My birthday surprise

Chris, bless his heart, (look, I'm turning Southern!) can't keep surprises from me very well.  He is so easy to read and I am too curious for it to work out. But between some lines here and there I gathered that there was going to be a big surprise for my birthday...something along the lines of a rare-in-a-life-time experience.  (Despite the fact that we had agreed not to spend any money on birthdays for each other this year so we could save all our money for our house..I had followed the rules and gave him a home made cross word puzzle for his birthday in May) Anyway, I can't help my mind from coming up with possible ideas, so  I sort of thought he had found a cool band coming to Memphis or something and bought tickets to see them...something local, rare and totally up Chris' alley. Then I accidentally saw a purchase in our accounts for something from United Airlines and asked Chris about it. He said, "what? oops you weren't supposed to see that." So then I got some crazy ideas floating around my head but none of them fit all the pieces. He told me to keep Thursday open, but that I could still plan normal life (babysitting other peoples kids, having some other friends over for dinner and a game night etc..) for the weekend. Then Thursday morning he helps me clean the house and gets everyone ready for a car trip. We get in the car and 40 minutes into the drive I finally find out that he's giving me a shopping day. He didn't want me to have to drive very far by myself so he and the kids were just going to chauffeur me around from store to store in Memphis. I knew this didn't have anything to do with the united airline flights because he hadn't packed any bags for us and I knew we would be home that evening, so I figured he would just tell me about that later.  I was a little confused why we had to go all the way to Memphis (3 hours away) for shopping instead of Tupelo or Tuscaloosa (1 - 1 1/2 hours away). But anyway I was just too happy that Chris was making such a big deal out of my birthday to really care... he had helped me clean the house, he had planned some sort of surprise for me, and he was taking me shopping... I wasn't going to complain about anything! 

Here's a picture of our picnic lunch on the way up to Memphis. We ended up eating them tail-gate style because egg-salad sandwiches were too messy to eat without supervision, it was too hot/sunny to eat NOT in the shade and we couldn't find a park on the map anywhere close to lunch time. 

So he drops me off at Target and says, "Have fun! Lets plan to meet up in an hour or so and see how you're doing." I wasn't sure what I was supposed to shop for since we were really didn't have much in the budget this month for clothes but I can easily convince myself there's enough room for a LITTLE something.  I wandered aimlessly around Target for a while until I found the exercise clothes. Then I got all serious and tried on a million things. Next thing I know I turn around and find myself staring into Christy Harker's eyes! My mind wasn't making sense of it. All I could think to do is stare then squeal and push Christy away. What??! The Harker's were coming to Mississippi and didn't tell us?? and I just randomly run into her at Target?? in Memphis??!?!  Then I see Alec and notice Chris taking a video of me on my phone and I realize. OH!! This is it! He flew Christy here for my birthday! Wow. He had totally got me. He had been so laid back and in no hurry all morning I had totally dismissed the possibility that we were needing to be anywhere at a certain time and so I totally thought this trip was literally just a shopping trip for me. I'm so embarrassed of how I acted in the video squealing 3 octaves higher than humanly possible and pushing my friend around. I just couldn't believe it. I hugged and hugged her and instantly got excited thinking about showing her around the South...totally different from her hometown in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

We mostly just hung out around home. Chris still had to work, I still had peoples' kids I was babysitting, and food to cook and the house to prepare for a game night, and Chris was going to be gone helping friends move Saturday morning etc. But we still found things to explore. We took a couple spare hours on Saturday to tour the Waverly Mansion in West Point, Mississippi. Its a very old, very haunted, very typical Antebellum home with a 200 + year old magnolia tree in its front yard. The house itself was a bit more dilapidated than I thought it would be, but still very cool to see. The spiral staircase was amazing and being there makes me SO grateful for air conditioning. 

Sunday, I had Stake obligations to teach the young women up in Russellville, Alabama (2.5 hours away) so Christy woke up early with me and kept me awake on the drive there and back. She got to see LOTS of typical Mississippi and Alabama countryside. By the time my meetings were done we got home around dinner time to find the kids and Chris had made a cute Cafe for dinner... complete with nice table decorations, a menu and delicious food: steak, potatoes, green beans, juice and chocolate cake!

Monday we walked around the nearby nature preserve, Noxubee. We walked down two of the boardwalks and visited the little museum there. We saw a big alligator swimming in the water. By the way it moved and trailed water, it definitely was NOT just a floating log...but it basically looked like one. 

