Dear Children, It has been a more low key week of sleeping in, for the most part. I am so glad you all still like each other. Dear Ranch, we all love the Ranch. It was nice weather with an afternoon rain each day. I love the sound of rain on the tin roof of the cabin. The kids never got tired of being there. All that was missing would be a hammock for me. Dear July 4th, the Heber fireworks were so pretty. The time flew by and we had a great time. My favorite part is the big BOOM you feel in the ground and the echo it causes. Dear Headache, it feels like I waste a couple of days a week lately battling a headache. I'm glad the kids have had friends to play with. Dear Day Trip, trying to save money we did a quick drive over to Kartchner Caverners. It was pretty cool to see and even more amazing if you spend any time thinking about all the amazing places that are still undiscovered. Then we headed over to the Cove indoor swimming pool. The kids had a blast there. I prefer an outside pool I think. Maybe because it was so crowded or I needed more fresh air? It was fun though and the water wasn't too cold so I could actually swim. We made a day of it, getting up at 6:30am and getting home after 10:00pm. I was running on 2 or so hours of sleep that day, I'm not sure how I survived. Dear Rain Storm, on the drive home a big storm hit. The rain was just pounding us and the sky was a constant light show of lighting. It was so beautiful. I love rain storms and thunder. Dear Eating Out, with a family of 9 it's not something we can often because it's just too expensive! We can't even go to Taco Bell without it getting too pricey with a large family. With half of them being teenagers and tweens they aren't satisfied with getting one thing off the dollar menu like when they are little. Anyway, we planned to take them to Olive Garden for dinner, on our day trip, you following still? It's a treat because they don't have Italian in this little town! We always get looks when we are seated from those around us, they may be frightened. But it seems just about every time we go out someone comes up and compliments us on how well behaved our children are. I feel lucky this way cause our dinners at home are pretty loud with everyone talking, laughing, singing, making completely random noises, you get the idea. Dear Will, it's been so nice to have you home, even if we are both sitting in bed reading. I'm not too excited about you going back to work. I'm sure you have mixed feelings. Smile. Dear Self, I need sleep and just a little food and a shower. Oh and my own bed. I also need to regain all the strength I've lost this year. It's a goal I've been forming in my mind. It's been a rough road for me physically the last year and a half, but I really need to get back to my old self in many ways. Also, I got to hold two babies in the last week! They were so sweet and cuddly I wanted to cry..I may have just a little. Some of the most precious moments of my life are when I carried my babies, and then would just sit and hold them. Something I will never ever regret was taking the time to enjoy my babies. Slow Down. Enjoy them while they are little. They grow up so fast.
