Today is a hot, dry, and windy day.  I have been doing the typical things that I always do to try to keep a nice home.  The younger kids had swimming lessons, the older kids had their chores with their steers to do, and it has been kind of a typical day.  I am kind of crazy in the fact that I like to get up in the middle of the night and exercise.  This is not at the insistence of Ryan, I probably have OCD to some degree.  I enjoy lifting weights, and running, and breaking a good sweat, and I don't have any opportunities in the day because of my children and their needs.  I also started to listen to General Conference talks a few years ago while I do this.  It is such a great hour when I can pray and listen to the words of the prophets, and I absolutely love listening to the choirs.  This morning I listened to a great talk by President Monson.  It was his talk from October 2008.  He said, "If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys that are scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will-to your surprise-miss them profoundly."  Earlier in his talk he mentions, "This is our one and only chance at mortal life-here and now.  The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief...I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not.  I  am glad that I listened to this talk.  It made me view the days events in a whole new manner.  Another thing that helps me keep a good attitude is my brother Gary.  He laughs and laughs about the things that my children do and it makes me laugh too.  Instead of being upset at their messes, I usually just laugh.
     Anyhow, Ryan is out of town again and the kids behave totally different when he is gone.  I am so glad that I heard this talk, because I would probably be yelling at my kids otherwise.  I have been trying to get some deep cleaning done.  I found a stash of Chloee's crusts that she had hidden under the couch.  This is the first time I have dealt with this situation.  None of the other kids are picky about their crusts, although, I do recall that Jazz would chew up meat and then leave it in piles on the toilet seat.  I also found a big stash of cashews that I figured were just put there to partake of later.  I ate a few and noticed that they were somewhat soggy and saltless.  Yep, Chlo was caught again, this time sucking all of the salt off of the expensive nuts and then placing them in a pile.  Mo made a big mess out of a cup of yogurt, and he has also dumped two bowls of cereal.  But, I love the fact that he is still small, and still needs me in the night.  Chloee still tells me that she loves me at least ten times a day, and I am glad that they are still young and teachable.  Yep, I am grateful for the prophet today.

     Yesterday evening the kids and I met up with Doug and Larissa and their kids at the Parowan park for FHE. I love the Parowan park.  There is a great spirit there and Larissa mentioned last night that President Hinckley dedicated it while he was alive.  No wonder I have always loved that place!  It has statues of all of the pioneers that helped to settle the area.
     Lyvia and Chlo were so happy to see each other and they began hopping around on the rocks and exploring the cave.  I was a little leery of the cave because we had found some leaches in there.  It didn't stop Mo from squishing through the mud when I wasn't watching, and luckily he missed the leaches.  Chlo and Lyvia began tromping through the stream and they found big sticks that someone had cut off of the cottonwood trees and they began beating the bushes frantically with them.  Needless to say that when it was time for the lesson and the treat, they didn't want to stop beating the bushes.  I wasn't too surprised about this, but Chlo did bawl later when all of the treats were gone.  What can I say?  She chose beating the bushes instead.
     Huxti seemed a little bit nervous because he has his pharmaceutical test this Thursday and I know he has been studying non-stop for it.  We were trying to have a conversation about this and other things when Jams and Sags started arguing over the phone and Lyvia and Chlo got in the car and began blaring the horn.  We are talking BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.  Over and over.  We tried to continue the conversation and ignore the honking, but it went on and on and on.  Luckily I had sent Oak over when I saw them entering the van, otherwise they would have locked us out, and we would have had to listen to the honking until I threatened Chlo with bodily harm.  Oak was reasonable though, and unlocked the door when I came over.  I got all excited and said, "Hey!  Let's starts a game of hide-n-seek!"  They didn't go for it.  Lyvia continued to jump and honk, jump and honk, over and over.  I said, "Fine, if you guys want to play in the van, that is fine with me, but you'll have to stay in here the rest of the time.  You cannot come out until we leave."  Reverse psychology has always worked on Oak and Chlo, but Lyvia was just fine with that arrangement.  She finally got out reluctantly and began running around the sprinklers with Chlo.  (Chlo then picked a pretty obvious hiding spot...right behind Parley P. Pratt and his shovel.)