I love to kiss these cute little boy cheeks on Freddy sooooooo much. 

We had some good BBQ, tried out the Biscuit Lady's famous scones (SO GOOD) and talked a lot. Christy is one of those rare friends that I feel I can be totally myself around - silly, spiritual, goofy, chatty, quiet, joking, rambling, tired, complain-y, whatever. We hardly keep in contact, but when we do get together its like we've never been apart. She was a wonderful birthday surprise! I know she had to go through a lot of hoops to make this trip out to visit me. She left 5 kids behind, a busy-working husband, and she's pregnant! She had to renew her passport last minute and find places for her kids to be etc..  I guess this was the first time she's had a trip away from her kids! I actually feel a little bad it was just to visit me in little ol' Starkville, MS. Chris is soooo sweet to care so much about making me happy. He knew I was missing having good friends, and family close by here and thought, 'well...its only a plane ticket!' He even wanted to make this a tradition a do it every year...fly a good friend, or sister or sister-in-law out for my birthday. :) What a cute guy. I'm not sure our bank account can handle that, but its so wonderful that he wants to do that for me.  I love him, I love my life, I love my friends, I love my family, I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ and am so blessed to have lived another year on this beautiful planet. 

Summer storms and biking on Tanglefoot

Maybe my favorite thing about Mississippi are the storms. I LOVE how dramatic they are. You can see them coming for a little bit. Maybe 10 minutes of super dark clouds on the horizon, then the wind picks up and blows things around in the air for 5-10 minutes and then the rain hits. And I mean HITS. It just pours out of the sky like a bucket of watery nails. Thunder and lightening every couple of minutes with some LOUD ones a couple of times for the whole storm. It lasts an hour or so. I wish I wasn't getting scared of lightening by all the crazy stories I've heard here so I could stand with my arms out in the middle of it all. But I try to be a good mom, for Chris, and tell my kids to stay under the porch at least while its lightening and thundering. 

 This particular day we had planned to ride bikes so instead we washed them. 

Did you notice that Gwen is still in her pajamas? Alec is too. That's one reason why I love summer days. Also, did you notice Frederick is wearing suspenders over his t shirt and sweatpants? The kids have made those their playthings this week - hooking up the two ends to two different kids on their hands and knees with the other kid holding the single end like reins. Giddyap! 

On Saturday we rode the Tangle foot trail with two friends, Shellie and Crystal. Chris was helping with a Elders Quorum service project in the morning... helping a nice older couple who live way out in the country cut back the trees and bushes from their path to their storm shelter. So it wasn't until 1:00 pm that we made it to the Algoma, MS (about an hour and 15 min away) to start riding. Shellie's bike thingy said it was 103 degrees Fahrenheit IN THE SHADE!! People looked at us like we were crazy but we did spot another biker or two on the trail so at least we weren't the only ones crazy.

I pulled the trailer with Gwen and Freddy on the way out, and Chris had it on the way back. Tanglefoot is an old train track paved over to create a bike trail... part of the Rails to Trails series. We had planned to just go to the next town about 6 and a half miles on the trail and then turn around. The boys did great and never complained. Charlie learned how to ride without his hands, and Gwen and Freddy were troopers in the back, but it was hot. 

At one point the bike thingy we were using to measure our distance only said we'd gone 3 miles but knowing we had to bike back as far as we biked out made us reconsider and Chris offered to turn around with the kids and let Shellie, Crystal and I go on to the end of our plan. Less than a mile after we left Chris and the kids we came to the next town! The bike thingy hadn't measured our distance correctly and the kids had actually gone over 5 miles out... so over 10 miles total. They're great. Big Thanks to Shellie for telling us about this trail and for getting us to actually get out and try it.

