summer begins!

Isabelle spent the week at girls camp at Teancum Timbers.  This was the group before they left:

L-r: Quincy Morrison, Isabelle, Megan Bloom, Lilly Thurston,, Mia and Nancy Morrison, Sarah and Sally Roberts

front row: Abby Foust, Ciera Thackeray, Adelaide Tesch and Julianne Jones

I had to take a picture of these dads that came and helped load the trailer:

The girls at the end of the week.  They had such a great time!!:

We have been swimming at least three times per week, and there has been lots of cooking and popsicle making. The boys saw some "jello cookies" on pinterest and tried them out here:

I read "Alice the Fairy" to Anni and it inspired she and Pace and I to make crowns.  I forgot to get a picture of Pace's because when I took this one, his was still dripping with glue and never dried for 24 hours:

We don't see much of Kami or Maddie.  Kami is working as a receptionist at Vision Source and Maddie is working at admissions and concessions at the pool.  

At a follow-up orthodontist appointment for Maddie:

Shawn and I go on lots of friday-night dates to the temple in Tri- Cities. I really look forward to being able to talk uninterrupted all the way there and all the way home, and getting to eat out.  The temple is really great too, of course! This was a random picture of my feet reflecting in the window on the way there:

 We go on lots of walks.  This was just to the park beside our house to check out a new play structure that is going up:

Yesterday we spent a big day in the yard and decided to have a cook-out at the fire pit afterwards:

Father's day

I was so lucky to have a dad like this:

He was on a sibling trip this week and this is him crawling through a lava tube at Mount St. Helens.  He has always had an inquisitive mind and an interest in the world around him.  He's an incredible writer, is proper in all he says and does, speaks with authority, is very opinionated,  puts his highest priority on being a good disciple of Jesus Christ and a good husband, his second priority on being the best dad, and his third priority on serving in the church. He's and friendly and goes out of his way to make other people feel important and comfortable. He has a naturally cheerful disposition and doesn't complain even when he's going through something hard; and I've seen him go through hard things. He's self sacrificing and he's so much fun!  He likes to be doing and creating and learning and has always included us in anything he was learning about, doing or creating. I feel like all of us are confident in trying anything (and knowing we can succeed at it) because of him.

 He has always been an early riser and my earliest memories are of waking up early in the morning to the clickety clack of his type - writer as he wrote in his journal, wrote a letter to family members or recorded spiritual thoughts from what he had read in his scriptures that morning. He would always beckon to me to come sit beside him there on the couch, wrap me up in a blanket by his side and snuggle with me, patting my leg in between thoughts.  After awhile, he would get up to make breakfast so that my mom could sleep as long as possible (she took the night shift with babies and he took the mornings).

He has taught me where to go for answers and for happiness.  He has always had a great faith and shared it with us constantly.  I watched him study the gospel and report on what he had learned on a near-daily basis, he shared his spiritual experiences and his answers to prayer.  He taught me to think of others before myself.  He taught by word and deed that living the gospel the best I could and doing a better job of it every day would bring me confidence and happiness. I remember having a discussion with him about repentance that I still think about regularly.  Repentance is such a gift that I am thankful to have been taught about.

What a blessing to have a father like this!  I think of him every single day of my life because of thoughts that pop into my head or events that take place, and because he continues to influence me through letters and emails and thoughts that he still shares.  I imagine everyone thinks of their father, or is at least influenced for good or bad by their past with them, on a regular basis  - I am grateful to have good memories and teachings to reflect on because of the way my dad lives.

Some more wonderful news is that I MARRIED A MAN LIKE MY FATHER!!  Sure, they have some differences; Shawn has some strengths/ habits that my dad doesn't have, and vice versa.  But in the essentials, they are the same.  I am so grateful to have a good man to raise these kids with!:

He got lots of great notes:

The boys made him these "super hero" candy bars with notes of why he is super on the back (l-r Abram, Nolan and Pace):

Our Sporty Boys

It's been fun to see how athletic Abram has become this year!  He was the star of his soccer team in the fall and spring, tried basketball for the first time and wished that he could also do the "round-up city racers" a track program for the kids in town.  His teacher also really encouraged him to do it, but we thought the soccer schedules for the boys were plenty to do at one time. 

