A visit on the Parkinson's New York farm

The next part of our journey was a delightful rest with good friends. We stayed with the Parkinson family in central New York for several days. They were our close friends in college when Nathan and I attended BYU-Idaho, and we shared many adventures there. 

We went different ways after graduation, but after several years we both somehow ended up living in Texas so we shared a few more years together creating memories. We loved celebrating holidays together and exploring new places together with our children, and I really loved this friendship. A few years ago they moved to New York and we stayed in touch over phone calls.

It was such a rare treat to be able to reunite after several years apart, and we looked forward to it so much! Here is the Parkinson family:

Here are the Parkinson and Kingsley kids all together: 

We had such a delightful time admiring their new farm! The children played for days enjoying the cool New York summer weather as they played with kittens, caught bugs, played with sheep, and picked blossoms.

Ashley spoiled us with her fantastic cooking skills each day, which we enjoyed greatly. She has a flair for making each meal beautiful and memorable. She is a magician in the kitchen!

We stayed up late every night, passionately discussing our common interests (home school, parenting, gardening, self-reliance, natural healing, and reading). I felt like a sponge, soaking up all the good ideas she shared. Ashley is the rare type of person who just radiates positive energy, and you can't help but be excited in whatever she's doing. It's a wonderful contagious enthusiasm for life. 

I really enjoyed going on a NatureWalk with her, harvesting local edibles and learning how to use them. She is passionate about herbal medicines and foraging plants from the wild for personal use. It was such a fascinating afternoon, and I loved learning about her experience with natural remedies. 

Matthew and Aubrey really became fast friends as they shared so much in common. They had such grand adventures each day, catching frogs and interesting insects. They were like two little scientists eagerly exploring a wild jungle (which to Matthew, it kind of was....the climate is so different from what he's used to!) Here they are releasing a beensy black frog they had kept as a pet for a few days. 

Our visit here flew by in no time at all, and it was over much too soon. It was so sad to say goodbye, and we cherish our memories from the Parkinson home. These are the rare types of friends that hold on to your heart forever.

Kirtland, Niagara Falls, Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah

Oh heavens! Catch-up time again! Two summers ago we had a grand trip across the country from Texas to Delaware for a family reunion, and I never documented it! I kept putting it off since it was so overwhelming to try and write about such a big trip all at once, then life became busy and I never came back to it. I just have to record these memories! 

We drove all day/night until we reached Nashville, Tennessee for a break. We stayed in a cute little KOA cabin overnight and enjoyed exploring the area for a bit. We really enjoyed this campsite and played together for hours before bedtime. The campground facility was packed with family activities, games, and a fun juke box. 

In the morning, we stopped for several hours at the local children's museum to let our Littles run and play and learn before driving again for another long day. They really loved exploring this facility, there were so many fun things to do. I didn't pull out the camera very much, since most of the time was spent climbing tunnels and exploring tight little areas where the angles wouldn't work for a photograph. It was such a great day spent together though, and we all enjoyed playing together in such a unique setting.

The children's museum took up most of our free time this day, so we drove without stopping until we reached our next campsite next to a lake in northern Ohio. We arrived after sunset and had the delightful fun of pitching a tent in the low light of dusk. We cooked marshmallows over the campfire and enjoyed telling stories while the stars emerged above us. Oh, and swatted mosquitoes. There were a lot of bugs at this site! 

We LOVED driving through Amish country in Ohio. I was glued to the window for hours just watching the passing scenery. The landscapes were gorgeous and the farm houses were so picturesque. I thrilled at seeing horse-drawn carriages in the roads, and was delighted to stop at Amish bakeries and grocery stores along the way. 

At one quick stop, a young Amish family was parked in their buggy next to our van in the parking lot. The children from each vehicle were equally fascinated with each other, gaping a bit at each other's clothing and transportation. I wish I had a picture of it, but knew it was too rude to ask. I'll remember it forever though- these sweet children each getting an unexpected glimpse into an alternate reality. I wonder what conversations they would have shared, if they had been given a chance to talk with each other. (From what I understand, most Amish children don't learn English until they are 9 or so, so a conversation was impossible anyway.)

We stopped in Kirtland, Ohio, to see some important church history sites. The Kirtland temple has such a fascinating history behind it, and I loved visiting the site. My heart takes such delight in visiting old buildings and imagining the lives that have passed within their walls. The grounds were lovely and we enjoyed exploring. 

We drove like maniacs across several states and made it to Niagra Falls in the afternoon. We were surprised how far away the parking was from the waterfall, but luckily the weather was gorgeous and the hike was pleasant. The place was crazy-packed with tourists, but we were able to enjoy the view. The Canadian side of the Falls looked so appealing, and we were wishing we had documentation to cross the border. The view on the Canadian side must be spectacular since they face the Falls, while we are perched along the top of the Falls. 

