University Graduate

We celebrated a big day for Joseph today, and made the kids all come with us - we went down to celebrate Joseph graduating from BYU! Congratulations Joseph!

High school graduation was a big deal, but this one is bigger. A little bit more sweat and tears are put into the college diploma, so we thought we'd make all the kids come to support him and congratulate him on his accomplishment. The commencement exercises were this morning. I tuned in over tv for some of it, after my mom texted that she was listening to it (doh!) I had thought maybe one of us might go down for that, but then we became a car short yesterday - Corey's car went in for an oil change and registration, and ended up needing the timing belt and water pump blah blah two thousand dollars... so it is in the shop until  tomorrow. That made things a little trickier. So I didn't end up going down, and missed watching it. but later tonight Joseph said he didn't go, cause they had to be in line 90 minutes before, and he wanted to maximize his sleep, so J wasn't even there, I guess it's ok I didn't show. I caught enough over tv that I felt I fulfilled my parental duty. My bigger contribution getting all the kids there for the college convocation at 5. That was tricky without Corey's car. And THEN he had some meetings, so he had to take my car... so I was texting and calling my parents and Wayne and Joseph and Corey trying to figure out logistics. I ended up biking to the school with Peter and Katharine in the trailer, in a light rain, and checking out Natalie Owen Daniel around 2. They all rode their bikes to school, so we biked home. Hyrum, Owen and Daniel were ready at 2:45 for when my parents came by to get them. Joseph came up from BYU for something, so he went to Wayne's to give Corey his smaller car and traded for the van. Corey was able to go to his 3 and 4 pm meetings, Joseph drove home to pick up Me, Abi, Lily Sophi Natalie Peter and Katharine. And then we were off. Corey drove down after his meetings were done. Wayne had saved us a row of seats - portal C row 22. My parents and HOD were there saving the row for us. Mel got there right when we did. Eliza was there soon too, and Ethan and Bella another 10 min after. There were a lot of graduates in the college of Life Sciences, so their convocation was held in the Marriott Center. It took us a minute talking on the phone to figure out where he was in the mass of people, and for him to see where we were. He found us first, but soon we spotted him - Joseph was in the 5th row back like the 6th seat over, so he was pretty close to us! Well, maybe not close, but atleast he was on our side of the room. And right as we were talking to him, he was put up on the jumbo screen! He turned and waved to the camera so that was fun, but I missed taking a photo of it - I was talking to him and trying to take a photo and my phone wasn't fast enough for the switch and then he was looking up at the screen to see himself. We guessed when he was walking up, and followed him as his name was read. "One by one" takes a long time. I liked how that part of graduation is similar to the temple. It would be a lot faster to just graduate a group as a mass rather than one by one pronouncing each name. But one by one it is. That is how it is done in the LDS temples, and I'm glad that's how they do it in the "black robes of a false priesthood" temple of learning too. Joseph coming back to his seat -walking a third from the left in his white sash and white diploma in hand.

His name was read close to the beginning. His section is about half done, and there were 3 more sections after that. Yeah, we were there for a while. I took K outside to play after half way through the presentation of the graduates. Playing on a bike rack - 

When the convocation was over, we gathered outside with Joseph. 

The weather turned windy and there was a light rain, so K and I hid inside for a few minutes while the kids tried to tell us we should take them all out to eat, and it could even be "our treat". Corey commented "Our kids are united on one thing - turning any event into an opportunity for us to give them food." 

