Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime, Verse 2

 2. Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool, or swing in a tree up high?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Featuring: COUSINS!

Water fun, sidewalk chalk, cupcakes, decorations...  

Lizzie shares her birthday with a cousin who is exactly one year older than her.  It just happened that he was here from Arkansas on their shared birthday!  We went to the movies and had cake and ice cream.  L's side of the cake showed "8" and P's side of the cake showed "9".  I figured out (after somewhat spectacular error) how to make zebra and leopard cakes.

Before the Arkansas cousins had to leave we all trekked to a great splash pad / playground.

Daddy had a business trip in June.  In fact, he had to be out of town on Lizzie's birthday.  So we had a girl's night sleepover in my big bed.  I don't think I got much sleep, but they enjoyed it all the same.  

After Daddy's trip we celebrated the rest of Lizzie's birthday.  She got the fancy white dress she was hoping for (for her baptism day) on her actual birthday, but then she got a slip-n-slide, a puppy journal, white sunday shoes, and a pretty blue and silver CTR ring.

A few days later the girls got to go to a Stuffed Animal Hullabaloo at the Museum of Art.  Cousin M came along too.  We got to have animal treats, bring stuffed animals, take pics at a photo booth, get a balloon animal, etc.

We walked through the statue garden on the way out because it's always fun.  M was excited to climb on the horse.  As you can see, it was VERY hot.

We also didn't stay long outside because the air quality was absolutely wretched.  At this time there were over half-dozen major wildfires burning in various stages of non-control across the state.  Many days we could smell the smoke from the fires and the sunlight was all sorts of strange, being filtered through so much junk.  

We were grateful that in all the worry over the fires, while some family and friends had to worry about evacuations, all remained safe and protected.

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

 1. Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do? So do I!

We've had so much fun this summer that I've barely taken time to record it.  So here's a little peek:

The note on the fridge when the girls came home from their last day of school.

 This is the first of MANY activities we've been to at the library.  This one was the last of a series teaching children the basics of reading music.

The city festival starts off at the very beginning of June.  One activity was a city-wide Eye Spy game.  There were close up pictures of things spread through the city.  After a several hours driving around as a family stopping to check out every possible nook or cranny we came up with all but two of the locations.  Of course one of them was on a building we drive by a few times a day, lol.  The other one we had to have looked right at too.  Oh well, we had a lot of fun.

 The girls and I discovered the real joys of the Museum of Art.  We spent hours there going through the outside sculpture gardens and all the inside galleries.  (We didn't know we'd missed the best part for children!  That's coming...)

 One afternoon we got out a huge piece of plastic sheeting, duct taped it into a big envelope, and filled it a few inches deep with water.  Once it was sealed shut it made a wonderfully cool "water bed".  It was great for rolling on, jumping on, and playing on in many ways.  Took forever to put together, but it was a lot of fun.

 We made it back to the Museum of Art and found the Children's Exhibit.  Wow!  There are displays aimed at children with activities, questions, etc.  They had a wonderful time.  

 Naturally we went to the Children's Art Festival.  The girls had a wonderful time, as they have every year.  This year it was just the 4 of us.  I took a camp chair and my fully stocked "sit-and-wait" bag.  It had everything from waxed paper (to cover over not-quite-dry paint or glue) to clothespins (to clip things together or hang them on the back of my chair to dry or avoid being crushed).  Naturally I also had bottles of water, sunblock, and cookies.

 I really love the "binoculars" Sabrina brought to the parade.  They're the wonderfully classic contraption built of toilet paper tubes.  The most amazing thing to me was when a kind woman offered me an empty chair right behind my girls.  It had probably been sitting there for a full day saving a place and she said they didn't need it.  That simple act of kindness helped me enjoy the parade with the girls without being in incredible amounts of pain afterward.  I was hoping to find the woman to thank her, but she was nowhere to be found. Thank you, kind lady!

 That night we went to the concert / activities / fireworks.  We had a lovely time waiting for things to get started.  I crocheted, and the girls rolled down hills and did hand-stands.  

 But then as the sun started to go down it got cold.  REALLY cold.  ARCTIC cold.  Michael went home and grabbed armloads of blankets, jackets, scarves, etc.  and even then we only made it through 30 minutes of the concert.  Then we left and went home to warm up!

Not a bad looking place, if I do say so myself :)

We did run back outside when the fireworks started.

Perhaps this only got us through the first week of June.  I guess I'll have to pay attention to post more often, or we won't get through the summer posts before Christmas!

Still May

I'm working on catching up here.  These pictures are from May.  We've been up to a lot, so things just might pick up around here :)

My brother, his wife, and their children moved back to Utah.  They've been in SC for two years while he attended graduate school where he finished with impressive honors and such.  This is especially amazing as they went through some particularly difficult times while they were there.  I know they miss their friends and family from there, but we love having them here!