We still appreciated the mind-boggling beauty and intensity of our view, and marveled over the size of this waterfall. 

After hiking quickly back to our car, we trekked onward to Palmyra, New York to see the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah. The snarled traffic in Niagara Falls made us arrive in Palmyra right at sunset, so we just missed the closing times of the visitor centers and historic buildings. We were sorely disappointed, but enjoyed exploring the outdoors portions of each location. 

Here are glimpses of our walk through the Sacred Grove: 

And pictures of our visit to the Smith family farm and home sites.

Our last stop was the Hill Cumorah, which we hiked up to the top for a lovely view of the countryside. 

I've always been so fascinated with the life of Joseph Smith, and have loved researching and reading accounts of his story....and it had long been a dream of mine to visit these locations where history happened. It was such a pleasure to be here, even though the buildings were closed. We had some great family talks about the events that happened here and how Christ's true church was restored again on the earth. 

There was a special spirit I felt here, and my heart was filled with gratitude again that the Lord speaks to us today through modern prophets. What a priceless gift it is to have modern revelation from God! I can't bear the thought of living without this communication, and my heart aches for the millions of people on this earth today who live their lives without any idea that they can talk to their Creator and He will answer. I know God lives and loves each of His children, and I'm so thankful to live in a time when His full gospel has been restored! This life is such a blessing!

September Little Things

Yesterday Matthew and Joseph picked a lovely bouquet of wildflowers for me. Matthew carefully arranged the pink, yellow, white, and red blossoms so it was symmetrically arranged, then presented it with flair. Joseph was so proud of the wide variety of flowers they had hunted down. They found a pretty green glass bottle to tuck the bouquet into, and declared it looked like the flower arrangements one would find on the outdoor table of a cafe in France. So it graced our dinner table that evening.

We are fostering two dairy goats for some friends who needed to put up new fencing, and that has been mighty interesting. The organic, raw goat milk is heavenly. Especially when I drink it fresh and still-warm. It's so creamy it's similar to half-and-half. Goat's milk is already homogenized, so the cream stays suspended in the milk evenly. And Nubian goats are known for a high milk-fat content. Oh heavens, it's delicious. Since it's so rich, a little bit goes a long way. We only drizzle a tablespoon of this milk over our oatmeal and it transforms breakfast. It also makes our fruit smoothies superb.

BUT.

I really don't like how tricky it is to harvest the milk. The milking itself isn't a tricky chore (unless she kicks the milk pan over). It's unexpectedly satisfying to milk her and watch the hot streams of milk spray into the milk pan. It's It's an odd thing to discover I don't mind milking a goat, But some days Missy doesn't want to be milked, and refuses to come when it's milking time. She ignores all our treats and bribery and actually runs away from us. Darn thing. Chasing her is no good; she's faster than me and won't be caught. Ornery thing. So I don't milk her those days. And when we DO get Missy successfully into the milking stand, all the other goats like to mob the milk stand to steal the grain I use for MIssy. They push their way onto the stand with the goat being milked. Heavens, it's so frustrating! The other dtrick is the non-negotiable commitment it is to milk her each day. Some days of the week my schedule is too full to even squeeze in milking chores anywhere (such as Thursdays, when I teach art classes all day between other commitments). Sometimes I milk her after dark in the evenings, or before sunrise in the mornings....but I really don't enjoy that commitment.  I've decided I do not care to actually own a dairy animal, so we are going to gradually let her go dry.

Joseph has enjoyed having me all to himself during the day while the Big Kids are all at school. This week I was working on a painting project in our art studio, so Joseph worked on his own little painting project next to me. He felt like such a big boy getting to work in the studio, and he just giggled the entire time. I love quiet afternoons like this!

My art classes have been up and running for over a month now. This semester I am teaching four classes, but they are all on the same day. It's a fully-packed day for me, but it's a delight to teach. This year I decided to post official studio rules, so I created this poster to join our studio decor.

Matthew has been making home made marble run pieces from random things around the house. This spot was a very popular place to hang out last month as boys designed different ramps and tried to make marbles jump into the air. I loved the rules Matthew posted next to his marble station!

We've been enjoying several hikes this month now that the summer heat has (mostly) died away. Every Saturday Sarah suggests a family hike. These are some glimpses of one hike around Lake Georgetown. 

Our enthusiastic hikers at the start of the trail.

 Everyone thought the rocks were so interesting, so they started loading pockets with rocks. And sneaking them into my backpack.

Daniel had so many rocks in his pocket, I thought it would rip the fabric. They had SUCH a hard time narrowing down their selections.

I appreciate the way they remind me how glorious our world is. Everything around us is so fascinating and wondrous. I love the way my children help me rediscover the beauty in the rocks beneath our feet. I love seeing the world through their eyes!

We hiked for hours, played on the shoreline, discovered fossils, and created memories for a rainy day.