He Plowed a Field!

Three days ago, Tim drove Nate to Juniper to work with my dad and brothers on the farm.  I posted this on facebook:  "Nate left this morning to go work on the farm and won't be back until the end of July. It felt a lot like the first day of first grade. Isn't it supposed to get easier as they get older?"


I'm not sure why I felt that little twinge of wanting to hold on, and stop time (anyone who's sent a child to first grade knows what I mean), but I did, and still do.  I didn't feel it when he went to other camps earlier this summer--just when he went to the farm.  I think it was the idea of him growing up so fast...wanting to stop time...wanting to hold on to the little boy with blonde curls and a huge smile.  Instead he's working--growing up and taking on adult responsibilities, and it tugged at my heart a little (still does when I think about it).

A comedy of errors has made it so we haven't talked to him since he got there until tonight.  Even tonight he was difficult to get in touch with, so I finally called my brother, Steve.  One of the first things I heard him say was that Nate had finished plowing a field...

Actually the tractor he was driving looked more like this:

My dad believes they don't make them like they used to...  And he's probably right.  So Nate's first field plowing experience was on the old Caterpillar D6.  Have you ever see how much dust gets stirred up when you're plowing a field?  I remember as a kid being amazed that the only white on my dad when he'd come in off the tractor was his teeth and the whites of his eyes.  I'm trying to picture Nate that dirty.  (Maybe I need my mom to take a picture for me.)  My point is that this tractor doesn't have a cab.  No cab + dust = super dusty day!

Tonight I also got to talk to Nate, and he called Tim also.  We're both proud of him, and the work he's doing.  I asked Nate if it was all a little overwhelming or if he was enjoying it.  Of course he's enjoying it.  I knew he would.  The farm gene that skipped a generation (me) has always been in his blood.  From the time he was little, he's been asking to work on the farm.

And I'm not kidding when I say the farm gene skipped a generation.  Ask anyone in my family.  See the above older Caterpillar D6 model?  I got that stuck while plowing a field...that's how much help I was.  (Yes, apparently a tractor with tracks can get stuck.)

It was good to hear from Nate tonight, and even though we miss his wit and presence at home, we know he's in great hands and having an incredible experience.

...But I might have to sneak in a trip to Idaho just to go visit sometime soon.  I miss my boy!  (And am still a bit amused that the boy who doesn't clean his room plowed a field.)

  

Heaven on Earth

Yesterday evening, Tim and I, along with my sister, Becky and her husband, Larry, took a walk up the mountain behind my parents home in Juniper, Idaho.  The sunset was amazing... 

Have to share...

I miss just being able to walk up the mountain.  I wish this mountain was behind my house.

(And more to come on the weekend...  My brother Joe and his family were visiting from Germany, where he is stationed in the military.)

City Kids in the Country

I'm sure we'll say more about our spring break later, but just for today...

Our children just spent a week in Juniper, Idaho on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma Campbell.  They all wish they could live there permanently.  They think we should move there.  I wish we could.  If they're ever hiring IT specialists or mental health therapists on the farm, we'd move there in a heartbeat.

The funny part of that is they worked their tails off last week!  Spring on the farm is not a picnic.  (And  yet from the time we arrived home this evening, you'd think I was torturing them to ask them to clean up after themselves...

I love that they love the farm, and we're just thankful to visit once in a while.  (...Going back next weekend to visit with my brother Joe and his family who will be there visiting from Germany.)

Adieu

Adieu...but not for long.  We're sort of on vacation for a week.  Tomorrow I drive the kids to Juniper to spend the week with my parents...

Then I drive home and Tim and I leave for (drum roll please)...

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...

(I can imagine the stunned silence.)

And did you know it's still technically tornado season?  But I checked the weather forecast and there's only a few days of thunder storms while we're there...thunder storms, not tornados.

As you all know, Tim has been traveling a lot this year.  His last trip (at least until fall) is to Oklahoma...

