I Love You 4!

There was a night not too long ago when I was snuggling Danny before bed and I always tell him I love him.  This particular time, he told me he loved me first and so I replied with "I love you too!" Then he replied with, "I love you three!" We went back and forth counting up to ten and it was the cutest thing ever!  Now it's become a little thing between us and it makes me so happy :)  I hope I never forget it and that we keep doing it for a long long time.  That sweet Daniel Son! 

I feel like the kids need to have a post about them.  They are growing and changing and learning so much these days.  Parenting right now feels so hard and I often feel overwhelmed by all the things I am not doing, or that I am doing that I shouldn't be.  Etc, etc, etc.  Even still, these little humans are just incredible.  They really are.  And despite my shortcomings, I am so grateful they came to us.  We love them so much!!!!  So here's a little update on the kids.  As well as some little things that have been going on this month in our neck of the woods.

Logan.

Seven years old and so incredibly intelligent.  I can tell how much he is growing.  He's starting to understand more and recognize things.  We can joke and laugh and I feel a little less mother-y with him.  I can be more myself.  He still doesn't much like to be teased though haha.  He likes things done right and done well, and sometimes that is hard when things aren't to his standards.  He LOVES to read.  He is a reading machine.  Just in the past month or two he has read, the first two Wingfeather Saga books, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit (twice), and the Lord of the Rings Series.  He's also listened to two books of the Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians series.  I can see how the books are lighting up his imagination.  When he plays he comes up with all kinds of adventures and it's so fun.  It's also a bit difficult to pull him away from his books haha.  We're trying to figure out that balance right now.  Logan and Danny have been playing more and that's been fun to watch those brothers play and rough-house together.  Logan loves the gospel.  He is always making comparisons to things he's learned and read in the scriptures and he's so open to talking about church and what things mean, etc.  He loves Living Scriptures and watching every video on Come Follow Me.  He still really wants to be baptized and we are so excited for him.  He's such a good kid!

Clara.

We celebrated this Little Misses birthday on the 6th!  She wanted a pool party with all her friends and cousins haha.  We had a great time and I think she was quite happy.  Clara is a ball of energy and free spiritedness!  Lives to the beat of her own drum, as they say.  She is very aware of others, and she notices when people are in need of help and does what she can for them.  She also has a mind of her own and is currently testing boundaries.  She's got some sass for sure, but she just wants to make people laugh and for others to be proud of her.  Her feisty nature is going to serve her well.  She is getting taller and is ridiculously strong.  Like every part of her is solid muscle!  She is in a phase right now where she wants a ponytail every day, and she likes to wear it with a hat.  Unfortunately she left both of her hats outside (as well as my hat, and some of my shoes, and a few toys) that were then chewed up by Duke.  So she has settled for a ponytail and no hat haha.  She also is really into tucking her shirt.  Almost every outfit she wears, she has her shirt tucked.  In fact I'm surprised it's not in the above picture haha.  She wants to learn to milk and has actually been doing pretty good!  I definitely think she'll be a family milker for us someday.  She still loves all animals and always wants to pet and hold them.  She is wicked good at catching chickens too!  This month she cut her own hair.  She just tipped her head down and cut!  She stashed the hair under the mirror, but she confessed to me and I think we learned not to do that again.  I suppose only time will tell!  Haha.  She's a budding artist in all the ways.  Coloring, drawing, making her own songs, dancing, and creating every chance she gets.  She's the best!

Letting the rain hit her face haha!

So proud she caught the chick!

Rory.

This little one has changed so much!  She's turning into this sweet, sensitive, whimsical beauty!  She's really into all the potty talk right now, which drives me bananas, but she loves to make her siblings laugh.  And potty talk makes them laugh!  Haha.  She is a sensitive soul, but she's starting to come into her own.  Knowing what she likes and standing her ground more.  She loves to color and play pretend.  She loves Pepper and they have a special little bond.  She's also very excited about getting to do school for real this year.  She loves to learn, and I would guess she's going to pick up reading the way Logan did.  She also is incredibly gifted at memorizing songs.  That's been fun for me to teach her primary songs because she loves them and will sing them with me at bedtime.  Rory loves fruit and I think she would eat any kind of fruit you gave her haha.  We love our little sunshine girl.

