Afterthoughts of the Primary Program

Last Sunday was our ward's Primary Program. There were moments when I felt like it was the Slichta Show because we were involved so much in it. Emmy and Adyson took responsibility for memorizing their parts. Both girls sang in small group numbers. Emmy and her friend Eleanor played their harps accompanying the children as they sang. (which was so cute) I had a small speaking part and played the organ twice. And Jeff was a teacher who smiled big and monitored reverence, making sure the kids were where they needed to be at the right time. Maryn and Kaden sat alone in the audience. So sad for me that Maryn wasn't in the program this year. It was a lovely program and we're all glad it's done now.

My favorite part of the whole program was being able to look out into the audience at all the faces of the parents. When their children were at the microphone the parent's eyes brightened and they mouthed along as their child spoke. Of course if the child's voice was especially cute or if they did something goofy with the microphone or all of a sudden forgot their part the whole congregation smiled wide claiming the program to be all the more touching and inspiring. At the end the Bishop had some closing remarks... interesting that they went right along with my feelings regarding the faces of the parents.

Except, he went a step further.

The Bishop related this to our life. He said that when our children performed well we were thrilled and it showed on our faces. But how interesting that even if our children didn't perform up to the level of how they practiced our faces still radiated love and joy for our child. We didn't get mad that they messed up. We won't punish them when we get home. The kids just forgot their part and we loved them all the more for it.

And then he said...

Our Heavenly Father is watching us all the time. He loves to watch our success'. He wants to hug us when we accomplish something great. But, sometimes we forget our "lines" and make mistakes. When we do this He loves us even more. We know how much we love our own children, but Heavenly Father's love is even greater. When we goof up he just smiles and wants to hug us. He doesn't want to punish us. He can do this because he knows our hearts. He knows our desires and the person that we are. He wants us to stop beating ourselves up when we forget our "lines." He wants us to move on and feel His love and know how special we are because it's true. We really are His and we really are GREAT and He loves to watch us learn and grow...and` he just smiles.

A Shuman Visit

So the Shuman's called and said, "can we come visit you on Tuesday?" You betcha! We love those kind of drop-in surprises! We squished so much in 6 days. The Shumans have always felt jipped with their other visits because either it was too chilly to do much site-seeing or they spent their visit laboring to help re-do the master bedroom. I think this time they left us exhausted but satisfied...

Spencer and Kaden went downtown. They loved being buddies and wearing their hats the same cool way. We had fun at the Seattle Center riding rides and looking around. Wouldn't you know it, the fountain broke the day before and was going to be fixed the next day, so they left still not seeing our favorite fountain.

We walked to and from school most days, enjoying the sunshine as much as we could.

The boys worked out with James.

Oh my! We tried out XXX Hamburger. I always thought it was an adult only place, but little did I know it is the home of the best root beer and the largest hamburgers around. If ya like big and messy this is for you.

Swimming had to be on the agenda so Spencer could show off his swimming skills from all of his lessons. Don'tcha love those goggles?

Maryn and James are always so frustrated that Spencer won't take naps anywhere but his bed. After holding him for a while I noticed he wasn't splashing around anymore... yep, sound asleep...goggles and everything.

A visit to Mr. Troll in Freemont.

As we were waiting for the ferry I picked up tired little Spencer. He snuggled right up and fell asleep within 1 minute. Hmmmm, maybe Marianne and James are doing something wrong. I didn't even have to try to get him to fall asleep, but boy is he heavy.

Jeff's fakin' his nap here, but we have to record all the snugly moments we can get of each other.

The seesters on the ferry.

On our walk on Bainbridge Island we did some blackberry pickin' too.

And then, what did we happen to stumble upon? Could it be Mora's?

We just had the best time together. Spencer might have felt a bit claustrophobic from all the squishes, hugs and kisses he got constantly, but we just couldn't help ourselves.

Lemonade and Brownies anyone?

Emmy has a best friend, Zoe. They are the best of bestest friends. Emmy can't stop talking about Zoe. We have to sometimes tell her, "Let's talk about someone else." She wants to call her all the time, draw her pictures, and because she just lives around the corner from us, they spend a lot of time at each other's house. Unfortunately, they aren't in the same class this year, (maybe that's a fortunately), and so Emmy feels an extra need to be with Zoe all the more because perhaps they didn't see each other at recess, or they couldn't eat lunch together. It's a great relationship but rather exhausting for the parents since they are both only 6 and have non-stop personalities.

Anyway, with all that being said, one Saturday as I was inside doing my chores, I heard Emmy coming inside asking if she and Zoe could have a Brownie/Lemonade Stand in our front yard. I said, no, not today because I had too much to do, and personally, I dislike lemonade stands. (a lot of work for little money.) So, I go outside to try to discourage the situation and lo and behold, there was Zoe's mom already setting up the whole stand. Since Zoe lives in a Cul de sac (or a corner sac, as Emmy calls it) they figured they could make more money if they set up the stand in front of our house. Zoe's mom had set up the table and the girls already had prepared the goods. They had music and and lawn chairs and the whole bit.

The part that cracked me up the most was not only did they have a cup to put their money in, but they had a cup for tips, because "that's what Starbucks has." Good glory. The girls did make 7 bucks off the event which was pretty good... people on walks stopped to make a purchase and the loud music called several neighbors out of their homes. I guess I'm the dumb one.