Memphis Zoo and Temple

Our assigned temple is the Memphis, Tennessee Temple 3 hours north of us. This past month our branch was assigned to clean the temple. We decided to make a day of it and give both Chris and I a chance to go serve in the temple. We had brought our temple clothes to UT and WA and had hoped to be able to take advantage of the shorter drives and free babysitting to go do a temple session together but alas... it did not work out.  We woke up early (watching The Great Race on the way there) and got me to the 10:30 session. Chris watched the kids run around in the building next door, then took them to Target to look for school shoes, and a backpack for Gwen. Then we did the switch and Chris went in for the 1:00 session and I took the kids to the Memphis Zoo! We bought a year membership since our whole family going twice would more than pay for it. We had plenty of time since Chris was going to stay after the session to clean the temple. We had a really fun time. I love taking my kids places...they [generally] act so much better out in public then they do at home. Well except for Freddy. He didn't get his nap so he was a little more fragile then normal. We saw tigers..

pandas...

and lots lots more animals - penguins, giraffes, elephants, bears, komodo dragons, exotic birds, etc. But IT. WAS. SO. HOT. Mainly we tried to walk from shady place to indoor place to cool-off places (fans and misters). They had two fountains that kids could swim in. Most of the parents had brought swimsuits for the kids to play in. Next time, I'll do the same. But who needs swim suits when its 100 degrees out? 

Yeah, um, Freddy tried to copy the kids walking on their hands in the pond right after I took this picture and face-planted in the water for a good 3 seconds until I managed to save him. WHEW! He spluttered for a bit and looked up into my eyes quite seriously while he took some deep breaths but other than that seemed to hardly notice the near-death experience. He wanted to go right back to the water. That boy. 

By 5:00 the zoo was closed and Chris was done and had someone drop him off at Costco to get started on the shopping. By the time we got to him he had most of the shopping done. Then it was off to Taco Bell before starting the 3 hour drive home. It was a long day, but so good to be in the Temple. I love that place. 

Gwen's birthday!

The customary birthday breakfast in bed. This time we served a frozen blueberry pancake, a small bowl of sugar cereal, water and chocolate milk. This one is easy to please as long as the food comes soon enough. This girl wakes up dreaming about breakfast...just like her mama. 

Sort of at the last minute we threw together a strawberry shortcake party (our friends are were so great to still be able to make it without more than a few days notice.)   Some pirates stole the jewels we were going to use to decorate the foam crowns but they left clues around the house and had these kids running from corner to corner before finally finding the missing treasure chest. :) Then we played 'Put the Strawberry on the Cupcake' and ate some delicious Strawberry shortcake. 

Our up and down, sweet and tough Gwendolyn is a mix of so many things. She loves Strawberry Shortcake and Tinkerbell, faeries and princesses, girl-y clothes, Fancy Nancy books, and singing. She also loves to play with cars, build with duplos or legos, ride bikes and scooters, and throw punches at her older brothers. She's nervous for Kindergarten and not really excited about having to wear "boy clothes" (khaki shorts and polo shirts) to school. I was given a bunch of old (but still in really great condition) school clothes from a friend who recently moved away from Starkville and lucky for her there are some skirts and jumpers in there too! She's quick as a whip with made up songs that rhyme and also with pestering her older brothers. She's more than ready for academics... she can already do simple addition problems in her head and read most simple words.  Her prayers are so detailed and imaginative.."thank you that we have shoes so our feet don't have to get all muddy when we walk outside" or "Thank you that we have food so our tummies don't grumble"  Most of the time her apologies (at least to me) after she's been boisterously unkind are sweet and sincere given with a quick but tender hug. We're so lucky to have her in our family and love her lots. 

4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! We celebrated with some friends and a hot dog roast. Except we boiled then broiled the hotdogs inside and saved the outside time for later in the evening when it wasn't too hot and the kids weren't too hungry. :) 

After a few hours inside the 11 kids 12 and under needed some time outside and some of us hopped the back fence to see the horses.  It is so picturesque on the farm out back. It makes me feel so happy to be out there. But smart Shandee spotted poison oak in our trees just before we hop the fence. YIKES! we've walked through there more than a handful of times and never noticed. The horses seemed friendly and the kids loved trying to feed them grass. 

Then instead of dealing with "traffic" and "crowds" and tired cranky kids we decided to skip the town fireworks and just build a fire and play with sticks in it and watch the fireflies. It sorta of worked for me. I had wanted to buy fireworks and looked at the two stores in town but am new to Independence Day in Starkville and found out from my friends that they while almost every kind of firework is legal in MS, you have to buy it OUTSIDE of town and can't light them off within city limits. Our house is out of city limits, so next year we just have to buy some fireworks outside of town and then we can have a real party. :) But 3 cheers for America, our Founding Fathers, our soldiers and veterans, and fun friends with whom we celebrate.