Turns out it's spring break...

Voila!  Vacation...  Again, sort of.  Tim and I in the same place at the same time...  That qualifies, right?

Sibling Fest

Seven out of 12 siblings in one place at one time.  Becky posted on facebook, "rare occasion."  Indeed!

I think there were 8 of us together in one place at one time last summer at a family reunion.  Maybe front porch pictures need to become a tradition every time we're together.

Parents being home and a nephew's baptism drew us all together.  

The bonus was an early birthday surprise.  When we walked in the house (after a lot of drama getting there and being an hour later than planned), everyone was there and started singing to me...they were kind enough to make candles optional!

I love my family and miss the ones who weren't there.  There are a lot of advantages to being in a large family.  As adults, one of the drawbacks is rarely being able to gather that many people in one place at one time.

Anything over 50% is automatically a sibling fest!

Gabby Meets Grandpa and Grandma

Almost exactly one year and two months after joining our family, Gabby finally met her Grandpa and Grandma Campbell (and I didn't even get a picture).

When we adopted Gabby, Grandpa and Grandma were almost one year into a two year mission for the LDS church in Orlando, Florida.  (See more about missions here.)  While they've been gone, seven grandchildren have been added to the family, and in the past several weeks they've travelled across the United States visiting their children and grandchildren.  We're the last stop before home.

On their way north, Grandpa and Grandma wanted to stop first in Cedar Fort, to visit the graves of Joie's family.  We decided to meet them there, and actually arrived about 20 minutes before they did.  Joie wanted to walk down to her old elementary school while we were waiting...the school she went to before her family died.  She and I visited the school.  ("It used to seem so big," she told me, as she remembered her time at her old school, and she told me how she got in trouble because she used to skip breakfast at home and get school breakfast...something her mom discovered when her lunch account was quickly vanishing.  "That's how I learned you have to pay for lunch," she said.)

We were walking back to the cemetery and talking about her memories of Cedar Fort when we heard a car pull up behind us and stepped off the road.  They didn't recognize us and we didn't know it was them until they passed...  Apparently Joie is a lot taller than she was last time they saw her.  So that was the place of our first reunion after two years--on the side of the road in Cedar Fort, Utah.

Gabby met them with only a wave at first, then ran off to play with a dog that had wandered over to the cemetery.  Of course she warmed up more as the evening went on, and after a few hours she couldn't stop talking.  My favorite question of the day for Grandma, "Why do old people go on missions?"  (Mom, I don't think you ever answered that one...  You were kind of caught off guard by the "old people" part of the question.)

Today they'll go to church with us, then drive 2 1/2 hours north to Juniper, Idaho and be home for the first time in 2 years.

Welcome home, Mom and Dad!  We're happy to have you here.

Sunday Sharing

My great, great grandfather is Sanford Bingham.  He is the father of Maria (pronounced Ma-ri-ah) Bingham who married Hazleton Campbell.  They are the parents of my grandfather, Sanford Campbell.

When Sanford Bingham settled in the Salt Lake Valley, he and his brother Thomas were cattle ranchers.  They ran a heard or cattle in the mountains bordering the west side of the valley.  The canyon became known as Bingham Canyon.

While herding cattle, Sanford and Thomas discovered mineral deposits in the canyon and took samples to Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet and leader at the time.  Brigham Young advised them not to engage in mining at the time, due to concerns about mining being an attraction to outsiders that would interfere with the need of the growing community to practice their religion in peace.  Sanford and Thomas heeded this counsel and later their families settled in an area north of the Salt Lake Valley.  Hazleton and Maria Campbell eventually farmed in Juniper, where I grew up and where my family still farms today.

Bingham Mine, which is now known as Kennecott Copper Mine, is one of the largest copper mines in the world, and produces 25% of our nations copper.

