May 2021

This month started out with a beautiful testimony from our special Milo.

https://youtu.be/mWQ4qSOZmB0

Ordering from Walmart grocery pickup is quite the gamble. When I order "5" I never know if I'm gonna get 5 tomatoes or 5 bags of tomatoes.

We had another super fun date night beating up this pinata. He is the best.

https://youtu.be/IY_al5ZqVtI

Mother's Day

And the ones for me. These kids have my heart. (And they also make me laugh...)

Love everything growing this time of year!

Logan completely lost his voice the day before the ward camp out, so I took the kids and went. It was so fun, we were sad he missed out.

Waking up in the woods.

https://youtube.com/shorts/BNj_MDgcwOY?feature=share

We all tried out the climbing wall.

https://youtu.be/uFLZoRunqjk

And a couple of us tried out the zipline.

 Janie on the zip line

https://youtube.com/shorts/FhoY6CQt-u4?feature=share

Milo on the zip line

https://youtube.com/shorts/_KSM2795Znw?feature=share

Man, I really love this crew!

On our Sunday drive we found these beautiful gladiolas growing in the swamp.

They're almost as pretty as this girl.

Had to document the gas shortage.

Came away from the orthodontist appointment like this. (No work done yet, just something to look forward to...)

I never thought I'd be in a place (in location or time) where Logan and I could take a morning off and go up the road to kayak. Logan has been wanting kayaks for quite awhile now, so it was fun to go try them out.

End of year festivities!

Janie and Hannah

Carli's award ceremony at school. Honor roll all the way! Plus a few more.

A cute swallow family at Tad's preschool

https://youtube.com/shorts/ncIIjMvv2VQ?feature=share

Had to go try the kayaks out with the family.

Field Day

First grade awards

Last day of school lemonade stand

QUEST graduation party with Mrs. Joey

Preschool graduation with Miss Rachel

And what better way to kick off summer than a trip to Jacksonville Beach? It is definitely one of our happy places.

This hike was a fun one, especially seeing the osprey nest/chicks and the walking stick bug.

Walking Stick

https://youtube.com/shorts/dA2OfpKL5-s?feature=share

We loved our stay in what Tad called our "half turquoise house".

One more hike before we headed home.

How can you not want a dog when you see these puppy dog eyes through the window?

The end of year piano recital. So proud of these three!

Carli

https://youtu.be/uubXjCmPsug

Janie

https://youtu.be/WVGNVdq_e8c

Milo

https://youtu.be/IaaAairOa6Y

Still a little new having a teenager who sends pics and texts like this from her day out with friends.

Another tooth bites the dust.

We had a fun time celebrating Memorial Day with our friends in their pond.

April 2021

It may have been April Fools Day, but I ain't no fool. I got my first dose of the Covid vaccine and I felt so proud and happy. I shared the following on Facebook:

Feeling a little stronger thanks to my first vaccine dose!

Thought I’d share some thoughts I’ve had today. I learned about Oswald Avery when I read The Great Influenza by John M. Barry last year. Avery was a medical researcher who started his career during the “Spanish Flu”. “Avery is best known for his 1944 discovery that DNA is the material of which genes and chromosomes are made.” (After 20+ years of research full of dead ends.) Barry said, “In fact, what Avery accomplished was a classic of basic science. He started his search looking for a cure for pneumonia and ended up ‘opening . . . the field of molecular biology’.”

I am in awe that a discovery made by a man whose work was inspired by the flu pandemic 100 years ago helped make possible the vaccine I received to relieve the pandemic today. Incredible!

 

It was so fun to surprise the kids with visitors. We are so lucky Grammie, Papa T and the cousins came to visit for spring break. They hit General Conference, Easter and Tad's birthday too, which was so fun.

https://youtube.com/shorts/L5O924RAi4o?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/4sE53meHzks?feature=share

Papa taught the boys to play dominos.

It was the best decision to get an inflatable bouncy house for the week. And very fun to surprise Tad for his birthday.

https://youtube.com/shorts/80K0Xx8BjtI?feature=share

A 5 with sprinkles!

https://youtube.com/shorts/hN_9OAir0fk?feature=share

These 6 together make me so happy.

Little Women play

Like father like son.

Beach day!

Now...

and then. (3 years ago)

Our first successful geocache of the year.

The treehouse Logan and Papa started. A very fun project that is yet to be used much.

Just a boy enjoying the book Papa T sent him.

Janie is often coming up with fun and games for the boys. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/RDH0ZTTgR_E?feature=share

We love it when strawberry picking season comes again. And I've never met a kid who likes picking them as much as this one. He would fill buckets all day if I let him. And this year there was a field right down the road, so we hit it up several times.

Can't remember what these three were doing exactly, but I love the view of them playing from my window.