Homeschool Conference!!!


Look at all those beautiful little feet two people can create!

Look at all those beautiful little feet two people can create!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Tea Parties, Tangled, 4-Wheelers, Boats & Temples...

I'm back from my little sabbatical...every time I am away from YOU, my dear blog, I miss you terribly.  Life has been full and I needed a little re-grouping time.  So much to catch up on...

Guess I'll just hit this week's highlights ~ what a magnificent, but crazy full week!!!

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to enjoy a VERY SPECIAL DAY...this is a yearly treat...2 of my very favorite people in the whole world and I have birthdays all within a very short time span...soooo, each year we get together and go do something fun.  
I look forward to this day every single year! 
It's just a really special time to share with people who mean the world to me! 
LOVE YOU BOTH... 
This year we had a scrumptious breakfast at Miss Tami's Tea House in Meridian...if you've never been, YOU MUST GO
It is really all about us girls...hubbies wouldn't love it nearly enough to go, so grab your sweet friends and make a date! 
Some day I think we should gather a big ol' group of us,
rent the whole place
and dress up in our favorite little party hats
and throw the best tea party ever...
when I sit in this lovely little tea house I secretly wish to be a little girl again...
all dressed up...
so that is the reason for the hats ~
oh, and maybe we should all have the dainty little lace gloves that go up to our elbows...
who is with me on this one???  Let's make a plan!  Okay, moving on...

Monday evening we had the missionaries over for dinner...they spent a little extra time with us and gave such a beautiful lesson on Faith, Prayers & Un-answered prayers, Feeling the Spirit and identifying it...such timely and peaceful words to hear.   I felt so pleased and happy with all that they shared with our family.  What a treat to have them in our home on a regular basis!  Such sweet young men doing such a special work!

This week has been full of planning for SCHOOL ~
cannot believe it is just around the corner. 
I really love this time of year...I feel that I just come alive...so many "things" just come to me...everything falls into place and new pieces find their way into my hands!  I always walk away feeling so blessed and so grateful for the opportunity to have our kiddos home with us!

Tuesday was a mighty full day around the Lytle House...we cleaned like crazy! 
We started working on the classroom ~ this was good and bad. 
The good was that I was quite excited to get things ready for a new year,
the bad was that we started it and had a very short deadline in which to have this room ready for use.  Tuesday evening, I had all of the Young Women in our ward over for a movie night...TANGLED...Love this movie!
 What a great night! ~
AND the classroom was even presentable. 
(Much thanks to my kids for all of their hard work...especially Danielle!) 
The boys hooked up the laptop to our projector and voila ~ huge movie screen...
the girls quoted line after line after line of the movie..
it was delightful to have them all here. 
I REALLY LOVE MY CALLING with all of these sweet girls!!!
Just this past month I gave a talk on "Tangled"...I will have to do a little writing on the significance I found within this gem of a movie...coming soon!  :0)

Thursday night was another marvelous time in my week! 
For those who do not know this about me...
I absolutely LOVE homeschooling mothers and I LOVE events with them! 
Fills my cup to overflowing!!!  
Earlier this spring, the Spirit was overwhelmingly present in my heart that I should lead DHSA, our local Homeschooling Support Group...I fought it pretty hard...but have learned that it does me no good to ignore the Spirit...I do my best to listen and to act when I am asked to do so.  I cannot tell you how very grateful I am that I followed this prompting.  We had our first Mothers' Meeting of the year and it was wonderful...so many amazing women in one place at one time...there is nothing quite like a group of women, with the same purpose at hand, all bouncing ideas back and forth.  You walk away from times like these feeling like you are floating about on a big fluffy white cloud surrounded by a whole bunch of best friends!  What a beautiful night ~thank you to all who were there who made it such a bright spot in my week!