Well, as tempting as that sounds to blow money on y'all, Corey and I decided against it. The little boys were already happy cause I had told them "and then we'll come back and have HOT DOGS for dinner!!" before we left home (good thinking me!). So that was a no from me, a no from dad, and we are the only ones that get to vote on what we spend money on. Corey thought maybe donuts... Ethan said "I can buy my own donut" he wanted bigger food. Corey also joked "I get it if it comes from the little boys, but I would have thought E had moved beyond this..." Still, maybe we swing by Krispy Kreme? I was ok with donuts, when E knew there wasn't any goods coming for them, they headed out. Mel headed back to her regularly scheduled life as well. We had to figure out cars home... as we talked about that, the plan was made - my parents were ok to head home without anyone, Wayne took Lily and Owen with him, JElizaHASN walked to the van, which I had parked far away per Joseph's suggestion. When we were coming, time was getting close that J had to be there in line (4:45) and it was very crowded, so I dropped him off west of Helaman Halls and he took off running up the hill, I parked close by there on North Canyon road and ALSNPK and I walked up in the direction J went. So they had to walk back to where I parked. Corey, DPK and I went to Joseph's car, where Corey had parked it, and were in gridlock traffic trying to leave the Marriott Center. Joseph and his crew beat us to their vehicle, and they went by Smiths for ice cream, and then we crashed J's apartment. Wayne met us there, they happily ate bowls of ice cream, Joseph, Eliza and I did the dishes, and then Joseph and Eliza got ready to go to St. George with friends, and we went to Ethan's apartment to give him his shoes that he had left at home last Sunday. Good thing about that was we got to see their cute home sweet home! Corey had already been by and seen it, but it was the first time for me and the girls. Super cute little newlywed apartment. I remember living in a little place like that! Back when life was simple. Ethan was a little bit anxious telling kids to not touch this and don't do that (slide down the part of the couch that is missing the cushion). Corey tried to help Eth with his computer, the kids ate their pineapple. Peter sat on my lap and was looking around at all of their wedding photos on the wall, then asked me "Mom? How do you get married by finding a friend that's a girl?" which I thought was the cutest question ever. Bella overheard us talking and was smiling as I talked to Peter a little about growing up, dating, then trying to find someone that you want to be your best friend. Cute little kid trying to put things together. Then we headed home and the kids tastebuds were finally paid in full when they were eating their hot dogs at 9:30. Now it's late, Lily is a little stressed that she didn't get any of her homework done... sorry Lil. AP tests are coming up soon for her and Abi. It was a good milestone day for Joseph, and we were glad to drag all the kids along for this important event. I told them they don't have to go to any high school graduations, but we'll probably make them do college ones. I reserve the right to change my mind in the future.

Family Fun at Waterford

We had a fun day with the college kids. They all came up for church at our ward, and then lunch and dinner and games, and then ultimate frisbee at Waterford tonight. We have 14 in this photo here. 

You might wonder why this blog says we have 13 kids, when there are 14 kids in the photo. Well, Ethan just got married, so that adds one. BUT Wesley is also gone on a mission, so that takes it back to 13. So how do we have 14 still? Let's see if this pic helps solve that mystery...

It's not totally obvious, but there are two couples in that photo. Ethan holding Bella, and another couple in a dance dip move. From left to right, we've got Owen, Lily, Mel, Peter, Sophi, Abi, Daniel, Hyrum, Corey (he slipped into this one) Ethan holding Bella, Natalie, aaaaand Joseph and Eliza! Who is Eliza? Eliza is Joseph's fiancée!! We got this photo late last night - 

We knew that a proposal was in the works, and I also learned earlier that day (as Joseph called me for ideas... as of yesterday morning he was planning and was studying for finals, but then a desire to propose took over his thoughts) She knew it was coming but didn't think it would be last night, which is why he wanted to do it then. They already have their temple sealing scheduled - June 28 up in Meridian Idaho. So that is why they all came up to spend the day here, to celebrate and share the news with their siblings. I knew yesterday that they were coming up, so I did a Costco run before Natalie's concert started. I was able to feed a crowd today, thanks to ideas I got from Stephanie taking care of us in Texas. We had two bean dips for lunch after church (I came home after sacrament meeting with Peter, who is still sick with an upset stomach, and made those) and it was a hit -

(Peter is feeling better - making a Lego City for me to show Wesley) Peter playing legos. 

And Stephani also taught me how she cuts watermelon - They call it "watermelon straws" - so smart! 

