Week #42: Family Pictures in the Park

This Week...

...we had a huge wind storm. Can you see the port-o-potty on it's side? That's from the wind. I don't want to use that one anymore. And no one had to because they came and switched it out. Phew!

Clayton is up on the lift working on the face of the house. I can't believe it's coming together!

...we had our family pictures taken. Our friend Haley Harris was good enough to take our family photos. We went down to Chiawana Park and made it just in time. There were so many other families there with the same idea. It's a wonder any of us took photos without people in the background. This is not Jason's favorite activity, but he digs deep for the strength to get through the shoot once a year.

 

The kids found a friend. Praying Mantis blend in so well. 

...we took the kids to dinner at Five Guys and then to Krispy Kremes for dessert after our family pictures. Typically the bribe of the day on picture day is donuts. But we were feeling extra generous. We had a fun night out together.

...we found beauty amongst the weeds. Tumbleweeds to be exact. Who knew that tumbleweeds actually bloom?! And a beautiful bloom at that! This is such a great analogy that out of troublesome times can come beautiful lessons learned and growth gained.

...the boys put their new Lego hero factory figures together. Sometimes it can be a struggle for them to work together, but they did it beautifully this time.

...we went to the carnival/trunk or treat at the school. The kids loved wearing their costumes and playing all the games. Between the Buns was there with a hot dog stand; they loved that too! Emma-monopoly man; Paul-zombie; Benjamin-bumblebee; Claire-vampire; Lainey-ballerina

They helped set up the sucker board after school. They are always super excited to help.


...the kids threw this snake into the apple bowl. It made me think of Adam and Eve. That sly serpent is up to his old tricks. Get it?! Serpent and fruit. Ha!

...the Cubs made periscopes this week. This was a super easy and fun activity. My trusty den leader partner, Marie, put this together.

...I did some work out at my mom's in the garden. I went to grab the bucket right where this huge spider was resting! Talk about a heart attack!

...I caught some of the wonders of our world. I love the beauty all around us. What a beautiful world that Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy. 

Week #41: Baptism Times Two

This Week...

...Benjamin got his cast off! This was such a wonderful day for him. It was hard to have his right arm in a cast up past his elbow. He had to learn to write with his left hand for the first few months of school. He could rotate his arm because of the long arm cast. That meant no bikes, scooters, or showers.

...Claire and Benjamin were baptized. Ben got his cast off just in time! They were so excited for this day. They were also so ready for it. I reflected on their growth and development over the last few months, and year. They had an increased awareness of what was right and a desire to do it. We invited both of our neighbors to come and share in the event. They both came! Amanda with Alexandra, Mason, and Jackson and Darryl, Jessie, Declan, and Shannon. It was such a full meeting both because we had so many family and friends and because the spirit was so strong.

The Bishop used a really great analogy in his remarks. He held out a mousetrap set with a dollar bill on it. He asked Benjamin and Claire if they wanted the dollar. Of course, they did. Then he asked them to reach out and take it, but they wouldn't. He asked them why and they responded that they didn't want to get caught in the trap. Exactly! The Bishop then explained how this is like the decisions that we make. As we make good choices and do what is right we have nothing to fear. It is when we start to stray that we can get caught in the trap of poor or sinful decisions.

...Clayton(left) and Aaron (right) worked hard at the house. The walls and roof scaffolding went up. We can see that it will be a house one day. Haha!

...the Cub Scouts plarned! We had to find one more way to make some plarn. The Cubs did a great job with the project.

...I made applesauce! Finally! I borrowed a Victorio strainer from my friend and got busy. It was actually a lot fun! I learned a lot for next time. From apple slices to apple sauce!

...I went to help with activity days. Emma is counting the days until she is done with activity days and can start going to Young Womens.

Sophie Buchanan, Claire, Ezri Waters, Taya Riner, Emma, Mckayla Slaugh, Afton Bagley, Addie Claybrook, Jade and Hannah Meyers, Cecily Lewis

...Jason worked on another Adam's County car amidst the chaos of packing and applesauce, etc.

Week #40: We Took a Road Trip!

This Week...

...we went to Utah for the weekend. We really wanted to make it back for our mission reunion. A lot of my former companions and friends from the Visitor's Center were going to be there. It was great that Jason knew everyone too and didn't have to stand around awkwardly. It was so great to see the wonderful people, catch up on our lives, and pick up where we left off. Such a marvelous experience.

Below: Sister ?, Elder David Bowman, Sister Jeni Rampton (Bowman), Elder Erickson, Hermana Kelli Nielson (Rich) w/ Morgan, Hermana Zirker (Erickson), Hermana Christina Larsen, Hermana Pepa Rybak (, President and Sister Madsen (mission president last half of mission), Sister , Sister Natalie Johnson (Wilkins), Becky Miller (Moody), Hermana Alaina Wilcock, Sister Micah Hale (Hauley), Sister Katie Potts (Taylor), Sister ?

