Memorial Day Weekend!! May 26-30, 2016

We had plans to go camping with some of our old CA friends who ended up relocating closer to us (hooray!!!) in Arkansas and nearby in Texas.  To keep our CA ward friend/families tradition of going camping at Gualala alive, we decided we would all get together and meet up halfway to camp in Oklahoma! So exciting, right!!?  It was like it was meant to be thta we could expand this tradition over half a country away with just a sampling handful of the amazing friends we had before! We were so pumped! ..BUT the forecast changed to show it raining and thunderstorming Memorial Weekend....and so we were soo bummed we had made the camping reservations, but they unfortunately didn't work out. :(  

Thankfully, our friends were so kind to invite us to still come anyways, and enjoy their amazing campfire pit backyards, dutch oven meals, fun trampoline play time, a day out on their super fun and largely accommodating boat, and some fun game nights, and memories together!! And we were off!!! Arkansas, here we come!

Surprisingly, one the kids' favorite parts of our road trip was a stop to Walmart along the way to pick up some last minute supplies of diapers, etc. and they thought this cool police car/tow truck ride was the niftiest little thing! Even if it wasn't even going! haha....Man if they thought this was good, they were sure in for a treat!!

After we arrived in Bentonville, AK, we were completely drawn in by the greenery and lush natural beauty of the surroundings.  It kind of reminded us of Texas with the amounts of wide open spaces and lots of land and properties out there, including those with cows and BBQ houses, trailer home parks and some nicer developed neigborhood areas....but it was so green with widespread homes and hots, and it was so beautiful.  We enjoyed some dutch-oven-lasagna and a chicken and potatoes dish, along with a peach cobler and smores too with some of our greatest friends over the years. :) We have grown so much with and learned so much from the amazing families and their examples, we were so thankful they were so willing to host us and roll out the red carpet of fun activities with and for us so we could all have a memorable weekend together!

We were all sure in for the ride of our lives on Saturday, when we all got to take a boat ride on our friends large boat that fit all three of our families AND kids too! We found a beautiful cove where all the kids got to swim with Daddy and friends while I fed baby Joshua and we all got to see their super talented and brave kiddos knee board, wakeboard, and tube and we got to experience the wakeboarding and tubing fun too!! We had such a blast! It was so nice being able to relax and kick back and enjoy a beautiful area, and lots of smiles with some really wonderful people.  :)

Emma and Katelyn even found a baby turtle in our cove area swimming near the rocks!! So amazed that they even caught him!! So cute and tiny!

It was funny that my friend Cheri took and sent this picture for me...haha.  It was so funny because the kids saw me falling and face-planting in the water, but just like when I was trying to get up on a wake board for my first time, I fell three times before I finally could figure out how to 1) Start with the horizontal board in the water and twist it manually, 2) Determinedly twist and press down my weight on my back foot....and 3) Maintain a good bend in my arms with a strong and bump-ready grip on the rope! I liked using my FALLS as a teaching tool, showing tha tno matter how many times we fall, we must still always KEEP on TRYING and never give up!! So 

       

The next day we went to church together, went on a drive and nature walk to a magnificent glass church cathedral in the woods, and the kids enjoyed racing motorcycles with Miss Iz and exploring their super nice playroom!  Iz kept asking in moments of quiet...."where did all the kidsss go??" She learned they were so much fun to follow around and explore with! Super cute :)

It meant so much to us to gether together with the Wirthlins (unfortunately, we didn't get a picture with them in it...darn it...) and Pezelys! We missed the Sorensens, but it was so great to pick up right where we left off and get to catch up on life again all over and even play a couple games of Rook!!! Our favorite games together....haha... =D It was so sweet of Cheri and Danielle to host us and spend so much time preparing such incredible meals including chicken salad sandwiches and more for us as well as my favorite pumpkin waffles with Jonathan's favorite heart-attack baking soda buttermilk syrup WITH strawberries on top...one of my camping favorites haha....and a yummy cafe rio night...and Danielle and Cheri even did all of this when Dani had a talk to prepare and Cheri had a Primary Sharing Time Lesson to teach too that same Sunday ! Whheww!! They sure were busy ladies but they did it all with such ease and grace and still managed to still receive us with the most loving, open arms of sincere kindness and friendship.  Thanks so much for making our Memorial Weekend such a sweet and memorable one with some of the greatest friends a family could ask for! :)

After a detour on Sunday night, which lamely costed us an hour of extra drive time, we finally made it back home safely!! Then, for Monday Memorial Day, we had some happy smiles as Joshy started picking up how to tap tap tap! his hands and showing us his fun excited expressions of pure joy!

