Our Favorite Hero

Last week was Father's Day and I have been thinking a lot about the wonderful father my kids have been blessed with.  Louis does so much for all of us, without thinking of himself.  He is endlessly serving us.  He is patient, he is smart, he is kind, he is strong, he is fun, he is silly, he is Christlike, he is selfless, and so much more. 

Glamping

Last year we started the tradition of going on a mini vacation in the summer, something just overnight and within a few hours from us.  Our original plan for this summer was to go to Logan, Utah and do some of the things we enjoyed when we lived there.  Under the circumstances of this year though we had to come up with something else.  For a while I was thinking we wouldn't be able to do a mini vacation at all!  With COVID-19 and with being due with a baby later in the summer it wasn't looking likely.  In May my friend Kristy was telling me about their upcoming trip "glamping" in Bear Lake.  Glamping is glamorous camping, glamorous+camping=glamping!  Real beds, electricity, and a flushing toilet right in your tent, that's my kind of camping!  Even better, the company was running a 50% off deal for May and June.  I talked it over with Louis and we decided to go forward with it.
Like last year we kept the destination and activities a complete surprise for the kids, they saw on the calendar that we were going on a mini vacation in June, but didn't know anything else!  We headed out on a Sunday afternoon playing some car games until we came up to Bear Lake and the kids knew where we were.  Most of them anyway, Wyatt was convinced we were at the ocean.  We pulled into the glampground, Conestoga Ranch and the kids were so excited to see the wagons, tee pees, and giant tents and wondered which one we would be staying in!  I went into the lodge to get us checked in and they sent out a golf cart to take me back to our car and load us and all of our things up to take us to our tent.  I think riding in the golf cart was one of the highlights for some of our kids.

We got our things situated in the tent and then Louis and the kids went on a walk to explore the campground(or should I say glampground?).  When they got back we had our fire started by the staff and roasted some hot dogs for dinner.  After dinner we played some games that we had brought along before roasting s'mores.  The s'more supplies are provided by the Ranch.

After the s'mores were eaten the kids got ready for bed, Logan and Wyatt got laid down for the night, and the older three kids gathered on our bed to watch a movie on the laptop.  During the movie Louis and I sat by the fire and watched the sky change colors as the sun set.  It was getting chilly out so Louis walked down the the lodge and got us some hot chocolate.  It was a nice hour alone together.  When the movie was done we had the kids come outside to sit by the fire until we saw the first star come out.  We found the first star around 10:00, made our wishes on it headed inside to go to bed.

Louis and I stayed up past midnight playing card games, I wish we hadn't because we ended up having a rough night with some of the kids!  Logan woke up sometime before we went to bed, but thankfully went back to sleep on his own after a while.  Around 2:30 Mary woke up to go to the bathroom and said her stomach was hurting.  I gave her a TUM  (more of a placebo really) and sent her back to bed.  Then at 3:30 Wyatt woke up and was not going back to sleep.  Louis ended up bringing him into bed with us.  This is when I moved to one of the twin beds for the rest of the night.  At some point in the early morning Ethan woke up, he is our earliest riser at home, I told him it was not time to get up and to go back to bed.  Thankfully he actually did go back to sleep.  Then Mary was up again, she went to the bathroom and got into bed with Louis and Wyatt.  Avery was the only one who actually slept all night.

That morning we ate breakfast, got ready for the day, packed up, and headed back to our car on the golf cart.  We drove to the viewpoint that is up Logan Canyon a little ways and read about Bear Lake and enjoyed the view for a bit.  Then we went to drive go carts!  I had seen it on our way to the glampground and thought the kids would have a blast trying it!  Louis drove with Wyatt, Avery drove with Ethan, and Mary got to have one to herself.  Avery and Mary started out going so slowly, thankfully it was just them and one other Dad with his son on the track.  After a couple laps Avery sped up a little bit as she figured it out a bit and got more comfortable.  Mary on the other hand was so slow the entire time!  It was definitely a highlight of our mini vacation!

Even with the rough night, it was a wonderful getaway as a family.

