I was doing so dang good to update, and then summer hit.  We are always so busy in the summer, and I literally blinked and June is now almost over.  I regret that I haven't kept up with this.  These updates are all I will have to remember the chaotic day to day life we experience.  It is so important. 
    Sage's graduation was incredible.  Oak also spoke at his fifth grade graduation as well.  End of the year stuff gives me tons to brag about, as my kids truly do well in academics and the extra-curricular stuff that revolves around school.  Anyhow, we have had a beautiful, and cool May.  Sage's graduation was cloudy, and fresh, and cool.  She was Salutatorian, and instead of giving a speech, she sang a quirky little song, that was pretty hilarious with Jaylee Whipple.  It was awesome, she was beautiful, and so happy to be ending her high school career.  My family attended as well with the exception of Jeff.  Gary came a day early and helped me with a ton of stuff.  He taught Wazz how to make a really good Salsa too, and bought her all of the appliances and supplies to do it with.  Sage attended Senior Sunset and ended up with a ton of leftover taco supplies, and so with Wazz's salsa after Gary's instruction, it was a great and easy dinner.  Also, because the fair pigs did not make weight we had a fly problem.  It was getting pretty bad.  The fly swatter kept disappearing, and so Gary told the kids that whoever found the fly swatter would be given a prize.  Prize in my mind, might even be a hug and a pat on the back.  But, a sucker, or a bag of chips would be going all out on the prize thing in my world.  When Mo found the swatter, Gary took him to the store and Mo picked out a little motorized vehicle????  Yeah, when the fly swatter came up missing again, Ryan mentioned that he could not afford Mo's services.  I will say that the little motorized cart has been around and around the house and property.  Next time I will coach Mo to pick out a candy bar or something more reasonable for his services.
     Sage started her job at Juanita springs, and has really enjoyed taking care of the trees and animals out there.  She lost all of the chickens to coyotes though, and she was devastated over that.  She has also continued with her Yoga training, and still plans to teach some yoga classes as soon as she is certified.  She has been way busy inspite of the fact that school is out. 
     So...this month has been full of apricots, ranch work, and church stuff.  The apricot tree at the ranch produced a ton, and even after sharing with Carol and offering to share with others, I literally did apricots from dawn until dusk for a week pretty much.  Batch after batch of jam, and then baking under the sun as I dried them outside in the yard.  At one point,  I had a pile of pits and I encouraged the kids to go and bury a few pits around the yard.  No one really jumped at that chance.  Not long after, I was right in the middle of a batch of jam, when Dill kept coming in and out of the house, slamming the door in the process.  Over and over she slammed, in and out.  I finally looked up from the sink, to peek at what she was doing.  She would come in, grab a handful of apricots, and throw them all over the lawn??? What in the actual heck?  I asked her on her next trip what in the heck she was doing.  She explained that she was planting seeds around the yard....ummm, no.  That is not what I had in mind at all.  She begrudgingly went and picked up all of the apricots that she had chucked. 
     Last week I begged Ryan all week to take us to the Manti Pageant.  It is the last year that they are doing the pageant, and it just cannot be procrastinated any more.  He thought about it, but not really seriously.  At some point, he mentioned my idea to Cliven, who was really enthused with the idea.  He even thought that he and Carol would just hop in with us, and we could all ride together.  Ryan called me and told me to pack and get things ready.  I am guessing that Carol was less than enthused with the idea of riding with all of us to the pageant, because Cliven backed out, but we still went.  I am so glad that we did.
     The Manti Pageant has always been one of my favorite things to do, for a ton of reasons.  I love Sanpete valley.  There is an amazing spirit there.  Then, we have Lane and Rose, or Shad and Mindy that we can stay with, that makes a huge difference.  We used to drive clear home after the pageant when I was a kid....that was when the pageant was three hours too.  It was late and tiring, and then the turkey dinner.  Those turkey dinners just cannot be beat.  Half of the reason Ryan got excited to go was reminding him of the turkey dinner.  Anyhow, I was way excited he finally decided to take us.
     So, when I packed, I was aware that we would probably have Cliven at least with us. I was concerned about the kids crying, fighting, whining, and you name it...I did not want to subject Cliven to the normal shenanigans we deal with on our trips.  I purchased a box of chips.  I figured that chips would keep them happy because Ryan had actually banned chips for the summer.  I have no idea why chips bug him so bad but they do.  Chips are where its at in my book.  Anyhow, he had also banned the tv and all other devices until after the Bundy reunion.  I charged the battery on one of the tablets with the thought that I would only pull it out if I got desperate.  Sometimes trips are just difficult as all get out.  I wanted to make it as pleasant as possible. 
     We left early in the morning (of course not early enough though)  and hit the road heading north.  There has been construction on the gorge, but luckily traffic was light and we had no problems getting through that stretch.  We stopped in Cedar City for fuel, and I about died when I got out to see if I could purchase some chocolate milk.  It was bitter cold.  Like, January cold.  To top it off the gas station was out of chocolate milk, that made me frown for a minute.  The kids piled in and out until we left and they were freezing too.  I was glad we had packed hoodies, but I was thinking that I should have packed heavy coats and thermals.  Being in the desert sometimes I just cannot fathom the cold weather. 
     We were making awesome time, and Dill began complaining she was hungry around Parowan.  Ryan let her know that he would stop in Beaver at the creamery and buy her some squeaky cheese.  Of course that is not what she wanted from the Creamery, and I began desiring some chocolate milk again.  We stopped, and the creamery had nothing but the expensive chocolate milk that has a lengthy shelf life without refrigeration. Ryan stopped at a grocery store without me even asking, and went and bought me a gallon of chocolate milk ha ha!  That meant a lot to me. After that, we were making good time in our travels again.
