Let Freedom Ring

Our 4th of July began with our Ward's patriotic Breakfast. The cub scouts were asked to present the colors and they did a wonderful job.

When we got home we made these fun shirts.



It was a last minute stab at doing something fun for the 4th with Kevin out of town. We had the paint left over from previous projects and the shirts are some of Jared's undershirts. They had fun putting them together.
Later that evening we met up with our neighbors for popits, sparklers, and fireworks. The popits and sparklers were a hit.



I love this next picture because it captures each of our children's reactions to the fireworks so perfectly.

Jared is covering his ears, he has always been sensitive to loud noises. Audrey looks like she is ready to run away as fast as she can, she was not a fan. Anna is in the process of exclaiming, "This is awesome!"

Our Neighbors

After our fireworks we headed inside for a little treat and then off to bed. We missed our dad today, but managed to find some fun things to do in his absence.

Splish Splash

We are lucky to have some really great neighbors. Every afternoon, after naps, out comes the scooters, trikes, wagons, cars, balls, bubbles, and chalk. The little girls ride up and down the sidewalk swapping vehicles, Anna is usually busy looking for bugs, and Jared is playing with the neighbors dog. We really enjoy living so close to great people. The other day one of our neighbors brought out a sprinkler for the kids. The little ones didn't think much of the cold water being sprayed in their faces, but Jared and Anna had a blast.

At first they didn't know what a sprinkler was. On the east coast, where it rains regularly throughout the year, there hasn't been much exposure to sprinklers, because there is no need, so this was a new experience for them. It was tons of fun. Thanks to our awesome neighbors and their fun sprinklers.

(I love this action shot and Anna's face)

Raspberries

We love You Pick farms and yesterday we discovered a new farm, Larriland Farms, for raspberry picking. We braved the stifling heat and humidity and started loading up our box.

All Audrey wanted to do was hold our loot. This made us all a little nervous when the box would start to tip over.

Audrey spent most of her time munching on raspberries, Anna helped her friend fill his bucket, but Jared was a hard worker and filled over half of ours.

Next time we will have to try their blueberry patch.

Father and Son Camp Out

Our Ward's Father and Son camp out was held at a Ward member's property. The weather was perfect. The afternoon in the 80's and the night cooled down to the 60's. They had fun.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

May and June has found our family three days a week at the ball park watching Jared play Baseball. His team, The Blasters, are doing well and having fun. Jared plays Left field, Center field, and Second base. He occasionally gets to pitch, which really makes his day. We just finished the third round in the playoffs today with a come back win in the last inning scoring four runs! Lots of fun, excitement, and cheering. Here are some pictures of us at the ball games.

Jareds Team

At bat.

Awesome catch.

The girls play with other siblings at the game or they play on the toys at the park

After the game the coach asked the team why they thought he was so proud of them. The answer of coarse was that they never gave up as a team.

Saying Goodbye

The worst part about May (at least till next year) is graduation. Every year a new group of freshly graduated dentist pack up and move away to destinations far away. We gather and say goodbye and wish them all well. In years past there we some sad goodbyes, but nothing that compares to this year. This year we say goodbye to the Johnsons, Andersons, Millers, and the Blooms. A few years ago they took pity on us as the only Members in our class and made us honorary members of theirs.
The first to leave have been the Johnsons. This was a tough goodbye mostly because our kids are such good friends, playing together everyday after school. We all walked over to Ritas and had a treat.

Jared and Isaac

Anna and Lexi

Audrey and London
After our little treat we walked home. Jared and Anna both cried and cried. The following day I found Anna sitting in her bed holding a picture of Lexi just looking at it with tears in her eyes. After picking up the kids from school Jared stayed in the car I went to check on him and he was crying. When I asked him what was wrong he answered, "I've been holding it in all day. I really miss Isaac" It has been a few days now and everyone is getting a little bit better (Even Kevin after saying by to his boyfriend Andy), but it still breaks my heart.
Fair well Johnsons we will miss you (Andersons Blooms Millers we will miss you too!)
Good luck to everyone!

Pinewood Derby

Building the car.

Lining it up just right.

Awaiting the results.

The rest of the pack.

Lots of fun.

Happy Late Easter

DECORATING THE EGGS:

OUR SESAME STREET EGGS:

(Oscar, Elmo, and Cookie Monster)

BASKET DISCOVERING:

EASTER SUNDAY BEST:

Primary Arts Night

Jared and Anna's school held a Primary Arts night for each grade. It is a night where the children display their artwork and show off there musical abilities. Anna's group put together a little musical play called Under the Sea. Anna's class sang a song called "We are sharks" It was so fun to see how intothe music Anna got. She was shaking her fist and hips to the beat.

Jared's group performed on the recorders. He had practiced (relentlessly) his song everyday the week before and his class did a great job.

After the shows we went out to Rita's for some Italian Ice to celebrate.

The Plan

Don't you just love it when you make a plan and then everything goes wrong? I am sure Heavenly Father just shakes his head and sighs at our big plans and then hopes we will be able to enjoy our journey as the plan gets thrown out the window. This week is Spring Break for the kids and we planned to take them to the National Zoo in D.C. We had been before and really enjoyed it. Thursday Kevin only had an early test scheduled and the weather was perfect so we planned on loading up and driving down to see the animals. We made it to Connecticut Ave in good time and then about half way down the street all traffic stopped. There was road construction, city trash pick up, crazy pedestrians, you name it and it was there. The kids handled the delay well being silly in the car.



I thought of taking a picture of Kevin, but in the interest of safety decided against it. About 40 minutes and 2 miles later we saw the entrance to the zoo where there was a nice man who's only message was:

So after turning around, consoling some disappointed kids, and 40 minutes later we ended up here:

I can't tell you how nice it was to get out of the crazy traffic with all its stress and noise and come to the temple. We didn't stay too long, but long enough to feel the calming effects of the Spirit. We walked the grounds and looked through the visitor center. Jared, having recently heard our proposal story, insisted on seeing the place where Kevin asked me to marry him. The grounds have changed a lot since then, but we found roughly the spot and took a reenactment picture. If you look closely Kevin is offering his wallet and I'm taking it. Jared thought it was hilarious.

11 years 4 months later and now we have these sweet kids.

After the temple we got a late lunch at Chick-fil-et and to be honest that stop got the most thank you's and smiles. After we got home we planned on going to the park near our home and playing some catch and frizbee, however when we got there they had just sprayed the ground with fertilizer. Instead we made our way to some tennis courts and played there.
The Boys:


The Girls:



The Old Plan: Take family to the Zoo for a fun filled day of making family memories
The New Plan: Take family on an adventure where we learned to adapt with good attitudes, feel the spirit, and enjoy each others company while making fun family memories.