Quick Takes:

"May I have my fishing pole so I can practice my patience?"
-Jackson

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The other day I saw Lindsey chewing on something.

Me: Lindsey, what do you have in your mouth?
Lindsey: (Looks guilty and doesn't answer)
Me: Lindsey, I need to know what you are chewing on
Lindsey: (Short pause while thinking)...
Lindsey: IT'S NOT A PUPPY!

Oh...well that's good...I guess.

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Rachel went to check the mail the other day. When she got there, this was hanging on the mailbox:

Kindness Klub- We help, We're kind, We thing everyone matters, Call (Rachel's phone number) for more information or service ! Have a "kind" day!

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Tonight we are going out do dinner with some friends. Afterwords we are going over for their place for dessert and more conversation. It should be really nice and I'm looking forward to it. It also got me thinking though.

I'm pretty sure I have made it clear that we absolutely love where we live. The beauty of the area, the easy access to recreational opportunities, the small-town atmosphere, and the close proximity to a larger city all combine to make this place uniquely suited to our lifestyle. That said, there is one downside: We live far away from any family. The closest relatives are a seven hour drive from here. Most people live ten or more hours away. We make these trips relatively frequently, because we feel like family is worth it, but we still don't get to see people nearly as often as we would like.

However...

In the absence of family, our lives have been so enriched by the people around us. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to maintain active social lives in spite of our busy schedule. Here are a few other activities we have done in the last two weeks with friends:

Rachel going out for socializing with friends from work

These are some of the girls who work with me in my office. Samantha (top left) was also in charge of all the costuming for a big play that was put on (Narnia). She worked extremely hard and did an amazing job. We decided to all go out and see the production for a fun night out.

One of our friends got married and we were able to go to her wedding and the celebration afterwords. We're very happy for her.

Also, every other week we meet on Wednesday night with our church family for a prepared dinner and socializing. The kids love it!

Rachel also maintains a Mom's group which organizes regular activities with and without kids.

Besides this, we have many friends that we climb, cycle, make music, and just generally "do life" with. We are very thankful to all of these people for allowing us into their lives and for helping us to, in a very real way, have family away from family.

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Here's a few other recent activities since the last post:

Evelyn played with her group, STOMP, at a school concert. She is the one in black in the middle. We all went as a family to support her. Afterwards, we had a gigantic dodge-ball tournament. As I watched her play I recognized over half the kids in her group as friends of hers who have been over to our house. Socially, I think this has been really good for her.

Our snake, Ember, had his one year birthday. We had a party for him and ate cake. Instead of cake, he ate his first adult mouse. Kinda gross, I know. He also got an upgrade to a bigger house. Evelyn wasn't there because she was at a sleepover.

The Spokane children's museum is a great place to visit with the kids on a lazy afternoon.

Ev and I went skiing. It was another perfect day with bright blue skies and perfectly groomed runs.

Addy started working on the routine she will perform in her upcoming gymnastics meet. She is wearing a fox tail because it was "dress-like-an-animal-day" at school.

Have a good week!

A couple of weeks ago I was walking around downtown with Evelyn. It was nice.

One of the hardest things about having a large family is finding the time to do individual things with each person. Doing this, obviously, comes at the expense of doing things with other friends, as a whole family, or pursuing individual interests. These times are treasured then, and seen as rare opportunities to bond in ways that couldn't happen otherwise.

On our walk, we decided to check out a local art gallery. Several of the exhibits were new, and we had fun looking at them and talking about them with each other. I feel like I gained some insight into the way she sees the world. One of our favorites were a series of mixed-media projects depicting birds from around our area, and Evelyn taught me all about each one as she saw it.

When we were satisfied with our time at the gallery, we headed back outside. Hand in hand we continued our walk down to the lake where we watched the raindrops dance on the water for a minute. She told me about the friends she had met a while back at camp, and how she was looking forward to a party she had been invited to. We walked around the park, through the resort, and then back over to the church where we had parked our car. It was a lovely afternoon, and will endure, I think, as a memory that stands out to me when I think of Evelyn.

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As parents, we try to take advantage of these moments whenever we can. Life can get busy. Between careers, hobbies, friends, families, church, fitness, classes, house chores, and relaxation...times seven people in the family...there is a lot going on at all times. For the most part, we have the energy to keep up with everything and we actually enjoy the fullness of our days. It is definitely nice though, when we can just put the rest of the world on pause for a while and focus in on individual people. We try our best to create these moments, and I think it is paying off.

Here are some of the other "moments" we have been able to have since our last post:

Here's a picture of a date I took Maren on last week. We dressed up and went out to dinner at her favorite restaurant (the ever popular Golden Corral...*sigh*...Why can't my kids like real food?). Afterwards, we went shopping for some new pants for her. It might sound pedestrian, but we both had a great time. She is a charming young lady.