This afternoon we took the kids to visit Kennecott.  We've gone before, several years ago, but as I've learned more about the history of my great, great grandfather, I thought it would be fun to go there again with the kids.

Looking across the open mine several miles wide and 3/4 mile deep.

Side wall of Kennecott Copper Mine

Two cute miners

12 foot tire of the trucks used to haul the dirt containing minerals

Megan paying close attention to the sign.

Testing her strength

One of two places at the mine where we saw Sanford Bingham's name. 

This display seemed to draw a crowd.

Second name spotting

Two more cute miners

It's a real moment of introspection to be standing at the face of one of the world's largest copper mines, thinking that if history had been different, I may be the wealthy descendent of Sanford Bingham, instead of the farm girl from Idaho descendent of Sanford Bingham.  I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little part of me that wondered how my life would be different if my great, great grandfather had decided to be a miner instead of listening to the prophet.

Then in that moment I also had to imagine being raised in a family without the gospel, in a life where material possessions mattered more than following the plan of our Savior, which includes following the counsel of living prophets.

I wondered what that decision was like for Sanford Bingham.  Did he deliberate?  Did he think twice before leaving behind his discovery of rich mineral deposits for cattle farming?  When miners entered the area several years later, did he ever look back and wonder if his life could have been different?  Or did his heart yearn for the farm, and family and home like mine does when I've been away from Juniper for too long?  It's funny how you come to love what you have.

Honestly, there was still a little part of me that wished for both the gospel and wealth.  There are people who have both, right?  At the same time, I also know that I, and hundreds, maybe even thousands of descendants of Sanford Bingham, will one day meet him again and thank him for his decision to put generations of our family on a gospel path.

Then I thought of this quote:  "Never permit yourself to become a weak link in the chain of your generations."  (President Gordon B. Hinckley from "Keep the Chain Unbroken", 30 November, 1999)  

For those who gave me a strong chain of generations to belong to, I am thankful.  I know in my heart it is a treasure that wealth cannot buy.

Happy Birthday Gabby!

It's now 10:55 p.m. and it feels like at least 1:00 a.m., but there are six screaming girls running around playing "Ghost in the Graveyard."  In a few minutes I'll convince them it's time for a movie.  Hopefully they'll fall asleep.  They're funny to listen to though.  (Note:  For those who know the sleepover rule in our house, this is a cousin sleepover, not a friend sleepover.)

Gabby's plan for the perfect party was to come to Idaho and have a birthday party with cousins on the farm.

So yesterday we packed our Durango full of kids and party supplies and drove to Idaho.

This morning we made "a red heart cake."  (Thank goodness for cupcakes.)

You don't want to know what I said right before this shot...  Apparently it didn't have the effect I was going for.

Then Joie said, "If you smile, I'll give you ice cream!"  Why didn't I think of that?

Then the party...  

It was a "Chip and Dip" party.  Gabby's only food request was chips and dip (and the red heart cake).

Chips.  Check.

Bowls filled with chips

Then the "dip" part of the party...nonstop water games...

 First, Twister with a twist...

Playing on a wet mat...

Courtesy of the water brigade.  

Right hand on yellow...water in the left ear.

Then on to dribble, dribble, drench...sort of like duck, duck, goose, only the "goose" gets drenched with a wet sponge.

 Then we dried it out a little with squirt gun races...

The little cars are propelled forward by the stream of water.

The winner of each game took home a squirt gun.

Then things got interesting (and I didn't get pictures on this part).

Everyone decided it would be fun to drench the birthday girl...  

But the birthday girl is pretty smart and didn't want to be drenched, and she was just too quick for them, so she didn't get wet.

But she did get tired of running away from eight other girls and what she thought was a birthday tradition she didn't understand...

So she left to go play with the cat at her cousin's house next door.

Then our phone rang.  Did we know the birthday girl was next door?

No.

But it didn't take long after that for her cousins to find her.  By then they were all water free, and the idea of drenching the birthday girl was forgotten...