Then we played "Compatability" Wride edition - that Corey made like 10 years ago. That was fun. Corey and I won. Mel and Hyrum were on a team cause they were husband and wife in their lego family many times, haha it was funny hearing Hyrum remember his complaints about Mel, his lego wife, being upset that her lego husband Hyrum was spending so much time at Sword camp that they weren't ready to fly into space, stuff like that, it was funny... And Ethan was filming stuff so Bella played with Wayne, but then Natalie swapped in for Bella, and Joseph and Eliza were on a team too.

Then Corey and I got hamburgers, bean burgers, and salmon burgers ready for dinner. I felt like I was prepping food a lot today, but it's good. Abi made and frosted sugar cookies. Then around 7:30 we went to Waterford. We didn't have much time as I had planned (I was thinking 6-6:30) but it was good. Sunset was at 8:14. Corey and the kids had an intense game of Ultimate... 

...while I tried to keep the littles out of harms way. Katharine is ready to play catch. 

Peter and I tried to hit the ball around with tennis rackets. 

We took the silhouette photos after the sun went down, then back home for scriptures and Mel shared some music videos she made with a guy in her song writing class, it was funny! Her siblings saw a side of her that they'd never seen before. 

It was so fun having all the kids here today! Life is passing away like a dream. I'm excited to see the rest of it unfold, and I'm really glad we still have little ones at home to raise. Having these older ones be in college and married has rocked Corey's world a little. He's thinking "where has the time gone? I was JUST there myself..." but I think that will happen for me when the kids are all in school all day, or when Katharine graduates high school and this child rearing phase is really over. It feels like it's all I've known for so long, so that will be strange when that happens for me, but right now I'm glad to still be in the middle of it. One of my biking songs is "The Middle" and my birthday is in a week, so I really am about in the middle (I plan to live to 100+) Life is so good, it was a day of many blessings and having my cup full. I'm so grateful for gospel living. Our sincere efforts to follow Jesus Christ in all things gets all the credit for creating this happy life for us. 

Bike Rides with Katharine

Yesterday morning, Corey accidentally said "bike" as he was getting ready to go to work. Katharine jumped up and said "Ok!" and got her socks and shoes. "I guess I can take her for a minute..." He got her on his bike, and Peter got ready too, and they left for a ride around the block. I knew Corey had a meeting that he had to get to, so I went and got my socks and shoes on too, a jacket, then got the trailer hooked up to my bike and went to find them. Katharine took me up on my offer and gave up her shotgun for a ride in my trailer. She likes it! Soon Peter was done and so we went home, but K didn't like that... This is her look when I tell her it's time to STOP. (I think I'm in trouble...)

And this is the look when we GO!

Looks like she approves! So we went again. Peter got off his bike, he was ok to ride in the trailer. It turned into a 45 minute ride around the neighborhood, doing a loop in every circle two times. She did NOT want to quit. As I tried to make it more interesting for myself, I did get up on the sidewalk a few times, and noticed her say "Ow" when we went over the bump up to driveways. When we had to go back inside, I might have done those a few times on purpose to get her to willingly stop the ride. It worked. Yay, so we went inside. Time to take care of sick kids. Natalie threw up yesterday morning, so it was her turn to stay home sick. We watched Bluey and after an hour of that K took a nap with her on the couch. 

These two are BFFs. Natalie puts Katharine to bed with her up on the top bunk bed most nights. Katharine looked so cute with her hands tucked under her cheek. 

Sweet little thing.

Hyrum still feels unwell, but no throwing up today. Sophi went to school but texted me around noon that she felt a little upset stomach. She wanted to stay for ballroom tryouts though, so hopefully she didn't expose anyone. I was able to sneak away to the temple during their nap. (Have I mentioned how nice it is having Hyrum home?) The flowers there were beautiful!

And after I got home from that and got dinner ready (chicken and potatoes) I wanted to go on a ride. I texted Corey of my plan and he came home to go with me. And then K got wind of what was going on. We decided to try and take her with us!  

Katharine, are you ready for some real mountain biking?

She did so great! We rode to the trail head and kept going, and she made it past the first bridge! Corey said "She made it further than Joseph did!" haha. 

