Chicken's killed, Malachi's birthday, 14th wedding anniversary, and a retreat to Estes Park

Betsy on her first day of school

Sam on his first day of school

Malachi is playing with the xbox remote, and thinks it's pretty funny

chewing on a toy he got for his birthday

The boys all fascinated by one of Malachi's birthday toys

Malachi and Daddy with his birthday cake

Malachi likes cake

still stuffing it in

After searching the entire house and outside for Caleb, finally found him asleep in this red bin in the living room

Travis trying on a fake hair hat in a shop in Estes Park on our Anniversary date.

This is part of the high ropes course that Travis and I did at the Glen Eyrie Retreat on Friday

This is what the wall looked like that we climbed at the Glen Eyrie Retreat

My view of Glen Eyrie on my hike in the afternoon

my first "selfie", of my view of Garden of the Gods on my hike

A rainbow above our house

Beautiful sunset

Our glowing roses in the sunset

Daddy and Caleb

On our seven bridges hike 

Got everyone in the picture, was not easy

Caleb loving the hike

Betsy enjoying the hike too

Austin, Betsy, and Travis headed off for their Daddy/Daughter Dance at the stake center

The past two weeks have been full of fun and celebrations.  Betsy and Samuel have been going to school since Aug. 4th, they are enjoying the classes, and like riding their bikes to school.  We haven't used our bikes every day, but try to most days.  I pull Caleb and Malachi in the trailer behind my bike, and it is quite the workout pulling them up the hills.  It is downhill all the way to school, but uphill all the way back, and 1 mile each way.  So I end up with a 4 mile bike ride each day pulling a heavy load, it's a good thing they are both pretty light, or I probably would be walking my bike a lot more.  Tuesday the 5th, no one remembered to close the chicken coop that night, although at first Joseph told me he did.  We think racoons must have gotten in our fenced yard, and killed 4 of our chickens during the night.  After we had dropped Betsy and Samuel off at school, we were going to check on the chickens and found them dead in our backyard, it was an upsetting sight, and we went inside and cried for a little while.  After a while, Joseph and I went back in the backyard, and were able to put the dead chickens in garbage bags, and get rid of the bodies.  Joseph will no longer eat chicken, and everyone was upset for a while.  After we told Betsy and Samuel when we picked them up from school, they were crying and upset too, We figured out the Travis', Austin, Betsy, and Samuel's chickens were all killed.  I guess we certainly learned a good lesson about taking better care of our chickens.  We have four left, and hope to keep them alive and well.
Malachi turned one on August 6th.  He is such a cute little boy, he is taking some steps here and there, but mostly still crawling.  The kids all got him some toys from a clothing swap we went to, and piled them in the middle of the room, and when he woke up in the morning, had him come down and play with them.  He loved playing with them and had a fun morning.  That evening Travis had bible study, so we all went with him, and brought a big sheet cake, and had everyone sing happy birthday to him.  We love our sweet little baby, I can't believe he is 1 already.