And the party resumed later around mini pizzas...

Those red ones in the middle are sauce only pizzas.  Gabby's own choice because "I don't like meat or cheese."

Seriously?  She said she wanted pizza.

And I have photographic proof that she eats pizza, even the toppings:

But not today.  Today she consumed no fewer than three sauce only pizzas.

And a lot of chips.  

And cupcakes.

And presents.  We can't forget the presents.

And now it's 12:01 a.m. and they're watching Ramona and Beezus and there are partially consumed bowls of popcorn and a nearly empty package of Oreo cookies on the countertop.  

Awesome day.  

All day I kept watching Gabby celebrating her first birthday in our family, at her first birthday party, and feeling thankful again for the firsts.  

Especially I'm thankful for Gabby.  I'm amazed daily that I get to know her and listen to her speak and reason, and that I get to see her kind heart in action every day.

I love this girl, and can't imagine our lives without her.

Twenty-five more sleeps until adoption finalization...  Wait.  Does going to sleep after midnight count?

And zero more sleeps until her birthday, because it is now officially July 16th!  In about 7 hours we'll eat pancakes, then pack up and drive home, unload the car, and I'll go get her real birthday present from my office (where it is safely hidden) and I'm sure the evening will involve Indian food, and an Indian restaurant with the whole family (because right now we're also missing Tim, who was working today).  

Oh, Say Can You See...And Other Patriotic Lyrics that Describe our 4th of July

Oh, say can you see what tremendous amounts of fun we had over the 4th of July weekend?  (Yeah...a week later and I'm getting around to posting about it.)

We went to Juniper, Idaho for the weekend.  (Except for Jeran, who went to scout camp again.)

Juniper.  This is my country!  Land of my birth!  (Not really.  I wasn't actually born in Juniper, but I did live there from before I was a year old until I graduated from high school.)  I'm still proud to say Juniper is a part of me and I'm a part of Juniper.

But back to the incredible weekend.

Spray painting t-shirts.

And if you say spray paint instead of tie-dye, teen boys get into the fun.

With the size of my family, there's bound to be beautiful tiny pilgrim's feet running around everywhere...so, so many cousins.  Twenty-three (in attendance) to be exact.  That's forty-six perfect sets of toes.  Oh, beautiful for pilgrim's feet...

This girl is a baby charmer.  Every time I turned around she had a baby in her arms.  And she was so sweet with them.  They love her!

And Megan was pretty good at entertaining the younger crowd...

No one but them understood the game, but it looks like they're having fun

Lots of fun...

And then there are these two (Nate and Braden), who aren't so tiny any more, and they're definitely, definitely up to something...

The younger crowd ready ride on the back of the truck

Except these two (Nate and Braden) who preferred the independence of the 4 wheeler.

Yes, we're thankful for all those tiny (some kind of getting bigger) feet.

There were also rides on River

And later there were bombs bursting in air (the water powered bottle rocket type), but we didn't catch that on camera.

And lots of dawn's early light moments and memories made far, far beyond twilight's last gleaming...most of which also weren't captured on camera.

The dawn's early light moments included the kids being able to do early morning chores at a neighboring dairy farm.  One of their cousins, Dani, gets paid to feed cows there morning and night, and the cousins love to help when they're visiting.  (Dani's sure they might not love it as much if they did it every day.)  We're just glad she lets them help.  They love it!  (And we thank the farm families are patient with our city kids.)

One of Gabby's favorite moments of the weekend was (and still is) feeding the baby calves.

My cute nephew, Edward getting to know the baby calves

Awwwwww....

At dairy farms, calves are separated from their moms at birth and given bottled milk so their mothers can provide milk for the dairy.  Since we've been home, when Gabby says her bedtime prayers, she prays for the baby calves, that they will be ok since they can't have their moms.  Hearing her talk about feeding the calves makes me realize how important it is for her to have those nurturing experiences...just one more reason I'm thankful to have roots in Juniper.  Those kinds of opportunities are endless there.

