Mildred Stahle Asay

Our family went to Provo last weekend to celebrate Michael's gma Asay who turned 100!  We left Fri morning about 7, stopped in Rexburg so I could embarrass Michael, met Mills in Layton for dinner and to catch up then made it to Provo for some swimming at the pool!  The next morning we all met at a park for a day full of activities!  We had donuts for breakfast, hog dogs for lunch, then our family, Christian's family and a couple of Michael's cousins took us on a hike to Rock Canyon I think it was called.  I am a sucker for a hike or any adventure, so off we went, against Michael's will.  It was fun and pretty despite the rain.  After the hike we went to a place called swig where they sell drinks that are pretty tasty.  The kids were in heaven.  When we got back we headed into the church for dinner and a short program.
This was the highlight for me.  Mildred's oldest son, Clark gave a talk that I don't want to forget.  What stood out to me was when he said that from the kids' perspective, Mildred was never tired, hungry, sick, etc.  She always put on a happy face and did the little things every day to keep the family going.  Her family is wonderful and they are all examples to me so I know they did lots of things right.  Clark also said his parents had a pretty laid pack parenting technique, simply leading and teaching by example.  These were all such great reminders and inspiring words of wisdom to me as a mother.  Life on the farm from the little I've observed as Michael's wife, is hard, never ending work full of surprises and challenges.  Cheryl mentioned that one of the younger siblings (there's 9 all together) got to go to BYU-Hawaii and Cheryl was feeling left out and asked her dad why she didn't get to do anything like that and her dad put his arm around Cheryl and said "babe, we made such a mess out of you older kids, we decided we better change our ways with the younger ones."  This is funny but really and truly, all 9 kids are outstanding and great people.
I remember the first time I froze corn was with Jan and Mildred in Mildred's garage.  I was about 7 months pregnant with Stetson and remember how great the corn tasted mostly, but looking back I wish I'd realized I was freezing corn with 2 of the best women I've ever known.  There was always a spirit in Mildred's home that made me love being there.  Whenever Jan was out of town, Mildred invited Stan and the boys for dinner and when Michael and I were first married, of course I got to tag alone and her cooking was WONDERFUL.  I should have watched her closer and took notes.  Michael and his brothers still talk about her cooking and describe her pies and rolls as the best they've ever had.
I love that Mildred has always made the most use of her time, even into her old age.  I can image it would be hard and somewhat depressing to grow old alone as your health and mind digress, but she pushes along and does the best she can always with a smile on her face.
I am grateful for her and I love her.

Last day of school

Ugh!  The time is passing far too quickly for my liking.  One thing that has definitely changed about me on my journey of motherhood is my perspective on time.  Especially when Stetson was a newborn, I remember wanting the time to pass faster, as if he would be little forever.  People told me, it flies by, relish in the moment, and even though I enjoyed him, I couldn't have known how fast it would go.  And so here I am today, 33 years old with a 4th and 2nd grader, pre k and a 22 month old.  The top 2 pics have a cute story.  The last day of school I wanted to take some pics of the kids on the porch, but when we opened the door, Stahle escaped and she was oh so proud of her accomplishment.  She loves to be outside and wherever the party is.  I make a concerted effort to enjoy every second with her, even though she can be challenging, she is my baby and I am sad to think of her not being a baby anymore.

Kandace, Mrs. Kimmel and some random girl who wanted in.  So Kandace had a good year, her academic reports on reading were great, she's meeting all her goals and Mrs. Kimmel called her  a bright shining student.

Stetson continues to do great, he is a little silly and needs reminders about appropriate behavior but he is fun, smart and cruising along on his academic goals. His teacher, Mrs. Riehl had a baby a few months before school got out so he had a long term sub, but she was back for about the last month.  We really liked Mrs. Riehl.  She was always willing to listen to my concerns and help Stetson.

Piano

Stetson and Kandace have a great piano teacher, Carole Allison.  She's awesome on lots of levels.  A friend of mine, Annie Rice, takes her kids there so that's how I heard about her and Annie knows Carole better and has told me some things she's been through but she is ALWAYS chipper, happy and kind.  She's patient with the kids and me, even when we lose music and don't practice as well as we should. I do know her only daughter died a few years ago, and she lives alone, but she reaches out to others, she's even a foster grandparent at Poly Drive Elementary. She's a great example to me.