Sunday August 24 was a good day. Even though we expected to be very tired we were not. We got up on time, got everyone ready and made it to church with time to spare. Yay! Then it started. I had to feed Keri. We lost it from there. The kids must have been tired and just not able to sit there and listen. By the end of Sacrament two of our kids were with other people and two of them were with me in the mother’s room. The talks, what I heard of them, were about love and happiness in the home and in marriage. Hmmmm, seemed kind of ironic….. The rest of the day seemed to go well. Even Afton went to nursery and did well (for the last 40 minutes, but I’m not complaining, at least she went). We got home and got everyone changed, fed and settled and then I went to a primary meeting. After all the kids were in bed Scott and I finished some things up and then watched a movie mom had passed down to us. It was a version of Cinderella with people. It was……interesting. Not sure how much we liked it but at least it was pure and innocent, for the most part! I think the kids will enjoy it.
Monday morning started out as any morning would. Scott was suppose to go for a general check up at the doctor and then have an eye exam. At 6:30am Scott’s doctor’s appointment got canceled So instead we had breakfast together, then started getting ready for the beach. Yep, we went to the beach again, yay! All the kids worked together to get everything done before it was time to leave. We had decided to try a new beach this time. We followed the Bennett’s to the spot because we were not familiar with the area. We got there a little before 3. Sunshiny beautiful day with no cloud in the sky. It was beautiful. The kids were in the water right away, even Afton (more by force than volunteer, but she seemed ok with it). After 2 hours the kids were still having a great time. We flew kites, dug in the sand, played in the water and just relaxed. By 5:30 we realized we needed to get the evening activities under way. We brought all the evening stuff out of the cars, started a fire and then went over to “shower” changed out kids. That went well and then we fed the family. We got another good turn out. Including us we had 6 families. This time the Rangers stopped and inspected all our coolers. We just had to laugh. Then Milo went up to one of the Rangers and said something to him (I was feeding Keri), the guy just laughed and then asked Milo if he wanted a sticker. So the guy goes back to his truck and gets stickers for all the kids. He asked how many kids were there, we said 15! It was too funny. After a good game of Kubb, some Frisbee and volleyball without a net it was too dark to see anymore. I got a good sunset, not quite over the water but it was still beautiful. As soon as it was dark we did marshmallows and then built a roaring fire and sang silly songs around the fire. At 9:45 we realized we should start packing up and head to the cars. Milo and his two buddies, Toby and Logan, fell asleep in their chairs by the fire. It was too cute. After loading and actually driving away it was 10:45pm. We got home a little before midnight and fell into bed. What a fun day!
Tuesday was not planned as anything but a preparation day for camping. Scott had to go to his doctor’s appointment, which went well. We got the car all cleaned out from the beach trip. We did 5 loads of laundry. We cleaned and scrubbed and played (for kids it’s not all work). We got all our stuff done here at home. After dinner I took Jaime, Alix and Keri with me to do all the shopping. We went to the first store, finished there and rushed over to Costco to get some stuff. I met my friend Camille there and we did some quick shopping. As soon as it was my time to pay, my wallet was not there. AHHHHH!! Had I left it at the other store? Did it fall out in the parking lot?? Camille paid my bill (Thanks!!) and we headed out. We didn’t see it in the parking lot. The girls searched the car. I searched the car. I went back into Costco to see if they had anyone turn in a wallet, nope. Went back out to the car called Scott to call the other store for me. Nope it wasn’t there either. Camille offered to look in the trunk again while I searched the car again. Seemed redundant to me, I wanted to get back to the other store to search shopping carts etc. Wonderful Camille, wonderful Jaime, Alix and Jessie who prayed for me. There was my wallet on the floor of the passenger side. I just broke down in tears for such a wonderful miracle. What an awful nightmare that would have been! I just cried! Camille was so wonderful and was just so excited that we found it. I paid her and thanked her and went on with my shopping. We went to Wal Mart and then to Safeway. We didn’t get home till 10pm. We put all the groceries away and put the girls to bed and did a few more things and then managed to get to bed by midnight!
Today, August 27 is our leave for camp day. We are super excited but have lots to do. I’ll report on our camping trip on Sunday (I hope!!).
Some random thoughts. The kids have found our old cell phones and have been enjoying them very much. They walk around talking to random people. Afton is enjoying it the most. She gets into some pretty serious conversations. The other day I asked her who she was talking to. She said ‘Jesus’. I can’t wait till she can really learn and understand that she will have many opportunities to talk to our Heavenly Father through our Savior Jesus Christ.
Alix has decided she can use a sharp knife. She is actually quite good at it and hasn’t cut her finger off yet! Jaime has been using one for a while now but I think she didn’t start till she was eight. Alix has also lost two more teeth. She now has three missing teeth, she looks VERY cute!
The other day the UPS guy stopped at our house and dropped off a box. I was not expecting the box but when I opened it I was super excited. It contained 3 big containers of liquid Tide. I belong to an on line survey group. I’ve been doing on line surveys with them for about 7 years now. I enjoy the surveys but I also enjoy all the free stuff I get to sample, or win. I’ve even gotten cash before. Anyway, it’s fun to do and things like this are big perks. They want me to use the detergent for 8 weeks. That’s a huge savings for me, not having to buy laundry detergent. Anyway, if you are interested in joining the team just go to www.mysurvey.com and sign up. Tell them I sent you and then I get some extra points towards cash or prizes. By the way, it’s all free for you, just takes some time.
As we were driving home from Fresno there were tons of bugs. How did I know this? They were hitting my windshield so fast that it sounded like it was raining. It was pretty gross actually!
Keri is getting more fun each day. She laughs and squeals and blows bubbles with her spit. She will bat at a toy and try to grab it but gets only air. She smiles so quickly and is just so happy! While we were at the beach she had two HUGE blow outs. For those of you who have ever had to change a diaper from a baby that nurses, a blow out is messy!! Even more so when you are on a sandy beach! She loves to “talk” with you. She has a lot to say and kicks her legs with such joy whenever she thinks someone will pick her up or talk to her. I’m so grateful for her love and happiness and the joy she brings to this family. How lucky we are to be part of such a great plan of happiness that focuses on the the traditional family. There is no gray area with the Proposition 8 issue. You are either for it or against it. As my friends and I observed, if you are for the Lord and his plan you are for Proposition 8. Otherwise you are in open rebellion against the Lord. Protecting marriage is so important that I am ready and willing to tell anyone how important it is. Scott has done a great job too. He started an email discussion at work about it. He has had all kinds of responses to his email. He has gotten backed up by some and called a bigot by others. But through it all he has maintained that protecting marriage is the root of our society and it must be done, at any cost. What a great husband!
Great entry. Sorry I haven’t been commenting lately. I read them, but I’ve been too busy to comment. I can’t wait to meet Keri and play with her!! Wish we started the beach tradition when the Bremers were in the ward! Sounds like tons of fun. Have a great time camping; can’t wait to hear from you about how it all went. Are the Dertings going this year too?