And then I have to cover Friday...it was my birthday...I am tellin' ya' it was quite a celebration around here!  I am one lucky wife, mother and friend!  First I woke up to a bunch of sweet kids and an adorable husband...that sweet man of mine took me out for the day...we had a super yummy breakfast together and then headed out for an adventure! 
He is always great for an adventure...life with him is an adventure...always exciting, never dull, never boring!  Not sure how I got so lucky!!!
We took the 4-Wheeler up the trail to Silver City...
what a perfect day...the weather was outstanding, the scenery breath-taking and the company could not have been better! 
I love it when we just take one 4-wheeler to share because then we can talk and point things out to one another. 
There were so many beautiful wild flowers,
and sweet little butterflies all about,
we saw several hawks soaring overhead,
amazing rock formations
and trees everywhere. 
I counted every water crossing we came upon...16 of 'em...well, one I probably shouldn't have counted, it was more like a puddle, but hey it was water and we crossed it, so I counted it!  This trail was a little more challenging than it had been in the past, due to the water that must have roared down the mountains and through the canyons...the ruts in the middle of the trail were at times a little more intimidating than I was prepared for and the rocks and boulders were everywhere, but we managed through all of it just fine.  It's actually pretty exciting to make it through a "Scary area" and then look back at it knowing you had easily conquered it...might sound kinda silly, but it was mighty fantastic! 
And I have to tell ya'...I think maybe I should just take up riding 4-wheelers everyday...my muscles were more tender and sore after our day out than they are after a day of cardio and weight lifting...didn't expect that.  Must have been all that holding on for dear life that got me!!!  Another little tid-bit of info on me...
some of you may already know this,
but I have, well,
let's call it issues...
I cannot sit on the back of a 4-wheeler and ride behind anyone...
scares the tarnation right outta me! 
I still cannot decide if this is a
control issue or a trust issue...
BUT, today, I did it...and I have to add it was on some pretty treacherous terrain...
I just had to keep reminding myself to breathe...I am so lucky to have such a wonderfully patient husband...he just "gets" me and still loves me! 
Well, after we made it up to Silver City, we went into the Idaho Hotel, the 2nd oldest building in all of Idaho...they had freshly baked homemade pies...We just had to have some, after all it was my birthday!  Oh my goodness, might have truly been the very tastiest homemade pie I've ever enjoyed....the crust was perfect!!!  I think I might need to add this to my list of to-do's...MUST learn how to make tremendous Pie Crust...if you have a super recipe....please share!!!

Well, after our delicious pie eating moment (which had an extra little bonus...right outside the window from our seats, we watched an adorable little hummingbird), we headed back on that same trail we'd come up...the hardest part of this is that YOU KNOW what is ahead of you and you have to go back the same way you came...I held my breath a few times and buried my eyes in my hubbies back, YES, I was on the back, behind him, trusting him the entire time!  I think I may have just about squeezed the life right out of him a few times, but he didn't complain too loudly!  :0)

I probably should have paid attention to the fact that he was much more interested in his watch than normal...we arrived home to find a driveway filled with cars and a back yard filled with happy people ready to finish off this perfect day! 
I remember looking at my husband
and saying something to the effect of,
"Do you see me? 
I've been on a four wheeler all day
and you've thrown me a surprise party?! 
I must look terrible!" 
Well, he is MR.WONDERFUL himself,
and he just smiled at me and told me I look beautiful,
so I got out of the car and enjoyed a perfectly wonderful party! 
Okay, there is one thing that made him not so wonderful...
on my birthday cake, he put on the number candles --
Probably because there were too many to count to add single ones...
,
BUT he didn't do it right...
what I saw was the number 122!!! 
He got a good laugh outta that one,
but all I could say is "Man, I look down right amazing for that age!"

Well, you'd think this week should come to a close at this point, but it just keeps on going!

Saturday, we had a boating trip for the Youth in our ward...great, great day!  I think they all had a wonderful time.  Again, I have to say how much I love my calling and how much I enjoy all of these sweet kids...I think I ate a bit too much watermelon and maybe a few too many cookies!  I came home last night and sat down...felt like the first time I'd sat all week...then I spent a little time on Facebook and found sooooo many wonderful birthday wishes...I'm tellin' ya, I feel pretty loved! 

And now we come to this day, Sunday...Sundays are Sundays around here...each morning we wake up, rush about like a bunch of crazy people to make it to church on time and then sit and enjoy a day of renewing ourselves...Today was fantastic... Our son, Bryce, gave his first Sacrament Meeting Talk....he did such an amazing job!  He wrote a beautiful talk on Temples...I am always so surprised and pleased at what young people can come up with...We really do not give them credit for how simply amazing they are!   I really love being a Mom and love watching my kiddos shine! 

I have a truly wonderful life!  Thank you for being part of it!  :0)

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