Joshua 7.75 months!

It is so fun to see his eyes light up the world around him! That smile is so ridiculously sweet and just makes your heart melt.  He reminds me most of Katelyn in his eyes and facial structure....but has a touch of Gracie's eye tilt, nose, Nathan's hair and similar features....oh it's so hard to say for sure....but he is sure a sweet combination of them all and we are so thankful for his calm and enthusiastic spirit in our home! :)

Yay for Snow cones on Memorial Day!! What a way to finish off the holiday with a bam!! Red, White and Blue deliciousness! 

On a more serious note, we are so thankful to all those who have sacrificed and continue to put their lives on the line for the religious freedoms and rights that we now are so blessed with today.  After the pattern of one of my favorite patriotic songs, "God Bless the U.S.A.," We truly are so proud to be Americans, where we know we are free and we won't forget those who died and gave their lives for each of us. :)   I am so thankful for the divinely inspired constitution and all the hardships and trials so many went through to establish and sustain the freedoms we have today.  So thankful for every life given in this land of the free because of the brave.  :)

Sweet Joshua enjoying our outing too!

Bedtime snuggles!

Last day in May park fun too!

Love these everyday smiles even on the small walk to our nearby park...those genuine tender eyes and smiles that love exploring and having fun together just mean to world to me. :)

Happy Memorial Weekend and We are so thankful for all those who have given their lives for us to build the foundation of ours on today.  :)  We could not have ever made it this far without them.  We aree so richly blessed and ever thankful to be free.

May 24-26, 2016 Homeschool Science Day, Soccer Party and Home Life!

 
We were so excited to hear that a sweet lady in our neighborhood who also homeschools decided to start up a Homeschooling Science Club! We were all in!! If there's anything I love beyond my amazing husband, it's my kiddos, learning and science!!

They did vinegar and baking soda balloons and it was a big hit! Even though we didn't have all the supplies yet, we had a blast learning about physical and chemical changes with balloons together while Liz and I switched off swapping watching our cute little girlies at a playground nearby.  Katelyn and Nathan sure love engaged learning with their cousins and playing with the massive amount of nerf guns and shooters in their garage afterwards!! We played Blind Man's Bluff too with a bunch of kids and they thought it was a super fun game!

That night, Nathan (4 years) and Andrew (5 years)'s soccer team had their team end of the year party at the nearby park and we celebrated with a Mothers vs. Sons Soccer Game, special soccer sugar cookie treats, and water! They were so cute and the boys were so proud and excited to see their own numbers on them! This was their 2nd season playing together as the DINOSAURS!!! GO RED DINOSAURS!!

The game part was a blast too!  It helped that the boys' goal was about 10 feet wide and the moms goal was about 5 feet wide! haha....But we still outscored them, I had a few nice dribble runs down the field that ended in assists to goals, one was to Liz who kicked it in!! wooo hooo!! The boys had a couple new additions to the team this year including Jose, and Bon, who must have played before because they sure knew what they were doing and would drive to the goal everytime! Nathan sure learned a lot from them and you could tell he looked up to them.  One time as we were headed to a game one Saturday this season, he pointed out Jose to me and said, "Mom, THAT's Jose, he's really good at scoring all goals...." haha...."He scored like 4 or 10 of them...."  Hehe...So cute. He is learning so much, compared to when he first started and was just getting the hang of thing by huddling around the ball wherever it went....and now he is actually starting to chase after the ball and power glide towards the net! We are so amazed at how well the boys did this year and especially because Nathan got to the point where he was scoring at least one goal each game...sometimes even two or three!! Woo hoo!!

