Last 2 weeks in Review

Well the beginning of the week consisted of Corben's candles and his church clothes day so you've already heard about that. That Wednesday we went over to a friend's house and played outside in their kiddie pool. The girls really had a lot of fun and Corben made a new friend. Friday was RJ day. It was really nice having Corben here to help. RJ really likes Corben a lot. Corben made a really cool fort in the living room that all the babies played in.

Sylvie got a bit cranky about bumping her head on the table and in all her crying blew these great "nose bubbles" - my mother is reading this. There were actually 2 of them and they were actually about twice this big but it took me a few moments to figure out my camera wasn't in flash mode and all the good ones were blurry. Oh well, I'm sure you're happy you at least got to see this one!








After a long day of fun fun fun, RJ finally conked out while eating his snack. You'll notice the chair is sitting on the floor, that's because all of the chairs were being used for the fort!

Friday night was Corben's baseball picnic. It was fun to get together with the team again. The coach said nice things about each player but held out Corben's trophy for last. He said that Corben's successes this season were so wonderful and how proud he was that Corben never gave up. He said this season was the most wonderful he's ever had and he'll never forget it. We then gave him the baseball book I'd made and he started to cry. He said it was the best gift he'd ever received. Several of the parents loved it so much they got copies for themselves.


Saturday was Ella's friend, Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday party. Ella has two friends at church with birthdays the same week. Kaitlyn's is 3 days before Ella and Morgan's is the day before. Kaitlyn had a pool party and it was a lot of fun. Ella loved splashing everyone and drinking the pool water (eeewww).


They had pizza and cake and Ella sat at the tot table with the rest of her friends. She ate a whole piece of pizza and a piece of cake all on her own.















Next it was present time and Ella was very eager to help Kaitlyn with her gifts. After a few attempts at getting to hold them she gave up and got down from the table.


There was no hard feelings though. She and Kaitlyn hugged goodbye. Thanks for inviting us, it was a lot of fun!

That night we had Family Dinner at Scott and Erin's where we celebrated Ella's birthday along with Eric and Nathan's. Ella got toy dishes and food and lots of books! It was a nice night.










Ella's birthday was on Sunday. She's 2 years old!!!!!!! She got a new toy kitchen and laundry room set that both she and Sylvie love. I didn't get many pictures because I actually attempted to film the event for once!

Tuesday was Ella's 2 year well baby check. She's doing great! She's 33.5 inches tall and 24 lbs! (Sylvie's not far behind!)









Wednesday we were all excited because Dade was coming home. Ryan picked me several flowers from the garden. We have the most beautiful sunflowers this year! Dade's plane was late so I didn't get to pick him up until almost midnight!! It was so great to see him, we sure missed him around here! We finally got to bed around 1:30 am. We just couldn't wait to catch up.


Thursday, my beautiful niece, Gabriella was born!! She's so cute and tiny! Mark took some of the most beautiful pictures of her. So while my amazing sister-in-law, Jamie was trying to catch up on some sleep the kids and I were running all over town trying to get all that Dade needed for the Pioneer Trek. Every 5 years the youth in our area re-enact the journey westward made by the early members of our church. They dress in authentic clothing, forgo all modern technology and conveniences and spend a week pushing and pulling handcarts through rugged terrain through rain and sun. It's a hard journey but a very spiritual one and an event I hope Dade enjoys and never forgets. Friday RJ joined us again so it was me and 5 kids trudging around town finding the last few items. One cool thing happened. Some of the kids were asleep in the car and Dade needed to run into Goodwill to find a sweatshirt. He wasn't really sure what he was going to be looking for and was nervous about going in by himself. Well, just as we pulled in, up walked 2 Elders (Mormon missionaries) who were just cutting through the parking lot. They were glad to take Dade in and help out. Talk about timing! Friday night mom came and picked up Corben for the weekend. He really loves spending time with her.

Saturday morning Ryan and Dade headed out to meet the rest of the group at the temple in Apex. The early Saints had to abandon their temple they had worked so hard on due to persecutions but visited it up until the very end as they were leaving on their journey across the continent. The youth met at the temple and spent some time inside doing service before heading out for their journey as well. It's supposed to rain all week, I hope Dade stays safe and has fun. The rest of Saturday was a lazy day. Ryan and I worked in the garden. See? Our veggies LOVE us for it!!

Sunday there were no youth at church and many of the youth leaders and bishopric were gone on the Trek. This gave the opportunity for Ryan and some of the other men to bless and pass the sacrament during Sacrament meeting. It's usually done by the youth and Dade is one of the young men who passes out the bread and water. It was fun to see Ryan up there. I think he and the other men enjoyed it and had a few flashbacks to their youth. Corben came home after church and he and I went for a long walk and played games outside while Ryan and the girls napped. Then we made cookies and burnt them! Okay, I hope this has caught all of you up to date. I hope to not fall so far behind again!!