We were glad to be able to have surprise graduation party WITH them a few days after their move.

While we were all together we had an opportunity to hear first hand about some of the things they've been doing.  During they years they were gone they had a baby girl.  Through a number of miracles they were blessed with a few days with their daughter after months of worry and wondering.  As you may have guessed about me, pictures and mementos really touch my heart.  Getting to see these little things of my little niece was a very special experience.  A year after she was born along came her baby brother.  He is a tall handsome heart-breaker at just a few months old.  We miss her terribly but are glad to get to know her older sister better and her younger brother as well.

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures -- pictures Sabrina made using Runts candy, Sabrina and Lizzie playing tiger-tamer, a flower present Sabrina gave me from school (with something nice written on each petal), me sitting outside in the shade while the girls play below, and K/L/S with Cutie Pies.  I remember my grandpa buying Cutie Pies.  Yum!

One night, well after the girls' bedtime Michael declared we were going to see Avengers (which had recently come out).  He and I had already seen it once, but we did both want to see it again.  And the girls had just spend the day watching Iron Man and Green Lantern.  We went to a 10:30 showing -- the movie didn't even end until 1am!  The girls were perfectly behaved and loved the movie.  

This spring we planted a whole bunch of goodies.  We now have 5 young fruit trees: apple, cherry, pear, plum, and apricot.  There were a few apples, cherries, and pears when we planted the trees.  We had to tie strips of mylar streamer to the trees after the deer ravaged the new growing ends.  We lost all three apples in a windstorm and all 9 cherries disappeared over night when they were nearly ripe.  At least there are still many pears growing nicely.  I'm excited to see how the trees do next year!  We also planted a dozen or so tomato plants, along with zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, and more.

Sierra learned how to get through the locked kitty door that was already installed in the storage room door.  She could stick one claw under the flap and flick it outward so she could slip through.  Unfortunately one day (the same day as field day at the elementary school) she had gone in there when we were all gone.  Michael stopped by home and heard horrible yowling.  She appears to have gotten her left back foot stuck in the string ladder of the venetian blinds over the window.  She was caught hanging by her foot with no other support for her weight.  We do not know exactly how long she was stuck there.  At great sacrifice to his poor scratched up arms, Michael was able to cut the strings and get Sierra loose.  I was able to ditch field day and come home to gather up Sierra and take her to the vet.  At that point she wouldnt' walk on her foot at all and it was very swollen.  By the time we got to the vet she was putting some weight on it, but was actually calming down a lot.  In the end it resulted in soft tissue damage, but no dead tissue, fractures, or dislocations.  Her foot is still pretty swollen in the lower right picture, above.  That evening she cuddled by Daddy on the couch, which was nice since he felt like the "bad guy" for being the first to find her when she was so scared and hurt.

When I was young, growing up in Oregon, we didn't have any grandparents near by.  Stick with me, this is relevant...  So we adopted some.  Or they adopted up.  All that matters is that when we needed a grandparent, Sam and Donna Gardner were there.  We often walked to their house on a Sunday afternoon, where we'd walk through their beautiful yard, count all the owls in the owl room (in my pre-teen recollection there were well over a hundred!) and get a stick of clove or fruit stripe gum or a pink mint for "getting the count right" (which I'm pretty sure had a wide margin for error).
Sam Gardner passed away many years ago, but Donna passed away in May.  She was being buried nearby in Salem, UT and there was a graveside service.  I was able to go with Sabrina, my mom, and one of my sisters.  I suppose that means I'm out of not only hereditary grandparents, but the adopted ones as well.

Random miscellany: The girls were playing in the sprinklers and the weather was beautiful.  I wasn't up for sitting on a camp chair or walking a lot as it was a bad pain day, so I opened the french doors and pushed my big chair about 5 feet to the other side of the door.  It felt most luxurious to sit on my big chair in the warmth and listen to the kids play below.  Ginger likes to be taken outside with a leash and harness so she joined me on my cozy chair.  

Sabrina needed a picture taken of her "smiley eyes".  Those are smiley face gummy fruit snacks she's holding up.  And on our last day helping in Kate's class I had to steal a picture of those sisters sitting together. 

This year we got our first strawberry out of our strawberry patch.  We used fake snakes to scare the squirrels away!  That worked at first, but pretty soon there were enough ripe berries the squirrels were willing to brave it, and we ended up with a bunch of nibbled stubs of berries again.  So we went to the cayenne pepper trick.  We sprinkle plain cayenne pepper on and around the strawberry plants.  The strawberries still taste great, after a good rinsing, but we've only had a few nibbles.  One nibble seems to be enough to warn the squirrels off.  Now we're finally getting a few ripe strawberries each day!