I also love the writing. Look at those 5's or the d in lemonade. Love it!

Labor Day

The more I travel around this part of the country the more I am convinced that this is God's country. I'm serious! It is so amazingly beautiful here and we live here.

Over Labor Day weekend we went with our great friends, the Debenhams on a little adventure. We traveled north for an hour to Bellingham, checked into the hotel and went to see Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. This is a very TALL bridge that was built a long time ago. There's sort of 2 parts to the bridge because there is a small but tall island that connects the bridge from one side of the land to the other. After walking across the bridge had a short hike down to the water where we collected pretty rocks and took pictures.

This shot is from actually ON the bridge. Unfortunately the camera woman was too scared of the height factor and making sure her children didn't lean over too far that she didn't get the angle just right to show how high they actually were.

This is a shot of one section of the bridge. If you look to the left of this very attractive family you will see a boat of fishermen. This might help you put into focus how big this Deception Pass really is.

Another shot of this awesome family looking away from the Pass. It was so pretty there.

A shot of the Debenhams and their 3 kids. I think a possible Christmas card for them.

After lots of swimming in the hotel pool, we got up the next morning to ride the ferry over to Orcas Island. We had almost a 90 minute wait for the ferry so everyone kept busy with various things. The manly men having a rousing game of Garbage. I think Christopher won all the games... so what else is new?

We used our 40 minute ferry ride to get some reading in. I, personally, just sat in awe looking at all we passed on our ferry ride. Just look out that window! That's nothing. We passed so many small islands... lots inhabited and many not. They were green with trees and yet jagged and rugged. It was so lush and gorgeous all I could think about was "How can I get my mom out here to see this?" The amazing part to all of us was that we live here. This is 2 hours from our house. God's country, right?

So we went to Orcas Island... a small island but has the tallest mountain of all the islands. We drove up the mountain and hiked up to this overlook. I can't remember the name or all the details of this place but it is old and was made to be just that... a lookout. Oh my!

Fortunately is was a mostly clear day to see over to Bremerton, WA and even into Vancouver British Columbia.

One side of the outlook only seeing just a few of the islands throughout the area.

After our lookout experience we had a moment at this very chilly lake. The kids were begging to swim, and a few did, but not for very long. Brrrrrrrr... But, it was a scrumptious area to behold.

Thanks to the Debenhams, for letting us tag along to their great idea. They have been our family away from family on 2 different occasions now. (We first met them when we lived in Lake Forest almost 9 years ago.) This trip only gave us the craving to get back on that Ferry and go visit all of those islands. Camera's don't do it justice.

First Day of School

I did NOT want school to start this year!!! NO! Our summer has been so spontaneous and carefree and fun! We have had more time as a family this summer than we have ever had ever in our life. I knew that with school starting everything would come to an abrupt halt and life would again become busy and hectic with homework, lessons, waking up early and going to bed promptly. I had pre-school-stress-syndrome for the week before and found myself having emotional melt-downs trying to squeeze every last second of the summer out as I could. Except for me selfishly needing breaks from my children I would seriously consider homeschooling the whole lot of them. I sort of envy moms that can do that. I wonder what their trick is.



Anyway, September 2nd came all too soon. No matter how organized I tried to be it was still hurried as we got in the car to leave. So, as I waited for the girls to take our traditional pictures I found Kaden the only one ready and posing... He started preschool on September 14. Redgate Farm is a blast with animals and a garden... lots of hands-on and lots of getting very dirty.

Maryn in 7th grade? What? Not my favorite 1st day of school picture with her but she was humoring me as she had to hurry off to the bus. I wish I could have followed her to get her a picture at the bus stop. Ha! She would have hated that. She gets so embarrassed of her parents these days... which makes it more fun to embarrass her.
Cute little Ads going into the 4th grade with Mrs. Fritsch. She's a bit apprehensive since she's heard rumors that Mrs. Fritsch is strict and sometimes yells. Yikes! Ady is still little but she's happy to be growing out her bangs because it make her look older. (bangs take so long to grow out. She measures them every day and it's taking forever!!)

Emmy in 1st grade with 2 teachers, Mrs. Pacceca and Mrs. Thoreson. One looks like a model who Emmy says is "so pretty" and the other looking like an adorable version of one of the 3 fairies on Sleeping Beauty. (you know, Flora, Fauna and Merriweather.) Emmy is thrilled to death that she'll be at school ALL day long. She ended her kindergarten year on a 3rd grade reading level and I'm pretty sure that over the summer she jumped another grade. She's amazing!

The weather knew that summer was over because it was a chilly morning.

Emmy's only friend in her class was Audrey who was in her class last year and in our ward.

Emmy and Hannah (with Downs Syndrome) were in the same class last year. Emmy always talks about Hannah saying, "she is SO cute!!! I can't stop looking at her because she is so cute!" So when they saw each other before school it was a grand reunion. Hannah's mom told me that nobody reacts to Hannah with the enthusiasm, love and affection like Emmy. Hannah's twin sister, (not Down Syndrome) is in Emmy's class this year so Emmy might have some connection with Hannah still.

Only 9 more months until next summer!