Travis had planned a marriage retreat for the weekend at Estes Park, CO at YMCA of the Rockies.  We left Friday morning for the retreat, and drove the 3 1/2 hours it took to get up there.  Travis did a great job at this retreat, instead of spending the whole time in the classroom, he was able to make it so everything was hands on, and we got to spend a lot of time outdoors enjoying the venue.  We went on a hike up to "Bible point" and once we were at the top interviewed each other from a sheet of 99 questions.  We really enjoyed talking and finding out more about each other.  Also I enjoyed the hike, I carried a big backpack with several lunches and things to make it heavy, and got a nice workout.  We also got to play miniature golf together, and for a date night we got to go explore the downtown area, it was our 14th wedding anniversary, and we had a great time.  The kids all did well in childcare, Joseph and Austin hung out with an older group of kids and just went off on their own and enjoyed the different activities, and just checked in with us via cellphone.  Apparently though Caleb doesn't digest Cheetos well, because he ate them, and then he started pooping a lot and it was "hot poop" (his term), it burned his bum, and made him really sore.  In fact when we picked him up, he was so sore, that he wouldn't walk, and the only way I could carry him was by holding his head/neck with one arm and his knees in the other arm, and made sure I didn't touch him bum at all, it made it awkward trying to carry him, and I'm sure it looked really weird, we got him back to our room, and bathed him in backing soda and Travis and I bought some diaper cream and more diapers (the daycare used them, all 15 of them).  Caleb felt much better after that, and we convinced him to no longer eat Cheetos (the same thing happened about a week before after eating Cheetos).  Anyway overall it turned out to be a great weekend.
This week I've been really trying to get into better shape and get ready for my trip to California to climb Mt. Whitney with my Dad and siblings.  I've been exercising a lot more, doing a workout video, and riding bikes to the kids school, and I went on two hikes, one on Friday, one on Saturday.  On Friday Travis had a retreat at Glen Eyrie, (Just during school hours).  During the morning we did the ropes course, it was fun as usual.  During the afternoon, while Travis was  teaching the classroom portion, and the kids were in childcare, I did a hike up overlooking the Garden of the Gods.  I didn't have a pack this time, but the increase in elevation made it a good workout.  I was a little nervous being out there by myself, but I just kept praying that no mountain lions or rattlesnakes would get me, and I gradually felt more at peace, but I kept a brisk pace anyway.  It was hot outside, and the way back was not very clearly marked, so I did a lot of backtracking, but I eventually made it back to the classroom dripping in sweat.  It was a gorgeous view, and well worth the effort.  Saturday morning we all went and did the seven bridges hike.  I carried my pack and wore my new hiking shoes this time.  Travis carried the baby in the hiking backpack this time, so that I could get used to wearing my pack.  After the first quarter mile Caleb said he couldn't go anymore.  I was carrying him in my arms but that got tiring quickly, so I told Travis to put Caleb inside my hiking pack.  I already had about 10-15 pounds in there, so once Travis put Caleb in my pack it weighed about 40 pounds.  Let me tell you, carrying that much weight was not easy.  We finally made it to the top (elevation gain of 1100ft) past the seven bridges, we did have to stop several times for me to catch my breath, and I admit I was not moving very fast, but we made it.  We had some snacks at the top, and let the kids play a bit, then we went back down, Caleb started out hiking down, but I guess his hiking boots were hurting his feet (he ended up with a couple blisters) and I carried him in my pack the rest of the way down.
I've been teaching a lot of piano lessons starting this month, I have ten students right now.  Teaching piano was crazy the first week, but the basement was finished while we were in Estes Park, so things have gone better this last week, since I can send the kids to the basement while I teach piano.