Girls camp and Chris drives cross country by himself with the kids

Well, the U.S. Opened ended on a Sunday and around 4:30 the next morning we were driving to UT to pick up our boys. Ohhhh, I missed them, and they missed Freddy. The few times I spoke with them during the whole time we were gone they would always ask, "Can I say Hi to Freddy?"  Here's the younger two on the drive out to UT: 

Then around 5:30 the next morning, I was off to the airport to fly to MS by myself. I kept feeling like I was forgetting something with only my bag and purse to care about. Then I had a few hours to unpack, do any laundry I needed and repack for girls camp and finish my presentation. I got 3 hours of sleep before needing to wake up to meet the girls and the YW president from my Branch so we could carpool up to girls camp! Chris had our van with the kids, so I was driving the little '95 Honda Accord with no air conditioning and a nonfunctional drivers-side window. About 2 and a half hours into the drive  I felt and heard a CLANK BANG CLANK right under my feet. Then two seconds later the exact same thing. CLANK BANG CLANK. After that the car seemed to swerve on its own even on straight roads, then I noticed a big grinding sound when I turned and I my stomach started tying itself up in knots. Sister Oglesby was following me in her car with 3 young women and I had 2 with me in mine. I so desperately wanted nothing to be wrong and told myself I would just keep driving until I couldn't possibly drive anymore. We were driving on windy country roads in the middle of nowhere Alabama. Then we rounded a corner and I saw a little gas station on the edge of a small town called Winfield.  Something told me to just pull over and at least talk about it with Sister Oglesby. She thought it needed to be taken to a mechanic right away and marched into the gas station to ask about a nearby mechanic. She got a recommendation for one just a mile or so down the main street but the lady didn't think the mechanics would be up yet. It was about 7:45 am. We went on a hunt for it and after not too much searching figured we saw something that could be it, and we pulled in and stopped. Within a few seconds a guy walked toward me and I was able to get out and explain the situation to him. Within 5 minutes, he had my car up on a lift and within 30 min had diagnosed the problem. A small, specialized screw connecting a rod from the turning thing to the wheel somehow had come out. It was an easy fix.... if they could find a correct replacement screw. He said we were very lucky the bar and/or screw hadn't banked up and got the whole tire stuck. With a serious expression and eyebrows raised he said "you don't want to be driving with it like this for long, not long at all."  The girls in their matching camp t-shirts were good troopers and just played games and practiced their skit all smiles and giggles for the 3 hours we waited. Then $65 dollars later we were on the road again and only an hour and a half late to camp since we had left so early. $65!!! That is the cheapest car fix I have ever had.... by far. Those mechanics were so nice and God definitely was watching over us. 

The next 4 days were filled with smiles, certification, skits, dancing, eating, laughing, praying, reading, and more dancing. With a theme of Be[YOU]tiful we talked about true beauty, righteous women, and finding happiness and contentment in being and in developing yourself. It was great. I learned a lot of names and took a lot of pictures, and slept not as much as I would've liked. I did the ropes course, went on a hike and shot a bow and arrow...or is it 'used a bow to shoot some arrows'...? 

 

The first couple of days Chris was texting me updates on how his cross-country drive with the kids was going. Remember, I left him in UT with all the kids? Apparently the morning I left for the airport, he packed up the kids from Jared and Ashley's, stopped by his parents house to pick up a few boxes where his sister Jess met him so our kids could have cousin time and she watched them play for a bit so Chris could take a nap.  Then it was a stop at Walmart to buy some new movies and a few pillows before he set off on the 29 hour drive home. With a few stops for food, gas and bathrooms, he drove until 4:00 in the morning before pulling over and getting a few hours of sleep using his new pillows to get some horizontal sleep across the driver and front seat.  Then he pushed hard again for most of the day (stopping for breaks during meals at sit-down restaurants) and by early evening he was ready to find a hotel. The next day they got off mid morning and drove the whole day getting home with enough time to have our traditional Friday night Movie night eating pizza in the living room.  WHEW. I was so worried for him. He's amazing. 

2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.... in U.P!

