Grandma Mennear

This picture sums up the relationship that my mom has with my boys perfectly. They adore her, trust her, and flat-out love her. She shares such a special bond with each of them, and I will forever be grateful. Knowing that she is on my side while I raise them and such a big, positive influence in their lives, is all I could ever ask for! 

 

Evening Swim

My mom had a conference in Idaho Falls last week and stayed at a hotel with a heated pool. She invited us to spend the evening swimming and the kids had so much fun. After the pool, we watched a movie in her room and ate sushi. It was the best evening! 

 

Life with Doodles

My life with my dogs. It's great!! 

 

Helping Hand

 My dad offered the boys an opportunity to do some work to earn some money for the summer. They worked hard into the afternoon and I loved watching them work together and help my Dad. 

Third Wheel

I played the third wheel and crashed Scott and Taydens tee time. Love spending time with these two. 

 

Cats

The nicest old cat lady lives on our street. The boys took her some treats the other day and she invited them in to see her cats. Turns out Cache is allergic. Poor buddy.

He kept saying, "Maybe it was something else in her house. I really like cats, I can't be allergic!"

 

Stake Primary

As I was looking at my upcoming classes for the semester, I was really discouraged. The classes were all over the place and I was having difficulty working out a schedule that would work well with my family. After much work and deliberation, I finally came up with a solution. It's not great but, it works.  

Later in the week, when we got to church, a member of the Stake Presidency asked to talk to us. He promised it would be quick and we would be back before sacrament started. During our brief interview, he asked me to serve as the Stake Primary Secretary. I instantly felt a calm feeling, "Do this and your school schedule will work out". I obviously agreed! 

A couple of weeks later, I got set apart and was given the most beautiful blessing by our neighbor, friend, and member of the Stake Presidency, John Saunders. I don't remember everything he said, but I felt an immediate connection with heaven. Like there was a pillar of blessings raining on my head. A few key points he said...

-I am loved by my Heavenly Father. He knows me and is proud to call me daughter. 

-If I magnify my calling, Heavenly Father will magnify my time. (This felt so personal, given my earlier feeling)

-This calling will help prepare me for my future callings. 

-While I work with the ladies of my presidency, I should voice my opinion but always find a way to move forward together. 

- I will have the strength to minister, serve, and fulfill my duties at home, school, and church. 

I appreciated this blessing. I really feel seen by Heavenly Father. I can't wait to move forward with this calling and find the blessings and lessons in store. 

Sully Snugs

Scott and Sully think he's a lap dog. 

 

Golf Date

I decided to learn how to golf to bond with my boys and Scott. Scott and I went out on our first solo golf date and it was actually a lot of fun. He was so patient with me and helped me through the course. I did fairly well and can't wait to go again. Maybe this will be our thing?

 

Strawberry Problems

I finally got around to planting a strawberry patch. I was so excited to see my first berry turning red. So you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the birds beat me to it. I couldn't find a bird net in stores anywhere, so I had to think quick. I ran to the dollar store and grabbed a couple of laundry baskets and pinwheels. Hopefully, my next strawberries will end up in my belly, instead of the birds. 

 

River and Tayden

 Tayden, and his really good friend, River, have a lot of the same interests. They went on two different fishing adventures last week. The first one, they took Rivers four wheeler up in the mountains to a small creek. On the way, they got lost, ended up hiking, finding and killing a RATTLESNAKE, and in the end, forgot their fishing licenses and came home. We weren't thrilled when we learned the details of that adventure, so the next day was a little bit more tame. We took them to a public reservoir to fish. They had a lot of fun and caught fish all day without any rattlesnake run-ins. 

Frog Legs

Cache caught a frog in Ashton the other day and proceeded to dissect it. He really wants to try frog legs, so he prepared the legs in hopes that I'd cook them. I didn't! 

 

Twin Falls

Last week, we took a quick trip to Twin Falls. I mean, quick. Less than 24 hours. And in that time, we smashed in all the fun we could. The adults went to dinner and walked around the canyon while the kids stayed home and hung out. We stayed up way too late, laughed too hard, and had so much fun. 

The following day, Scott took the older boys golfing. They really enjoyed golfing on a new course and Scott showed an amazing amount of patience with the Dalley boys since it was their first time ever going. I love that golfing is becoming a family hobby. It is so fun to share. 

Nicole and I took the younger kids for a walk around her block. She lives in the coolest neighborhood. It's older and well-established and all the people know and love each other. It took us a good hour to walk around the block because we stopped and talked to so many people. Also, everyone had neat things for the kids to do. We stopped and fed sheep, rock climbed, looked at bees, and chatted with everyone we saw. Later in the afternoon, we went to a neighbor's house and rode horses. It was fun to do something different! 

Nicole and I have been friends for 25 years. And it's so great watching the boys and our husbands develop that same kind of friendship. The kids act more like cousins than friends. The  Dalleys really are the family we choose!