She didn't like the bumps, so we tried to go slow. Some of the bumps were unavoidable though, like on what we call "avalanche hill" which was not covered by avalanche debris this year, but was just it's normal very steep and bumpy technical trail. Corey got off and walked with K a few times cause she didn't like the jolts. Not sure how we teach her to stand up to give her rump some protection. 

We'd check in with her "You ready? Go more?" I thought our fastest way out would be by the second bridge, cause I thought there was a way to the road from there. We kept going, Corey had to walk with K a few times, we paused and took a break, and were trying to figure out the least painful way for us to finish this ride. We got to the second bridge, and that was when I saw that while yes, there was a little water building there, there was unfortunately NOT a way to get across the creek. Drat. So then our options were either go up to the third bridge (would have required biking across snow patches and getting across some fallen trees, not a great option) or just heading back down the trail. K wouldn't like the bumps, but it seemed like the better choice. We went slow to try and keep her happy. Corey walked a few times. One time I walked with both the bikes while he carried with her. She was happy if she held him while he rode, but that did not look safe to me. He tried it a little bit. Then he figured out that if she'd sit on the seat, he could just hold her waist and the bike was carrying her weight, and that worked. He still had to balance holding one hand, but he felt confident and went down most of the trail like that. We were grateful when we got off the trail onto the paved road. The end was in sight. I looked back at Corey, who was riding with her. She was starting to zone out and fall asleep and he could feel her going limp in his arms. "This is trust!" he said to me, haha, funny. Yes, trust of a child. Later he said he was thinking more of the trust of the child's mother! That is true. As we rode, I was like the visual signal/ protector from the cars - I kept looking behind us to see if cars were coming and made sure they saw me and also let Corey know if he had to stay close to the side or if he had room to spare. We were glad it was all downhill and were making good time. At one moment when there were no cars coming, I was able to capture the moment on video. In there Corey says "When your biking buddy gives up on you..." I took this screen shot to share with the college kids.

Mel said "Nice meme Mom". I told her I was just quoting Corey. So it was fun and I'm very grateful we made it home safe. I'm glad Corey's more comfortable biking with kids on the shotgun seat. I would not have been able to ride with Katharine like that. I would have had to walk or phone for help. But we live to tell the tale. This morning, as Corey was getting ready for work, I was trying to get her from Corey so he could leave, and I made the mistake of showing her the pictures of her biking from yesterday. She said "BIKE!" Uh oh... Corey didn't have time to go, but he did have time to get the shotgun seat put on my bike, so he did that and then today Katharine had a first time riding shotgun with me!

We didn't go far from home, so I wouldn't be stranded if she gave up early, but we did great! I was on my way home and on the paved road when she said "Dad..." signaling she was all done, and I put one arm around her tummy to hold her as we kept biking, but maybe she could tell I was new at this, and she didn't totally give her support to me. She held on to my arm for a minute while I still held both my handlebars, and that worked well. We made it home after a 45 minute ride again. Not bad for a one year old! Natalie was home sick again today, as was Sophi. Natalie felt weak this morning but was feeling much better at lunchtime. She made a picnic for Peter and Katharine in the backyard. 

Katharine enjoyed playing kitchen outside. 

Owen had a trumpet lesson today in stead of next week, cause next Thursday is Joseph's graduation from BYU. So I was grateful to get this arranged so we don't have any conflicts with that. The flowers at Ms. Kyra's house were AMAZING!

Wow o wow. Love it. We should probably plant tulips in our yard. 

