Window of Opportunity

As I take group pictures of all of our kids together, I've learned that the best shots are usually found in the first few clicks of the camera. The window of opportunity is brief and fleeting, as evidenced in the pictures below......

It was right about here that I finally noticed Lily's antics. I had been completely focused on trying to keep Owen and Ava's attention long enough to get a smile, I wasn't even paying attention to what the big girls were doing. After I chided her, she gave me a sweet smile for the last couple of shots, but by then Owen was wacky. I didn't realize just how hilarious her poses were until we were in the car and I was looking through the pictures on the camera. I nearly died laughing.

And a few of the whole crew....

For the sake of remembering, these pictures were taken outside of the Billings temple, the week before Chris started school. With the thought of school and commitments looming close, we made an impromptu little getaway to Billings for a couple of days. We swam and shopped for everyone's school supplies and clothes. It was lovely, staying up there meant we could pace ourselves when we shopped. We had five people who were heading off to school, so shopping was quite a task. We met up with my parents on Saturday and they played with the kids while Chris and I went through an endowment session.

The Entertainer

One evening, all of the big kids were away spending the night with my mom. Chris was gone to open gym, and Ava and I were left to hold down the fort. I had grand plans for all of the things I would accomplish with only one child. Instead, Ava was bored out of her mind and I found myself being her entertainer, accomplishing nothing aside from keeping her smiling.

She has become quite bossy lately. Here she is shhh-ing the dog. She also polices the cats and if they even consider climbing on a chair or the table, she hollers, "Det Down!".....Too bad she doesn't police herself and hollar, "get down" while she's climbing on the table and counters.

Oh, Lila, how we love thee.....except when I'm sweeping the 5 billion dog hairs that litter the kitchen floor daily, and when you rip apart the cat door and wall because you are a ninny and thunder turns you into a brainless, terror-stricken psycho dog. Yeah, she's been on my list. She's spent many a night in the garage lately. I'm testing the theory "absense makes the heart grow fonder," while we repair the hole in the wall. Dumb dog.

Stopping to snack on some grass.

The cutest $3 shoes I've ever seen.

She tried to feed that handful of grass to Lila. Lila wasn't impressed.

Here she is working those eyes and telling me "wanno wing."

She was right, she did want to swing....If I could freeze time, I surely would so I could drink up her baby sweetness a while longer. She is quickly transitioning from baby to toddler. Every day she surprises me with new words and phrases and she is most content trailing the big kids in search of adventure. The toddler phase is an exciting one and I love it for many reasons, but nothing brings me more contentment than snuggling up a sweet little baby. Thankfully, when Ava is sleepy she is still all baby and longs to be cuddled up. I am happy to accommodate her wishes and sometimes I just hold her while she naps and my heart does a little tug-o-war. On the one side it is so beyond thankful to have already been the mama to five precious babes, on the other side, there is a little tug of sadness at the reality that there probably won't be many more babies at our house. Do you suppose there will be babies in heaven? Because I really can't imagine a heaven without a baby to rock.

Into the Cove

One of Chris's contributions to our summer bucket list was to pull a handcart at Martin's Cove. After our pit-stop at Independence rock, we headed for the cove. We saw some familiar faces as we pulled in, the whole Moncur family were just packing up and heading home after a three day trek and camp-out. We visited with EmRee, it was definitely a bittersweet visit.....sweet to see her, but a harsh reminder of how much we miss her living in Lovell.

After we ate our picnic lunch, we hit the trail....



Ava was enthusiastic about riding in this backpack for about 8.2 seconds, barely long enough for me snap a few pictures of her adorable and spoiled little self.

Owen was pouting about something. 

Once we made it into the cove, we took a break in the shade. It was unbearably hot that day, luckily there was a good breeze blowing or we may have melted. Emma was especially weary since she had stayed up past 11pm the two previous nights.

Ava spent her rest time playing in the dirt.

Those are Lily's feet in the picture above. She got the "most fashionable and impractical shoes of the day" award. I still can't believe she walked all that way in those little flip-flops. We bought everyone brand new tennies the night before so everyone would have good walking shoes. Somehow no one noticed until we were already a mile into our walk that Lily wasn't wearing her new tennis shoes, by then it was too late to go back for them.

After our rest in the shade, we hit the trail and headed for the homestretch.

Ava was excited, Lily wasn't....poor girl, she was so hot.

Once we were headed down out of the cove and back to where we had parked our hand-cart, the weary ones felt a surge of energy. I think it had something to do with knowing the worst was behind them, and it was all downhill to the handcart....or maybe it was the primary songs they were singing that helped lighten the mood.  We enjoyed the scenery as we walked and the girls were excited to spot a little lizard next to the trail.

We took another little break at this monument.

Once we made it back to the hand-carts, everyone was all smiles.....Emma happened to be all smiles and windblown hair.

After arriving back at the Visitor's center and picnic area, we got ready to party. Ava thought it was the perfect time for some table dancing, grandpa was worried for her safety.

We sang to Marsie and ate some yummy berries and pound cake......sorry about the overexposure on your b-day pic mars:(

The sugar must have given everyone another burst of energy because lots of wrestling, cartwheels and chasing games ensued. Ava tickled Owen, and that began a dog pile.

Ava noticed a little bunny and was calling "kitty, kitty" to it through the gate. Just when I told her it wouldn't come to her calling it, it zipped right past her through the gate, proving me wrong. I was right, however, when I told her she wouldn't be able to catch it. Thankfully, that little bunny stayed a few hops ahead of her until it found refuge in a bush.

If there had been a "Rock Star" award, Grace would have surely earned it. She made the entire walk without ever once complaining or riding in the hand-cart. You are awesome, Grace!

And a plethora of pictures of just Ava because we simply can't get enough of her.....

I am so glad Chris added Martin's Cove to our bucket list. We are kept comfortable in our temperature controlled homes and vehicles. We notice the things we don't have instead of being grateful for the things we do. We are abundantly blessed, and so much of the time we take it for granted. We forget the sacrifices that were made so that we could live the way we do. Hearing the pioneer stories is humbling and heart-breaking. I simply cannot fathom the heartache and sheer despair those mothers must have felt as they watched their families suffer and buried their husbands and children. Their stories are gut-wrenching, they shake you to the core and they humble you and fill you with gratitude and new resolve to be better. We are so incredibly blessed.