Getting ready for school

Caleb playing at the playground at the school

Joseph is excited about painting the basement

Travis left early Monday morning to go out to the field, so he wasn't home until the weekend, we missed him, and were very glad to get him back.  We fed the sister missionaries that night.  It was nice to have other adults who like my food, (my kids are stinkers about eating dinners) they said they love my healthy cooking, and even took the leftovers home.  Both Monday and Tuesday we had the air conditioning people here installing the air conditioning unit, it took them forever, and the kept having to call in more guys to help them figure it out.  They ended up completely redoing our furnace, and ended up messing up our doorbell, and were unable to turn the furnace back on, so they had to keep on trying to fix things.  Finally on Thursday, an electrician was able to come out and fix everything, and now the a/c people are coming back tomorrow to start the system up again.
On Tuesday I took the Betsy and Samuel to do some school testing at their new school, I thought it might be 20-30 minutes at the most, but after waiting for an hour and a half, I asked how much longer it was going to be.  They told me it would still be a while, so I told them I was taking the rest of the kids to the library real quick and would be back, they said that was fine.  When we got back to the school, they still weren't done, but they told me that Samuel had gone MIA right after I left.  Apparently he didn't want to take any more tests, because he took off and left the school, the teacher was able to find and catch him, and get him to finish his tests, but I guess they were worried for a little while.  It figures the minute I leave is when Samuel takes off, oh well, at least they know what they're getting into with Samuel.  We were still there for another hour before they both finished.  
On Thursday we went to Betsy and Samuel's new school to buy their uniforms.  I couldn't believe how much money it cost.  Last year I spent $150 on clothes for all the kids combined, and this year I spent $400 on uniforms for just Betsy and Samuel.  That evening we went back to the school for orientation, and ended up waiting in the required registration line for almost 2 hours, just to have them verify I had turned in all paperwork, and gave me the parent/student handbook and carpool number.  I had to break up a big fight between Samuel and Caleb, and had to send them outside with Austin to play on the playground, while I waiting in line.  I barely even heard the orientation presentation, because Caleb and Malachi were so whinny. I even had to leave and take Joseph to scouts and then come back and get in line.
Friday, after having everyone do their chores, I ended up needing to spend the rest of the day, organizing all my papers, and bills.  I ended up losing our insurance check for the basement, and had to spend hours looking for it, and I still haven't found it.Yesterday we went to golden corral for Malachi's birthday breakfast (they only have breakfast on the weekends) even though his birthday isn't until Wednesday.  Malachi loved eating the food there, he especially loves the broth from soups.
After breakfast we went to a chapel on post to get some free backpacks and school supplies for the kids.  We waiting in line for about an hour, and were then able to get the supplies, the kids loved getting them, and Caleb was able to get one, and really wants to got to pre-school this year.  I told Caleb that he had to be potty trained if he wanted to go to school, and he has been doing much better, with potty training. Malachi has been walking a lot more, and is starting to get the hand of it. Austin started having a terrible headache in the afternoon and evening, and ended up throwing up in the evening too.  Caleb started having diarrhea, and Betsy complained about her stomach hurting, but never threw up.  I ended up staying home from church with the sick ones, until primary, then Travis and I switched, and he came home, so I could go and play piano for primary.  

hot, hot, hot

Malachi loves Watermelon

So does Austin

I found Betsy and Joseph playing chess one evening after they had finished there dishes.  I love it when they get along

Caleb making a silly face at the park

Joseph being a good big brother, helping Malachi up a slide

Daddy and Malachi, they love being outside

The kids on our bike ride, (Malachi is asleep)

