Planting the Greenhouse

Today we spent the majority of our time planting the green house! We got pretty well all of the tomatoes in and just have the cucumbers left. The warmth inside the greenhouse felt so nice and the smell of the tomato plants always tickles my senses and gets me excited for Summer!

  

Bro

 This morning as the littles were playing on the back deck, someone threw Sonnys toy off the edge and he just stood and stared at it. We don't have stairs there yet, so there was no way for him to immediately get down and retrieve it. I tried explaining that Sonny doesn't know how to get down there, to which Sawyer replied, "Broooo (sounds like brah)....Just use the stairs!" (Like, duh!) He is such a four year old gangsta. I hear a lot of "brah" around the house these days and the boys have even called me bro a few times. It seems to be a trend lately! Ha!

Rhubarb Season

Today we woke to clear skies and sunshine pouring into the livingroom. Though the children were grumpy, the sunshine made up for it! We enjoyed French toast covered in a mountain of whip cream and homemade syrup before sending the kids to school.

I wandered up to the garden to tackle the last few weeds so that we can till and get the garden ready to plant. We are so behind this year despite the warm May we have had. I feel as though I am playing catch up in every aspect of my life. While I was up there, I grabbed some rhubarb to chop for the freezer! The sunshine was good for my soul, and the silence was good for my thoughts.

 

A Gentle Rain

It's been a rainy day and I just had to pause and document the stillness and soft glow as the rain gently fell outside. 

 

Double Date

Tonight we left the two older girls in charge and headed into town with Jess and Taylor for a date night at Cucinas! We enjoyed a nice kid-free visit over Gun Mandu and Bulgogi. We are so grateful for eternal friendships that stand the test of distance and time! We love hanging out with the Wolsey's!

 

Gull Lake

Today we left home bright and early to adventure out to Gull Lake and meet up with friends! We had to first stop in town for gas and snacks.

I am so thankful to have children who are old enough to navigate the grocery store and pay while I gas up. It made our morning go so much smoother and I was impressed with the choices they made. I gave them a loose list to follow with a few different ideas. We were essentially having a picnic lunch at the lake and needed things like cheese buns, pepperoni sticks, and chips. They tried to choose the best prices and did a great job!

When we showed up at the lake there was hardly anyone there. We loaded the wagon and headed towards the beach to claim a spot on the sand.

The children enjoyed wading out into the water while we waited for our friends.

With the smoke and cloud cover, I didn't think much about putting sunscreen on the children. The boys were fine with their swim shirts, but poor Lily ended up with a bit of a burn on her back. When we were done at the lake I stripped her down into her diaper and loaded her in the car where she happily slept the entire hour drive home.

In the evening we were joined by our good friends the Wolseys! We discovered these two girlies had matching dino jammies, which was pretty stinkin' cute! 

After putting the littles to bed we had a really nice visit. It had been too long!

Morning Baking

This morning we baked up a double batch of double chocolate chip muffins, as well as some chocolate chip banana muffins. Half of these will be put in the freezer to use in lunches next week.

The littles were a big help mixing and getting things ready for the muffin pan.

 

In the afternoon I took Lily and Sawyer to the spray park that had just opened over the weekend. It was a warmish day, though the breeze made it seem a lot colder. Mr. Stannix met us there and we visited while Sawyer and Lily braved the water. At one point Lily kept pushing Sawyer in front of her like a shield. It was quite funny to watch!

A Slow Start

This morning some of us got off to a pretty slow start. Lily ended up falling asleep while eating her breakfast, and we all got a chuckle out of watching her slowly nod off. She ended up snoozing through most of the morning chaos.

 

After Fin's shower tonight I told him he smelled REALLY good, and that the girls would find him irresistible tomorrow at school. 

He smirked, "Well, there's already one girl....She gets three of her friends to help her and chases me around all recess."

I chuckled.

He continued, "Thank goodness we have indoor recess right now or I'd be FINISHED!"

He never did tell me her name, but it was such a funny conversation.

Blossom Season

This morning we went into town for swimming lessons and groceries. 

Taking these two out is always an adventure!

 

Lily won't sit in the cart anymore so they usually fight over who will stand on the end of the cart.

Sometimes they share the riding space, and sometimes they don't.

And after all of that swimming and adventuring, Lily took a pretty great afternoon nap!

The evening called me to the orchard at sundown to listen to the bees and birdsong. Our favorite apple tree is loaded with blossoms this year! The haskaps are buzzing with bees and the nanking cherries and saskatoons are in full bloom. I love this time of year!

 

Palmyra

The second part of our trip brought us to Palmyra where we took in the church history sites. We started at the smith farm and learned some neat things about the beginnings of the church. The boys loved the stories and the tours from the missionaries.

At the end of our tour, we were able to walk to the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith prayed and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appear to him. It was neat to walk through the grove of trees and watch the boys take it all in. 

Next, we visited the Hill Cumorah where we watched a video about Moroni, the last remaining Nephite in the Book of Mormon times, and about how the plates were found.

 

We stopped to grab lunch at the Grill and Chill upon recommendation from some friends!

Joseph found some cash stuffed between the seats in the rental car and was pretty excited to use it at some point before we left the states.

For dessert we had GIANT ice cream cones!

Mr. Stannix pretty well finished his, while the rest of us didn't even come close.

We finished off our day by touring the Book of Mormon publication site and learned about all of the work it took to put together and publish a book at that time in history, along with many other fascinating facts and tidbits.

The boys were amazed and came away with a greater appreciation for all that was done to bring the Book of Mormon to life. We love providing these testimony growing experiences for our children and hope that the boys remember the stories that were shared and the way that they felt.