We all enjoyed ourselves and made memories to last for years!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I was able to sleep in a bit today and woke up to breakfast (toast with cookie butter) made by the kids!  I think it is one of Avery and Mary's favorite things to do.  Avery had cut out tiny arrows and taped them on the walls leading me to the present she made for me, so after breakfast she helped me follow the arrows to my gift.  We did our home church, then got ready to have my Mom, Dad, sister, and niece over for lunch.  Louis made grilled salmon and bratwurst, we also had pasta salad, cantaloupe, chips, and a few desserts.  It was a really nice afternoon having a few family members over.  Late this afternoon I was able to take a bath while Louis folded laundry (something I have been terrible at keeping up with lately) and made dinner.  We ended the night with Avery teaching a little lesson on Moms, she had everyone go around and say something I'm good at which was sweet!  Ethan thinks I'm very good at turning on video games for him to play.  

I always hoped motherhood would be a part of my journey here on earth.  I tried to prepare myself for that role throughout my life.  I babysat, I took several classes (that I loved!) in junior high and high school that taught me different homemaking skills and taught me about the development of children, I worked in a day care, I was a nanny for a year, and I loved on my nieces and nephews!  Nothing can really prepare you for this role though!  There are things I feel I do well as a mother and things I feel I struggle with.  I'm good at organizing and scheduling.  I'm good at teaching my children.  I'm a good cook and am good at meal planning.  I like to think I'm really good with newborns.  I struggle with patience.  I'm not good at keeping up with cleaning my home, it's almost always tidy, but not cleaned.  I'm bad at remembering to take one on one time with my kids.  And Avery says I'm not so good at letting them stay up late!

I still have a lot to learn and a lot to work on, my kids are helping me with that every day.  Throughout the last 9 1/2 years of motherhood, I've been so grateful for these little ones that call me Mom.  I'm so grateful for all they bring into our home.  Avery is fun and helpful.  Mary is thoughtful and sweet.  Ethan is funny and has the best laugh!  Wyatt is curious and smart.  Logan is smiley and sweet.  I'm so grateful I get to be the one to care for, love, and teach them.  It's hard, but it's worth it all.  I look forward to next Mother's Day when all of our children will be here with us earth side!

Easter 2020

The day before Easter we were supposed to be in Ephraim at the Pugmire's house for an Easter egg hunt.  With the current COVID 19 pandemic, that was cancelled.  You can't have social gatherings of more than 10 people and the Brandleys are slightly more than 10 people.  That night we were surprised with a phone call from Tifannee, they had set up a social distanced Easter egg hunt in the front yard for our kids!  Nana, Papa, Kami, Tif, and Kaileb stayed in the van while our kids ran around collecting their eggs.  It was a sweet surprise for all of us!

On Easter Sunday we stayed home pretty much all day, the only time we left was to drop off an Easter surprise at my parent's house.  We started our day doing a 12 eggs of Easter lesson led by Louis, he had hid the 12 eggs around our living room and the kids took turns finding an egg and reading apart of the Easter story inside.  After we did that we ate breakfast followed by searching for Easter baskets.  Last year Louis made a rule that if you need a clue to find your basket that it would cost you one piece of candy per clue once you found it!  Both Avery and Mary needed a clue this year and Mary needed some extra help finding her basket even after her clue.  We had hid it in the laundry room in a hamper full of clean clothes!
We had two different Zoom sessions that day, in the morning we got on with my family to do a testimony meeting including the testimonies from all of the returned missionaries in the family.  In the afternoon we had a meeting with Louis' family doing a little primary lesson.  The kids loved being able to virtually see cousins and aunts and uncles that they hadn't seen in weeks.
That night we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared entirely by me, usually Louis does most of the cooking for holidays.  I made ham, yummy potatoes (funeral potatoes), rolls, and roasted broccoli.  We had a wonderfully simple day together.  I am so grateful for our Savior and that because of Him I get to be with my sweet family forever.

Lehi Mini Vacation

A few weeks ago Louis and I were talking about the idea of doing some sort of local overnight vacation as a family.  We decided to go to Lehi, UT and go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity! 
We started out the day by stopping at a park and playing after a long two hours in the car.

Logan got to have his first ride in a swing and he enjoyed it!

After the park we headed to the museum, and had a quick picnic on the lawn before heading in.

