We built a chicken palace

We got some new chickens because our old ones weren't laying, but then they started to lay again, so we decided to keep them all!  But we didn't have room for them, so we decided to build them all a new house.  Yes, we know this was an ambitious endeavor, but it was the affordable option.  So, the boys learned a lot of new skills and our chickens got a new home.

We started with a floor.  

Then, we learned to frame a wall including space for a window!

There was lots of framing for all of the walls and then we worked on the siding.  

One side up at a time!  

Its amazing how that adds up quickly!

The boys worked together learning many new skills:  measuring, cutting, drilling, etc. 

And they learned how to put in a window!

Working hard with a smile.  Most impressive.

I'm pretty sure they love drilling more than anything else.  They also put in a door!

Some finishing touches.

Tall ladders are fun for spying.

Its a good thing they are tall!

The tallest of them all with his long arms did a lot of reaching and stretching.

Putting the roof on was an adventure.

It took all three of them to do it!

But it looked great when they were done.  

With the roof on it was time to start painting!

And installing nesting boxes.

And adding a little trim work.

And the last of the trim is up!

A few more nesting boxes as there are lots of chickens now!

And some fun home made roosts!

Then, the fun part was moving the chickens to their new home!

This step was not as easy as it may seem.

But once it was done they were all happy in their new home.  

We even built them a fun place to play outside with netting on top, so our pesky Leghorn quits flying out.  

Now, our chicken palace was done, but not quite.  We wanted to run water and electricity out to the chickens, so we trenched 4 ft all the way out there.  It may have taken 10 hrs to do it, but the boys stuck with it!  Uncle Bryce came to help with the electricity and plumbing and the boys did the rest.  They have been filling that trench ever since!

Even Simon likes to fill the trench!  

It has been a long journey of hard work, learning new things and late nights, but it is done.  Our chickens have heat, light, water and much more!  They all seem happy and even some of the little ones are starting to lay.  I know it wasn't easy or cheap, but we worked together and loved watching our boys learn and grow throughout the process.  It was the best family project ever!

Trip to Utah

We had the opportunity to go to Utah for my brother's wedding.  We had to finish the soccer season first, then jump in the car and drive straight there.  I was reminded that hotels + 1 1/2 yr olds = misery.  But I got enough sleep to get us there and that was the goal.  We stayed with James' grandparents as they had plenty of room for us.  I was grateful to have a nice space for me and my 5 boys.  That is a lot of people to travel with!

We spent the first day with my family letting the kids play.  I didn't get any pictures at the family dinner because the little ones were too tired and hungry to give me a chance, but we made it through and had great fun.

The littles were happy to have a place to play that was outside of the real car!

Simon and cousin McKay are great drivers!  

 Then, we enjoyed the wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding in the new Payson temple.  The temple is beautiful and the ceremony lovey.  I am excited that I can call Stacey my sister!

We then had fun at the reception.  Simon did try to take the cake out, but fortunately someone caught him.  Phew!

This was just such a lucky photo moment for me.  Hyrum is just so cute here!

After the wedding we got to spend some time with other friends and family.  The boys loved playing with so many different people!  The littles struggled with all of the change to schedule and change of location day after day, but they made it through.  They were troopers!

Simon playing with cousin Isabelle.  They had a lot of fun together!  

We enjoyed a nice walk to the park, so the big boys could play soccer.  The took every moment they could to play soccer.  There is just never enough soccer time.

Simon enjoy a ride in the stroller.  What a cutie!

We spent an afternoon with an old high school/college friend.  The kids had a lot of fun wresting.  It was pretty fun to watch!  My friend had 4 girls, so this was a much different experience than he was used to.  

We showed up at Justin and Jodi's house and it was funny to me that everyone just sat on the couch looking tired.  They got over it quickly and played, but it made me smile.

On our last day we had a big family birthday part for all of our October birthdays.  We played games including cake walks, toilet paper bowling and much more.  It was a ton of fun!  

Beanbag toss was a great hit and even the little ones could give it a try!

All the birthday kids got to blow out a candle on a cupcake!

Jodi and I each got different angles.  :)  Look at those girls blow out those candles!   

And our final big activity was attending the BYU Women's Soccer game.  I don't know if you noticed, but my boys LOVE soccer!  

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We all had BYU sweatshirts, but Michael left his home.  :(

 We enjoyed a nice day of church and then just relaxed with Justin and Jodi and got ready for our trip.  Then, we spend the evening with our hosts and finished packing and loading up the car.

We enjoyed spaghetti on the patio while it rained.  It is always fun to eat outside in the rain.  

Grandpa and Jacob had to relax a little after a filling dinner!

We left first thing Monday morning and were on the road by 5 AM and home by 1 AM the next morning.  It was a quick smooth drive with only 4 stops.  Amazing!  And now we are home and relaxing.  The littles are happy to be home with daddy.  I didn't have to rock Simon to sleep two times tonight and that was lovely!  This was probably my hardest trip with my kids, but we worked together and just enjoyed our time together with family and friends.  It was a great trip with a lot of fun memories!

A busy but fun summer!

Well, we had a full summer with pigs, chickens, bees and a good sized garden.  The pigs are still growing healthy and strong.  Some are over 300 lbs now, so it is almost time to say good-bye.

Michael learned to give the pigs shots.  It was a messy job, but he did great!

Our garden started out great, but with all of the flooding and storms it has really struggled.  Our early crops did really well, though.  Sadly, we have only had 1 zucchini.  We could probably get the worst gardener award for that.  ;)

We bought a riding mower with bagger, so we could mulch to keep down the weeks.  It was very helpful.  Hyrum thought it was fun, too!

As I said the early season crops did well.  Lots of yummy broccoli!

And our green cabbage was amazing until the flooding.  :)

Hyrum loves those animals.  I hope he doesn't miss them too much when they leave.

He loves the animals so much that he snuck through the coop and down throw the chicken door to get into the run to play with them.  Yuck!  But he was thrilled!

Our herbs did pretty well.  Being in pots away from the floods really helped.  Basil . . . yum!

James and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary!!  Woo Hoo!  We went into Chicago, enjoyed some great food and a show.  It was great to get away and spend time just the two of us!

As with all fun summers we do eventually have to go back to school.  It has been fun and the littles enjoy getting into everything.  

We are putting our school things up higher, but we are running out of height.  The battles we face, but at least their cute little battles!  

Piano has been fun this year and Joshua (not shown) is taking lessons from someone other than myself.  He loves it!  I still get to teach Jacob, though, and he is happy with it that way.

Art is always a favorite at our house.  Hyrum was thrilled to join in.

We joined some friends to go to the boys first rodeo.  They loved it! 

Hyrum really loved the popcorn, but the big boys loved the animals.  

We have had fun pulling out some of the old toys.  The classics never die!  

But why buy toys when a laundry basket will do.  :)

We got to go to a great snake show with the local Catholic school and Homeschoolers.  It was a great show with a lot of hands on action.  

Jacob was thrilled that he got the snake to coil around his arm.  Ewww!

And for the finale was this sweet creature.  Michael got to be a helper and all the kids got to hold her.  What is more amazing is that she is not done growing!  I bet she needs a very large tank at home!  

We are back in the throws of soccer and school and homesteading, so there is never a dull moment around here.  But we are all healthy and happy!  Hopefully this fall will be just as great as the summer!