I got a chance to take Jackson skiing for his first time. It was a gorgeous day, and we spent the entire time together. In typical Jackson fashion, he took to the slopes like a maniac. Falling didn't seem to slow him down one bit. He actually did really well, and by the end of the day was skiing confidently all the way down from the top. On the way home he told me that he had the best day of his life. That made me smile.

Not to be outdone, Rachel went up a different day with Addy. She said that they had tons of fun together and that Addy made her goal of getting all the way down without falling. Actually, she did that twice. Go Addy!

Lindsey loves swimming. Unfortunately, the other kids have other interests at this time, and we don't get to go a whole lot. This was a fun opportunity then, for me to take Lindsey out for some daddy-daughter time. It was a great afternoon!

Of course we can't forget about us. Although we have a "date night" pretty much every night after the kids are in bed, we make our best effort to get out at least once a week for something special. This week we explored a nice new restaurant by the river (it was Restaurant Week in our area) and then went to the Comedy Club for a late show. It was a fun atmosphere to be in with my favorite person and best friend in the world.

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Of course we had other things going on in the week as well. Life doesn't slow down, but we try our best to take advantage of the eddies that it has to offer. I hope this post gives a little glimpse into how this works for us.

Have a good week!

PS: Rachel gets really into the dancing games on the Wii

Ten years ago Evelyn changed our lives forever. June, 2007. Father's Day. We had just moved to a new house in Cleveland, Ohio and we were starting to find our way around the beautiful tree-lined streets. I was scheduled to start dental school in about a month, and was eagerly anticipating the upcoming academic challenges. Rachel had secured a job with an interpreting agency, and was nervously excited about her debut into community work. Life was good- but not yet complete.

June, 2007. Father's Day. We found out that our family would never be the same. Evelyn was on her way.

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Ever since she was born, Evelyn has totally rocked my world. She is my little girl- and as my first, she will always hold a very special place in my heart.  Being her dad has been a privilege that I sometimes wonder if I deserve. Her fierce independence, quirky sense of humor, and vast stores of creativity are constantly surprising me. In many ways I look up to her, and I feel like she teaches me as much as I do her.

Also, in the last ten years, I can honestly say that Evelyn has become a very good friend. We love doing things together, and have both had some very open and vulnerable moments with one another. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is "only" ten years old because her maturity seems well beyond her years. 

In short, she is awesome. Happy birthday, Ev.

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Speaking of Evelyn, here is a picture of her hair this morning (which is actually like, a week from when I actually started writing this blog post).

Happy Dr. Seuss Week!

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For her birthday party, Evelyn totally took control. She was given a budget, browsed Pinterest, sat down for a 30 minute planning session with Rachel, and then went for it. In her haste, she forgot to make invitations for many of her friends from church. She feels terrible about it, but things turned out really well nonetheless. The theme was Greek gods and goddesses.

Table decorated. She spray painted the fake fruit and everything.

Rachel made this cake. I'm impressed.

Ready for her friends to arrive

Let's Party!

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In other news, our "unseasonably warm winter" came to an abrupt end when we got a snow storm a while back. I have to admit, I was a little bit disappointed. The silver lining is that the sled hill by our house is great right now! Also, we finally got our season passes to the ski resort. They will last all the way through 2019. So, I guess winter isn't all bad.

Sledding is fun...

...Except for when it's not

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One other silver lining of winter is that it is incredibly beautiful where we live. Here are some pictures I took on a walk I went on last week:

These first two were taken within minutes of each other. The sky was already pretty moody and dramatic...but then it exploded into fire. And then it was dark. What a show! Also, those boat slips look like they are excited for summer.

Here is my actual destination: the dam down the street. Check out the ice formations from the mist! Pretty cool. Also, I have to congratulate myself on this picture. Well done, Logan. Well done.

This one was taken the next day as I dropped Addy off for gymnastics. There is quite the contrast between the mountains and river on the South side of town vs the Prairie farmland on the North. I like both of them.

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Have a good week!

This is my Maren:

She is a beautiful girl who makes friends everywhere she goes and is an extremely thoughtful little lady! She has a good pinch of sass and spunk that gives her a unique and fun personality that keeps you guessing. She has really grown into herself this year, and it has been fun to watch her mature.

Happy Birthday Maren!

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Over the weekend we decided to drive down to Rexburg and visit Grandma and Grandpa. Griffin also came up with his kids, and we all had a good time catching up with each other.

These pictures are from the "dinosaur museum" that we went to in Idaho Falls. The "skeletons" are actually made out of metal, and most of them had cables and pulleys that visitors could use to make them move. There was also a play room where the kids spent most of the time dressing up and climbing on things. Good times.

On Saturday night we got a babysitter and the adults went to a barbershop concert at BYU-Idaho- because who doesn't love a good four-part-harmony? It was actually an incredibly enjoyable night, topped off with milkshakes at the local college hang-out spot.

Of course we had to have a birthday party. This is a pretty special little girl.

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Finally, here are some pictures from the camp that Evelyn went to last week. She had tons of fun and is already looking forward to next time! One thing I don't see in any of the pictures is snow. It's been a weird year.

Have a good week!