Week Ending 9-17-23 Stone Mountain, Kylie’s Birthday

Monday: Stone Mountain

My birthday was in May but Kylie asked me what I wanted and I said to go on a field trip when she comes home this summer. She ended up staying in Brazil longer than originally planned (got to do a lot of siteseeing!) and then Florida so she wasn’t here as long as we thought but we made sure to still do a field trip before she left for London, her next study abroad adventure.

Picnicking at Stone Mountain State Park

Hiking up Stone Mountain and stopping to see the view…

…and running around, playing, doing cartwheels, and playing with baby dolls.

And playing a little music. I loved seeing and hearing Thomas playing the ukuele and singing and enjoying the view.

Hiking to the waterfall

Hiking down from Stone Mountain and to the waterfall.

Samuel giving Tilly a piggyback ride. Andy’s turn on the ukuele. Music while hiking was so fun!

Top of the waterfall

After hiking down ~328 steps we reached the bottom. The kids had fun playing in the water. We had the whole hike and area to ourselves so it was a lot of fun to goof off and just play.

Then we hiked back out to our picnic spot by the creek to play with dolls in the water, read, talk, and hang out.

Tuesday: Kylie’s Birthday

Kylie would be in London for her birthday this weekend, so we celebrated on Tuesday. Can’t believe my first baby is 23! She is so amazing and I’m so proud of how she “turned out.” She has a full scholarship to BYU, served an 18 month mission to Brazil and Charlotte (during COVID), loves the piano, and is kind to everyone. She’s just a really nice person. In an orchestra class when she was 16, instead of getting the best musician award, she got the “Beautiful Heart” award. Each year the students pick the classmate who is the nicest. It was her first year in the orchestra, she was a homeschooled student, and they picked her! It was such an honor. More than any talents or accolades I want my children to have beautiful hearts and be truly Christlike people, loving and caring for anyone they come in contact with. This is how Kylie treats everyone.

I think if I ask any of my children who their favorite sibling is they’ll say it’s Kylie. She is so sweet and good to all of them. I couldn’t ask for a better oldest child with 10 younger siblings. She’s always been a huge help with them and a great example. They all want to be like her.

Kylie blowing out her candles, serving the 4 different kinds of cake, and someone’s homemade mint ice cream. They ran and grabbed a piece of mint out of the garden after we made our raw milk ice cream.

Everyone enjoying Kylie’s cake and ice cream.

Talea wrapped up one of her books and gave it to Kylie for her birthday.

Wednesday

The ducklings growing so fast! They’re so funny guzzling their water.

These are 6 pullets we bought in June. I love how different each one is. I tried to get a good picture of them but it was hard. But they’re really pretty to watch running around.

Off to the airport to drop Kylie off so that she can go to her study abroad in London, England!

Missing Alexis, Spencer, and Madalyn.

Kylie has dreamed of going to London for years and applied twice. I was so happy when she got in this year! The program accepts 40 students out of hundreds of applicants. I cried dropping her off and miss her so much, but happy for her to have this experience.

Thursday

Every morning we read The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate (the sequel to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate) on the beach blanket while playing with the chickens and drawing. This was the first morning cool enough for sweatshirts! Fall is almost here!

One of the chicks, Speckle, running around while we read.

Haven’t posted a picture of Maisy lately. She’s so big she looks pregnant to me. But I know nothing about cows. I just know I love her. And I love all the milk she gives.

Friday

We tackled a huge list of projects from 12-6 today. Everyone worked really hard, cleaning gutters, cleaning duck and chicken areas, pressure washing, installing a light fixture, weeding, staking a tree, and various other projects. It was a beautiful 73 degree day and everyone was in a great, productive mood. I wish every day could be like this.

Andy loved pressure washing. When Talea wanted a turn he ran in and made his own out of cardboard. Thomas installed a new battery in our dead car left at the end of the road and also installed a new light in the laundry hallway.

Saturday

We took a trip to our nearest temple in Apex, North Carolina. We left at noon and got home at 8pm.

Kaitlyn practicing the organ in the church across the street. She’s going to play for our congregation in October but our organ is locked so she was thrilled to find this one available.

That’s all for this week!