Life in a Nutshell

Where did life go? I suppose blogging has not been a priority of mine. So many things have changed, I couldn't even begin to list them all.  

Calvin is 12

Dan and Ellie

Marian and Dan now have 6 beautiful children
Susanna is 9, James just turned 7 and Nathan and Eleanor are 4.

Then there is Danny at 7 months.

Gray

Then we have Darin and Sydney.  They are back in Atlanta plugging away at life.  I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but Sydney is great at posting pictures of those two cuties they have.

 

Molly and George

Sara and Harry

Sara and Harry are now in Winston-Salem N.C,  They have a new addition to their family, George Phillip Kreider.  Sara has her hands full as Harry completes his residency.

Jessica and Allen have been married for almost 1 year.  They are living the life of young marrieds in Charlotte. They're always on the move, loving life.

Last but not least, Steven.  He is serving a mission in Villahermosa, Mexico.  We will come home to an anxiously waiting family around September 14th.  We can't wait to debrief him on his experience in Mexico.

If you haven't realized it yet, that makes Dan and I empty nesters.  Its a new concept for us that I have mixed feelings about. We are still very busy.  Our ranch has expanded to chickens, turkeys, pigs and the alpaca's.  In the spring we are looking at goats. 

So you can see why the name Bountiful Acres, as our lives are blessed in bounty in so many ways. I love rising early in the morning and walking outside and feeling the peace and contentment as I work.  Its a great life!

Many of you know that we acquired some alpaca in the early fall. I'm just getting around to writing about it. Let me be clear on the fact we are now ranchers, not farmers.  Rancher Dan informed me that when you raise livestock you are a rancher. Ranching sounds good so our little homestead is now Bountiful Acres Ranch.  We have eleven in all 5 boys, 6 girls and each comes with their own personalities.  As the months have gone by we have learned alot about them.  They have thier own pecking order and you can't but love the underdogs, that would be Harley and Irene. Right now they are anxiously waiting for the grass to grow but mother nature has been a little difficult this year. So they get to munch hay.  I would imagine that is like me wanting Creme Brule' and getting vanilla pudding instead. 

Irene, Tabitha, Tina, Maggie and Elizabeth are all expecting.  We will see two babie around Halloween and the other around Christmas.  11 month of waiting.  So while we wait we watch a lot of YouTube video's on birthing since we are novices at this whole thing. The whole idea of donning a arm length glove and assisting the animal is a little much right now, but I'm hoping when I'm in the heat of the moment I won't care 

Our adventures with our animals will prove to be interesting and entertaining as we have learned thus far.  We have been spit on, kicked and nuzzled, and we love every minute of it.

Service at its Best

Jessica and ladies from CarePackMom.com at Temple Square
 

So Jessica received a package last night from two wonderful people from CarePackMom.com.  They offered to deliver some little goodies; hug/kisses, starbursts, chocolate milk and monkey bread to my darling sister missionary.  They usually only deliver to BYU and MTC, but they drove 1 hour out of their way to take this to our missionary. On top of that I told them to just leave it at a desk because it can get really hard to find her.  But they took the time too find her, chat with her and take this picture.  Then they called me while they were there and told me the package had been delivered right to her.  I can't thank them enough.  Its so heart warming to know that there are still people willing to serve, even people they don't know and do it so well.  I was full of awe and emotions after their call.  So, if you ever have a need to for goodies to be sent to your child in Utah Valley, the ladies at CarePackMom.com are amazing, and caring!

Trek 2012

This has been a week of relaxing and catching up.  I've been to Vermont with Dan and Steven, Utah with Marian, and Virginia for Jessica's college graduation.  Then I when to Durham for my nephews wedding, sent Jessica off on her mission and last week finished my three month marathon with Trek 2012.  So I have been sleeping and nursing my chiggers this week. 

The Trek with the Hickory and Gastonia Stake was amazing. Of course I had 5 neices/nephews there as well as Steven. We went to Anit-Alta Horse Trails up above Lenoir NC. The landscape was beautiful, but the tempatures hovered around 100 for the 2 1/2 days we were there.

The kids that made up the "George" family were amazing.  Each one contributed greatly to our overall success.  The girls were incredible on the women's pull the end of the first day.

You can see video footage by going to the following link.  Only part 1 and 2 have been posted thus far which is still only half of the first day.

http://www.fuzzypigproductions.com/2012/07/01/gastonia-hickory-2012-pioneer-trek-part-1/#comments

Labor Day Weekend

North Carolina has some super hiking trail. South Mountain is practically in our backyard. The early birds, Dan, me, Steven, Marian, Danny, the grandkids and Nick, Danny's nephew, hit the trails early Saturday morning. We hiked the .7 miles into the falls. Doesn't seem like far or much but they don't tell you that its up and that is almost straight up! After some rocky terrain you climb countless stairs to reach just the first fall which is the biggest. Then more stairs to reach the ponds and more falls at the top. There were lots of photographers from some club in Charlotte taking pictures.

