Utah, the rumors proved to be far from true. So this sign on this farm was pretty funny. Especially the Under surveillance part, because seriously where would the cameras be!
We stayed down at G&G Ericksons house for awhile. The kids had a great time "playing farm" as they call it. Kinsley loves doing chores for Grandma so she got to water the flowers and feed corn husks to the cows. She tied two wagons together to be more efficient - which I was pretty impressed by. Unfortunately for her, she only got one load over before Dallin realized how fun it would be to ride in one of the wagons, so then she was back to only having one wagon to haul husks in.
These were some cute pictures of Dallin. He got some one on one time with Grandpa having a chat about the Old West I'm sure. He also found a baby in the toy closet he wouldn't put down.
There were some visitors for the eclipse here too. JT and Jordan's family were over. Kirk and Isaac had come up as well. Ava and Kasen were glad for some more cousins to play with. Plus while we were there, the water came in the ditch so Grandpa flooded the lawn.
You can always count on seeing steers and horses at G&G's house in the summertime. Even Ava likes to check them out.
These kids are pretty lucky to have such great grandparents - they don't even realize it either. They come with a wonderful heritage on both sides I hope they learn to appreciate, be grateful for, and respect.
And then it was time to drive home. We had heard horror stories about how bad the traffic would be as well. It was slower going from Idaho Falls to Pocatello and then after that it was normal. Kirk and Isaac were in traffic down to Utah pretty much the whole way. I think their typical 3 hr drive ended up being more like 7 hrs. I'm not sure what is happening to me this year, but whenever we drive anywhere and it is longer than an hour I can not stay awake. Jed has been teasing me about it all summer. He finally captured a really unflattering picture of evidence. I'm glad that Ava was on my side this time.
SCHOOL ALREADY - We got home Monday night and had one day to get ready because Wednesday was the first day of school! Ava - 6th grade (her first year in middle school). Kasen - 3rd grade (new school & first yr in GT). Kinsley - 1st grade (new school and 1st year of all day school). They all looked so perfect and excited. I was a nervous wreck this year worrying about them all day and hoping that they would make friends and be happy.
Kasen's classroom was in a portable trailer outside the school. One of the kids from church was in his class so he felt better about that. But as I was leaving after I peeked in the classroom and he saw me I saw him start to cry. It broke my heart. It takes so much bravery to start a new school and make new friends. Especially because Kasen was a pretty popular kid at his last school and everyone knew who he was and he had the reputation of being the fastest kid in the school. When I dropped Ava off it was like a bicycle convention was taking place. There were so many bikes EVERYWHERE! Ava was pretty nervous and worried she wouldn't remember where all her classes were and that she would get to each one on time. I'm telling you, as a mother, my heart strings were being ripped apart this morning.
The only one I wasn't too worried about was Kinsley. She was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to start 1st grade and not worried at all about making friends. She had 3 girls from church in her class and 1 boy so she already knew some familiar faces. She wore the same outfit that Ava wore to her 1st grade orientation.
We thought after the 1st day things would settle down, but Ava had a really hard time the first 3 days. Not one person in her classes talked to her. Not one person talked to her at lunch. She literally walked around for 3 days not talking to a single person. Well I take that back, she went up to someone that was sitting alone on the second day of school and asked if they would like to sit with her. They said yes and she thought she had made a friend. But the next day, the girl walked right past Ava in the lunchroom and didn't acknowledge her at all. We kept telling her that sometimes it takes a while to make friends. Since she was in the self-contained GT class she had expected to see a lot more GT kids that she knew, but whether they had different schedules or what, she didn't know very many. By Monday, our sweet Ava that loves school more than anything, was not excited about school at all. It was so hard to watch. She had talked one girl she knew from GT to walk around outside with her during break. Ava did like her teachers so that was the only positive thing she could think of. She had really struggled over the weekend trying to think about maybe she should transfer to Eagle Middle School where people from church and in our area were all going. It was something we had talked about during the summer. I thought it would be easier on her, even though she wouldn't be in the self-contained GT program anymore. She was in a marine biology class until October so we had talked about maybe after that class ended she could transfer to Eagle if things were still going bad. The straw that broke the camel's back happened Monday or Tuesday though. For safety reasons and crowded halls, the school district doesn't allow backpacks to be worn during the day. So everyone has these really big binders they back to all their classes with all their supplies inside. Ava was walking down the hallway in between classes and she said she got bumped and her binder flew up into the air. Papers went flying everywhere. She dropped down to the floor to clean everything up and grab her stuff and not one other person in the hallway stopped to help. A crowded, busy hallway and not one kid stopped. It reminded me of a scene from a movie. It completely devastated Ava. She came home and went up to her room. She came down awhile later and said that she had prayed about it and felt like she shouldn't wait until October when her class ended, but should transfer to Eagle right away. So the next day I went to see what could be done and they instantly gave me a schedule and assigned Ava a locker. When I picked her up from school that Wednesday we drove straight to Eagle Middle and walked out her route to each class and practiced opening her locker. She was relieved to be transferring and nervous all over again. Since she was going to Eagle now she could catch the bus instead of being driven. I walked down to meet the bus with her and took these pictures. You can tell she was pretty nervous. I worried all day again. But when she got off the bus she was beaming. Right at the beginning of the day she saw her friend Sicily from church and she was so excited to see Ava she started screaming and jumping up and down. Then her other friend Paige invited her over to her group of friends for lunch. Plus Paige was in two of her classes. It was such a relief and an answer to prayers for her and us.
END OF AUGUST -
The end of August was spent adjusting to our new school schedule. While the kids were at school, Dallin and I continued to do chores outside. Gigi followed us around and made more messes. The trees needed so much pruning. I'm not sure that they had been pruned at all in the last two years. This was just the branches from one tree near the basketball hoop. There was something addicting for me about pruning the tree branches. I loved to cut off a bad branch and watch the whole tree stand up a little straighter without the dead weight of the heavy old branch. A good comparison could be made for our own lives with that.
When we came back from the eclipse we brought back an old 4-wheeler. The kids had lots of fun taking rides around the pasture and up and down the driveway. Cousins even came over and got a ride.
A few random pictures. Kinsley got the NO FARMS NO FOOD sticker from my dad. I had to laugh when she stuck it on to her backpack and wore it to school. Dallin got his first taste for a dum dum sucker and has been addicted ever since. He has done pretty good with the kids gone all day, but it is hard for me to get anything done! My only helper is his Baby Einstein dvds that he will sit through and watch. It gives me about 30 min to accomplish a few things.
The weather was wonderful and we still spent every night outside trying to finish up yard work. We bought a little trailer that pulls behind the 4-wheeler. I didn't think the tree pruning would ever end, but we finally finished up at the end of the month. We love how beautiful our property is, but man it is a lot of work to maintain!!! Sometimes Jed and I look at each other and wonder why in the world we thought it would be a good idea to add so much more work to our lives. I will say one thing though, the sunrises and sunsets here help make it seem worth it.