Daniel.

Oh my.  This one is just a treat!  He's getting so wild and crazy!  He runs around yelling and screaming, smacking things and throwing things.  He is, what I would say, a 'typical' boy.  Haha.  He loves to wrestle, shoot, run and play in the dirt.  He loves tractors, dump trucks, motorcycles, and Lightning "Milkqueen" haha.  And even though he is a wild one, he still has such a tender heart.  He often will run up to me and hug me then tell me he loves me "so so so much!"  He loves books right now too and would probably sit and let me read to him all day if I could.  He has thee greatest laugh in the world and I can't help but tickle him to hear it!  He keeps us laughing and smiling all the day.  Shy when out and about, and your best friend at home in his safe place.  He is getting taller now.  His jammie pants are turning into floods!  He and Henry are almost in the same size now haha.  We sure love our Daniel son!  We can't even imagine life without him!  

Henry.

I gave a pretty good update on Hunky Henry in the last post, so I don't have much more to say.  He's wonderful and we are all obsessed with him.  We did give him his first haircut, which he did NOT like.  He's over 22.5lbs and turned 8 months old last week!  The kid is solid.  My cousin Lindsey called him a cinderblock and that seems about right hahaha.  The happiest, sweetest, most kissable cinderblock ever!  

And now a few other happenings from this month!

My best friend Jessica just recently moved back to the USA from Okinawa!  And not only are they back in the US, but they got stationed in Jacksonville, NC!  So on their journey from Utah to their new home, we decided to meet up and spend a few days together since it had been a few years since we had even seen each other and 6 years since the oldest two had been together!  We met in Charlotte and spent two days there.  We got a hotel, went to a super rad kids science museum, swam and played games.  We all had lots of fun!  We were a bit of a circus walking around with our 8 children, but they all did really good and we did have a fun time!  I am so so excited for them to be so close!

The wildflowers are in their full glory right now.  The fields are full and they line the sides of the roads.  Gosh they make me happy!  The nights are getting cooler, and the mornings are nice and crisp (or freezing according to Clara).  The sunsets have been absolutely beautiful, and those August foggy mornings make me want to play the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack all day!  We just love being here!!  

There are a few things that make the country feel more country than a rooster crow.  So I would like to introduce you all to our latest farm addition, Gooster the Rooster.  At first it was a real struggle with him.  He did NOT want to go in the coop and Dallin would have to chase him down at night and force him in there.  So after some research we decided we needed to leave him in there for several days so he could recognize that as his home.  We put food and water in with him and I think kept him in for 5-7 days and now he comes out in the morning and goes right in at night just the way he's supposed to!  It's the best.  He even alerted us to a hawk trying to get the hens on Sunday!  Zero to hero, just like that!  ;)  He really is great to have around.  The dogs have stopped bugging the hens so much and they have been out so much more because they trust Gooster.  It's the best!  He was terrified of us at first, and he's even starting to not just bolt as soon as we come outside haha.  Because he's in the coop through the night, his crow isn't all that disruptive in the mornings, so that's nice too.  Instead it is just a nice addition to the other farm sounds on our little homestead :)  So here's your official welcome, Gooster!  (Also I added a video of David de-spurring the rooster because I thought it was so interesting!  You don't have to do this, but I feel better knowing the kids would be more safe around him!) 

Lastly, Dallin is getting dang good at milking.  So please enjoy this little clip of my farmer boy :)  And if you listen close you can hear Rory thank him for the music hahaha!  

Dallin and I didn't really get to do too much to celebrate, but we did go on a date together on Saturday because we had our TENTH wedding anniversary on the 15th!  How has it been TEN years, and then how has it ONLY been ten years?!  Hahaha.  I sure love that man.  Life together just keeps getting better and I am looking forward to another 50+ years of marriage with him!

Have a blessed day! 🤍