He sure loved playing with his cousin Andrew too, sometimes during practice, he would just be out there on the field swinging hands with Andrew or making silly jokes or faces and giggling at each other....not that that was conducive to super productive practices....lol...but it was still cute all the same! We sure love our Nathan Speedster Man! :)

Nathan, Jose, Jude, Max (?), Andrew, Bon and Chance! 

 We had plans to keep our old California ward family/friend tradition alive and go camping with some old CA friends, who have since moved closer to Texas over Memorial Day Weekend that was fast approaching! So, to prepare for our 5 hour car trip....we decided to do prepare some of the best car snacks possible and make some super delicious healthy banana muffins together!! Love those faces!! Love my helpers in the kitchen! #lovetheseeverydaymoments #theyareseriouslythebesthelpersever!

 

And of course, after lots and lots of hard work....these cute kiddos are always game for some sand play time too!! I love that I can usually find at least two of them out here throughout the day occasionally playing with each other, hiding plastic bugs and finding them, or sifting the sand through the spinning wheels or building a dome castle together.  The family that build together, stays together!! ;) =D
 

In addition to some cute everyday moments on the back patio, these pictures of little Joshua help give an idea of the little moments he has been up to lately in the high chair!!! Little J is now 7.5 months old...and he loves putting everything INTO his mouth...including the food jars themselves....let's just say he is NOT AS fond of eating the food as much having it spooned into his mouth by someone other than himself!! Haha!! Go figure!! This was probably the 2nd jar he finished in the last almost 2 months with me spooning it into his mouth.  His first BABY FOOD he ate was CARROTS!!! (Just like when we almost named him Garret, and Nathan thought that name sounded kinda funny because it kinda sounded like Carrot....haha...he had said, "we could just call him baby carrot," hehe....Well, sure enough his first baby food he completely finished was carrots! yay!! The second was green beans and he was all smiles about it!! We sure love this sweet, calm, happy, smiley and enthusiastic loving little guy!

Joshua 7.5 months!

 
 

They say a picture can say a thousand words and my heart just melts with all the expressions and love inner happiness I get inside when I see these pics and remember these silly days and small moments toether...I feel like I might just have to include a thousand pictures to even remotely get a glimpse of the depth of excitement, meaning, pure love and joy I am feeling whenever I see or think of the craziness, all the ways we try to explore and learn together and messiness of our days, but also of the heart full of love and smiles that brighten the world and bind our hearts and make all of the challenges and hard and tiresome nights worth it. :)

May 20-21, 2016 Cousins on the lake and SeaLife Volunteer Fun!!

We had some fun times in May when we finally got to go out with our cousins on a lake nearby for their first time! Lots of fun family memories together!! #AtleastDaddyisaCUTEphotobomb ;) #lovethosesmiles!

Earlier that Saturday morning, we ventured over to Grapevine's Festival so Katelyn could volunteer as a Young Environmentalist with the local SeaLife Aquarium! It was SUPPPPPER hot and crazy trying o push my double stroller with all four kiddos, Joshy in my front carrier pack, 4 blocks into the exhibition booth.....pheww wheeeee!! But, it was all worth it when I could see Katelyn blossom and her eyes light up and her confidence shine after preparing all week and finally getting to help tell others and share ways to conserve the environment by reducing our wastes and recycling, using fabric bags, cutting spaghetti sauce bottle or soda can plastic connectors, and recycling plastic grocery bags so turtles don't mistake them for jellyfish and choke on them after trying to eat them.  This momma was so proud of her for being so brave and standing up for a great cause and making a friend or two along the way!

Nathy and Gracie stayed busy in the trike riding arena together, winning lollipop prizes from a bean bag toss, and trying out a petting zoo together.  Nathan was NOT a fan of the goats trying to jump onto his lap to eat our cone of food pellets...and Gracie ended up being a little worried about those crazyjumpy goats too! Well, at least we tried...and had a very hands (and feet!! *haha...goat feet**) on experience...even if it was a little scary.Lots of memories crammed into about 45 minutes.  Then, we told Daddy we would be home so we could take our cousins out on the lake! So off we went! But we were so glad Katelyn had a chance to share some important things she's been learning about marine life lately too!