It has been so hot this last week or so.  We have no A/C, and it has been the afternoons pretty unbearable, we try to get some excersice and work done in the morning, and some fun, and then either go to the pool, or lay around in the afternoon, because it is just too hot.  We finally gave in and decided to get A/C, this house is sure draining our savings.  We've also been working on insurance stuff for the basement, and installing some laminate flooring in the kitchen area of the basement.  I signed up Austin for online school (K-12).  She has been wanting to try it for a long time, and this year seems like a good year to try it.  She is really excited, so we'll see how it goes.  We've gone three times to Denver with Travis, while he has done his funeral detail duty, and played at a park near by while he is busy.  This last time, we were able to stay in Denver, and take turns going to the temple afterwards.  I love the peaceful feeling in the temple.  I took the kids to the park, but right after we got there, it started pouring down rain, and we ended up going back to the temple to the visitors center to wait for Travis.  About two weeks ago, I took the kids to the library, except Joseph and Samuel because they hadn't finished there chores.  When we got back from the library, our neighbour came up to me, and told me that Joseph and Samuel had been climbing on the roof, and said he had a picture of it.  He also told me that state law was that a child had to be 14 before being left home alone, and 15 before they could watch siblings.  I told him I would check into that.  I had checked the law when we were living on fort carson, and it was 8 when they could be left home alone, and 12 when they could watch siblings, so I went inside and got on the internet and found that colorado state law has no legal age for leaving kids home alone or watching siblings, but recommends age 12, since that is when they are allowed to babysit.  Anyway, good to know I wasn't breaking any laws, but Joseph and Samuel were both grounded for a week, and I told Joseph, I wasn't going to trust him to babysit for a while.  Joseph was at scout camp this past week, and it was a little quieter around our house, he had a good time, but was sure tired when he got back.  We went to trampoline world one day, and had a lot of fun jumping around, now Caleb keeps talking about how we need to go there again, and when I tell him it's too expensive, he just says he will use his magic wand, to make us a coupon.  They kids have been practicing a veggie tales song for the ward talent show, called "we are the pirates who don't do anything", they are getting pretty good at it.  We were going to be doing it yesterday, but there was some structural damage to a ward building, so they postponed the talent show, and cancelled church.  Travis wanted to attend a church on post, for his chaplain duties, so we went.  The kids loved that they provided donuts, and liked that they got to go to kid's classes during the sermon, and church was only 1 hour.  We told the kids we were still going to attend a sacrament meeting at the stake center, and Betsy said "weren't the donuts taking the sacrament ?"  I couldn't believe it, we sat right down, and had a nice long lesson on the sacrament, at least the other kids new all the right answers about the sacrament, then we went had partook of the sacrament at the stake center.  We also spent part of the day yesterday moving and cleaning out the old hot tub that came with the house,(to get ready for the A/C unit that is going to go where it is) we are going to turn the shell into a fish pond in the backyard, the kids got it all clean and shiny, and want to use it for a swimming pool, until we're ready to use it as a fish pond.  Also the past two weeks on thursday nights they have had a dinner and movie event on post that we have gone to.  The first week was "frozen" the line was huge, right after us, they started sending people home, so we must have been the last of the 500 people allowed.  The kids were pretty good in the line, because some friends of ours were in the line just behind us, unfortunately they were sent home, but we got to play with them for a little while.  Travis had to leave to go to a meeting, so I took the kids to the movie by myself, it was going fine, except Samuel would not stay still, he kept getting out of his seat, and going to get popcorn, drinks, or going to the bathroom, we finally just left, because Samuel was being disruptive.  The next week we got there early, and were at the front of the line (the movie was "brave") this time I had to leave to go to a officer's spouses meeting (called a coffee), so I left Travis with all the kids and went to my meeting.  I had a good evening without any kids, it was so weird not having even Malachi with me, I didn't quite know what to do with my hands, since I'm so used to taking care of little ones no matter where I go.  Malachi has started taking some steps by himself, and is getting really close to walking.  He is a funny baby, and so happy, he loves smiling at everyone.    I got the kids all some new water bottle from costco, that have straws in them, and Malachi absolutely loves him, he was sit and chew on the mouthpiece and suck water up through the straw for a long time, he loves it.  Poor Caleb has a little trouble figuring out how to get the water out through the straw, but little Malachi figured it out right away.  I decided that our kids need to serve others more, so today we had an hour when they had to be doing something nice for someone else.  They all did pretty good.  I gave Travis a nice long massage, Joseph and Samuel played a game together, Austin played with Caleb, and Betsy played with Malachi.  It was a nice hour, filled with happy playing, and no fighting!

birthdays, reunions, and adventures

Austin and Malachi playing at the park

Caleb, Malachi, and Betsy playing on the spinner

At the zoo

more at the zoo

Samuel didn't believe me, that his freckles were coming out, so I took a picture to show him

At the Olympic training center, where Michael Phelps and other Olympic swimmers practice

Interesting train we saw along the road.

pretty rainbow

hiking at the garden of the gods

Malachi making us laugh by squishing his face into the plastic after our bike ride

Grandma and Malachi in Denver, CO

Caleb having fun being a fire fighter in the children's museum in Denver

Malachi loved playing with the balls at the children's museum

Caleb built a car at the museum, with Grandma's help

Caleb and Samuel being super hero with their capes Grandma and Grandpa Hardy got for them from Mexico

Malachi showing us he's sad

Uh Oh...Samuel hurt his mouth at the children's museum

Betsy hiding in the gigantic treehouse at the museum

Caleb loved the trains at the museum

Malachi's left eye is all droopy from his infection and fever

Joseph is a teenager!!  He loves his books from Grandma and Grandpa Hardy

Joseph's jacket he got from Grandpa Kirkman

Joseph's candy bar cake!