We brought our poles to go fishing but the river below was rather shallow with no fish. So I suggested we go up the road (southern lingo meaning between 0 and?) to Morganton and fish on a river I had seen up there. Well, it was crowded when we got there. Danny saw a sign for Linville Gorge so we went up the road a piece ( southern lingo again between 3-10 miles) because Danny had never been there. We eneded up hiking to the falls at Linville, still no place to fish. We hopped on the infamous Blue Ridge Parkway, which I have never been on and found a place on the Linville River to fish.

Nick kept falling down in the river as he fished. The more I laughed the madder he got. Steven laughed even harder. We caught 2 fish that were not even big enough to get a bite off. I think Nick scared all the big ones off. So we hung out there for a while then headed off on the Parkway. It was really neat. I heard that in the fall when the leaves change the Parkway is full of tourist admiring the colors. I might just try to go back. We drove the Parway till Blowing Rock then head south back to home. We were just plum, tuckered out.

Sunday evening we recieved a call inviting us to go hiking at Stone Mountain up by the Virginia border. So off we went with a group of families from the ward. The hike was amazing and even more amazing were the number of deer we saw as we were leaving the park. Not just one or two but herds of them. There were some people that pulled off the road and and bread they were tossing to the dear. What were they thinking! I don't think they have seen the clip on that show where wild animals attack bystanders. There was even one I watched where a deer attacked a man taking a close up picture. Well there those people were tossing bread to deer, and some had antlers, with their kids and not realizing they could be in some serious danger. I didn't see any reports on the news later so I guess it all turned out all right.

We drove have and crashed on our beds. What a weekend but oh how fun and beautiful.

Summers over and its hard to believe. Here is a recap of our summer.

June
Steven had youth conference and basketball camp and visited Darin and Sydney for a week at the beach. Dan and I pretty much worked. We planted a garden and worked in the yard. Things were pretty quiet.

July
This month was all but crazy. I started a new job at the Charter Schools Denver Campus. It is now a 40 minute drive versus a 5 minute drive. We are hoping to move closer to Denver sometime next year. Steven and Dan went on a amazing high adventure outing with the scout troop to Lake Fontaine. They were gone for a week. Jessica and I were home alone. Steven was home for a day then left for scout camp. Jessica worked and watched T.V.

August
Steven started drivers education the first week and Jessica and I drove Sara and Harry to Vermont. I drove the 17' truck with Sara's car on the back. We experienced the New Jersery Turnpike during rush hour and a ride on a ferry across Lake Camplain. Vermont was beautiful. We visisted Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream plant and Joseph Smith's birth place in Sharon VT. We help unpack the Kreiders to the best of our ability. Harry's parents came and were very gracious. They took us to a fabulous dinner and took us shopping in a historic district. We flew home which was an adventure in and of itself.
Airplane Ride
Our flight was bumped from 3:20pm to 5:00pm and our lay over was changed to be in New York City's LaGuardia Airport. Our flight didn't leave there till 10pm. We flew in puddle jumpers both legs of the journey which was an experience for both of us. Jessica got a little sick on her stomach flying into NY because of the turbulences we experienced. It was another great adventure for me. I didn't like flying into Charlotte at 11:30 but we made it safely and all was good. I'll miss my kids but I can always visit again.
For our anniversay Dan and I went to Willow Creek Inn (see Sara's Blog) and had an amazing dinner by Mansour. It was a 5 course meal and I could barely walk when we were done. I wished I had left overs the next morning but there were none. There were 14 of us in all that went and it was fun!
School started back August 17th with Steven in 9th grade and waiting for October 7th so he can get his learners permit. Steven tried out for HS soccer and made alternate. He will be able to practice with the team but not play in the games. We thought that was pretty good for being a freshman.
Jessica goes back to SVU on Monday. She just had her wisdom teeth removed and that was pretty funny.
That brings us up to date and I am running out of time. So many things to do.

It's Summer!

Not much going on. Schools out! Yeah! My garden looks like the lawn due to all the rain. I haven't started on any of my house remodeling project but I did bottle some lucious strawberry jam! Hope to see some great movies and do a lot of hiking. I already have a really bad patch of poisen something (sumac, oak, ivy they all are terrible). I look like I should be in a leper colony. Kinda of sick to look at, though I have not itched it at all. I also had my first chigger for the summer. I won't tell you where that was located. I guess with beauty comes the bugs.