Below: Sister Micah Hale (Hauley), Elder Erickson, Hermana Anne Christina Larsen, Sister Lyndsey Perkins (Roberts), Hermana Zirker (Erickson), Hermana Pepa Rybak, Elder Brian Wales, Elder David Bowman, Hermana Alaina Wilcock, Elder Brian White, Sister Jeni Rampton (Bowman),  Sister Katie Potts (Taylor), Sister Nikki Broby, Sister Sheri Peterson (Bates)

We were a little worried for the road trip aspect of the journey, but the kids did exceptionally well. We took out the front bench seat and put a cooler there with lunch food items. That way I had plenty of room to make sandwiches and pass them around.

We were so happy to enter into Idaho for the speed limit change. There's nothing like cruising along at 80 mph to help you feel like you're making great time.

We stayed with Jason's cousin, TeRonda, in Nampa, ID on the way down. It was so great to see her and so nice of her to let us stay. It was great to have a break half way. TeRonda was also great with the kids. She pulled out her Polaroid cameras and let the kids use up the film she had left. Some of them worked and others came out splotchy, but they had a blast.

The actual mountains and Mountain(s) of the Lord were amazing views. There were so many in Utah!

We stayed with our friends, the Lowe's, the first night after the reunion. They were nice enough to let us crash there, much like they did on our trip to Arizona a couple years back. The kids enjoyed playing with Isabelle, Ezra, Lincoln, and Malcolm.

They have adjusted well to life with twins. Their baby girls, Matilda and Gretchen, are so cute! It was so weird to hear the babies cry in the night and not have to worry about getting up to tend them.

We had to make a brief stop at In-N-Out for lunch. We just had to. Washington doesn't have this, yet! The kids were excited. Heck, I was excited!

We enjoyed our time at Temple Square.

Book of Mormon display: These are some of the languages into which the Book of Mormon is translated. What an amazing gift we have...to know that heavenly Father spoke/speaks to all of his children and in their own language.

I loved this wall display as well. What can I do? the heading states. Look at all those examples of things we can do. At first it seems so hard and a bit of an inconvenience. But once you get serving and acting, it becomes fun and part of who you are.

The displays were fun for the kids to explore. This one on Special Witnesses of Christ tugged at my heart strings. Three of these fine men are no longer with us on the Earth. Their mission is complete. They've left such a legacy of teaching and inspiration. We slipped into one of the theaters for the second session to catch who the three new apostles will be to fill the three empty seats. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, Elder Dale G. Renlund were chosen and called. And we sustained them.

We stayed with our friends, the Bonnecks. Clint is one of the fab five that Jason grew up with. Clint and his wife, Rania, were nice enough to let us stay with them. It was so fun to have time to talk and catch up. They have great kids that our kids loved playing with. We made a trip to Ikea and the kids had a hay day there playing house.

We decided to drive straight through to Washington on the way home. We listened to conference until we couldn't get it on the radio. We heard and felt that something was not well with President Monson when his talk neared it's close. We prayed and hoped for his health to sustain him. 

For the rest of the trip, we brought out the tablet to read The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Emma's teacher had read it to them and she reassured me that it was a good book. Jason was skeptical of me reading out loud, but was soon hooked before I got through chapter three. It was so fun to read. We were all engaged and whenever I tried to stop, they begged me to continue. It made the remaining hours fly by and we couldn't wait in the couple days after we got home to finish it and find out how it ended.

We had such a great weekend. It was fast, but it was worth it. We didn't fight too much. We enjoyed time with friends. We enjoyed the new vistas. We learned that we can do road trips.

...before we slipped off to Idaho, I went apple picking. A member of the church out in the Basin let us come and glean apples for applesauce. I didn't want to pass up on this opportunity for good, free apples. I took several bins and boxes and came back with what I thought was a moderate amount of apples. It was A LOT when I got home and unloaded them into the garage. I learned a few things from the orchard though. First, They leave a lot of good apples behind. Second,  I didn't know soda cans grew on trees. Third, it's no fun to sit on a thistle. Just so you know.

...Cub Scouts went to the McNary Wildlife Preserve for pack meeting. I led them out I182 to a nice area of the preserve. We parked and used a good trail that took us out by the water with plenty of evidence of wildlife for the boys to observe.

Before we went with Cub Scouts, I took the kids out there to scout around. It was a nice Sunday evening activity.

...the kids plarned before church. I couldn't get them to stop! They love the almost mindless effort of connecting the plastic bags together.

...plarn has taken hold of us! We had the Buchanan family over to plarn for Family Home Evening. It didn't take long to teach those that didn't know what to do and we were off, making strands and strands of plarn.

...there was a lot of progress on the house. The stairs are in! Clayton and Aaron left a note specifically for our kids. They have to post the warning for liability reasons, that way if injury does occur, they're covered. Jason and I had a good laugh though because we know our children. They would have been up and down those stairs a ga-zillion times even though there's no walls on the top floor.

Our builder stopped by to touch base with the framers. That was our cue to stop delaying the framers in their work. The desire to stop by and chat is just too strong for us. We have been so impressed with Brett Lott and his building ethics and practices. We feel so blessed that he is building our house and that integrity marks his every step.