     Somewhere between I-15 an US 89 Moroni got car sick.  He did not tell me he was carsick, but the chips had been hit hard by the little ones, and they had found the tablet.  I am sure a combination of my desperate measures were now coming back to bite me.  Why does Ryan always have to be right on this dum stuff?  He didn't even say that he told me so, but yeah, Moroni basically let me know that he had thrown up all over in the back.  He did not have to explain it, because the smell hit all of us at about that moment.  Seriously...no warning, just throw up. I-70 is probably heavily populated by deer because there was a high fence that ran all along the freeways blocking me from the river, and the opportunity to get stuff cleaned up.  The smell was going to cause a chain reaction, and so I was begging Ryan to find a place to stop by any water whatsoever.  He finally found a spot, and the water was running extremely high.  He and I went back to assess the damage.  He had managed to get our sleeping bag, a pillow, his clothes, and Chloee's book.  I hauled all of this stuff down to the waters edge, and began scrubbing it all in the frigid waters.  It was seriously so cold that my hands would numb in a matter of seconds.  I was way happy to get it all cleaned up though.  Moroni seemed fine, and we took the tablet, told the kids that they shouldn't eat any more chips, and urged everyone to watch the road for awhile.  We had to stop in Manti to look at some corral panels, and at this point Moroni claimed that he was starving.  I didn't really want to indulge him in anything for awhile.  He was just going to have to be hungry for awhile.  Wazz started making sandwiches and passing them around.  I finally gave in and let Moroni have one.  He was fine the rest of the trip.
     So, we arrived in Mt Pleasant, and went straight to Lane and Rosella's house.  Rose was talking to her sister Teela, and they were just getting ready to go hiking.  Well, Rose had arranged for Dantley to take everyone hiking, and they wondered if we would like to go too.  It sounded like a great idea.  Once again, I was shocked about the cold wind and the storm clouds.  Ryan and I had planned on sleeping on Rose's lawn in a sleeping bag.  Ryan is like a heater, and so I figured he and I would be fine, but I was concerned about the kids and also about the fact that it looked like it was going to rain, and I had no tent or shelter of any kind.  Ryan mentioned that maybe we would go purchase a tent, and then we followed the hiking party to their destination.
     Dantley actually rode with us.  This was good because he took us right to the spot.  We have always been good friends with Lane and Rose, and Dantley used to spend all of our time together insulting Jerusha.  I was happy to see that they were getting along well, and that no insults were being hurled.  When we arrived, I bundled the kids in their warmest jackets.  It was really extremely cold in my book.  The hike we began on was through some heavy, dense forest.  It also began an extremely steep incline from the very beginning.  I was kinda impressed with how well my kids were doing, but I became kinda concerned because the ground was damp and a bit slick.  I even voiced my concern about getting down if it happened to rain, which the sky was threatening.  The hike wasn't particularly long, but it was extremely steep, and we all ended up at the top of a steep mountain which overlooked the whole valley.  Towns always look beautiful and amazing from that high up.  We stopped and checked out the view, and tried to decide if we wanted to wander around some more.  Oak kept bugging me because he was eager to go back down the trail.  I kept urging him to wait for the group.  He finally disobeyed me and left with a few of Rose's boys.  I was annoyed, and planned on cussing him out when we returned.  Anyhow, it started to snow as we stood there.  It wasn't a fluffy dry snow though, it was more of a sleet/snow.  Yeah...my worst fear about this hike coming true.  We started down the mountain, and the sleet increased.  I heard Dantley urge us to be careful as he had just slid down aways.  Right when he said that, my feet went out from under me, and I fell hard.  I had Dill right behind me, and Teela's five yr old in front of me.  I was trying to help them both stay on their feet, and now Dill was concerned about my ability to do that. It was switch backs, and steep.  If you slid all the way to the bottom, there would be trees, rocks, and logs to do some damage to your body.  I have been wearing the same boots since Dec. of 2015, and while I have marvelled at my boots and how long they have lasted, they have zero traction left.  I was struggling to keep myself upright, and really struggling to keep both little girls on theirs.  Dantley was a ton of help with Molly though.  I finally could see that traipsing through the underbrush was going to be way better with more traction than the steep trail.  I was urging Dill to follow me, and yet we were still slipping and sliding.  Ryan finally caught up with me, and began trying to help little Molly.  He was a complete stranger to her, and so she refused his help.  Luckily she knew Dantley though, and he was helping her along.  Ryan then turned to Dill, and put her on his back.   He urged me to stay off the trail, and he took off with Dill because she was getting soaked and colder by the second.  I hate to admit this, but I slid and fell, and grabbed onto trees, and struggled all the way down that mountain.  I could no longer be mad at Oak, because he left before it snowed, and we all should have followed him.  I had no idea where Moroni and Chloee were, but I was concerned, because I was struggling, and I worried about them getting hurt.  When I finally reached the bottom, I was soaked, muddy, and freezing.  Ryan had started the van and the heater, and had put Dill in it, he then went back up the trail to help anyone else that might need it.  It wasn't long before he came down packing another one of Teela's girls.  She was soaking, and freezing too. 
    It was at this moment that I marvelled again at the guy I married.  I had a really difficult time getting myself off the mountain.  When I did make it down, I was sopped, freezing, and I needed to warm up.  I had a really hard time getting down that slick hill, so how in the heck did he climb back up it in those conditions to help others get down?  His dedication to looking out for others always astounds me...and it seems like difficult conditions seem to bring out the best in him.
     So, we all survived, made it down, and Teela's 17 yr old had slipped and gotten banged up pretty bad, but other than that, we were just sopping wet and muddy.  So, we went back to Rose's and gave her all of our wet and muddy clothes.  I am not sure if I have ever seen anyone pack a washing machine that tight.  I have eight kids..six that were with us, and Teela had six with her too.  So, she started washing everyone's clothes.