Malachi pretending he's a pirate

The boys taking baths in the kitchen sink

Caleb playing with the turtles on sunday at our outdoor sacrament meeting at the Hardy reunion in Aspen Grove, UT

Travis climbing the ropes course at the hardy reunion

Travis trying to catch me on the little go carts at the reunion

Grandpa Hardy and cousin conner at the cowboy village at the reuion

Austin climbing the ropes course

Austin and Tessa learned to knit from Grandma Hardy at the reunion

Joseph climbing the ropes course

Beautiful view on our hike

Me hiking with sleeping Malachi on my back

Travis and my Dad once we reached the falls on our hike

Samuel and Issac hiking with their group 

The Hardy volleyball team

Caleb was a pirate

Samuel singing with his group on stage

Caleb loved how big the drawers were at our hotel in park city

Malachi climbing the bridge at the kirkman reunion trip to the treehouse museum

King Malachi

Once again Caleb loves being a fire fighter

Joseph swinging on the rope swing after our hike at the kirkman reunion on powder mountain 

The video of Malachi making us laugh on our bike ride.

Caleb after his haircut

Samuel after his haircut

Joseph and Malachi playing together at focus on the family

Malachi climbing up the slide at IT'Z

Malachi climbing on Travis' car

Betsy sliding on the mexican hat slide in Denver

Caleb loved the slide too

Betsy climbing at the park

Playing at the splash pad

Climbing the rock wall at fun city

Caleb was in heaven with all of these balls

Malachi's left eye still doesn't open as well as the right eye

Caleb coming to tell me he made a mess of the powdered sugar

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This past month has been so crazy, I really should have been better about updating my blog, because I know I'll forget tons of stuff.  We had some great times on vacation, we went to two family reunions and had lots of fun with family.
We drove to Denver to meet my Mom the first week of June.  She was there with my Dad for a financial conference.  We had a great time with my mom at the children's museum.  They loved playing there.  Samuel got an injury, but other than that everyone seemed to have a great time.  We had a picnic lunch, that was going great until Malachi had a huge burst of poop, and it squirted out his diaper and all over him and me.  I My Mom must have been inspired and had brought a onesie from Mexico for him, and we were able to change him, and I was able to go in the bathroom, and get as much poop out as I could.  We went for a walk by the river, and got caught in a huge downpour, but we were able to take refuge under a bridge, until it lightened up, then picked up my Dad and went to dinner at the spaghetti factory, it was delicious.  We had a fun time, but it was obvious the Malachi wasn't feeling well, he had had a fever all day long.  The next day, again Malachi had a fever all day long, and the next, and his left eye was very droopy, and he wan't to be held.  I took him into the emergency room, and got him checked out.  The dr. asked me if the baby had been around anyone who smoked, and I said yes, we have had company who smokes.  He told me the dangers of second and third hand smoke and that the smoke had caused the tissue around his eye to become infected.  He gave me antibiotics for him, and said it was extremley important that I give it to him regulary, because if the infected got behind his eye, it was really bad, and he would need to be hospitalized.  Travis had a counseling appointment, so he dropped off the rest of the kids at the hospital to me, and drove to his appointment.  When the kids and I had gotten Malachi's medicine, we went to the car to drive home.  Unfortunately I realized that Travis had Malachi's car seat in his car, and we were stuck.  I had no idea how long Travis' counseling would go (they can take hours) and knew he wouldn't answer his phone, but I was hoping his appointment
On my birthday I took the kids to the library, but Joseph and Samuel had not finished their chores, and it wasn't too hot out, so I left Joseph and Samuel in the car.  I told the girls to hurry, and we gathered up our books and went to check out (probably about 10 minutes had gone by), as we were checking out a policewoman came into the library and said she needed to announce that she was looking for the owner of a white minivan.  I said I owned a white minivan, and she asked me to follow her.  We were in the middle of checking out our books, so I asked if we could finish, and she said "yes".  So the girls, caleb, malachi, and I all followed the policewoman out.  As soon as we reached the outer door, I could see 3 police cars all with flashing lights surrounding my vehicle, and 5-6 police man around my car, and a few by library doors.  I just thought "oh no, what did the boys do".  As I approached our vehicle, one of the policemen told me they had received a call from a woman stating I had left my children in the car.  I said "yes, but it isn't hot out, and my oldest is 13, and capable of watching his 7 year old brother in the car for a few minutes" and opened up the van door to reveal Joseph laying down in the back seat (Samuel was sitting happily in the front enjoying all the attention of the police officers).  The police officers all seemed to relax, as soon as they saw Joseph pop up from the back seat.  Apparently he had been lying down the whole time, and nobody saw him, and thought I had left Samuel in there alone.  The officer who had spoken before, told me everything was fine, and he would have done the same thing, took down my information, and let us leave.
