Keeping a history of my days….

August 27th,

2013

So I have reached a major mile stone. I have arrived in the promised land. The land I have been walking towards for over 14 years. My hopes have soared pretty high with all the plans of what I will do when all 5 of my kids are in school. Today I went to the gym because I had no excuse not to and my back hurt because I haven't done Pilate's. Then I ran an errand, then I came home and took a long shower. Then I was tired from the warm water and all those core exercises so I curled back up in my bed and took a 40 min nap. Then I came down and made myself lunch. Lately the thought and process of making and eating a meal seems like too much work. I'll do it for my kids but I just want to go out and have someone else cook for me. This isn't practical, so I have been avoiding meal eating and have been eating snacks all day. Nectarines from our trees, raw green beans from our garden, lots of raisin bran with a little cream…yum. Today I made myself make and eat a real meal. It was good. I wish we had fresh garden produce all year.
It's sprinkling outside. I'm sitting in my sun room where there are windows on the ceiling. It's a nice sound. I have so much to post and write about my summer. I ditched my blog in June and so I'm behind.

October 21, 1013

Hey, here I am. Writing a bit of a blog post while I bottle grape juice. My in laws have grape vines. Not purple grapes but WHITE grapes. Oh they make delicious juice. Since they are white they don't stain my counter and floor. It can get messy with purple grapes.

After dinner tonight we had about 30 minutes of day light left. We left the dinner dishes and raced up to Grammy's house to pick grapes. 

It is still amazing to me that we can sometimes, effectively work together as a family.

 It really is a new stage of life we are in. 

Another example of our new stage of maturity...

We took a little road trip to St. George, to see my nephew give his farewell talk for his LDS mission.

The car ride was easy. No melt downs. No major fights.

What is happening?

I need to post our summer pictures.

You ready?

I 

Hyrum House 

Summer Vacations with the family.

Hehehe……:)

Going out with the sister in laws and momma. 

Painting pet rocks.

Hours of fun for all ages.

The baby cousins in our family love my boy Luke.

He is fun and gentle and attentive with them.

The Amazing Race

My sister in law Carrie planned a game for our family of 33.

It was like that show The Amazing Race.

She planned and set it up for all of us and she was even 7 months pregnant at the time. 

When I'm pregnant I'm proud of myself for going grocery shopping. There is no way I would plan a game for 33 people. I'm glad there are fun, active people in my family.

One of the stops included making and eating an ice-cream Sunday.

Another stop we formed a line to take water from the lake and fill up a bucket. It was so fun to see the little cousins feel like big helpers.

It was a great family party this year with our Morris side.

We also had a family reunion with my Samsel side of the family.

It was great to be with all four of my siblings and our parents and our children and spouses.

My youngest brother David took this cool picture of our neighbor's cow and will tree.

It looks like the cover of a book or CD or Magazine to me.

Sarah makes a darling nerd.

My beautiful sister Melissa, my girl  Gwenyth and my daughters's girl, Camilla enjoying the sunny day.

And here we are. 

The 4 Samsel kids all grown up.

We are even in birth order from left to right.

Melissa, 41, Kristen 39, James 36, David 32

Boating was a blast. 

The funnest was watching my Older sister and my youngest brother get whipped around on the tube.

Nate drove around like this all day.

I'm glad I didn't have to drive the boat.

Sophia, Ella, and Gwenyth.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of my parents at our reunion.

It was a fun time this summer.
My family and Nate's family are pretty different in all kinds of big and small ways.
Some of the differences make me laugh and others make me crazy.
The biggest difference was that with my side of the family the house was always clean.
My dad kept the kitchen perfect at all times, plus we ate out for dinners.
The beach blanket stayed clean because Melissa and David were on guard duty;
Directing the children "Wash the sand off your feet at the hose first!"
The first night as I lay in bed I said to Nate, how am I going to relax with all these people that are more intense versions of myself?
Happily, I did relax.
Nate finds all our idiosyncrasies endearing. Good thing. I guess that's why he can be married to me.

Well, that's my summer catch up.
Back to the present.
The kids are at school and I have lots to do.
I'm trying to find the balance of it all.
Happy Monday to you.
It's my favorite day of the week.

Camping, Summer of 2013.

I have a couple summer posts that were never posted. 

We went camping in August? Or was it July? Either way, I started this post and then never published it. Here it is, a little late. ;)

The first, official, family camping trip!

My kids have been asking to go camping for years.

 I have ignored their requests for years. 

How could that be fun? 

It's hard enough to make meals and clean up at home. 

Why would I want to do it in the dirt? 

Plus, I think it's hard enough to keep my kids alive around here let alone next to a river and a fire and woods.

 I didn't grow up camping with my family,  so to me, camping looks like a big job I do not want to be in charge of. 

Mmmmmmm, tinfoil dinners.

But I do like camping without my children, when someone else is in charge of meal planning and food packing and fire building. I have loved going to girls camp with the youth of my church. 

I decided after seeing how much my girls loved girls camp this year, that maybe I could handle camping with my children now. 

My youngest are 6, it's not like I have to change diapers and keep them from falling into the fire pit.

So we finally went this past weekend. 

We only went for one night. We could have easily enjoyed another night.

Every new stage of parenthood has wonderful, new, fun things to offer!

That's good, because every stage of parenthood has hard, no fun things to go through too.

Ever had a banana boat? 

They are yummy. Wrap that it tinfoil and put it in the coals to get all melty.

Fishing in pajamas.

Making whistles out of snake grass.

The clouds kept it cool. 

It didn't get hotter than about 83 degrees most of the time.

It even rained for about an hour an a half. 

