A McCall Gettaway

A wonderful reprieve came in the form of a trip to McCall where the kids and I would meet my parents.   After I had gotten our crew there in one piece, I realized that my parents had taken care of the planning and organizing of all of our meals and activities for the week. There is no greater gift to an overburdened mama! 

My dad further sealed a place in my heart forever by quietly taking the older 3 out on crack-of-dawn adventures so that the rest of us could sleep in. Sleeping in. The very definition of vacation. (Of course, my idea of "sleeping in" - 8am - has changed drastically in the last decade. By about 3 or 4 hours. *sigh*)

I'd like to title this picture "Kumbaya Kohen"

One morning my parents pulled out the cool bug catching kits they brought the kids and went on a bug hunt. I could hear squeals and a scream or two from clear down the road. Surprisingly though, there wasn't much in the way of creepy crawlers.

I told the kids they'd surely have much better luck at home in Taiwan searching for bugs. You may not even have to go outside.... and unfortunately, you're gonna need a bigger container. For reals.

Uncle Justin made the long drive over from BYUI and it was so great to see him. The children were all excited to have grandpa and Justin to climb all over and wrestle with.

There is a distinct but important difference between "milk ice" (which you find camouflaged under the guise of 'ice cream' in Taiwan) and good old fashioned ICE CREAM! God. bless. America.

I love this picture of Justin studying with Scarlett in his arm. Check out her little crossed feet. LOVE.

Painting rocks and ceramics with "Pixie" and Papa John.

My children were soooo excited to go ice skating in the middle of summer. Having received a concussion 2 years ago during a Mutual activity that Nathan and I took our youth on (I was even wearing a bit too big helmet at the time), I was a little nervous to get back on the ice. It's just so, hard. My quad of skaters were not, however, nervous at all.

I kept my skating speed to about .05 mph and mostly stayed within reach of the wall. Aly and Kohen needed a lot of help initially but were inching along pretty good by the end. Justin and I stayed close to help the wall flowers. Kennedy went skating once before and between that and her roller blades, she did awesome! I was so impressed with her. And my dad.

For an old guy, he's still got skillz ;) Ander didn't want skates on but once my dad scooped him up and zoomed around the rink with him, Ander couldn't get enough. He skated around in his shoes in between rides with grandpa. The kids ended up lasting way longer than I would have guessed. I pooped out before they did.

My dad braved fishing one morning with the older 3. They all caught fish and they were all beyond excited about it. I was so happy they got to go!

Back at the cabin my dad obliged Kohen and was teaching him how to gut a fish. Throughout the hands-on experience I kept hearing this small spitting noise. Over and over. Finally I realized it was Kohen, who kept spitting because the task was "just so gross!" Even after when I sent him into the shower I could still hear him spitting, over and over. Too funny. 

We've got a live one!

I'm framing this. 

Like immediately.

On the weekend Uncle Shayn, Aunt Ashley and Aunt Natalie came up. We headed to the "beach" down at McCall lake and spent the afternoon enjoying watching the children run around.

My mom generously offered to stay with a sleeping Scarlett for most of the afternoon. But we did eventually go back and get them to join in the fun. The whole week my mom was always offering to take the babies or let me go do activities, I was so grateful for her!

No I swear, ignore Ander's face. We were having fun.

After the beach we headed over to a pool we had access to and let the kids swim (and by swim I mean, hopefully get the sand out of cracks so I don't have to tend to it).

We ate tons of delicious food and laughed and visited and enjoyed each others company.

McCall surprised me and ended up being the best week of our trip this summer. Could have only been better if Nathan could've been there. Thanks mom and dad, for making the trip doable for me and so fun for all of us!
xoxo

Weeks without Nathan

I've been trying to find the right words to describe how I felt during this summer when we went home. Nathan and I finally decided on this: the highs were high but the lows were pretty low. 

It was also the first time when I had all 5 children at home and I was doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. by myself -but most notably, without Nathan- for 5 weeks.   