     Lane and Rose have a popcorn machine in their kitchen.  Noah began making batch after batch of popcorn and handing it out to all of the kids.  Immediately, I appreciated Rose and the amazing woman she is.  I do not buy popcorn very often because it makes a huge mess.  Mess does not seem to concern Rose, and I envy her patience, and her ability to not sweat the small stuff.  The kids love going to their place, and the popcorn machine is an iconic reason why.  It smells like a movie theater in their house.  Rose is also milking a cow, and Ryan went kinda nuts over the raw milk.  He drank glass after glass as they were catching up.  Rosella grew up on the neighboring ranch to Ryan's.  They always worked well together, and she has always shown up when we needed her.  She was at the standoff, and she was in Oregon for a time.  She is like a sister to him.  She is dedicated to the gospel, usually works several jobs, milks cows, butchers animals, and raises amazing kids.  She never gets caught up in the ridiculous things of life.  She could outwork almost anyone, and I just cannot say how much I love and admire her. 
     So, it was decided that we would all pile in Lane and Rose's van to go to the pageant.  Because they were all in it, they could actually park in the parking lot of the temple.  Lane would drop almost everyone off at the turkey dinner, and then a few would stand in line to save seats.  I volunteered to save seats as long as Ryan would bring me a dinner.  I took Chloee and Noah with me and we got in one of the long lines that were forming at each one of the gates.  Noah had grabbed a large number of blankets, and he explained to me the strategy as we stood there.  He told me that as soon as they opened the gates, we would hop the fence, run down to the front with our blankets, and save the seats that we needed for everyone.  I looked at him kinda skeptically...I am no stranger to hopping fences...we do it all the time at the ranch, but I don't know if I expected some busy body to tell me that my behavior wasn't fair, and to go to the back of the line.  Noah reassured me that it was done all the time, and the Talbot's have been in the pageant for the past six years...he should know what he's talking about.  We did not wait long until the gates were open, and Noah hopped the fence and took off.  He was right too, many hopped the fence.  I could not see where he had gone, but I found a front row on the side that was ideal.  Chlo and I began draping our blankets over the chairs when Noah came over out of breath to tell me that he had been unable to get front and center, but could get center a few rows back.  I told him that I had found the perfect spot, and to bring the blankets, cuz where Chlo and I found just couldn't be beat.  I also thanked him for urging me to hop the fence.  That was the best idea ever that led to great seats. 
    Ryan had been way generous in the dinner he brought me.  It was so good.  I really love the turkey and taters they make.  I ate some, and then piled the leftover "to go" containers on the ground while the kids wrastled around.  We had hours to kill and I just wasn't feeling like trying to entertain them all.  Jerusha and Dantley were largely entertaining themselves by getting pics with all of the cast and crew.  They were also yelling random names to see who turned around to look, which reminds me of something my brothers and I would have done.  Ryan wanted to wander, and of course he wanted to debate with the protesters.  Why?? It is the same dum bs every year, and honestly, I just did not want to give them the time of day.  Ryan, however, took all of their literature and discussed their stupid fault finding with them,  I just could not help but wonder over and over...
why??  Why take time out of your life, to print literature, to make websites, to try to prove us wrong.  Why do they even care what we believe?  I was way tired as Ryan went the rounds with the protesters. 
     The pageant was so good.  The spirit was so strong.  I felt it when the member of the 70 said the opening prayer.  Protesters followed Joseph around all of his life too.  I was reminded of that during the production.
    The whole thing had been shortened by about half.  They had taken out some really key parts, but it was so cold, that I am not sure I could have stayed there another hour and a half.  I was sad because Moroni fell asleep.  I kept waking him up during the Captain Moroni parts, but it was kinda no use.  He was just completely worn out.  Dill wanted to know how they were doing it all.  She wondered how they were lighting up the temple.  She asked me if it was the "real Joseph Smith" and the "real Jesus Christ"....she wondered how they were making him ascend and descend from heaven...Dill could put on the pageant herself one day for sure.  Dantley never did go get his costume on, and he recited the whole thing as he sat with us.  Rose was a lamanite, so was Noah, Lane was one of Christ's apostles, and Corban was a Nephite.  They were short a lamanite because Dantley wanted to watch for once. 
     When we got back to Rosella's we started making up beds.  Dantley had pitched us a tent in case it rained or snowed again.  Snow...yeah, snow because it was so cold.  Lane, offered to let us sleep on their living room floor and I took him up on that offer, even though Ryan was all up for sleeping out.  The older girls slept in the bunk house with Teela's girls, and Oak insisted on sleeping in the van.  Mo, Dill, and Ryan and I slept on the floor, and I even got cold in the house...my skin has gotten way thin living in the desert.  We all went to shrsh with Lane and Rose and then we hit the road.  We got a call from my dad informing us that Sage had had car trouble.  She and Whitley had taken one of the Cox vehicles to Canada, but Sags had left Dennette in Orderville, and was planning on attending church in Hatch then heading home.  So, now we had to go home via 89, which is scenic, and we could see my parents, but it is way farther.
    We stopped and visited my parents, raided their snacks, went on a ride on their new side by side, and then went to see about Saggers car.  Unfortunately, Ryan thinks it is the engine, and we are still waiting on  word as to what is wrong with her for sure.  We left it at Duke and Shiree's, had a short visit with them, and then went around Cane Beds to get home.  The road home was so long.  Sage is not used to traveling with the kids and she got way angry and upset.  We also got stuck in road construction in the gorge and because of that Dill had an accident, which was just a fiasco.  There was no way of getting off the road to clean her up, and no one wanted her sitting anywhere near them for obvious reasons.  I really kinda wanted to die for those last thirty miles.