But back to the weekend...

There were beautiful spacious skies filled with stars, sunshine, clouds, sunrises, sunsets, and rain...

And when the rain hit, we were up in the mountains...

Did you know camp chairs can also double as umbrellas?

My view from inside the nice, dry car.  (I was helping Gabby hold a baby at the time...a good excuse that always works in a pinch.)

Certainly we saw our share of purple mountains majesty, which were actually green up close...greener on this very cool, wet year than I've ever seen in my life.  It was beautiful.

And while I was sitting in my camp chair still taking it easy from surgery a few weeks ago, many others got to go enjoy hiking the majestic mountains.  Gabby has hiked twice now.  Once in the Utah mountains before my surgery, and again this trip.  She might just be addicted to hiking.  I hope.  It's one of my favorite things to do.

The hikers.  Over hill, over dale, we have hit the dusty trail 

(but no caissons were rolling along).

Gabby is in the blue sweatshirt in the middle of the pack.  Joie is just to the right of her in the denim jacket.

Others hung out around the campfire during the hike.  Watching socks burn dry seemed to be the activity of choice.

That would be my nerdy feet because all I brought was flip flops, but I did find some socks in the car to keep my toes warm.

Nate was just amused by it all.

And Tim, who had just worked a midnight shift, took advantage of a quiet moment to just snooze a bit.

There were also rides on the most amazing swing on the planet...

Off we go, into the wild, blue yonder, climbing high, into the sun...

Here they come, zooming to meet our thunder... 

(Yeah...better when the Air Force sings it.)

Did I say there was a lot of food?

Dutch oven style

Campfire eclairs

Seriously.  Eclairs over the campfire.  Try it.  There were even s'mores.

It happened to be way past twilight's last gleaming when we left the canyon...but there was that pesky flat tire on our way home.  We'd been driving slow on rocky dirt roads and as soon as we pulled onto the pavement we realized we'd been driving on a rim.  Yes.  Another flat tire.  Sadly, our vehicle was the designated baby vehicle, so while Tim and several of my brothers were changing a flat tire, three of us sat in the car holding sleeping babies...because by that time it was beyond late.  

Too late for fireworks (that Gabby so, so wanted because she hadn't done fireworks before, but that would wait for the the next day.)

It was an almost perfect way to spend the 4th of July.  All weekend we all kept thinking about those of the family who weren't there.  Nine out of 12 of my siblings were represented at some point in the weekend, which wasn't bad.  And even though my parents are away for a while, they were sort of represented because we all crashed in their house.  (And Dad, you might recognize a few of your shirts in the pictures.  Thanks!  They kept us warm!)  But we all kept thinking of that one thing that would have made this 4th of July perfect.

My brother was to have returned to Germany from Afghanistan the day before (when it would have been the 4th of July in Germany), but his flight was delayed.  Bummer.

We all kept waiting to hear...

Then this facebook post from his wife:  

"He's home."  

Those words were the perfect end to our 4th of July weekend.  Joe was back on friendly soil.  

Oh beautiful for heros proved in liberating strife.  

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life...

Welcome home Joe!  Can't wait to see you in person.

We're looking forward to spending more time in Juniper this summer...less than a week and counting to Gabby's birthday party at the farm.

And on Monday Tim is off to the cabin with the kids (while I work).

It seems like we may be getting back to summer again after that 

S-L-O-W period.

You can't ever have enough summer.

Partial lyrics from:  

America the Beautiful

Star Spangled Banner

The US Army Song

Air Force Song

and This is My Country!

Photos provided by all the many people (myself included) who were holding my camera over the weekend, and photos from Beth and Trevor and Becky.  Also the photo of Joe and his family was shamelessly borrowed from facebook...pretty sure Tawny didn't take it because she's in it, but thanks to whoever captured that amazing moment for their family.