15 min to stitch report
6/7 days this week
10/12 Days This month
181/226 Days This year
80%
Today's linkies include:
BOM's Away
Freemotion by the River
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Moving it Forward Monday
Show N Tell Monday with Bambi
I wanted to add some notes about some things our family has done together since my son came home just 3 weeks ago.
Missionaries in our church serve for 2 years. They email home once a week and do a video call twice a year at Christmas and Mother's Day. We miss them so much! When we gathered at the airport, it was completely filled with families waiting to see their missionaries return. Here are some photos.
My daughters with my grand babies. They are holding each other's babies. The daughter on the left has been home for a few years but she served her mission in Russia. Yes, she speaks Russian. She has also studied Spanish, French, and German.
This is my son right after he came off the plane with his friend and friend's fiance. My son served in Germany - yes he speaks German - and his friend served in Virginia but returned home weeks earlier.
While at the airport there were missionaries returning from all over including the Philipines, Dominican Republic, Africa, and Germany. His high school friends were there to greet their brother coming from the Philipines. They were so excited to see my son as well (as you can see). They began playing around, wrestling, etc...
Missionary families usually have a big family gathering with friends on the Sunday after they return. The returned missionary speaks at church and we all have a grand luncheon.
Grand baby riding a pinata...
The photo below is full of my son's old friends from home and new friends he met in Germany. Each of the young men in this photo served. The places include Hondorus, Germany, Virginia, and the Philipines. They work hard in high school to earn money to pay for it. Having them home again is a wonderful thing.
We went to the temple as a family the day after his return. It is a religious place where we believe that families can be sealed together for eternity. You have to be worthy to go there and have a temple recommend signed by your bishop and stake president. Here are my three kids. My daughter who is expecting in September is so small because she is pretty athletic and active.
On that same day in the afternoon we went rock climbing/repelling. I watched babies with my two son-in-laws while my husband and three kids did a 4 hour climb. They climbed 3 pitches and did 3 repels to get back down. The repel was all in the dark. My daughter who is the most into climbing is the one expecting a baby next month. She was lead climber which means she goes up first and hooks the rope into the hooks in the rocks for the others to follow. If you fall, you only fall to the next hook down. They are very very safe with more than one back up at all times. I was a little nervous for them though, and especially for my unborn grand baby. I am glad my daughter feels good enough to do physical things. Her ribs hurt so bad for 6 months with her last baby. She feels great with this one.
Hubby, daughter, and son...
You can see all three of my kids and husband climbing in the photo below.
You can see where they are on the rock. If you look to the left of them you can see how far up they ended at the top.
Daughter and grand baby before the climb...
Son-in-law and grand baby during the climb...
We have a big celebration in my state on the 24th of July called Pioneer Day. It commemorates the pioneers who settled here. We have parades and fireworks and gatherings larger than the 4th of July although we celebrate that too. A lady friend, Hazel, who shares my son's birthday turned 90 this year. My husband arranged for my son to drive her in the parade in a truck we got from her. My husband has done a lot of work to it including tires. The radiator wasn't working so he had to tow it with our rock crawling Toyota.
This was a great memory and Hazel loved it! She even went and got her hair done just for this event.
Hazel was one of the first people to greet and welcome our family when we moved here. She is also an amazing quilter who has taught me so much.
I took a video of them loading her into the truck, but not a photo. Here they are unloading her at her house.
My son, husband, and I went on a 4-wheeler ride in the mountains. I rode on the 4-wheeler while my husband drove while our son rode a motorcycle. I am so glad I didn't drive because it was a very difficult and steep trail of which I was not experienced enough to drive. It was on the edge of a cliff for part of it as well. My son having not been on a bike in two years did well and loved it but he did wreck a few times because it was so difficult. We were scouting out a hike for a group of church youth to take the next weekend. The trip was beautiful and great memories were made.
My son has been on several horse rides in the mountains since his return. Horses are his love. He hopes to find a place to train horses in college. He spent some time at his grandpa's houses with his little cousin with a mini pony on a cart.
Grandpa and my nephew...You can see how small the horse is when you compare it to the size of the dog.
My son and nephew...
My son's best friend who calls me "mom" and I claim him as a son got married. It was a beautiful day at the temple where they were sealed with great food and a surrounding of loved ones after.
My son and son-in-law did a derby. You basically crash cars intentionally in an arena. My husband built the car, and my son won in his heat, took second in the main event, and second in the Wipeout heat. In that heat every car that is still operable can come in. My son-in-law took second in his heat. We were surrounded by tons of family and friends at the derby including my brother's family, my husband's brother and sister's families, my daughter and her husband's family.
Baby girl with Grandpa at the shop working on the car...
Son...
Son, daughter, grand daughter...
Car after the first heat...
Hubby, my brother, and son working on the car after the first heat...
Hubby, son, and I with his trophies...
Son-in-law with trophy...
Help loading the car...
Son-in-law's car is loaded...
The whole crew of family and friends!
The family reunion was fun. It included my parents and us 5 kids with our spouses and children. My parents have 21 grand children and 5 of them are married now with 2 great grand babies and 2 on the way. We rented a facility very near my parents house in the country with a pool and ponds for kayaking and fishing. We had a wonderful time with wonderful food.
In order left to right:
Sister #2, Brother #1, Brother #2, Dad, Mom, me, and Sister #1
I am the oldest but the shortest although none of us are very tall.
Daughter and baby girl with me.