     One more last fiasco, was the fact that now Sage did not have transportation to her job at Juanita Springs.  It is about 20 miles out that way, and I drove her out the first morning.  She is not really on a set schedule, but it does take a certain number of hours to get everything done out there, and she prefers to go early and get out of there by two.  She was being pretty impatient with Ryan.  Ryan had decided Monday morning that we needed to go pick rocks out of the fields that they were getting ready to plant.  I don't really mind doing that, but like usual, he never gives us much notice.  Anyhow, I dropped Sags off and then stopped back at the ranch to help with rocks.
     Jazz was throwing a fit because it was Rooshkie's desire to drive the Skid Loader while the rest of us labored.  The last time we did rocks, Chloee struggled until Jazz loaned her a pair of glasses so that she could see the rocks better.  Jazz is extremely thoughtful and sensitive, and I look up to her in a ton of ways.  Anyhow, obviously Rooshkie would be way more help in the rock picking up program, than sitting on a tractor and as Wazz knows, the faster we get them picked up, the faster we go home.  So, Jerusha began training Chlo on how to run the tractor.  It took her awhile to get the hang of it, but she got the job done. 
     I had also gotten word that Jamie was being transferred, which made me way sad.  She has made such a difference in the area she has served in, and she has been a powerhouse with Sister Christensen.  They had a baptism Saturday...her first, and several others lined up.  I still have not heard from her, and I just pray she is adjusting well to her new area and companion. 
     Just a few other things of note...Oak turned 12 this month.  We took Bentlie and Montana and went to the trampoline park for that day.  Oak also attended young men's camp.  His leaders informed me that he was great, made friends easily, and is handy with his knife.  It was also in Hatch, and so my parents went and saw him.  Jerusha and Jazz also attended girls camp and had a great time.

   

   

   

     Tons to update.  We are winding down in the school year, which is extremely difficult to believe.  It seems like we just started, and here we are with two days left.  Sage also graduates on Friday.  It is unreal, and I would be lying if I said that I had not been bawling and crying about the fact that she is going to be finishing school, and of course I miss Jamie every day.  Crying is just something I do often, and no one really seems surprised or shocked by it at all any more. 
     We had Mother's day last week, and it was a great one.  Ryan took me to dinner at the Casa because he likes their seafood, and I like their steaks.  He also had picked a bunch of flowers down by the river for Sage to make an arrangement with.  He had picked cactus flowers even, which is a difficult task.  Sags had gone down by the sewer ponds and grabbed some oleanders as well ha ha!  my girl is very resourceful and talented, and the arrangement turned out beautifully.  Mo, Dill, and Chlo gave me some very nice homemade cards and trinkets.  The youth and primary children sang a song entitled, "you are enough" and it was so beautifully done.  I bawled through the whole thing (big shocker there).  The ward passed out a cookie that was stuffed with a marshmallow and dipped in chocolate...one of the best treats ever.  The best part was talking to our Sister Bundy for several hours at the ranch with Grandma and Grandpa.  She is doing well, and it was good to catch up with her, and hear about how she is doing.  I love my kids and husband.  They were very good to me on Mothers day. 
     Ryan asked Dill the other night who her favorite Daddy was...she told him that Mom was her favorite Dad.  I am not even sure how that even makes any sense.  She also asked him yesterday, if he loved her or mom more.  He explained that he did love her very much, but that he loved mom most of all.  She is really coming up with some deep thoughts.  Right now she has lego fangs and is being a vampire.  She steps out of the house every few minutes with the intent on scaring the dog.  She claims that it is working because the dog doesn't even recognize her in her vampire costume.  The one downer is that she is missing a tooth in the front, and vampires really need their teeth.  It is a good thing that we have legos to make up for the lost tooth.
     Mo and Chlo spent a bulk of their evening the other night pounding stakes into the ground for whatever reason.  They dug a large hole in the lawn where the dog likes to dig, and then pounded a bunch of stakes.  I realize this makes zero sense, but hey, at least it kept them busy.

    Mo and Dill struggled with reverence this week in shrsh.  Dill is also hitting that stage where she is wanting to wear nothing but underwear for the most part.  At church she began getting that urge to strip because her dress was "spiky".  I cannot tell you how much like Sage that girl really is.  It is almost like deja vu.  Sage used to remove her tights if the seam did not line up across her toes quite right.  She would complain that they were "wiggly and jiggly" and off they would come.  Often Dill removes her clothes, because she wants to play in a blanket, and having clothes on makes her feel "too soft".  She complained about her quesadilla the other day because she claimed it tasted like "dirt."  This reminds me of Sage refusing toast that was "sad".  Sage would also tell me that things tasted like dirt if anything was even remotely moldy.  Yes...I am raising Sags all over again.
     Speaking of Sage, it is time to brag about her a bit.  She had awards ceremony last week, and she walked away with a ton of awards.  She is graduating Salutatorian (they gypped her valedictorian status because of one measly class that the high school labeled an AP class, but the district disputed)  She got an award for her grade point average, the honor roll, she was awarded the FFA award, the English department award, and the yearbook commitee.  She has excelled in academics, and deserved every award she got.  I saw first hand all of the hard work, late nights, early mornings etc.  She also refused to do homework on Sundays.  The Lord truly did bless her for her dedication.
     Sunday evening was seminary graduation, and she was released from the seminary council.  She will also be speaking in her high school graduation this weekend.
     Yesterday Sage turned 18.  It is hard to believe.  She and I took Jaylee Whipple with us and we spent the day in St George.  We went to the temple and did baptisms first.  I had not participated in baptisms for probably twenty years.  It was awesome.  We then went to lunch and bought some much needed items for Saggers wardrobe.  We also got to talk with Jamie yesterday evening.  We all kinda needed her strength and light.  It was a blessing. 