We snuggled down in the tent. I napped and read and the kids played some made up game all cramped in one half of the tent.

  Distant thunder rumbled, keeping it exciting but not scary.

Then it stopped.

 The sun came out and we played in the river.

Nate is great.

This water is freezing. 

My feet went numb standing in it.

I loved camping. I am looking forward to doing it again. 

I loved watching my kids enjoy nature.

Most of all,

I loved watching my kids enjoy each other.

Summer Contentment

This morning's poem

*****************************************************************

Manna falls down into my hands

I have what I need today

One day forward

No faster, no bigger than that

It's less confusing that way

Feels slow

 Progress almost imperceptible

I look back and then I can see

All the progress within me

No need to panic and rush

There is time allotted for this

Stay calm, stay focused on the steps in front of your feet

BE where you are

So you don't miss the sweet

******************************************************************

I'm being a very fun mom.

I need to write that down so I feel like I get some kind of credit.

This summer is going along very nicely.

Lots and lots of fun, family, friends and good food.

I'm glad I can type that. When school gets out I feel very freaked out at the prospect of having my kids home all day.

Three meals to make and clean up, kids everywhere, all there junk and noise filling up my house with chaos.

Fighting, too much TV consumption….

The list of my reasons for freaking out goes on.

But then, I calm down. I realize it's all going to be OK. I can handle it.  ;)

The kids and I get into a summer groove and it's all good.

There is no real routine. Everyday is different. With family vacations to break it up, summer ends up feeling very short.

Why do I panic every year?

This is what we have been up to the past 6 days.

The fourth of July celebrations, then cub camp. (Did you forget I'm a den mother? Are you jealous of my yellow scout shirt?)

AnnaKate's 12th birthday on July 6th. 

My sister is in town so we have had a family activity every day.

Today we are going to a water park.

I have that contented look on my face because Nate came with me to cub camp. He did the driving. I love being the passenger. It rained the night before so it smelled like woodsy heaven.

 That is one of my very favorite smells. Trees, streams, wet earth. 

There I am with my eagle scout.

Have a great day.

I better eat a big breakfast since I'll be going down water slides all day.

:)

feeling blessed

Before the fireworks show even started I got teary. Sitting there with so much family and friends in my town that I love. My little girl on my lap. Thinking of my grandfathers who have served our country. There are times when I realize my life is perfect. I have everything I have ever wanted. I am surrounded by love and blessings and opportunities for more love and more growth. 

I just feel so blessed.

Let me count the ways.

I feel blessed because my AnnaKate has opportunities and teachers and church leaders that are helping her discover her talents,  and the true desires of her heart. Above is her acting teacher. She is growing into herself and growing out of childish ways that only hold her back.

I feel blessed to be a witness to this beautiful girl's life. 

She looks older and more feminine and lovely every day.

She was in a play in May.

Thoroughly Modern Millie.

There she was, singing and dancing and shining like a star from heaven!

She will start  her last year of junior high in the fall. 

Time is moving fast for her and me. 

I hope I'm teaching her what she needs to know. She is so wise and good she is practically raising herself. 

 I feel blessed that my kids get to do so many of the things I got to do as a kid and so many other things that I would have loved to do. It's wonderful to see the American dream still exists even though our world can be so crazy.

I feel blessed because I can send my children to school down the street with great friends and teachers.

Here my twins are in their Kindergarten graduation program.

They are just so sweet.

AnnaKate is moving on to junior high. She seems too small and young. It is so exciting and a little scary to watch my children grow up.

Last day of school joy!

So many cousins on both sides of the family.

Here they are with my side of the family. We had a surprise birthday party for my sister's daughter at my house. It fills my heart up to see my kids with my siblings kids, loving each other and having fun.

I feel blessed because I live in a neighborhood where kids still know how to play and entertain themselves with the simple things of life. Like a plastic pool filled up with cold water from the hose. 

9 kids in that little thing!

I feel blessed because I get to be a mother. I get to record and witness everything from loosing a tooth to performing in their first play to scoring their first goal to reading their first words.

I get to be the one they want the most, to watch them. 

I'm the one they want to tell about all the little things in their lives.

I feel so blessed because my twins and I had the funnest time at the water park last week.

I felt so proud as I walked around the park, me in the middle with a little girl on either side of me. 

The three of us holding hands.

It brought back all the feelings and memories of when they were my little babies that never fought, that I could parade around and dress the same.

For that day at the park, the three of us were as in love and harmonious as we were when they were babies.

It was wonderful to have those feelings rekindled because I'm telling you, life can't get tiresome with 2 feisty, stubborn 6 year old girls who have strong vocal chords and know how to use them.

I feel blessed that my mother in law is so wonderful. 

She raised a kind, strong, good,  man who makes me laugh and is my best friend.

She is as kind and fun and wonderful as she is beautiful. 

This picture doesn't capture her emerald green eyes that sparkle with love and fun.

I feel blessed that my children have about a million cousins that all live within 10 minutes! 

They built this gigantic sand castle village in grammy and papa's sand volley ball court.

I mean seriously.

How cute and creative can they be?!

I feel blessed that I can take my kids to fun places with good friends.

Life is good and we have so much freedom. I have the time and the money to have fun with my kids.

Look at my first born.

I feel more proud of her every day.

She has a pure heart.

Sarah's shirt says it all.

No wonder I cried tears of joy at the fire works show tonight.

I have so many more blessings. These are just the ones I took pictures of over the past few months.

Tonight I just needed to send out some love and gratitude into the universe since so much love has been  given to me in my life.

Goodnight.

I'll be up bright and early for the parade.

I can't wait to see the jets fly over head.

I'm sure I'll cry tears of joy and gratitude again.

God Bless America.