I felt in this strange in between place where I wasn't at home in Taiwan with neighbors and friends but I also am not a part of any real network in Idaho anymore, either. It was hard.
We were privileged to be able to stay in Bonnie and Norm's lovely home while they are in the final stretch of their mission in Seattle. I enjoyed learning a bit about keeping up the pool and we all enjoyed using it.
Did the neighbors enjoy hearing my children squabble play and watch Ander strip down and run naked through the front yard sprinklers at 8am? Maybe not so much. But we did our best.
Our friends from Taiwan were in the area and came over one afternoon to swim. It's always so nice to be able to have a conversation with someone who understands the realities of expat living, (i.e: shopping for enough clothes for a year for 5 children, guessing how much they will grow by the spring, paying full price for clothes that you know will go on sale two days after you leave, seeming to spend so much time and money and having so little to show for it, and on and on). But griping is just one of many reasons it is always fun to see Taiwan friends in the U.S. :)

Looking back I realize I didn't get out that much in the weeks before Nathan arrived. I did get to go out with my SILs for a lunch here or there, I always love gabbing with them SO much, they are intelligent, funny and are all awesome mothers, wives and friends. 

Another night I went out with both of my sisters for Ashley's birthday. It was so much fun for me, I love any chance I have to hang out with these girls. 

(***Is this a good time to put in a plug that most of the times I went out, one of my awesome nieces would be babysitting my kids? I am so blessed with amazing young women growing up in this family! I love them dearly!)

As July was getting going Bonnie's father, Joseph Glen Cheney passed away. Bonnie and Norm came home from their mission for about a week to be with family and to arrange his funeral services. The byproduct of this was that my children were able to see and spend some time with Gma and Gpa Jensen, and at 11 months old, Scarlett was finally able to meet her grandparents.

 It was a highlight for me that my kids were able to have time with grandpa, doing projects, riding bikes, working a bit in the yard and swimming.

 Bonnie had less free time, of course, but she made great use of what time she did have. Her grandchildren just gravitate to her and want to be around her, I love it.

Joe's funeral services were beautiful. I loved hearing more about his life. I sat in this room full of people, his family and friends, and I thought about how grateful I was for this man. Without him and the choices he made throughout his life, my husband wouldn't be here and he certainly wouldn't be the man he is today. I felt gratitude, and a great sense of pride to be a part of such a good group of people.

Scarlett's Swim

I remember the first time I saw a video of a baby who had had ISR lessons. I had massive anxiety the whole time I watched it. It doesn't look natural and your parental rescue instincts are kicked into high gear. Ander was older when he started lessons so it was less distressing. And this year Ander was even more confident and completely took off. He learned the Swim-float-swim technique that enables him to breathe before continuing on swimming. This video shows a few of his skills, the flip at the end is my favorite, it shows how he completely loved his lessons, and never wanted to get out of the pool at the end. 

He is a total fish in the pool now. He's swimming, jumping in, going down the slide on his own, diving down to retrieve things, and generally trying to grow gills by spending so much time in the water. Even still, Nathan and I stay close by in case he does something like knock himself out jumping in too close to the edge.
Speaking of, Ander accidentally fell in the pool the other night when no one was swimming and we all got to see if he would actually do what he has been taught. It was a nervous and long 10 seconds for me watching Ander flail around until the shock wore off and he realized he had the skills to help himself and he swam to the side. If you are wondering how deep his emotional scar will be- he spent the next hour jumping in and swimming around the pool.

This year Scarlett started ISR's self rescue lessons. I was suddenly witnessing my own little 10 month old being taught to roll to a float no matter how she may fall or be set in the water. It took several weeks before she would go through a lesson without fussing through at least part of it. It is hard but important work she has been doing. Dotty had Scarlett floating on her own by the second lesson. Dotty's amazing. The program is amazing. In this short video Scarlett is wearing clothes and a diaper to simulate accidentally falling in water, as she would likely be in clothes. She does great even being weighed down. I'm so grateful for these lessons and the survival skills these babes have learned.

If you want to learn more about Infant Swim Resource you can click here to learn more about their programs and "Not one more child drowns" Mission.