Sometimes I am paralyzed by the thought of doing something.  I fret about all the work it might take to get there or the mess it might make that I already don’t feel like cleaning up.  It’s funny how such thoughts are such an energy drain.  Granted, getting myself and six kids ready and out the door more often than not causes breaches in my patience.  A batch of new play dough or a sewing project with a child inevitably creates piles of clutter and a crumbly mess on the floor.

But doing is always worth it no matter how hard it is to overcome the inertia of not.

Doing, acting creates more energy than all the fretting sucks up.

Just one hour can hold a whole day’s worth of connection, beauty, fun, wonder, and creative rejuvenation.

It’s one of those lessons I have to learn over and over and over.

(photos by both Brenna and I)

When we were planning our trip we thought we’d try to go camping, but eastern Idaho weather is a bit tricky.  We decided we’d just play it by ear and see what we thought as the dates got closer.  Rain.  Wind.  COLD nights.  We decided that camping wouldn’t be very fun.  We wanted to see Yellowstone anyway, so we made it a day trip.  It was a lot of driving in one day, but I think the memories were worth it.

There were bison, bison, bison for my cute nephews to spy with their new binoculars.

Seriously, could little boys be any cuter (other than mine, of course)?

My favorite area was the Lower Geyser Basin area with the mud pots, colorful pools, and lots of little active geysers.

The only other time I’ve been to Yellowstone was on our first wedding anniversary.  We decided to ride the main loop on our bikes– which was about 100 miles– which didn’t really give us any time to actually see anything but the backs of RVs.  This time was good from the comfort of our van and since it was early in the season it wasn’t very crowded.

We made the obligatory stop to watch Old Faithful.  There was quite a crowd and I was prepared for it to be pretty anticlimactic, but it was actually really cool!

I can’t imagine what the Native Americans thought about this place– was it holy?  was it cursed?  That’s something we should research…

We drove all through the park and made our way toward Grand Teton National Park.

Look what we found once we got past Old Faithful:

About 5 feet of snow.  I’m glad we didn’t try to camp.

It was the perfect time of year for the drive though.  The Tetons were breathtaking.  Not a single picture we took can really do them justice.   It’s hard to get the metering right.  Just imagine the bluest sky you’ve ever seen and dark mountains highlighted with white snow.

We listened to Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (and we really love this series) for the drive from Colorado to Idaho and part of this Yellowstone trip and also to Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke.  Road trips are made so much better with good books to listen to.  Much better than movies, I think, because one story can take 10 hours, fill everyone’s imaginations for the long haul, and even make it so the kids don’t want to get out of the car just quite yet when we get where we’re going.

I’m an Idaho girl born and raised– but I didn’t grow up in potato growing Idaho.  In fact, I don’t think I really saw a potato field until I was a teenager.  I grew up in Boise, which is about as citified as Idaho can get.  (And really one of the coolest cities there is, in my humble opinion.  The Denver area, where we live now, is pretty cool, but way too big for me.  Boise is like a mini Denver.)

My brother, however, married a girl from the potato capital of the world and lives there now.  We decided to make this year’s Idaho trip to their neck of the woods.  No matter where you go, if you’re with family it’s the perfect place.  We had fun.

My brother and his family spent the winter making this little house, built in something like 1913, livable.  For $19,000 they got some good bones, but had to totally gut it.  The before pictures are pretty scary.  It amazes me how some people choose to live.  The plaster had completely fallen off the walls in some places so you could see right outside through the walls.  My brother and his wife didn’t realize that the black sink was really bright orange enamel until they did a little cleaning before the kitchen demolition.  My brother’s done an amazing job turning it into a lovely home for his family. They’ve just got to build a garage and put siding on and they can say it’s done.

My parents came out too and brought one of my little nieces.

The kids played outside every second they could.

We got there just in time to see a baby gecko hatch!

We went swimming at Lava Hot Springs,

played with Papa at the park,

and celebrated his birthday.

Did you know that there is an entire museum dedicated to the Idaho potato?

Well, now you do.  One thing I learned is that potatoes are native to South America.  They were brought to Europe by Spanish explorers, spread throughout Europe, and then were later brought to North America.  So even though Idaho is so uniquely suited to potato growing they’re not from there.  I never knew that.

More importantly, though, the museum houses the largest collection of potato mashers (neatly displayed thanks to some kid’s Eagle Scout project) and the world’s largest Pringle (technically a potato “crisp”).

There was also some prep for the front walk to be done, so all the boys pitched in to help.

Little kids sure love to do REAL work.

It kept them busy for a long time.

I sure love my family and it was so good to visit Tyler and Katie and their cute boys.  Cramming 7 extra people (or 10!) into a little house with one bathroom can be a little crazy– but it was good crazy.  And too short.

(We did venture farther than the Potato Museum– that’s where we saw the bison I posted the other day.  It will take a whole other post to show you that, so come back tomorrow.)

We decided last minute to go camping over the long weekend.  Barry had been out of town all week, so hurrying to get ready right after he walked in our door from the airport was a bit crazy and stressful, but it was worth it, I think.

We played and explored and got dirty.

