Saturday July 12 was a wonderful Saturday. We spent the morning relaxing and doing some mild chores. Scott went to the temple and then ran some errands for me. He got home about 2 and we really started into putting our house in order. We were having the missionaries for dinner and we had decided we’d do a bbq. We did hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and watermelon It went over very well and everyone seemed to get full enough. After the missionaries left we cleaned up, put the kids to bed and settled into our normal Saturday night routine, working on our lessons for Sunday. I was pretty much done with mine. Good thing too. Keri was having a rough night and needed some one on one attention. I was able to give that to her.
Sunday was the usual morning. I got up a little early to finish up my game for primary. We got everyone dressed and ready to go and church seemed to go smoothly. I have to brag about Milo. So he started off having a rough Sacrament. About 2 minutes into the meeting I had him sit next to me which was next to the isle. He did a good job of sitting there and we made it almost through the first talk without him saying a word. The speaker was challenging us to take Moroni’s challenge seriously, when Milo nudged me. He asked ‘Is Moroni a good guy or a bad guy.’ What is so amazing about this story is that MILO WAS LISTENING!! I was so impressed I was unable to answer his question right off. Sharing time went great. Except Keri woke up and was having a hard time. I was able to finish my first sharing time and was a little late starting my second one, but everyone understood and it all turned out fine in the end. After church we decided to finish up our jam making that we had started the week before. We did one more batch of plum and apricot. We are going to do strawberry here really soon. We had a nice dinner of bbq’d roast and veggies We had a family walk and then bed.
Monday was an at home day full of cleaning and resting. We went out Monday night to pick blackberries as a family. There is a public access path that has blackberries all along the path. Every year we go and pick enough berries to make at least one pie and a couple batches of jam. The bushes were leveled!! Not a berry in sight along the path. If you went off the path you could find some berries, but nothing worth taking home and doing anything with. It was so devastating to me that I almost cried!! That has been the highlight for our family for 4 years now. It was a bummer for sure!
Tuesday we met up with some other moms and kids at a park that has water shooting out of the play equipment. It was super fun and the kids had a great time. We were there from 11:30-4:00. The kids got a little too much sun and were very tired. We did baths and bed as soon as we got home.
Wednesday was beach day. Jen Lease and I had decided we wanted to go to the beach and invited anyone else to join us. No one else did except for Nina, Joey and Gayle’s foreign exchange student. We had a GREAT time. We got to the beach about 11:15am and left at 5:15pm. It was a gorgeous day and everyone had TONS of fun. Jaime had a hard time pulling herself away from the ocean even for something to eat. Alix actually played in the ocean with Jaime for about an hour. They built a “wall†that eventually got washed away by a big wave. I was impressed at how long the wall lasted before being destroyed. The rest of the kids played in a water hole a few yards from the ocean. Afton mostly hung on me and dug in the sand. Keri slept the whole time. At one point everyone went down to the ocean and played in the waves. Niah LOVED it, Milo went close enough to the ocean to throw sand into it and Afton cried! After all the fun we packed up and walked along the beach to the pier and then back to the car. We left the beach and headed home only to get stuck in awful traffic. After calling Scott and listening to news reports I realized the best thing to do was find a McDonald’s and get off the road. It worked and we stayed away for about an hour. We finally got back on the road at 7:30 and made it home by 8:15. By the time we bathed and put the kids to bed and I took Nina home it was 9pm. It was a long day, but VERY fun and well worth all the time and effort, even the horrible traffic. Unfortunately Milo got FRIED!! I made sure I put on lots of sunblock and he wore two shirts all day but still he was red! The day before at the water park he got a good burn so I think being at the beach all day must have irritated it even though he was not directly exposed to the sun. Anyway, he was in a lot of pain and so we put him to bed shirtless. He seemed to have appreciated that. I got sunburned on my ankles! I was wearing some pretty long capri’s and some flip flops. I didn’t even think of putting sunblock on my ankles. An ankle sunburn hurts pretty bad it’s embarrassing!
Today, July 17 we were suppose to go swimming at a friends house. I almost canceled but the girls begged me to go. I knew the worst thing for Milo would be to go swimming, so I talked with Milo and he agreed to stay in the van and watch a movie while we all swam (the van was parked right in front of the swimming pool). We went to piano, ran a couple of errands and got to the pool by 11:30. By 11:50 the girls wanted to go home. They were cold, tired and hungry. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. I guess three days in a row was too much for them. We left by 12:30 and came home. We ate lunch and relaxed until 3. Then we started chores. We were having the other set of missionaries for dinner tonight. I fed the kids first. Scott came home and bathed and dressed them while I made dinner for the missionaries. Usually we would have eaten with them as a family but they weren’t due till almost 7 and my kids would not have been able to wait till 7. We had a fun time with the missionaries. We got the kids to bed by 8 and then Scott and I have been busy getting things done while Keri happily sleeps.
Keri seems to be a good baby. She does enjoy a daily crying spell. It’s never the same time everyday and different things seem to help calm her down. At first we thought maybe she was just gasy but I think she is just an alert baby and is board so she cries. I also think that she thinks she’ll miss something if she falls asleep so she likes to fight sleep as much as possible. The pacifier has helped a ton along with the swing and bouncer. She is a good baby though. For the last week she has given me 4-6 hour stretches. Unfortunately I don’t go to sleep right when she does and the other kids have been getting up in the night too, so I don’t get that much sleep. But I seem to be coping fine. I don’t feel overly tired but I if I lay down I can snooze just fine! She is a good eater and is growing well. She is smiling at us and loves her siblings a ton. They are so good to her. Even Milo has played “mom†when he is in charge of taking care of her.
Alix seemed to do well this week. Although she did take a nap everyday and then went to bed early and woke up late. I guess spending a week not eating and having fevers will wear the body out!
We love you all and are looking forward to Keri’s blessing that is scheduled to happen in about a week. We are grateful for the gospel and for the priesthood that gives the authority to bless. Till next time….
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