     Sage had asked for pasta with alfredo sauce for dinner last night.  Really, a simple request that should have been a simple undertaking.  Just as I was about ready to serve the family ( and it was late because of our phone call with Jamie)  Jerusha inquired if I had really cleaned the pan that I was using.  She explained that she and Ryan had used that pan to catch some anti-freeze in. They are working on fixing up a truck for her. I just did not want the riskthere was even a drop of antifreeze in myfood.  So, I had to start that portion of dinner over.  Sometimes I cannot help but wonder why the heck.  Why was my pan utilized for such a thing?  Whose idea was that one?  Who's idea was it just to stick the antifreeze pan in the sink??? Oh my heck that one could have killed us.  I had rinsed and cleaned the pan as a precaution, but I did not know that it had antifreeze, and so I wasn't really confident in my cleaning.  Anyhow, we just have to have a sense of humor about this stuff. 
    Jamie got a new companion this week, and absolutely loves her.  They get along really well, and she feels like she is finally getting the hang of things.  Her new companion is Sister Christensen from Riverton I believe...maybe it is West Jordan, but kinda same thing.  We all prayed and fasted she would get someone she worked well with.  I am so grateful those prayers were answered.  Cache was also made a district leader this past week.  I just love my missionaries.

   

     I have a few updates, and would like to remember all of the crazy and funny things that happen every day.  I also would like to do better to recognize the blessings that I am constantly blessed with daily.  It is always fun to go back and read about all of the miracles, blessings, and funny things that the kids have said and done.
     So, Ryan had been invited to speak at the Patriot Summit in Virginia, and he had agreed to do that.  I was a little annoyed because it was Ivy's wedding that weekend, and yet, I didn't growl too much because both of us figured that he would not be able to fly.  I still tried to make preparations to go alone.  My first concern was the van.  It is seriously still hobbling, but driving that far, and in large portions without phone service, and with seven kids, it just wasn't a good idea.  I toyed with the idea of just flying myself down there, but I did not jump too quick at that idea, and the longer I waited, the more expensive tickets became.  That would have also slammed the door of Ryan going with me all together, and I really figured that he would not be able to fly to his speaking assignment.  Finally, I just arranged to ride down with Troy, and ride back with Doug.  That ticked the kids off, as they really wanted to see the Huntington family, and be a part of the wedding, but they are ticked off at me a large bulk of the time, and I am kinda used to that feeling.  Anyhow, I enjoyed the rides.  It gave me an opportunity to chat with Troy, and with Doug and Larissa. 
     Ryan was grilled for five hours in Vegas.  His ticket is still marked with the SSSS label, meaning that he is a terrorist.  Coupled with the fact that his wallet was missing, along with his photo ID, and I am still surprised they allowed him to fly.  Somehow, the interrogators saw through the BS.  It just goes to show that if God wants Ryan to speak, He will provide a way.
     When we arrived, we caught wind that Gary was sick to the extreme.  This put a damper on things, because Gary is tons of exciting fun.  He had literally eaten a pizza with a gallon of orange juice the evening before as he watched the NFL draft.  I could not say that I was too surprised that he did not feel great after eating an acidic pizza, along with acid juice.  I would insitnctively know not to try such a combination, and as I am always trying to maintain a heifer appearance,so I would not have eaten more than two slices ha ha.  I admire Gary for his ability to live life to the fullest....no holding back.  But, in this case he should have held back ha ha!
    It had also been my plan to stay with Gary, but I was now concerned about making him feel like he had to play host and entertain me.  Having your daughter get married is a huge deal, and a huge day, and so I scrambled around for a bit, and found a Marriott room for a good price, thanks to Jeff's employment there.  This was a nice room, with a king sized bed, and a smart tv.  I felt kinda guilty just being alone and having it all to myself.  I missed the kids, and Ryan, but I soaked in the silence and the ability to just do whatever.  I didn't get too wild.  Watched a dateline on Youtube, and then fell asleep.  All night, the bed seemed to go on for miles, and I could picture myself calling the lobby and asking for pillows or something to take up the extra space...but I didn't.
    The next morning, we went to Gary's and he was sicker than I had ever seen him before. This prompted me to book a room again.  The wedding was beautiful, and the groom's family had provided a full dinner buffet, and Kristiann had done a dessert bar with every dessert imaginable.  I tried really hard to cover her portion, and Kelly helped me.  Ivy was beautiful in a dress that Krisitann had made, and I really enjoyed being with the family.  Gary was forced to stand most of the evening, and I could tell he was ready to pass out.  But, things rarely ever go as planned, and he made it through it.  It was also Julia's prom night, and I was very flattered when she asked me to do her hair.  She even left it in for the whole evening ha ha!  She looked gorgeous.
     So, I returned Sunday evening, and after being interrogated for three hours on the other end of the country, Ryan returned at like 1 or 2 am.  It was good to get him home.
     Sage and Jerusha had like three FFA deals on three different evenings.  Jazz and Oak insisted on going to the new Marvel movie that was like a gazillion hours long, and the week flew by.  I spoke with Jamie again, who was struggling a bit, but I had her laughing before we hung up, and I am grateful that they modified that rule.  I think it helps those missionaries get past sticky spots as they serve. 
     There is a boy from Moapa who has taken an interest in Jerusha.  I am grateful that he is interested, and he comes from a great family, and seems nice, but she is still 15 and so I have been pretty annoying about limiting their time, and providing chaperones.  He came up a day with his sister because he had some errands to run.  They included Dill, which made her feel extremely important.  He also spoiled her with four king sized candybars, and she was thinking she was it for the remainder of the day.  She wouldn't really share, and was very selective on who she would break off a piece for.  The hour break from being bossed around was nice too.
