HONEY BEES AND DERBY HATS

We have been bee keepers for 7 years.  (And by "we", I mean, Scott.)  We've had good years and bad years... but our struggle is keeping them alive over the winter.  Scott has winterized, prayed, and prepared for the cold and our bees have rarely "made it" through the cold months.  This year is different!  Our bees are thriving!  I have one happy husband!  And I'm looking forward to the harvest!

My Bee Keeper
He's so brave!

They swarmed... and he now has too hives!

Joy sounds like bees humming!

Joy looks like my husband grinning behind a protective mask!

Aren't they gorgeous?

"He is not worthy of the honey-comb
That shuns the hives because the bees have stings."

-Shakespeare

And... the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday.  So for FHE we thought we'd decorate Derby hats.  And true to my husband's creative mind (and thinking way outside the box) he decided we could incorporate some bottles and lids left over from his work.  I thought it was a fun idea!  We all enjoyed modeling our creations.

Hatters gonna hat!

(This bad pun is just for Amy!)

Run for the Roses... and Fancy Hats

Cuteness overload!

IDAHO - PART 2

 After dropping Katia off at school, we headed to Boise to spend time with my mom, dad, sister and brothers!  Scott joined us on Sunday, but flew home on Monday.  The rest of the trip, I enjoyed spending time with my mom canning LOTS of chicken and making LOTS of soap.

Aunt GJ was so excited to share "her" river with Skittles!

Both Ken and GJ love their grand-nephew.

Grandpa and Skittles looking out at the birds!

Grandpas and their grandsons!

Grandpa Mac & Gary
Grandpa Scott & Skittles
Grandpa Ken & Blueberry

These two second cousins seemed to enjoy each other!

And these to grandpas absolutely LOVE being grandpas!

Emily brought her bubble machine!

Such fun!

Both boys LOVED the bubbles!

Skittles loved the yellow bedroom AND his Wyoming moose!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures at Uncle Zane's house.

He loved their property and the chickens.

Uncle Ben introduced Skittles to alpacas.

Skittles loved the "pacas!"

He even pet them.

And he gave his second cousin sweet hugs cuz she played peek-a-boo with him!

He wasn't sure about Uncle Ben though....  JK

Soap making was CRAZY!  It's a huge process.  The hardest part was getting the lye solution and the fats/oil solution to the right temperature.  The lye is extremely dangerous.  I ended up getting burned all up and down my left arm.  I learned a lot.  And I will definitely make soap again - albeit with more caution.  Chemical burns are NO FUN!  BUT spending time with my mom is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!  I'm so grateful she's one of my best friends!

Mom's taking the temperature.... I'm stirring in lye.

Mom's scraping out soap.  I'm pouring.

Dad built our molds.  They looked soooo good!

It worked!

Apparently... while we were in Boise, Katia's cousin, Rachel, visited BYU-I.

They accidentally ran into each other!  How fun!  It's a small world!

We are home now.  It was a great trip to Idaho!  I miss my family that lives there soooo much!  Someday I hope we all live a lot closer.

IDAHO - PART 1

Katia is officially a BYU-I coed now!  Scott, Kiara, Katia, Skittles and I took a road trip to Rexburg to get her settled.  It was a fun time... and an emotional time.

Before we left, Skittles and his aunt spent some quality time together.  For some strange reason, they enjoy sitting in front of the front door and visiting.

Bonding looks like this.

And this.
Skittles and Starburst love looking out the window together...
especially when daddy is mowing the lawn.

Before we left, mom and daughters gave themselves facials!

The road trip lasted 24 hours.  Believe it or not, Skittles was a great traveler.

Two of my favorite smiles!

We got to meet Sister Sifford!

She is every bit as wonderful as Katia said she was!

And her companion, Sister Wagner, is the granddaughter of one of our dear friends in Kentucky!

She's a gem too!

These two really love the Lord and each other!

I'm grateful for them and their examples!

While we were in Pocatello (Katia calls it Poky) we went to see the nearly finished temple.  It was fun to see pictures of it's progress on Katia's mission... and now:

The temple is our favorite place!

And this girl loved being a "part" of this one!

Once we were in Rexburg, we met up with my niece!

Mariah is beautiful and kind!

She is truly a blessing in our lives... we're glad we got to have lunch with her!

Saying goodbye is hard.  Jason Mraz's song is on my mind:

Oh, my, my

How beautiful

Oh my irrefutable father

He told me

Son sometimes it may seem dark

But the absence of the light is a necessary part

Just know, that you're never alone

You can always come back home

Oh, my, my

How beautiful

Oh my beautiful mother

She told me

Son in life you're gonna go far

If you do it right

You'll love where you are

Just know that wherever you go

You can always come home

Every road is a slippery slope

There is always a hand that you can hold on to

Looking deeper through the telescope

You can see that your homes inside of you

Just know, that wherever you go

No you're never alone

You will always get back home!

DeGOOYER DAY 2021: IDEAS WORTH SPREADING

It is DeGooyer Day!  And our theme was TED: Ideas Worth Spreading!  We each shared TED talks.  We hiked.  We ate Mexican food.  We danced.  We laughed.  We played Jack Box games.  And we ate wings.

Giving TED talks was a challenge.  We each were nervous... even though it wasn't for a HUGE audience.  But we learned a lot.  And Scott created one heck of a stage!  And each talk was unique and... well... awesome!  It was the highlight of the day!  In order of appearance:

Skittles proudly shows off the stage!

Cody spoke about Living with Agility: Agility Programing.

I talked about why reading is essential for physical, spiritual and mental well-being.

Mindset Managed: Fixed vs. Growth Mindset was Scott's speech.

Katia wowed us all by talking about Living Life to it's fullest through principles she learned through reading.

And Kiara got us all excited about how much crocheting can help us learn valuable life lessons.

Skittles then reminded us again... how cool it is to be part of a TED event.

Then we explored a bit of Kentucky by taking a short hike to see the Fairmount Falls.  Even Spencer hiked.  It was a beautiful area, and we were blessed with a moment of good weather for our exploration.  (The rest of the day, it rained, a lot.)

Me and my favorite person!

Cutest photo bomber EVER!

Love this family!  They are mine!

Kotten Kandy being Kotten Kandy!

"Help me, grandpa!"

"Help me, Cody!"

Yup, he's the cutest!

Look!  Flowers!

The falls...

She's on top of the world!

Adorable!

This is my favorite picture!

Of course, we also took pictures with our favorite large chair.

The Crazy DeGooyer Patriarch

The Totally Normal Mama

The One and Only Cody

Our Talkative and Loving Eldest Daughter

Are Unapologetically Herself, Youngest Daughter

The Most Adorable Grandson EVER!

This is US!  The DeGooyers (and Lillywhties!)

It was a great DeGooyer Day!  I wish I could share each talk... but I have no clue how to upload videos to my blog.  I love this tradition of ours!