July 2017

Dear Friend,

Joy can dance with the best of us!  She loves music and she adds so much to our family dance parties. 

Summer continues to put on shows for us.  Sometimes she gets the other kids involved, 

but sometimes it's a solo act.  This was her "4th of July Performance" that came to a climax with her, "I'm so happy to be an American, yeah, we all live in America" number.  

She was singing to herself the other day and I had to stop to jot down the lyrics.  "I don't have to be beautiful. I just have to be beautiful inside. I have to love God. To reach up and say hello to Him. If you've done something wicked, just repent. You need to repent. So you can be beautiful inside. I am like a geode. I want to live with God. I love God."

She really is such a beautiful soul and I am so grateful to be her mother.  She is so creative and is constantly teaching me to be more kind and gentle. (But I also love to see her fire come out, even when it is out of frustration toward her brothers and she declares, "I just need some girl time!")

A highlight of the month was when we drove out to Utah for Kate & Alex's wedding.  

The 11-hour drive, 30-hour visit, and 11-hour drive home was a little rough, but it was so worth it to see family

and attend the sealing.  We love you Kate and Alex!  

The kids and I have loved talking about space this month and we're getting pretty jazzed about the upcoming eclipse.  

Elias and I taught a personal finance class for our Stake Youth Conference.  Believe it or not, only five out of the seventy kids choose the personal finance elective, but don't you worry - I think we made believers out of every one.  

The kids continue to craft like crazy.  

One morning they dedicated two hours and an entire bottle of glue to a nature map of Santa Fe.

Much of the month was filled with what childhood Julys should be made of: 

goofing around, 

sibling clubs, 

getting so messy you have to take a bath in the middle of the day, 

playing in rainstorms in place of baths, 

cuddling, 

building forts, 

building clubhouses, 

rough-housing with Dad, 

climbing to the top of the world, 

running through the sprinklers, 

drying off, 

catching some rays (with a thick layer of SPF 50 on),

playdates, 

birthday parties, 

trips to the lake, 

(emotional) sibling races, 

evening trips to the park, 

burying each other in the sand, 

reading great books, 

and getting a treat after a long day of errands.  (I love catching moments like this.)

And for your monthly dose of JOY.  

This girl is such a crack up.  

She absolutely considers herself one of the big kids and just can't help herself around a good beat.  

She is still obsessed with Daddy, 

and remains firm in her opinion that all food should be eaten on the go.  

I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.  

My mom, sisters and I are all reading the Book of Mormon in 30 days.  I'm taking a break from all social media for the same 30 days.  We are about 2/3 of the way through and it's been great.  

Summer and I got to attend a Mother-Daughter Tea Party at a friend's house.  

Summer is on cloud nine at stuff like this, so it was fun to get to be a part of it.  

And I don't know why I feel the need to document this - this is a paper I had to fill out at Joy's dermatologist appointment. Friends outside of NM - do you have these forms where you live? Maybe it will be commonplace in twenty years and I'll look back and see this and think, huh, 2017 is when it started.  

My Grandpa Boyd hosted a little auction this month giving away things to his grandkids.  We were so blessed to receive an awesome play tea set, 

my Grandma Jean's measuring spoons, 

and a large set of value books that I remember reading at my grandparents' house as a child.  

These books have been such a huge part of our month.  My kids love them and I love that they not only teach them about good values and important people in history, but that they are from my grandparents.  Thanks Grandpa & Grandpa!  I love you.  

On one hike that we went on this month, Summer said, "This isn't any fun".  Elias quickly responded with an explanation of why family hikes are the definition of fun and that there are so many things to see and discover.  Summer replied, "Yeah...I just wish I had a clipboard with a pen and paper so I could make charts about what we see in nature."

One morning Summer woke up with the grand idea to host a back-to-school party.  After talking with Aunt Chelsea and feeling inspired to make a pinata, she set to work.  

Once the boys heard "pinata" they decided to throw a party of their own.  

The boys made airplanes and 

destroyed a "superhero treasure chest" pinata at their party.  

Aside from that, they mostly wanted to be left alone to chase each other with swords and jump on the tramp.  The loved their party.  

Summer was much more serious about the details of her party.  She declared a "butterfly theme",

made a butterfly pinata, and crafted a "pin the mouth on the butterfly game".  

She then asked me if she could "look at Pinterest to find a butterfly craft idea".  Once she found one, she got to work making it so she could "show her friends an example of how it should look."

They all had fun as Summer guided them through a butterfly dance, butterfly snack, butterfly hide-and-seek, etc.  

And other than one minor breakdown about how her brothers can't attend the entire party, Summer was a darling host.  Boys and girls are so different.  

I'm so grateful I get to experience both.  I love these four.  And wow, how I love Elias.  He traveled a lot this month so we didn't get to see as much of him as we like, but he is our rock.  I love you forever Elias.  

Always,
Brittany et al.