Wow. I don't even know where to begin for this post. This story starts like 7 years ago, whenever the USGA first announced that the 2015 U.S. Open would be, for the first time, in the Pacific Northwest, at the new Chambers Bay golf course in University Place, Washington.  Chris and his parents and siblings all really enjoy golf both playing and watching. They even have a family Golf Association with tournaments, two sportswriters, a blog, paraphernalia, and trophies. Chris made us call my parents that very night and reserve their house for his family. I laughed at him and said something like, "who else would be wanting to stay there?" And he said something like, "Oh, people will be coming out of the woodwork to stay there! I mean, its 1 MILE away from THE U.S. OPEN!" My mother took the request quite seriously and for 7 years has told anyone that has asked to stay in their basement apartment for any length of time, "... well, as long as you realize my daughter and her family will need this space the third week of June 2015"

7 long, wonderful years of thinking, dreaming, planning. Over a year ago, it was decided that this U.S. Open Archibald family trip would be an adult-only trip and that all of Chris' brothers and sister's kids would stay home with the 'other' grandparents. 1 year ago, we all bought tickets and a series of serious and not-so-serious email chains ensued as we emailed back and forth about every aspect of the week. It was all of our first major golf tournament experience and we wanted to do it right. 6 months ago, while we were home in U.P for Christmas, we took the financial hit to get Chris some inside perspective on the course as he played a round at Chambers Bay. Its a tough job, but someone had to do it. (It actually was a tough job for him, since he had just been diagnosed a few days earlier with shingles and his chest was painfully itchy -another lovely spin off from his cancer treatment the year previous)

Then. Finally. The time had come! My 1/2 marathon race in Seattle was on a Saturday, then Sunday Chris' family arrived at my parents house and the tournament practice rounds started on Monday. Our plan for most of the days were to walk the mile and half to the course then walk around the course during the practice rounds to get a feel for it, watch our favorite players and find some good spectator spots, then walk back home. No food allowed in the course and no parking near it either.  (THIS IS A LOT OF WALKING) My foot was still hurting from injuring it on my race and I couldn't walk normally without pain. I was sooooo sooooooo sad that I was going to mess up this once in a life-time chance. I didn't want Chris to feel like he had to stay by me but I also knew I couldn't keep up. Rocking Frederick to sleep Sunday night, I prayed hard and cried and felt like some of the reasons why I wasn't able to train as well for the race was because I chose to do other more important things. I missed some of my long runs because of needing to be at church functions, or TREK or going to the temple and I only manged to get in 2 runs a week for the last month because of putting my family's/children's/house renovation needs above my own. I know some of the fault still lies squarely on my shoulders for not making the time and energy necessary to train properly, so I just felt sad that I messed up and got injured. I asked for a miracle and I got one! My foot quickly and steadily got better despite not really resting it, walking about 10 miles a day on it during the week of the tournament. I still limped up and down the hills of the course the first couple of days, but by the last day I could hardly feel any pain. Heavenly Father really blessed me. And my Mom and Dad were amazing and drove me to and from the course every day, waking up a 5:30AM some days to take me and picking me up at a moments notice.

The second (OR THIRD?) day, we met this awesome couple, Dan and Christi from Gig Harbor. We and they, along with a bunch of others, had decided that the best spot to watch the tournament would be the top left side of the grandstands by 5 green, on the back row. They beat us to it on that day, and we beat them to it on the next day. After sitting next to people for 10 hours a day, 2 days in a row, you feel like you really know them. I was sad that our plan changed for the last couple of days and we didn't sit there. Then on the final day of the tournament, we're up in some really good seats on the 18th green grandstands and up walk, Christi and Dan! We wave them over and give them some seats in front of us we had been "saving" ... well, really Chris was using them as a pillow, but hey it works.  We even had them come over for dinner and trifle at my parents house after the tournament ended. It was super fun to experience the excitement of seeing live golf action. I especially loved the few times we popped a squat down by some tee boxes and sat within 10 feet of the worlds best golfers, watching them swing.  I mostly loved just being with Chris and his family. We did crosswords together and joked around. Most evenings we were SO TIRED from walking/sitting/being outside all day that we just crashed when we got home. Chris and I still had kids to feed and put to bed most evenings. But most evenings we did manage to play some games or watch a movie, eat amazing food, and strategize for the next day before getting to bed around 11 since we were up by 5:30 most mornings.  Missing from this picture of us on Sunday is Chris' sister and bro-in-law Jess and Ryan. They have a crazy stressful life right now and how to leave a day early to get back to UT. We missed them!

But... what about the GOLF? Yeah, that's Chris' area of expertise. I'll let him write out the golf details...maybe even Farfell Miller III will do a sportswriters commentary...