They last such a short time, but that's two weeks of joy that is probably worth it. Corey and I went out to eat at Bandits tonight and had a good talk about life and our roles. I want to do better and meals, for him, as he feels I usually don't prepare enough. I admit that I'm a bit of a minimalist there. What I think is sufficient probably could use a little extra. He also said he feels that I tend to disappear and abandon him on Sundays, which I don't see, but I'm going to try and be more aware, cause maybe it's true. He also said he feels that he shields me from a lot of the realities of how hard life is, but I disagree with that. I think I'm well aware of what it takes (I just took 6 kids to Texas by myself) and that he feels like a martyr unnecessarily sometimes. So that's a little what we talked about, if you wanted a peak into our conversation. We both agree that we're both 100% in and that we both do a lot, it's just that there is A LOT to always be done. We're both pretty sure that our marriage will make it! And lastly, I'm up at 4 am Saturday morning April 20th blogging this. I've been up with Peter who was in the tub for an hour to help his tummy - He threw up yesterday while we were on our date, and woke up needing to go to the bathroom, but not being able too cause he was bloated and gassy, so I just put him in the tub to try and help him relax. Sophi threw up yesterday morning at 3 am too, so she stayed home yesterday, but good news: she made ballroom! Good job Sophi! We've all had it coming out of both ends this week, man. It hasn't hit me though, but I'm waiting for it. Abi felt sick yesterday and didn't go to her GMS music class. She's also likely going to miss the Chamberpalooza tomorrow, darn. She said she was hoping to get sick during the week so she could miss school and cause she can't get sick on the weekend cause she's too busy, but here we are. It's 4:30 am, I'm going to sleep for a bit and then "tomorrow" (today) we have soccer games, chamberpalooza for Lily, and a violin spring concert. Maybe we'll have to miss the concert if Sophi still feels sick. 

Taking Turns

Well, we've still got a bug goin' around. Hyrum threw up today. His was a new one... (sorry... you, whoever you are, probably don't want to hear all this, but I can't help myself...) So he was feeling ill, was laying in the basement, and when he felt it coming, he decided his best option was to open the basement door (it's a walkout basement) and he just let it fly all over the cement there. He came and told me, I told him "Well, have fun cleaning that up" and he said he would but he didn't feel like doing it right now. There were leaves that we never raked up over there, so I told him to rake those up, if they had throw up on them or not, and put those in the garbage before he tried to hose things off. He ended up doing that but using a bucket of water rather than the hose, cause he couldn't get it off the back patio. That faucet has had a leak for as long as I can remember. Atleast 9 years back when they were working on the ice rink, cause the hose wouldn't be totally screwed on, try as they might to tighten it more, so there was ice left on the back patio during that project. Lily was sick yesterday. She went to school then texted me that she needed to be picked up. She didn't have breakfast, so her body didn't have anything to expel, so she came home and lay down on the couch for the rest of the day. Bella posted this BeReal, and I thought maybe we had given Ethan a sick bug when he was here this past Sunday (doing some filming for The House 2) ~

She said he wasn't sick, just tired. They are getting ready for finals. I thought that pic of them was cure though. 

I went to Stake Women's conference tonight, Sophi came with me. We decided last night that as soon as I got home, we would watch Knives Out. We started a little late and just finished at 11:30. I'm staying up a bit to blog cause I can't quite sleep... It was a kinda fun murder mystery show, if murder can be fun? Ethan had Corey and the college kids stay up and watch it while we were in Texas and Corey said it was fun. We talked about doing it last night but then didn't cause Corey went to the temple and I went on a ride, and when we were both back, all the kids were doing "just dance". They are trying to pick some songs and dance moves to learn, like we did at Ethan's wedding (there are rumors that there might be another engagement soon.) Also, speaking of weddings... Ethan had a bachelor party at The Space Place and said it was the funnest thing EVER. It's basically Galaxy Quest, and Ethan was the captain, it was like a two hour thing, they all got totally into it. So funny!

Last night Corey was also a little stressed. He said that "Everything is a burden." Hoping I can lighten his load, not sure how though. In other un-intereting news, I challenged Mel to an L-sit contest. First one who can hold an L sit for 5 seconds gets $50 bucks. I'm also still doing a good job cleaning the house as I remember that no one is going to come save me or do this for me. I've been doing good at laundry (I've always done pretty good at that) and the kitchen sink and counters (been a good improvement with those two.) And here's a random photo of Peter serving up sandwiches at his tub restaurant. Daniel was a good customer.

I appreciated him coming and taking a turn, as I had eaten about all that I cared to eat. 