The night before we left on vacation we had the military ball.  We got all dressed up, and dropped off Malachi at the bishop's daughter's house, his first time with a babysitter.  Travis realized as we left that I had a long bleach type stain down the back of my dress, so we quickly drove back home, and I changed into another dress.  We enjoyed an evening with good food and each other, we left as soon as Travis had given the benediction to go get Malachi, becuase it had gone longer than we thought.  Malachi was not happy when we picked him up, he had been crying for a while, but he survived.
We left early the next morning and drove to Aspen Grove, near Provo, UT.  It was a beautiful location, the mountains were stunning.  We had a blast staying in the family lodge with my dad, mom, brothers, and sisters, and their familes.  The kids had activities with thier age groups all week.  Caleb and Samuel loved their age group activies, and the older kids liked them, but some of the time would just play with their cousins instead.  Malachi did pretty good too, I was impressed.  Travis and I loved spending time together, and getting to do fun activities.  They had competitions going all week, and we enjoyed playing badminton, ping pong, and tennis.   We also went on a beautiful hike, did the ropes course, and playing with all they had to offer.  We absolutely loved that all the meals were provided, it was so nice to not have to worry about any cooking for a week.  It was a wonderful week, playing and relaxing with familiy, the only downside, was that the flu started going around, but it didn't hit our family.  After we left we drove to Park City, and stayed the night there, just our family.  It was so nice, we stayed in a 2-bedroom suite, that was awesome.  We loved it, and the hotel pool was salt water, not chlorine so that was awesome too.  We went bowling, and had fun swimming.  We drove up Powder Mountin, near Ogden, Utah for the kirkman family reunion with Travis' sisters, and mom.  We were on the very top of a mountian top, about 9,000 ft elevation.  The resort wasn't that nice, but it was fine.  We had stopped on our way up the mountain to buy all the groceries for the week, since we were making all our own food.    The resort had a pool, and the kids loved swimming every day.  We had fun hiking to a little hidden lake with a rope swing, and a big pile of snow (it looked like it was a ski jump).  I ended up having to carry Malachi and Caleb back up to our room, and it was quite the workout.  Caleb got sick with the flu, so we stayed in the room while everyone else went into Ogden to go to the Dinosaur Park.  I was getting terrible sleep, and exhuasted during the day.  Malachi wasn't feeling good, and I was up with him until 4am, and then Caleb woke up just after I finally got Malachi to sleep.  I spent the day playing card and board games with the girls.  The next day everyone was feeling better so we went into Ogden to the Treehouse Museum, it was fun.  The kids had a great time playing with the the things, and even got to participate in a play, where Joseph played a King, and Samuel was a sheep.  The Museum was also next to a Deseret Book store, so we ended up getting a ton of books.  The night before we left, I took Joseph on the hidden lake hike, becuase he got into trouble and wasn't allowed to come with us the first time.  While we were leaving, I fell down a steep section, somersaulting a couple of times before I hit the bottom.  I was wearing a jacket, and long pants, so my scrapes were minimal, and I was able to get up and walk, so Joseph and I continued our hike.  My right arm/hand hurt the worst, and was hurting pretty bad after a while, so we didn't stay too long at the lake, and hiked back.  I couldn't use my right arm at all, so it made everything difficult to do.  It still hurt pretty good the next morning, so as we were leaving we drove into Ogden to an Urgent Care, and got my hand x-rayed, it wasn't broken, thankfully, but was badly sprained, so they gave me a brace to wear.  We drove until we got to Rawlins, WY and took a break from our driving and ate dinner, after dinner there was a walk going on for Cancer, so we joined and walked around the city hall block 5 times, before we continued on our way.  We finally made it home after midnight, and went to sleep.  While we were on vacation, Travis' Dad and Bonnie were house-sitting, since they still didn't have enough money to pick up their car.  I gave them specific instructions on how to take care of things while we were gone.  They did take good care of our chickens, but let them stay all over the shed, instead of the coop we made for them inside the shed, so now there is poop all over the shed and everything we were storing in it.  