     On Saturday, Ryan had a potluck dinner with the Sons of Liberty group and we were meeting at Cove Fort.  Jerusha and Sage were both informed of this get-together pretty late in their defense and neither one of them wanted to go at all.  Sage had volunteered to babysit for Megan Teerlink for the day, and it was her plan to switch off with Jazz.  Jerusha volunteered to babysit instead because she had her friend's quincenera and she insisted that she had to be there.  Sage just couldn't possibly go because of all of her math homework.  It was a full morning of bantering and bickering, and I finally just told Jerusha that she was going with us.  Jazz was not going to be available to team babysit, and that was that.  Sage would have to handle the babysitting job alone, and she needed to work harder to try to come to family events. 
     The ride is almost three and a half hours from here, and there was plenty of annoying bickering the whole way down.  Oak had thought to bring a pillow, but wasn't using it.  Jerusha was using it to lay down with and read her book, but of course, once Jerusha decided to use it, Oak just wasn't having it.  He definitely needed the pillow and he needed it now.  Mo was kicking Chlo, and she would pinch or hit him back.  Dill really didn't need any reason at all to bawl, and plenty bawling was happening.  When we finally reached Beaver, everyone was hungry, and Ryan volunteered to stop at the creamery and buy some squeaky cheese.  He also purchased some crackers, and the kids wandered around, and learned a lot.  Of course, all of the kids were begging for ice cream at that point, and yet we were 20 minutes away from a full blown pot luck dinner.  Ryan had a really difficult time telling Dill "no".  She bawled and bawled for the remainder of the drive at that news.
     Jerusha was still quite mad that she was expected to attend the event and refused to do anything of the social sort.  There were kids her age, and she finally did come out and visit with a young man dressed in a Confederate Uniform.  They also took the kids on a hike so that the adults could have a discussion about the scriptures, and freedom and liberty. Dill got a little bit of pee in her underwear and so she stripped.  I had to put her in the car, find her underwear, and I simply stuck her back in her pajamas.  Oak kept climbing the tree that we were gathered around and the bark would fall on everyone seated...that was annoying, and so typical of Oak.  The little kids had a war with wooden swords and shields and they seemed to have a really good time.  Jerusha was very antsy to leave, and what was so very typical, was that Ryan had fallen asleep in the middle of the meeting, and so what really was the point?  She hounded him to leave, and I was kinda surprised when he agreed to leave.  Normally if you hound him to leave before his time, he will stay longer than necessary just to prove that he can. 
     Dill began bawling as soon as we left.  At this point she had removed her clothes again, down to her underwear.  She claims that she cannot cuddle down in a blanket with clothes because it is too "fluffy" or too "soft."  Once again, she makes zero sense, but I have never had a kid that didn't go on the clothes protest for a period of time.  I guess we are in that period of time with Dill.  Anyhow, the bawling continued until Ryan promised to stop and buy her an ice cream cone if she would stop bawling...which she did.  Is that rewarding bad behavior?  Quite possibly, and I guess it explains a lot.  Anyhow, once she had eaten her ice cream cone, she fell alseep in a cozy bed that Wazz had made for her, and she slept most of the trip home...which came back to haunt me later when it was time for bed.  My thought at the time was to just assume that Ryan would not need to sleep much overnight because he had snoozed most of the trip up, slept through most of the meeting, and slept most of the trip back...but guess who was snoring by 9:30?  Yep, which left me wrastling with a restless Dill until pretty late that night.
     Sunday dawned and we were pretty unprepared.  Oak could not find his church pants, Mo could not find his church pants, and Dill's hair was in literal knots.  We washed the hair, and added plenty of conditioner in an attempt to soften things up, but it took quite a lot of work with happy brush to start seeing some results.  Chloee needed happy brush too and asked Dilly politely if she could use it as soon as Dill was done with it.  Dill told her she could, but continued to hold happy brush captive for a large portion of time.  Chlo would ask for it repeatedly with no luck or brush from Dill.  I finally could hear Chlo once again begging for happy brush, and I had decided it was time to go and intervene on behalf of Chlo.  I will never forget the little sight I came in to find.  Dill was kneeling on the floor in front of Chloee in her lovely shrsh dress with her hair brushed and styled nicely.  She was explaining to Chlo that she was welcome to use the brush as long as she paid Dill a dollar for each use.  There were no words, I was so surprised.  Where does Dill get that kind of nerve?
    While I was gone yesterday for awhile, Avery came to pick up Jerusha for a softball game that his sister was playing in.  While he was here he got bombarded with mexican peanut butter candy that the kids crumbled and threw at him, along with the batch of clean clothing that was sitting in the basket on the couch.  Needless to say, I am so grateful we always make such a great impression.  It didn't even scare him off either.  I was a little ticked off and embarrased when I learned of those turn of events.
     Today, Dill and I cleaned up the office.  Dill was excited to find her little stuffed lamb "Rachel".  She has been playing with Rachel most of the day, and obviously blankets are involved because once again...clothes have come off.  It is going to be a long summer with that child. 
    Sage and I are working on grad announcements, and I expect Jerusha will have an orchestra concert any day.  Oak is hounding me over some summer activites, and it is just difficult to believe that summer is almost here.

     It has been a busy few weeks.  Fair, and then spring break.  I am way excited that today, Dill and I are just at home today trying to clean up the many messes that have accumulated over the past few weeks.
     Moroni turned seven in the midst of all of the craziness.  He had given me a list weeks ago, and yet I had paid very little attention to it.  Of course, all of the sudden, we had the fair, and all of the packing it entails, and my little dude's birthday.  He also asked me to bring donuts to his class. I had to look all over town because he basically had asked for a whole conglomeration of stuffed animals.  Seriously, Dill and I pretty much hit every store in the valley, and other than a stuffed wolf, we found them all.  I had previously attempted to frost a fancy cake for Carol's birthday.  Ryan and Jazz laughed at how ridiculous it looked for days and days.  It made me feel like I had to redeem myself, and Moroni's cake did look much better.  Whipped cream frosting was a big hit.  He liked his gifts, his classmates liked the donuts, and his birthday went well.  Mo isn't too difficult to please.