Throwing Up

We're a few days back from our spring break trip, and after a good weekend, I told myself I'm back at my regular routine of waking up at 5:15, scriptures and oatmeal then climbing and then the rest of the school morning. So that was the plan and hope last night, until....  I was woken up at 3:30 by a knock at our door. It was Peter, I opened it and told him to go lay down on our couch, figuring that he woke up from a bad dream. But no, instead Peter had been given the task by Daniel to come get me. Peter sweetly and sleepily told me "Daniel needs you, he threw up on his bed" Oh yay. I go in there, turn on the light to see the damage. I was grateful that it wasn't projectile vomit that was spewed from his 3 bunk bed position onto the beds and toys below or the floor. It was all in two nice piles, yay. (It's probably strange/gross that I was so pleased with it, but today I learned that apples make a very nice vomit consistency). We moved Daniel's pillows, blankets. and stuffed toys off the bed - I doubled checked and yes, they were all safe. I got a garbage can and some grocery sacks - I put them over my hands like gloves and was able to grab all the mess with two sacks and threw it down into the garbage can. I took off the sheet, put it in a bucket to rinse and wash later. I set Daniel up on the floor and then we were back to bed. It was now 4. So my 5:15 wake up time probably wasn't going to happen. I turned off my alarm and figured I'd see what my body does. I slept in until the 6:10 "wake abi" alarm. That was when Abi told me that someone pooped on the ottoman downstairs in the side room. What? She had fallen asleep there during scriptures and said when she woke up at 2, there was something gross next to her. I go look. More vomit, same as what I cleaned at 3:30. I thought Daniel was in his bed at 2 - I didn't think he was asleep next to Abi... was this someone else? A mystery I shall have to figure out later - I clean it up a bit, then decided I needed a break, so I went climbing. Back at 8:15, Peter wakes up and tells me he threw up on his bed. He had been drinking water so his was a bit more mess - took of his sheet, washed it out with Daniel's and started a load to wash those with the rags that I used to scrub the ottoman. Daniel said it wasn't him who threw up downstairs, so we might never know. Boy we're off to a good start to this week! I'm hoping this is a "one and done" throw up sickness, not a several times by each person. I got on a zoom meeting at 8:45 for less than an hour, after that was done, back to cleaning. I was washing garbage cans in the tub and had the water on pretty louds around 11 and missed a call from the elementary school. I didn't answer it because I figured it was just the attendance call telling me that Daniel was absent, and I had already called the school to verify that. I continued cleaning but then Corey called asking me if I'd gotten the message from the school. No I had not. He said I needed to go get Owen cause he threw up in class. Oh yay, so I go get Owen. He's a sensitive kid and he seemed pretty embarrassed about it. I asked if I could take a pic of him, he said "noooo..." so that's his pursed lips of him saying no, as I did what I wanted anyway.

Poor kid was trying to hold in the tears as we drove home. Must be embarrassing. His classroom was all cleared out for cleaning, which was finished as I went there to get his backpack. Returned home, sat him on the couch with sick Daniel and Peter who were watching Bluey. O had another digestive accident when I was upstairs taking a nap with K. She's been super clingy on Corey and to help him be able to leave for the day, I had to take his place and carry and hold her. She dozed off watching a movie, like she had with Corey last week (Corey was holding her all day yesterday, I think it makes her clingyness worse) Daniel was calling up the stairs "MOM! Owen needs you!" "Tell him to get a bucket" thinking it was a "my stomach hurts" problem. Daniel said his charge over and over, I got up, K woke up, went downstairs, bathroom smelled so bad... this is what Sophi had. She was the first kid to be sick on the drive home from TX, but not throw up, the other end. I was grateful he made it to the bathroom. The clean up wasn't too hard. I'm hoping K doesn't get the bug, or else I'm sure that she will likely get the carpet. 