And put those March birthday hand-knits to use.

My littlest boys drew and drew in the dirt.  Ian left me love notes everywhere he could.  4 year old boys are full of so much love.

We’re welcoming summer.

We’ve been going regularly to a nearby state park full of boulders and fort making possibilities.

Even my little lean-to fort of sticks has stayed in tact.

It is good for the soul to build a relationship with a place.

Last weekend we flew my mom out and Barry and I headed up to Keystone to ski and just be together.

We broke out our old nordic skate skis.  Mine haven’t been used since we were going to college and living in Logan, Utah– I think since before Brenna was born.  That’s 11 years ago my friends.  Geesh.  I’m sure I used them while I was pregnant with her, but I don’t think I’ve strapped them on since.

About 2 seconds after this picture was taken I lost my balance.  It took a little while to get my rhythm.  Barry, of course was such a pro he could ski AND take pictures at the same time.  I, however, just had to concentrate on breathing the scarce air and keeping my skis and poles moving with a little bit of coordination.

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.  Even up in the mountains it was above 50 degrees.  So, so, so lovely and refreshing and relaxing.  Yes, even skating uphill was relaxing without the kids in tow!

We went downhill skiing the next day.  Not my strong point, I must say, but I found one blue run I actually enjoyed!  It had some sections just steep enough to challenge me, but then got easy again.  Let me just say I do not have a need for speed!  The weather was perfect again and we had so much fun being together.

How cool is it that I’m married to my best friend and the funnest guy ever?

I’m popping in today to tell you all I’m thankful for you!  The other day I was at a neighborhood park and someone came up to me and asked, “Are you Jessica?”  Turns out she was a blog reader.  She had e-mailed me once to ask about a place we had hiked, but had never commented.  It was fun to chat with her, see her family, feel like we had something in common.  I left wondering how many people are out there reading this.  Well, to all of you, I’m thankful for you.  I’m thankful for this place to share the things I actually accomplish and finish, to share what I love, to archive the best parts of my life.

I’m also thankful that the holidays are near.  This whole month has been quite a challenge because Barry has been gone for training and only able to be home on weekends.  I am SO thankful that I am not a single parent.  I forget how disorganized and messy I naturally am when my partner in this crazy big-family-homeschooling endeavor is not around.  It’s good for me to realize that I seem on top of things because he helps me so much.

So, the kids and I are heading down to Colorado Springs to try out Dad’s hotel room for a night, watch TV (oh, the things that are a treat!), take a dip in the pool, eat out… and then come home and cook some turkey.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend that is full of everything good.

Photos by me (the top) and Brenna (the bottom) from our hike in the foothills this past weekend.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Remember when a box turtle showed up on our family room floor last summer?   Well, another one came to visit.

This time a realtor who was pounding a sign into a neighboring yard rang our door bell and said, “I think your pet turtle is trying to cross the street.”  Well, we don’t have a pet turtle, but we went out to see, and sure enough a turtle was making his way out of our yard and across the street.

This time we found a male ornate box turtle because he has bright orange eyes and red scales on his front legs.  Again we kept him inside for a day to watch him eat slugs and crawl around our floor, and then let him go to hibernate in peace.  (The slugs were caught outside by the kids, not found while crawling around on our floor just in case you were wondering.) This time we put him right back where he (probably) came from– our back yard.  He went under a big spruce tree and dug himself a hole.

Ellie was beside herself.  She just didn’t know what to do or think.  She really, really wanted to pick up that shell and run away with it, but used all of her will power to mind her manners.

Hopefully we see you next year, Sheldon!

(turtle photos by Barry)

Friday evening Jonah wanted to plan a hike.  Brenna was off at a birthday party, so we loaded up the boys and let Jonah decide where we would go.

And we looked for fall.

The nights here in Colorado have cooled off, but our days have stayed near 90 degrees.  Our outside time has been relegated to the evenings when the air has that changing feel and smell, when you almost need a jacket.

We found some hints of autumn– yellowing leaves, piles of acorns from the scrub oaks,

and just a hint of red.

There were signs of summer holding on too.  The snake weed is still green and crisp

and noisy.

………

I hope you all had a good weekend.  I did.  I got a lot of work done on my SweetPod Saddle Bag pattern.  Primarily because my computer genius was home to help me scan and edit my illustrations and other computer geniusy stuff like that.

It was also General Conference.  Not only did I get a break from the busy-ness of running Primary (the children’s program at church) today, but my cup was filled with wisdom and peace as we listened to a prophet of God remind us to be thankful.  And you know what, I am thankful.  I’m living my dream– married to a superhero and blessed with 5 beautiful, perfectly healthy children.  I live in such comfort and ease and I tend to take it all for granted.  Tonight I want to thank you, dear readers, for coming here and reading this.  For giving me a reason to share my everyday and in a small way alleviate some of the isolation that can sometimes come from being a homeschooling mom to a large family.  Thanks for letting me show you the stuff I make and saying nice things to me.  I really appreciate you all– those of you I know in real life, and those of you I don’t.

So, I just want you to know I’m thankful for you.

What are you thankful for today?