     I don't know what it is, but the fair always brings a ton of anxiety.  It shouldn't, but the steers, and heifers in this case always make me nervous.  That year that Jerusha's steer went ballistic and stompled over a little kid....yeah, so the anxiety is real.  And then that first year that we did              pigs...they really didn't want to load and it was a huge fiasco.  Oak's pig that year was a big scaredy cat, Ryan loaded beef, and then he came here and loaded pigs without seperating the two, and hauled them south to Logandale.  I waited around with the littles just to see if the pigs were even going to make weight...and they didn't.  I guess it was a common problem this year.  There were a lot of pigs that didn't make weight, and then there was all kinds of talk about their scales being off.  Either which way, it was too bad, and yet a lot less work.  They were not allowed to participate in market showing, and we did opt to have them do showmanship, simply for the experience.
    The beef did fine though, and the first day is always a ton of work.  They have to be weighed in, washed, and bedded down with wood shavings.  We also had not clipped them yet, and Sage was on the hook to do it.  Stetsy did step in and help, but she was actually helping with the running of the fair, and so she couldn't be there the whole time.  Sage got Kaitlyn Cox on the phone and face-timed with her for like three hours.  Just to get the dum things clipped right.  Yeah, Kaity!
    So, the first day, was full of bedding and washing pigs, clipping steers, and Ryan instructed me not to bother with clipping the pigs which was a huge load off of my plate.  Clipping pigs is a ton of work too.  Sage had also been busy, as she was largely overseeing the steers and clipping them.  At one point she was walking between the steer barn, and the pig barn, and she began yelling in my direction that we had problems.  At the time, she was hefting two large bundles of wood shavings for her animals.  I only assumed that she was having difficulty carrying them.  I rushed out to meet her and to help her with the heavy load, but she quickly informed me that she was quite capable of hefting the load, but that her problem was the fact that the pants she was wearing had split.  A large hole now split right where the seat of her pants was.  She had wrapped a sweatshirt around her waist, and yet the material had worn so thin, that it just split worse and worse by the minute.
     So, we tossed around different solutions.  My first hope was that she had perhaps left a pair in the van.  But...we checked and we were not in luck in that direction at all.  Everyone else had pretty much left a whole wardrobe in there, along with toys, wrappers, and empty water bottles, but pants?  For Sage?  It was a "no."
     I finally came to the conclusion that I was just going to have to give her my pants.  Ryan and I had to leave somewhat early that day because we had agreed to teach the ward how to do some swing dancing at the ward dinner that evening.  Honestly, I was worn out already, chasing kids all over the fairgrounds, and giving her my pants would give me an excuse to go home early.  So...as I was crossing the parking lot and loading up kids, I yelled at Ryan that he needed to actually meet me at the fuel station to pump my fuel for me.  He gave me the oddest look, and I could see that he had quite a few things that he would like to say, but chose to proceed with caution.  He finally wondered aloud why he should have to come and pump my fuel for me.  I explained that in a few moments, I would be without my pants, and that he certainly didn't want me pumping fuel without pants.  He kinda laughed, and did not seem surprised.  In our crazy world, ya just never know.  I loaded the kids up, and handed Sage my pants.  Ryan did take care of everything at the gas station..and my next problem came as I got home and needed to get from the car, to the front door....without pants.  I flung a kid blanket around me haphazardly, and it did pretty much no good in the windy conditions.
     Ryan and I had a good time teaching dancing that evening, and our ward participated pretty good.  Ryan and I have been invited to do that for many youth groups, and wards, and it is super awkward when no one will participate.
     The heifers and steer showed well, and Sage did get a blue ribbon, but they really did not place in either market or showmanship.  Sage especially was flawless in her showmanship, and I was kinda surprised that he did not rank her up there with the best.  I know she was disappointed too.
    So, the pigs were another story.  Oak's pig is and always has been a stinker.  She was picking fights with all of the other pigs.  She was just as mean as possible and was snarling, squealing, and biting at the other pigs.  She caused all kinds of problems in the ring, and then somehow in the midst of all of the pig fights, Chlo ended up somehow on the ground, underneath a batch of fighting pigs.  Luckily, the judge pulled her up off the ground and so there were no injuries.
     Oak's pig is sold, and we will fatten him up for a bit longer, hopefully Chloee's will sell too.  The girls made good money on their beef.  Sage made really good money on hers.  What a huge blessing!  Just when she is graduating too!  I am really grateful.
     So, when we got home, Ryan decided that for spring break, we should go out on the range and work on waterlines.  He opted to rent a side-by-side, so that the kids could have some fun, and then he did expect the kids to work.  He claimed that he was going to only make them work until noon.  Anyhow, the first day that we went out, it was blowing and raining. We stopped at one area, and I got the van stuck.  Of course, Ryan was able to get me out really easy, but he seemed a tad bit frustrated.  Yeah...I have that effect on him sometimes ha ha!  He tinkered a bit on the water in that area, and we finally gave up and headed down the road.  By this time, it was blowing, and raining, and really cold.  All of the kids besides Jerusha had hunkered down in the van, and pretty much were just annoying each other.
     Ryan wanted to check the water at horse, and then we set up camp at headquarters.  I absolutely love headquarters.  There is an old ghost town there, and rocks for the kids to climb on.  It is gorgeous too.  Ryan helped me pitch a tent, set up a bed, and we got the kids all set up to sleep inside because of the cold and rain.  We started  a fire, and Ryan cooked us a dutch oven dinner.  It was so good.  Seriously...so good.
     Our bed was awesome, and Ryan is kinda like a heater.  Dill of course, was right in the middle, so we slept great.  Dill had earlier promised that she was going to sleep with Jazz....and I was very positive that she was not going to do that...and I was right.