So things are not smelling good around here. It's worse than the moldy fruit that greeted us after Texas. The whole side room smelled from the vomit on the ottoman. I left at 4 for violin. It was later today because Sophi stayed after school for a ballroom thing (instruction classes all this week before tryouts next week) and so it was just Natalie and Sophi's going to go next week. When we got back from that and I walked in through the garage into the side room, the stench hit me again, ugh, so Hyrum helped me take the ottoman into the backyard to air out. I'm not sure it will be able to recover. I've been thinking about getting new couches for that room though. The one we have is a good size but it's had it's share of wear and tear these past 13 years, and the velcro doesn't hold the cushions on, so when you sit on it, eventually the cushion is slipping out from under you and you're sinking into the crack. 

Ok, so that's that! Yesterday was Stake Conference, It was good. Right after that, Daniel had a "Great to be 8" baptism introduction activity, he got two donuts to make an 8. 

That's usually the main thing kids remember from the Great to be 8 meeting! Ethan and Mel came up last night. Ethan was getting footage for The House 2, which he's been working on since December. Should be good. He said it's twice as long as the original. And that it's been taking him a lot longer than he planned, but getting married probably pushed back the release date, understandably. I told him it's good though - it's become a Family Anniversary Party classic to watch that. It is something that our family will treasure now and it could outlive us all and be a treasure to posterity as well. That's my hope for this blog here too - a treasure for my children and their children, to look back on and know what our family was like while their moms and dad's were kids, and to help my kids when they are parents and wondering how I "did it" raising 13 children. I'm sure I won't remember anything then, as I can barely remember now, but I do know how to search it up here. And that's also why I include the daily life events like throwing up. Not because it's all that important, but it's real, it happens, messes are made and cleaned up and life goes on. 

Miraculous Eclipse

The sky cleared for us today - it was a total miracle. Do you like my Totality 2017 shirt? Is the the only one that has survived the past 7 years. Abi was wearing it in the photos at that link. I can't remember when I confiscated it, but I've kept it careful and safe as a pj shirt. I was glad to have it for this special occasion when we saw a total solar eclipse AGAIN! We feel so grateful to have been able to see this wonder of God's creation!! This photo below of our CLEAR SKY At 1:35 right as totality was about to start at 1:37! We're going to see it start AND finish! I can't believe it! 

We've been watching the weather forcast for the past week. It said rain a week ago, then it's said clouds for the past 5 days. We've been praying and hoping. Yesterday it still said there was a chance of rain, but it also said partly cloudy around 1! That's the only time I care about - the eclipse is at 1:30! Hooray for a ray of hope, giving us desires to keep praying. We were trusting the Lord for whatever the outcome. I read Jacob 4:9 this morning and it gave me hope and happiness - "For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?" God has the power! All he has to do is speak and it will be done! The sky will be clear! He is ABLE to command the workmanship of his hands upon the face of the earth. I trust he will. But if not, I will still serve him. This morning, I felt that if we see it, we will be so grateful. But if we see the miracle or not, we will still love, trust and praise God. We had plans to go over to Patrice's place in Mansfield rather than in Grand Prairie cause they had a few more seconds of totality. Everyone at Patrice's house checking out the sun when the eclipse started - 

The sky was partly cloudy, but the clouds were moving fast. They'd come in front of the sun and then be gone after a minute or two, depending on the size of the clouds. 

We continued to check the weather. At noon it showed there was still a chance of rain this evening, but the partly cloudy sky was going to continue for the next several hours, hooray! 

I was positive that we would definitely see it, and we'd also most likely see totality start or end! The kids were happy to be playing inside with toys that were new to them. Peter with a big Potato head - 

Also plenty of legos for everyone. 

During General Conference, the Reads started a 2000 piece Disney - Pixar Ceaco puzzle that everyone got working on as we waited for totality.

We had lunch of fish sticks, quesadillas, and rolls with nutella. Kids jumped on the trampoline and played. At a half hour until totality we started to gathering outside to watch. Stephanie looking up, Matt and Beka here (they flew in Saturday night), and JT with Kimberly on his lap.

Kids joined us for popsicles.

Getting closer and closer to totality - the sun was half covered, you can tell it's darker, but it's also still so light and easy to see. 

