Life is Good

I am trying harder to write every week so the letters don’t get so long.  So many things happen every week that it is good to keep up to date with it.  Last Thursday I enjoyed going to my book club.  The ladies were fun to talk to and we had a great discussion on our book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.”  I also thought it was interesting to hear about the other families and the struggles they go through with their children who feel entitled to things.  As they described their childrens actions I thought how grateful I am that Neal and I decided to go the simple route with things and don’t have those problems, like kids begging for the latest gadgets and always wanting to watch TV.  In fact I couldn’t remember the last time the kids had asked to watch anything. So on Friday we looked up new movies out on Netflix and we watched “The BFG.”  It was cute.  I read the book for the first time a couple of months ago and I enjoyed the movie.

Friday evening Ruth enjoyed visiting with her friend Brianna.  Brianna is in our ward and also in most of Ruth’s classes at school.  They have enjoyed getting to be friends.  Brianna had a foot surgery recently and still down and can’t go to school.  Ruth has gone over a few times to visit and help her with her school work.  Friday evening I think was mostly social.  They enjoy the same kinds of books and like talking about them.  In fact right now they are collaborating on writing a story together.  They have the document on Google Docs and they both add to it.  It is amazing what they do on the computer these days.  Ruth does a lot with Google Docs with her school work.  Teachers have them submit work through it, that way they can work on it at the computer labs in the school and at home, without using a device to save on and carry around.  It really is amazing to me.  Especially since I remember using a type writer when I was a student at BYU!

I did a lot of yard work this week.  I got the rest of the iris’s planted.  They don’t look that great right now.  But I am hopefully that they will grow and next spring we will have many beautiful flowers.  I also got the kids to help me in the yard with weeding, they didn’t even complain that much.  I really appreciate their help, they get so much done in their required 30 minutes of work outside.  I am working at planting perennials in the yard that will attract insects to help our fruit trees and eventually our vegetable garden.  I planted a rosemary bush.  There are rosemary bushes all over here.  Right now many are flowering and Caleb calls them “humming bushes” because the bees love them.  A few weeks ago Neal worked hard to clear out the last of the big rocks from our garden area.  Then he worked in the front yard to clean up and add to the rock boarder.  It looks so nice now.

The tulips by the picnic table, it is fun to see the different colors blooming

I planted the iris in a few locations around the back yard, where they will gets lots of sunshine

Our front yard, the boys like hoping from rock to rock

The front porch area, I had just watered, so there are wet spots.

The side of the house where Neal worked on the rock boarder, the kids also like to ride bikes around so you can see the tracks in the gravel. 

The rosemary bush is the one on the left

Saturday morning Neal, Andrew and Spencer went to their model train club.  They enjoy that and are learning so many things about how the trains work. 

Saturday evening Ruth and I worked to make a double batch of egg rolls.  She wanted them for her birthday dinner and I knew they would take too much time to make on Sunday.  We had fun working together and they turned out wonderful.  That evening the weather was perfect too and we ate our dinner outside.  I am enjoying all the tulips in the garden right now and it was fun to sit outside, eat and enjoy the view.

Sunday was Ruth’s birthday!  She was so excited about her birthday.  We let her open her gifts in the morning.  That way I could give her the outfit that she had tried on last week when we went shopping and I went back to buy.  She was surprised that I had bought it and was happy to wear it to church Sunday.  We measured her on our board and she is officially taller than me now by almost an inch.  She enjoyed going to the Mia Maid class with all her friends.  She enjoyed the attention that was given her.  I also got many compliments on my hair cut.  I guess when you make such a drastic change people notice and say something.  

Notice I have shoes on

Ruth was very happy to have a birthday, she is growing up so quickly

We have enjoyed playing board games as a family this week.  Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday we all played a game or two.  The boys had fun making up an easier version with the Risk game.  I am glad that we have so many games and we can enjoy that time together.

Tuesday morning I enjoyed helping in the school library.  The librarian was out of town and her substitute was Laura.  Laura is in my ward and we seem to talk to each other a lot on Wednesday evenings while we wait for our kids to finish their activities.  I enjoy being around her and we had fun working together Tuesday morning.  She did great as a sub.  She just started doing substituting this year.  She said that it has been good and she is learning a lot.  Neal has suggested that some day when Caleb is a bit older I might enjoy doing the same.  I have enjoyed being involved more in the school than I did in Texas.  It is nice to be there. I really like being in the library.  I am so thankful I decided to do it.

Today is a beautiful spring day.  I am trying to take longer walks and do more active things.  I am thankful for a pretty neighborhood to live in and feel blessed.