He got to try out track the last week of school because they have a day set aside for each grade in town to have a track meet.  All three elementary schools attend and compete.  On the 5th, it was the third-graders turn.  I went as a volunteer, but they didn't end up needing anything so I got to watch Abram all day.  First he completely astounded me by getting first place out of all the schools in the long jump!:

He just kept going from there.  They had about 12 heats of runners for the 50 meter dash and then they took the top 8 runners and had them race.  Abram came out 2nd! This is him with his friend Miles and another boy from his school:

Then they did the same thing for the 100 meter dash and he won the race!  Fastest kid in town!!:

He also got second place in the 400 meter run, and second or third in the 200 and 4th in the 400 meter relay!  It was so fun to watch him!!

This is a picture of Nolan (far left in green) and Abram playing soccer.  They were on separate teams but Nolan's team needed another player for about 10 minutes:

Nolan had a great soccer season too.  It's been fun to watch his ball handling skills, and we have been proud of him that he can see the whole picture out on the field and passes to his team-mates instead of being a ball hog.

Nolan playing his cousin David Kerns:

Huddle with the team after getting 2nd place at the tournment:

Nolan and David:

The last week of school

It was really great of Nolan to have his birthday fall on a weekend this year so that we could all really celebrate it! 

While he was mowing the Brown's lawn, which he does every Saturday, his best friend Atticus came over with a gift.  He ended up staying for a few hours because Nolan showed him all of his new gifts (mostly the arsenal of Airsoft guns) and they wanted to try them out for awhile. Then we went swimming at the RAC, and after Atticus went home, we went to the new Aladdin movie as a family.  We were a little nervous about how Anni would do, because during previous attempts to sit through a movie with her, she has ended up running all over and Shawn and I have to take turns taking her out.  This time, Shawn had the genius idea to take her car seat into the theater and buckle her in like we were on a car trip.  I fed her snacks and she fell asleep and it was wonderful!  The movie was really great and everyone enjoyed it!

We love Nolan so much and are glad that he's a part of our family!  In the past, 12 was the age to get the priesthood, but he's had it for 7 ot 8 months and is really growing in that responsibility.  Just this week, a widow in our ward passed away.  Nolan had been excited to go spend the week with his grandparents and hang out with lots of cousins, but this widow requested that all of the deacons in the ward sing, "I Am A Child of God" at her funeral, which was going to take place in the middle of the week.  Nolan was so sad that she had passed away - he had taken the sacrament to her house just the week before.  He didn't even hesitate in his decision to put off his visit to his grandparents and stayed for the funeral. 

 Nolan is a great younger brother; he is able to hang around his older siblings without annoying them and even gets lots of laughs from the things he says.  He is also a wonderful older brother, taking the time to play with and read to younger siblings.  This year he has become so capable in all that he does.  He is super smart and very athletic and kind and handsome!

He wanted a lemon birthday cake so Isabelle took him literally and delivered.  It was delicious!:

This was another creation that Isabelle made a few days later:

Anni LOVES food!  Recently I found that it's helpful to let her "cook" while I am making dinner.  I give her little pieces of the food that I am putting into the dinner (or anything I find in the fridge, really) and let her add spices and water, etc.  She sits and stirs and has the best time and I am able to get dinner ready faster because she is happy:

Turns out that Pace thinks It's a pretty fun activity too!:

Nolan's science teacher sent me this picture from school.  Nolan had just dissected a cow's eyeball:

The last day of school FINALLY  arrived on June 7th.  I thought the day was never going to arrive!!
Nolan was invited to a party at Atticus's house, but Abram wanted on here.  Since Abram was having his best friends over, Pace felt that he should, too.  He invited Adam Burt and Ashton Crowder.  Ashton was too shy to come that day, but Adam came and they had a good time:

Abram with his friends Miles Johnson and Carter Spencer:

We started the party with a treasure hunt - an easy one for Pace and Adam and a harder one for Abram and his friends.  There were the first popsicles of summer at the end! Then the boys played lots of basketball in the basement and shot Airsoft guns and made personal pizzas and watched a movie.  I'm so glad that the boys have good friends and that Abram got put into a good school class this year so that he could get to know these boys.