It's amazing how bright the sun is even when it's 70, 80, and 90 percent covered!

Stephanie brought a sheet to help us see the shadowbands. And we were also amazed, in awe, and so grateful that while there were clouds all around us, right above us it was so clear!

We can see and feel the change - everyone getting excited!

Almost at totality and look at this sky! Like WHAT?!?! It's a miracle!!!

Totality! We saw Jupiter to the east and Mercury on the west! Amazing!!

It was amazing. Like there aren't really words that can accurately describe the moment. I took this one pic above, which obviously does not do it justice. It doesn't really matter - no photograph can capture it. I was present and soaking up every second of the 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Any photos I took would not do it justice. Right after the eclipse, we were talking about the miracle and how amazing it was. I was a little sad that I hadn't even checked to make sure all my kids were there, I was just looking up. But unfortunately, I think Daniel was inside for most of, if not all of it and Peter too. I called for them to come out and I think I saw Daniel outside briefly as it was ending, but I didn't want to look away from the sun. Peter came after it was over, and said he wanted to play legos, so they probably won't remember seeing it cause I don't think they did. After totality was over, I wasn't watching the sky, we were looking at each other like "AHHH!!" sharing our speechlessness in wake of the miracle of it all, and then I look up, and there were clouds everywhere.

I don't even know where they came from, but now there were clouds! Miracles over, so back to the regularly scheduled forecast, and that was ok with me. We saw it and it was amazing. It's like holding newborns or watching the setting moon, sunsets, sunrises or fall colors. It's amazing, and try as you might to make time stand still, but you can't hold onto it. It moves on and soon it's over. It was pretty fun that 30 minutes after us, our sister Camilla in Indiana was in totality, and shortly after that my bff Nicole saw it in Maine!

How fun that we all get to share this experience even if we're hundreds of miles apart. My mom texted yesterday saying that she watched a special on the eclipse on PBS and the US had jets lined up to fly during the eclipse to study the corona, but they had several lined up to take of because the moon was moving faster than they could fly. Note to self - watch that special. After it was over, we came inside for more fun and games. We finally gave the ok for the kids to play video games. 

We made a lot of progress on the puzzle.

Patrice and her kids loved having Katharine around. Patrice got his photo of K by her flowers.

A lady named Rosa in Patrice's ward makes t-shirt, and had some eclipse shirts for sale. I ordered some this morning and she had them done in a few hours. I got 4 kid shirts of different styles. Here's one that I thought had a Star Wars feel - I'm guessing one of the boys will choose this one.

Later I decided to ordered one more for me. Beka and Matt ordered some and I'm going to have mine shipped with theirs. Fun!

So that was amazing and I feel so grateful and in awe of the miracle of the eclipse, but more in awe that God answered our prayers the way we desired. He is a kind and loving creator. After the eclipse I talked to Welsey for his p-day. when he called, Corey and Mel had their cameras off...

We could hear something going on... I thought Wesley's connection was bad, but then after Corey and Mel turned on their camera, we saw the source of the noise - Corey was out biking, and Mel was skiing! Wow! We're such an outdoorsy family!

Patrice, JT, Beka, Matt and Stephani played some games while I talked with Wes and watched kids.

They all had fun hanging out the rest of the day. We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Then the adults (including me) played Skull King. A new game for me, it was fun!

I got 2nd to last place. We had planned originally to head back to Stephanie's at 6 so the older kids could watch a movie before we leave tomorrow, but we decided to stay and it was the right decision. We still let them watch Harry Potter after we got back, even though it's a school night for Steph's kids, and even though we're going to try and head out early. Stephanie's kids earned watching it cause they recently finished the first book. They're watching that right now, I'm going to go get them to bed in a few, Beka and Matt stayed at Trice's for a bit longer, they just got back. They are waking to leave for the airport at 4 am! It's been a great eclipse trip, so glad we came, so grateful we saw it, God's creations are amazing! Update - I knew someone would get better photos - look at this picture a neighbor of ours (Richard Grossen) took - wow!