Learning to Play Again

We had snow this week, a lot! Steven was so excited. Starting Sunday night Dan and Steven were out in the snow. It was so beautiful. Monday morning brought about 9" at our house. I was content to stay inside, bake, clean or watch a movie. Steven on the other hand had a different idea. He was outside as soon as the sun was up. Not sure what he was doing but I was sure he was having a good time. I on the other hand decided I wanted to grocery shopping. I love to drive in the snow. After taking a hour to unfreeze the doors and clear the snow I was on my merry way. Steven declined to come, he was happy in his winter wonderland. No one was at Wal-mart so I completed my shopping in record time. As I was finishing checking out it occurred to me that I had to money, checks or cards to pay with. You know that look you get when people tell that to the cashier, it was etched well in my mind as I said goodbye to the greeter and made the 20 minute drive home. What was normally a 8 minute drive took 20. I did marvel at the beauty of the country side,as I crawled along. I returned, humbly purchased by groceries and returned home. Thinking I could kick my feet up and enjoy a stocked kitchen and a warm cup of pero I proceeded to put on my fuzzy slippers. When to my dismay, Steven, yet again came in covered from head to toe in snow. He begged me to come outside with him. I relented and I'm glad I did. We had a great time. He took me down through the woods and up through the pastures, the whole time trying to pelt me with snowballs. I tackled him, he tackled me. I got wet, nasty and cold, but I really didn't notice because I was having fun. I was playing! We built snowmen, and destroyed them. We tried to slide down the hill. We had a great time. Over the next two days we played a lot. It was fun. When asked what I did for my two days off, I answer, " I played in the snow with my son and loved every minute." They think I'm crazy. Oh well.

Its really amazing how things come about. I'm not one to sing in public but last night I sang at a memorial for a young women in my Sunday school class and her friend. They were killed in a car accident on Sunday. Interestingly enough, a year ago I was asked to sing a song for the stake Relief Society as part of the presentation they give at ward conferences. There are 9 units in our stake and I sang the song 'Whole Again' by Sally Deford at every units Relief Society but one. Needless to say, I wouldn't say I got really good at it . I just learned how to control my emotions when I sing and focus on the dynamics. I have noticed a difference in my voice. I still wouldn't call myself a great singer. Back to the story. The year ended and I thought I would retire. Well, last week I was asked to sing it in our Sacrament Meeting. Little more nerve racking but from the compliments I received I guess it was all right. As I said the accident happened Sunday afternoon. Within the next day I had a feeling I would sing at the funeral. I dismissed that thought right away. There was no way I could do that. Then I recieved a phone call that I might be asked to sing the song 'Whole Again'. Apparently, the father of the young women was very moved by it when I sang it in Sacrament Meeting. It was but minutes later Dan called me. He seemed emotional. Concerned, I asked what was the matter. The father had called him and asked if I would sing the song for the memorial service. His wife had not heard it since she was not there that Sunday, but he thought it expressed alot of how they were feeling. Wow! At that point I felt very overwhelmed and humbled. Yes, was the only thing I could say. It seemed my mind was opened at that point, to the fact that I had prepared for a year for this moment. The Lord's hand was in this situation. Dan gave me a blessing before we left for the memorial. I was nervous but yet at the same time very calm. All I wanted to do was serve the family in the best way I could with the opportunity I had been given. Not only did I sing a solo but I also sang a duet 'If the Savior Stood Beside Me', with Brother Hall, and played the prelude music for the last half of an hour before the memorial started. The duet was first. I was shaking as I began the song. Brother Hall gave helped me out of it and it ended up being great. When it came time to sing the solo my heart was about to leap out of me. I kept thinking of the blessing I had received. I looked out at the huge crowd. Hundreds of people. I placed my music on the pulpit. I waited. Couple of deep breaths, a plea for assistance. Right then the music caught some air and I had to hold it down. At that moment I knew I was not alone in this. Dan said I sang more sure, confident and commading than I ever have. It was humbling. I knew as I finished that I, with my help, had accomplished that which was desired. I am just thankful that I was able to serve the family in the capacity I could. I'm grateful for those who felt the spirit of the moment and the song. It was an experience I will forever be grateful for and I know that the Lord is mindful of all things and that he sees yesterday, today, and forever. I know the Lord prepares a way for us to accomplish that which we are given.

Call it what you may but here I am, blogging. Maybe this will be an outline for Dan and I or maybe a place where we can keep in touch with our children who seem to be setting out on their own faster than we ever thought possible.



Dan and I had a frustrating day. We traveled to Newton-Conover for a ward conference to find out that was necessary. Came home and went again for another meeting which was in and of its self frustrating. Came home again wanting to have a pity party but friends and family arrived for the evening. Things got better asI laughed my head off as we played a game with Sara and Harry, Marian, Steven and Dan. A laugh is good medicine. I don't laugh enough. I want this blog to be a happy place. We hope we can accomplish that, but we understand life has its ups and down and who better to help you see the good in your life than family. We love our kids and hope they share with us and each other.