Bye Bye Birdie: We discovered a dead bird on our front porch.  I'm guessing it flew into the window and broke its neck.  The girls were very sad.  They asked if we could please have a funeral.  So we found a little spot of ground nearby and buried the bird.  I'm sure you cannot read it, but the next day I came out to see the little cardboard headstone that reads: Brd bodee  We love that brd.  (Bird body.  We loved that bird).  Never mind that they didn't know that bird at all, I love the tenderness of children.  The live bird eating a worm in the lower left, above, is one we watched a few days later.

The fun thing about having a camera phone is that I find the most random pictures on my phone sometimes.  These were particularly entertaining.  I'm sure the girls will really appreciate them when they hit their teen years too ;)

I belive this wraps up the month of May.  I cannot believe June is nearly over!  We've hardly stopped to draw breath since school ended!  Too many wonderful things keep coming up.

Elizabeth's Baptism

NOTE: I was going to break this up into a few posts, but I've had such a hard time finishing things on here that when I got some momentum I decided I'd better ride it out!  Yes, it is long.  But most of it is pictures of my little Sunshine, so it's not so bad :)

For her eighth birthday, Lizzie got a fancy white dress.  She asked specifically for a while dress to wear the day of her baptism.  Aunt Karla took pictures of Lizzie at the Museum of Art.

When we got home I wanted to try a couple of things I'd just remembered, so of course I took a few photos too.

Lizzie's hair has grown quickly in the last year.  The longest layers are nearly waist length now!  I wanted a hairdo that would keep her hair controlled and tidy during the baptism, and also not take long to dry or tidy up immediately following the baptism when people are waiting.  Thus: the Dutch braided halo.  This also happens to be the way my hair was done when I was baptized a few decades ago.  This worked perfectly in Lizzie's hair, and I love the white flowers pinned in.

I took these pictures just before we left the house on Saturday morning.  Lizzie is wearing the same baptism dress Kate wore two years ago, and the same one I wore once upon a time -- as well as countless cousins, aunts, and various relations and friends of relations.  

 Here is Lizzie just before the baptism program began:

...and Lizzie with Grandma Jensen, Grandpa and Grandma Southern, Aunt Jenny and Aunt Janice, and of course with Dad and Mom.  I thought this dress was long on Kate, but on Lizzie she was just tall enough to keep the hem from trailing on the floor.

Daddy carried Lizzie in from the car, since she was barefoot at that time and the ground was already getting hot.

I slipped my camera out of my purse in the dressing room and took the picture below just before helping Lizzie change immediately after being baptized.  SUCH a huge grin on her face!

While we were taking the pictures in the baptism dress at home, just before leaving that morning, we kept hearing a persistent cooing.  I looked up and saw a bird perched on the top of our house.  I did double check and yes, it's a Turtle Dove, also known as the Mourning Dove.  The dove's call was absolutely beautiful.  I've never seen or heard one here before or since, but it was very special that morning.

Previous baptisms have ended around lunch time and been followed by a luncheon.  Since Lizzie's baptism was scheduled for 9:00 AM it seemed silly to have a full luncheon at 10am.  So instead I made hundreds of mini-muffins and people brought various fresh fruits.  It was a lovely brunch! 

We had an incredible amount of family with us at Lizzie's baptism.  Only one family was unable to be there.  Ironically, they're also the only ones who couldn't be there when Michael and I were married!  (Yes, I'm sure they like us -- they had a baby the day after we were married, and had just been here a few weeks before the baptism, and needed to trek back across the country to be home).  

A member of our Primary presidency caught me on Sunday in the hallway and told me how amazed she was by our family.  First, that we had so many family members who came to celebrate Lizzie's choice to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and take part in the event.  Second, that all those children (there were several dozen) were there in Sunday best.  Little boys in white shirts, little girls in dresses.  Third, she was impressed by the reverence and the Spirit present during the baptism.  I absolutely agree: it was wonderful.

It was hotter outside than I'd counted on, and we were (perpetually!) short on chairs.  I never even remembered to gather up the ones we had inside the house!  Oh well, there were at least two whole feet of shade at the east edge of the backyard.

I had found several thrifted platters which I then compiled into two tiered platters filled with over half-dozen varieties of mini muffins.  The chocolate-chocolate chip muffins were the only ones that were completely gone by the end, but they all seemed to be well enjoyed.  Delicious!

Lizzie got her own fancy set of scriptures with her name on them from Mom and Dad.  She also got a memory book, which people were able to sign for her, a special temple block, scripture stickers, a book about the Holy Ghost, some lovely cards, and a whole lot of love.

Thank you to all of you who were there in person or in spirit.  Lizzie has been so excited about being baptized and being confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.