I still have yet to tackle to project of cleaning it out.  I had also asked them to water the garden, and various indoor and outdoor plants.  They said they watered everything, but when I came back the garden was completely dried out, my strawberry plants dead, and all my indoor plants and herbs were completely dried out and dead.  I had invested so much time and money into those things, that it was very upsetting to me, to see them dead.  The house was a mess, and their stuff was everywhere inside and out when we returned.  It didn't smell very good either.  Also the day before they left, Malachi found a cigarette butt underneath the couch, and started chewing on it.  I was so upset!  There was most definitely not supposed to be any cigarettes in the house.  That was just the last straw for me, I couldn't handle it any more, my patience was gone.  I wrote them a note explaining to them what happened with Malachi, and explaining how hard it is for me to be around smoking (gives me headaches and stomachaches) even third hand smoke (just smelling it on their clothes, person, room, furniture, and room that they have been in)  I told them they needed to leave as soon as possible, that day if possible, and that I loved them, the smoking is just too much for me.  I was just completely overwhelmed, I feel love for them, they are family, and children of God, but I feel so taken advantage of,  and can't comprehend how they can do the things they do, so this has been a very difficult emotional trial for me.   I took the kids and left for the rest of the day, and took them to IT'Z, we had a fun time playing, and didn't come home until bed time.  Travis' Dad and wife finally left about midnight July 3rd after a 2-3 day visit that started in May turned into 7 weeks. They left the front door wide open and all the lights on, so when I woke up at 4:30 to feed Malachi, I was able to shut the front door and turn off the lights, but not before a ton of bugs invaded our home, I'm just glad no racoons, or other wildlife or people came in. When I went downstairs to wake up Joseph at 7:30am, because I had to go to a dr. appointment for Malachi, I discovered our flooded basement.   After finally figuring out how to turn off the water main, the leak still didn't stop. The water was all leaking from a clogged main drain to the house. I spent all day long, until 10 pm using a shop vac to suck all the excess water out of the basement carpets, and shampooing them. We paid $109 for the drain guy, to unclog our main drain, and went without water to the house for most of the day. Austin spent the day cleaning out her bedroom and bathroom that our guests had been using during their stay, cleaning out cigarettes, ashes, coffee stains, trash, used cups, dishes, and utensils, and throwing away bedding and rugs that are now basically unusable, It looked to me like they had been smoking in the bedroom, and I couldn't believe how trashed it was. She barely made a dent in the cleaning that needs to be done, not to mention how to get rid of the smell. She used an entire can of air freshner, and it still stinks. Anyway super long day full of disgusting jobs cleaning. But we are happy to have our house to ourselves again.  We are still trying to get the rest of our house and yard in order, since it was so bad.  Anyway the next day The carpet and area still stunk horribly, and still completely soaked, so I called a flood restoration company, and they came and explained that due to the raw sewage, all the carpeting, cabinets, and walls that got wet would need to be completely replaced.  They also told me that our homeowner's insurance would cover the cost, so we started getting a claim filed, found out we still had to pay for the drain repair, and $1000 deductible.  Then the company got to work, tearing everything apart.  We are also having to replace a huge love sac, some sensory crash pads, our entertainment center, and a futon mattress from downstairs.  Then the next day, we had standing water again in the basement and had to call the drain people to come back, and unclog a different drain from the basement, so we had to pay another fee, since it was a different drain.  I have been so stressed out and frustrated from everything going on, and trying to get the kids to listen and obey, and help clean up after there messes.  I am still very upset and emotional about everything that happened with Travis' dad and bonnie, I'm trying to forgive them, but I'm really struggling.  I made the mistake of venting a little about it on facebook, and offended Travis' half brother, so I apologized and removed my post, I don't normally post things like that, and realized he was right, I shouldn't be posting about that stuff on facebook.  This is my personal family blog, which is mostly private so it is a more appropriate outlet for me.  I honestly don't know who reads my blog, it is for me to keep a remembrance of things that have happened, it helps me work through my thoughts and emotions, and helps me to be able to let it go,  and I'm not forcing anyone to read it.  If I get too personal, just stop reading it.  