The things they say volume 21

Pace, coming to me distraught the other day, flopped down beside me and said, "UG!!!  I don't know who to marry!!"

We had a good "Come Follow Me" lesson this week for scripture study.  We discussed the parable about the goats and the sheep and that we need to serve each other.  Then Anni wanted to sing the Wise man and the Foolish man.  After all of that, it was Pace's turn to say family prayer and he said that he needed ideas.  I gave him the idea to pray that we can be wise and serve others.  He said, "Okay, okay, I'm ready to pray."  The words that came out of his mouth had us all in tears, "Please bless that we can find wise people to serve us!"

Mother's Day

I got really spoiled on Mother's Day.  Which was great because my birthday was completely overlooked!  Shawn and the kids spoiled me rotten with love letters from each one of them,  and gifts.  After church, we took a gift over to my mom as well.

The visit started out with dad showing all of us a Kill Deer nest that he had found.  Then we were by the pond so canoe rides happened:
l-r: David Kerns, Jonathan Kerns, Nolan, Shawn and Anni

THEN someone noticed that Sam, the dog, was interested about something that was in this pipe:

...so everyone spent about 30 minutes trying to aid Sam and find out what it was:

First they tried holding the pipe up high and sliding it out.  Then they tried submersing it in the pond, but one end of it was plugged.  They finally decided to saw it in two. While this was happening, I heard one of the boys exclaim, "Ew!  I sawed off it's tail!"  Sam was finally able to get at the huge ground hog lodged inside.  I think we might be rednecks...:D

Anni was pretty excited about Sam:

We finally went inside and visited and had strawberry shortcake, which Shawn made and brought along. 

I love this picture of Isabelle between her two grandparents.  She and her grandpa had been talking about patriarchal blessings because she is thinking about getting hers.  I don't think I have mentioned on this blog that dad was made a patriarch a month or two ago.

May little things

Part of the deal of Maddie finishing the school year in Idaho was that she send me daily pictures of herself, and call and talk to me every day:

Anni got into the makeup several times...I thought she was napping, but unbeknownst to me she was working away in my bathroom: 

She was also busy starting some pink eye around the family.  Her mom had it at their weekly visits and passed it along:

She's all set up with a car out on the deck:

Pace was dying to learn to ride a bike, but I needed to drop Abram and Nolan off at soccer practice.  I asked Kami if she could take him to the church parking lot while I was gone.  She did and he was already cruising all over by the time I got back.  I think he has had an injury per day ever since!:

Somehow I didn't get many pics of the boys in soccer - luckily that goes into June!  

Isabelle did great in track!  She PR'd almost every race; this year she ran the mile, the 800 and the 400x4 relay.  She also did the 3 mile several times.  This was the group she ran the relay with:

This is her friend Trey - she is pretty impressed with how fast he can run:

Just a boy (Abram) waiting patiently to leave for church:

Nolan and his friend Atticus before a ward temple trip:

A picture of my boy Elder Gee that I liked:

Snuggling on the swing while she tried to wake up:

Falling to sleep one night:

Face timing Maddie and taking pics when she isn't looking because she doesn't like it:

I took the shuttle to Rexburg because Maddie and I were homesick for each other.  Also, she had a choir concert that I wanted to be there for!  It was a short, quick trip, but we had a good time being together.  Also I got to see what her bangs look like before she does anything with them:

Painting Anni's nails one Sunday morning: