Best Morning Ever!

It's a been a heckuva week.  We've had a sick family (all 6 of us, yay!) and the laundry and grossness that comes with that, stress from both jobs, bad news in the house hunt, I'll end there because those are the major ones.  I turned to the Lord for comfort.  Prayer works.  I also listened to Elder Uchtdorf's, "Grateful in Any Circumstance" again.  

A huge tender mercy for me was waking up this morning and hearing Max and Ryan conspiring in a good way to help me.  They were talking about how they were going to get dressed and put away the dishes (their morning chore).  I heard Ryan singing to the babies.  Max poured cereal for all of them.  Evelyn's booster chair tray was filled with cheerios.  There were Honey Bunches of Oats that had gotten knocked onto the floor, but it was the most beautiful thing ever.  Max told me how he wanted to help me because I was "the best mom".  I've really been blessed with sweet children.  I hope when they read this someday that they know how much it touched my heart to have their help and sweet attitudes brighten up my week!

Oh, and I'm so tired I almost forgot to let my children know about what a great father they have.  He held my hair back when my insides were going outside.  He took the boys on a bike ride yesterday right when he got home from work (after working 10 hours) so that I could have quiet to finish my boss' fall scheduling.  He loved and played with his babies and then did electrical circuits with the boys while I concentrated and poured over details and answered emails and tried to get everything done.

And now the stressful part of the week is over and we are all healthy, mostly and I feel like I can breathe again.  I'm thankful to my Heavenly Father for the tender mercies, for my family and the love that we have and the great team that we are.

Sometimes We go to the Beach!

Sometimes we even go twice in one day!

This was a trip to Coulon park on a day the Blue Angels were practicing.

Ryan built this sand castle with his hands. 

                           Max is standing next to his sandcastle that he built with his hands.

Blue Angels and ducks.  I couldn't manage any good pics of the Blue Angels while I fed kids and watched a 2 year old to make sure he never fell in the water, but he had fun seeing them and there were even some close flybys. :)  Amazing!

We did see a formation similar to this fly right over Coulon park which was the BEST!

This was a trip to Newcastle Beach Park!  It was a hot day! 

This same day is when we went back to Coulon with Grandma so Ev and JD could get in the water.  We would be at Lake Wilderness today but Max is sick.  I love all of the beautiful lake beaches there are to visit around here!

L'il Miss Sassy

Tony and I have already had the conversation that we're not fans of clothing with words across the backside, but here's the exception. :)  Ummm, and the little butt flap?  hee hee

Fun with a Chemistry Professor!

I got to make a new friend this summer when the lovely Michele married someone from our ward (congregation).  She's a chemistry professor in Pennsylvania and they met, fell in love and spent the summer in the PNW, but now they're moving back to Philly where she teaches.   She's so awesome that she volunteered to teach the kids some fun with chemistry.  They learned about acids and bases and what happens when cornstarch and water mix.  It becomes a non-Newtonian fluid (okay, that last part was just fun for me to learn, if you ask my kids what non-Newtonian fluids are, they'll just stare blankly. :)

So much fun!

Renton River Days 2014

 Renton River Days is always a blast.  So many fun things to do and prizes to win.  JD had a lot more fun this year as he got to play instruments, throw lawn darts and win a ball, jump in a bouncy house.  Fun times!

When Grandma Comes, We Play!

Thank you Healthport for sending Grandma to the Seattle area for work so that we could play!  The kids had a blast going on bike rides, playing, reading stories, snuggling in the morning, snuggling at night, you name it.  Grandmas are the best!

We took Evelyn swimming this time at Coulon, but she was already out of the water with me when I started taking a few pictures.

Everyone wanted to climb on Grandma's bed and read stories!

We went to a baptism together and then we went to Dash Point to spend time with good friends.

Thank you for the fun visit Grandma!  The kids miss you already!