     Jesse came with us, and he sat around and told scary stories for hours.  The kids did not seem too scared.  Jazz got up in the night because she had gotten burned earlier from the fire.  She was kinda rummaging around and looking for the aloe vera, and Jesse jumped sky high.  Ha ha!  The only person that got scared was Jesse.
     Jazz ended up tipping the side by side on its side.  Luckily no one was hurt.  Dill got a few scratches, but they were really lucky.
     So, I would like to explain a miracle that took place while we were out there.  Somehow, I got an email from Jamie that she would like to call that day.  It was her pday.  She usually does not call.  We were out of service, and so the fact that I even got her email was a miracle in and of itself.  But...I figured I would just have to drive for almost 45 minutes to get service to talk to her.  Honestly, I did not even care, I was just excited that she wanted to call.  I sent Jerusha and Jazz around to try to find phone service.  They had zero success.  I finally got a text out to sags to try to find out when she would be calling.  We miraculously were able to email back and forth some as well, which was a complete miracle.  We had a time set up, and I just began watching the clock.  Ryan informed me that it would be a whole lot closer to just go with him to Cat Claw and so he could check on that water, and that there was phone service at Cat Claw.  He also claimed that he had made calls from the lake.  The lake was a lot closer, and then the kids could swim. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical.  Nothing was more important to me than that call.  If she was wanting to call, she was needing her family, and  I did not want to fail her.  Anyhow, we start toward cat claw and the lake, and it is slow going.  The roads aren't the greatest, and then to top that off, we had a huge ball type deal on the back of the truck so that Ryan would have some air to blow in the lines of the plugged waterpipes.  Anyhow, it was taking forever, and I will never forget checking my phone every two seconds to see the words "no service".  It was just this blaring reminder that my kid was far away from home, needed me, and my one connection to help her was failing me every single mile.  The range is really beautiful this year though, and the wildflowers cannot be beat.  And, of course we saw a herd of bulls and a herd of cows, which always makes us all happy.  They were fat too.
    Anyway, we get to Cat Claw and the "no service" indicator on my phone was still lit up.  So, Ryan keeps going, right on past and in a few miles we finally catch a glimpse of the lake.  It seemed to me that the longer we drove, the farther away the lake seemed to get.  It was like chasing a rainbow or something.  I was always thinking it was just over the next ridge, over the next hill, and it seemed to be moving farther away.  And then the stupid "no service" light wasn't budging, and I found my spirits sinking lower and lower.  Finally, it dawned on me that Jamie was serving the Lord full time, and was entitled to miracles and blessings.  I began to say a silent prayer.  I explained that regardless of anything, God could connect phones and enable this phone call to take place.  I knew He could, and I kinda settled down a bit after that.  I have seen many miracles in my lifetime, and I kinda expect them I guess.
     Ryan and I are different in some of our driving styles.  He pushes his trucks and vehicles to their limits.  I am always of the mindset that it is better to walk a bit passed sandy spots, or trecherous locations rather than get stuck.  Anyhow, the lake was within walking distance, and yet he goes plowing through the sand, and yep...tires spin.  I took that opportunity to hop out and run up on the hill to see if by some miracle, I could get service.  I sat down on a rock, and 2 bars, 3 bars lit up.  Tears of relief came.  We were also later than our appointed call time, and so I emailed her, and told her I was available if she needed to talk.  She immediately emailed back and explained that they were later than she figured, and still had someone to drop off.  She told me she would be calling within the next half hour.  I attempted to call Jerusha who had gone down to the waters edge to see if the service was better her direction, and she did not answer.  There was no phone service down at the water's edge.  The fact that I had service was a complete miracle and answer to prayer.
    Her call came through and sounded crystal clear.  She was crying and homesick.  A very typical emotion for anyone so far away from home for the first time in her existence.  She cried, I listened, and did my best to lift her spirits.  Ryan wandered up and gave her some great advice as how to best utilize her time, and I hope by the end of the conversation she was able to pick herself up and keep going.  The fact that her email was received and her phone call came in was a miracle.  God does care about and take care of His missionaries.  I am so grateful that she can call if she needs us.  That is a huge blessing.
     The kids swam, collected shells, and we watched the weird herds of wild donkeys as they made their odd noises.  Jerusha found a good place to dive, and Ryan went and swam around with the kids.  The air was hot, and dry.  The lake was a nice place to cool off and play.  I sat in the shade and read a bit.  It was so nice to just spend time together as a family.  Dill named the wild donkeys "Ichabob's" and she was quite mesmerized by them.  I was quite annoyed with them instead.  They are taking over the range, and I am sure there are all kinds of laws protecting them, and so no one gets any good out of them.  They just hee haw around, and multiply, eating all of the feed.  Actually  this year there is plenty, but the searing heat is going to change all of that very soon.  They were always soon to swoop in though, when we would get water going.  Our efforts help all of the wildlife, whether they are annoying, or useful or not. 
     There is an old mine out there, that Ryan and I went in.  I am not the adventurer that I used to be.  I found they low walls, dark interior, and bats pretty off-putting, and I could not wait to get out of there.  Ryan was in the mood to explore, and when he and I got seperated because he ventured past a cave-in, I used the opportunity to leave.  It was creepy in there.  I love the history out there though..the old homesteads, the old corrals and water troughs.  It is completely fascinating to me.  Anyhow, Ryan did finally come out, and he had brought some rock from the walls with him.  They completely crumbled easily in his hands...that reassured me that getting out of that joint was the way to go.  He agreed that maybe hanging out in the old mine was not the safest or best idea.
     So, then we get home, and it is the Bundy Easter party.  After the fair and camping trip, I was partied out, but we did go, and it was fun to visit with the family.  Thank goodness we are back together.  We still pray about the men locked up nonstop.  They should be out and free.  They are not dangerous criminals.