Reptile Family Night

We went to the library for FHE to see reptiles!  The kids were scared and excited.

They eventually decided they wanted to hold everything they could.

Anika got to be a helper.

And all the kids there got to take turns holding this guy.

Seth's turn.

"Look, mom!"

This is some prehistoric dinosaur lizard.

My family is up there. I was in back with walking, wandering, babbling, snacking Kari.

 A kissing Komodo dragon.

Kari's turn to see the tortoise.

Bunkbeds!

They have been counting down the days til we could put their bunk beds together!

First night!

Yes, they are currently purple 🙂

10 Months

Well actually 10 months and a week and a couple days. Kari is so fun and happy and loves her family. And we love her!

She makes the cutest little babbles and sounds.  She walks around all the time now. She doesn't want to be held much or contained.

She likes to pull things out of the cupboards. It looks similar when she helps unload the dishwasher. Somehow she climbed into the red chair with the book, tuned around and scooted to the edge before she tipped back (pictured above).

Bible School Singing Follow-Up

Grr... I am so frustrated. This is supposed to come after my post about the kids attending a vacation bible school this week, but that post has disappeared 😭.  It was almost done and had taken A LOT of time because of the way I had to add my photos and the details I had included to help my kids remember. But I hadn't published it yet because I wanted to ask them what their favorite part was. I'm pretty sure it was saved at some point, but maybe not. 

Anyway. Sorry to complain- just wanted to tell someone.

(Than or Dad, please let me know what to edit. It's late)

On the last day of Vacation Bible School, the Methodist church sent home a flier inviting the kids to come sing a couple songs at their Sunday services. My kids thought it sounded fun. I thought so too. So we went!

 This lady was in charge of the Imagination Stations (crafts, experiments, etc.) during VBS. She was very sweet.

My kids wore their shirts over their Sunday clothes so we could head straight to our church after.

It was fun to see them sing with a small sampling of the 300 kids that attended VBS. They were so cute!

Anika is on the far right in the blue skirt. Seth is next to her but slightly hidden.

It was interesting to hear the preacher's sermon, and the band sing and play.

We stayed for most of the service. Anika and Seth got to go downstairs with the kids after singing. They got to help assemble bags of food for kids who don't have food over the summer- the kids who usually get breakfast and lunch for free at school, but don't have enough/any at home.  They also got to play and color. When we went down to get them, they were sad to leave.

The reverend taught about how by small things, great things are brought to pass. He also talked about having your beliefs and your actions in alignment. Whether your beliefs or your actions are lacking (or both!), work to get them aligned because that is integrity. When they are in alignment, you can avoid discomfort in your life that manifests itself in any and ALL kinds of ways.

I've heard that some bands are really rocking out when they play at church. The little group that played at this church was not too loud or overdone. I enjoyed it. While I recognize the importance of reverent and respectful music at church, I  also appreciate the praise and the feeling in many songs I've heard while here in The South. I feel like other churches often do a better job at worshipping through music. Or since I don't really know that, I assume so.

It caused me to reflect on the praise and feeling I've been lacking when singing hymns at church. That reminds me of our first Thanksgiving here in Georgia. Our neighbors invited us over for a pre-Thanksgiving party. It was a big group of people- mostly their friends, who also mostly happened to be from their church. (We all know how that goes, right?) It was a pleasant evening. Nathaniel took the kids home to bed and I stayed longer. At the end, everyone came together to sing hymns. People would call out hymn numbers (their hymnal had many more than ours- maybe at least 500) and everyone sang. They sang so loudly and beautifully, it was amazing. I thought it would be so neat if it sounded like that when we sang at church.

"Will you still marry me?"

About 10 years ago Nathaniel proposed. He asked his friend, James Porter, to go ahead of us and leave a rose at the spot where he planned to propose. Long story short, as we were going there Nathaniel realized that he had told James the wrong place. So Nathaniel picked a sunflower to fill in for the rose.

Nathaniel was really cute and thoughtful the other day and surprised me by celebrating our 10-year proposal anniversary with sunflowers and a rose. He took Anika and Kari to the store with him to get these (and donuts!) Saturday morning while Seth and I were sleeping.

The amazing thing about the proposal is that James somehow didn't find the spot Nathaniel gave him directions to - even though it was much more simple than the place we ended up going to. Not only that, but James DID find us and delivered the rose after all! It really was amazing that he found us.

Anyway, here are the cute crazy kids that have joined our family over the past 10 years (or more accurately 6 1/2 years).

Even though Nathaniel remembered the day incorrectly, it worked out well and I don't mind. He associated his proposal with June 11th, the day he went in to the MTC, when it was actually June 16th which is the day he came home from his mission. Honest mistake 😉

Sope Creek & Temple FHE

On Memorial Day we went to "hike" to Sope Creek. Kari loves being outside!

Mom and Anika!

Snack Break

A little pond where we saw fish and turtles.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but Kari is trying hard to get out of the carrier.

So I let her out.

After going the wrong way twice, we made it to the creek!

It was beautiful and great for climbing. All of my kids love climbing in any fashion,  so they were in heaven.

Seth was not being careful 😬. Anika seemed like she was trying to be careful but was not super successful at it.

We should have brought swim suits or a change of clothes. Oh well.

Seth basically got completely wet. Anika got fairly wet.

Kari was lucky because we took off her onesie and then changed her diaper when we were done.

The kids slid down some of the rocks for fun, but not in this exact spot.

Beautiful! 

These greens are healthy for you too!

Glad to have dad around!

Special pine cones 

Look! Look at these flowers on the temple grounds!  From a distance I thought they were regular petals, but when I got closer I was amazed to see the petals were their own little flowers.

We had a little Family Home Evening at the temple in our way home.

Straight-face Ace

Seth came shopping with me. While I filled the van with gas we tried to play Straight-face Ace. 

One of us tried to keep a straight face while the other tried to get a smile or laugh.

We weren't very good and the first many many tries we just laughed and laughed and laughed.