We spent over three hours at the museum and I didn't take a single picture!  We were having too much fun!  I was uncertain if we should spend the money to go to the museum, I hate that parents have to pay to go in when it is a place clearly for children.  It ended up being worth it though, the kids all had so much fun!  We would definitely go back again.

This is after the museum, can you tell the kids were worn out?

After the museum we went and walked around Cabela's then got Chick-Fil-A to bring back to the hotel.  After eating we went swimming!  It was my favorite part of the whole weekend.  We had the whole pool to ourselves for an hour and it was a blast! 

At the end of the night when all of the kids were in bed Louis and I enjoyed some hot chocolate.  It's a tradition of ours to drink hot chocolate every time we stay at a hotel.

Sunday morning we decided to surprise Louis' brother's family at church.  We went to church with them and spent a few hours at their house afterwards.

This is Lydia and Logan, they are just over 2 months apart.

I think the most fun thing about the trip was that we kept everything a surprise from the kids!  In the morning we just said we were going to go to a park, they just didn't know it was going to be two hours away.  Then we told them we were going to the museum.  After we got Chick-Fil-A Louis said it was getting late so maybe we should just go to a hotel for the night.  The kids got so excited!  That night at the hotel Mary said to me "Thank you for this fun day!"

July Happenings

July was a busy month for us!  My parents came home from their mission, all of my siblings came into town, two of my sisters stayed at our house throughout the month (not at the same time), 4th of July, fireworks, the rodeo, Wyatt's birthday, Logan's baby blessing, family reunion, non stop fun!  I'm not sure where to start, I may just post a bunch of pictures with some descriptions underneath.

Sammy and Mary worked together to do a "Welcome Home" chalk art for Gram and Grandpa

Sarah was sweet enough and patient enough to let the kids help make cookies

My kiddos in their 4th of July attire

Evanston city does a super fun Independence Day Festival every year.  It has become our tradition to go every year and the kids have so much fun!  This was one of my favorite memories of the whole day.  Avery and Mary wanted to do this game where they stand on these pedestals and try to knock each other off.  It was hilarious to watch them try this because they could barely hold the bars up and reach far enough to hit each other.  In the end, Avery decided to throw her stick at Mary.  It worked!  Mary wasn't amused.

Ethan really wanted to try this obstacle course, I wasn't sure he would be able to climb to the top, but he did it!

The biggest highlight of the day for the girls was getting to ride in the paddle boat with their Dad!

Can you guess who did most of the work with peddling?

Louis' sisters Kami and Tif brought Avery, Mary, and Ethan to the rodeo here in Evanston.  

They had such a good time!  

Fireworks at Weber State with John and Courtney and Sarah and her girls

My girls have quite the knack for coming up with extravagant ideas.  In July they made big plans to open a bakery.  They named their bakery Cookies and Creamies Bakery.  We made giant chocolate chip cookies, muffins, and pie.  We were hosting dinner for some of my family that night and for dessert the girls opened the bakery.  I brought out the money I have for the girls' allowance and had people pay with that.  The girls were absolutely thrilled that people came to their bakery!

It was so much fun having Jessica stay with us, the kids all loved her!

While everyone was here my niece Madison was able to go through the temple.  

It was nice being able to be in the temple with a lot of my family.

We did a little weekend reunion with my family.  Louis always has to break out the hammocks!

We played a few minute to win it type games, this one I believe is called the elephant walk.

You put an orange down one leg of panty hose, put the top of the panty hose on your head and swing your head back and forth to knock over 6 water bottles.

This one is cookie face.  

You put an oreo on your forehead and use your face muscles to move it to your mouth!

We did a water fight to end the night

toe touch competition

Don's birthday was the next week so we surprised him with cake and a pinata

The last Sunday in July was my parent's mission report as well as Logan's baby blessing.

It was the most family we have had for a blessing I would say.

Big Phill and Lil' Phill (and Louis)

We're missing one person, so this is almost everyone from the blessing circle.

Clearly we had a busy busy month!  After everything from that month we were ready to get back to our regular schedule and routine and get ready for school to start at the end of August!  I am grateful for all of the memories that were made in July, hopefully they are ones that are remembered by my kids for years to come.