Anyway, back to some more family happenings.  We went to Denver on Monday, since Travis had a funeral to do, and wanted us to come with him.  The kids and I hiked around a little an found an awesome park.  The kids had a great time playing, and were getting really hot, but just in time the splash pad turned on, and they enjoyed getting soaking wet in their clothes.  After we picked up Travis from the funeral, we went to an indoor amusement park called "Fun City" we had a great time playing the rest of the day.  Caleb and Malachi loved the foam ball area, it was three stories tall, and full of foam balls that could shoot around.  We enjoyed laser maze, laser tag, go karts, bowling, miniature golf, rock climbing, and the arcade area.   OnTuesday we went to Costco and got home just before the drain guys showed up.  Austin was helping me lift the 50lb bag of powdered sugar out of the back of the van, when it caught on Samuel's suitcase (he brought a suitcase with snacks and his green hulk costume) and ripped a hole, cause a huge cloud of powdered sugar to blow up in our faces. The drain guys happened to drive up just as this happened.  Anyway we were quite the sight covered in powdered sugar, not to mention that it was all over the back of the van and driveway.  I got Samuel to vacuum out the back of the van, since it was his suitcase that caused the bag to rip, and he decided he also needed to vacuum up the water in the little pool in the front yard.  I came outside and the vacuum was leaking water all over.  I had Samuel throw away the vacuum bag, and then explained the difference between a shop vac(the one I used to suction up water in the basement), and a regular vacuum.  

Caleb decided to make a big mess of the powdered sugar bag, and was sticking his hand in it, and then running to the sink to wash it off, then repeating the process, until a nice big sticky mess was made.  Austin was in charge of sweeping and mopping that day, and decided to sweep it up with the broom, and a bucket of water.  She thought she had figured out a great way to combing sweeping and mopping, until she realized the floor was a sticky, syrupy, mess. So then she got out the mop and mopped it up, and then used that same water and mopped the rest of the house, since it was her chore.  She failed to realize that she was just spreading around the stickiness, so now all the floors in the house are sticky.  It took several more tries mopping to get it all cleaned up, Caleb thought it was funny to have his shoes stick to the floor as he walked around.
We finally got Austin's room that Travis' Dad and Bonnie had been using cleaned up, but had to move Samuel and Joseph in it, since the basement is under construction.  
Malachi is getting really close to walking, but I keep telling the kids not to encourage him too much, because then it will be much harder to catch him.  The last two Sundays, we've been able to keep Caleb sitting down with the rest of the family  while I play the organ.  I am so relieved, it makes playing much easier.