Nellie's birthday

 

For Nellie's birthday, we went up to Sundance and rode the gondolas up the mountain.  It was fun and I enjoyed chatting with each person as we went up and back.  Then we went out for lunch before I headed back to take care of Evelyn after school needs.  Happy birthday Nella! 

Seth's Ordination

Seth was ordained a Deacon on Sunday.  This cute boy is both excited and nervous about growing up.  I think he's got this and will be an amazing contribution to humankind.  He's a sweet and happy boy.  I love to be with him. He is very capable in many ways even when he's hesitant to be adventurous on his own.  I think as he grows, he will find his boldness. He was teary as his grandpas, dad and brother joined Bro Yancey to give him the Priesthood and urged him to serve those around him.  He's my sweet teddy bear hearted boy. Then he went to get his temple recommend appointment done.  He's ready for our first temple appointment in about a week or so. 

 

Sealing

These people are such good people.  Kind and smart. I'm so happy for their family and for being included in their temple sealing.  Jer and I got to sit by Alan and Rochelle.  That was nice to catch up with them as well.

 

Uncle Seth

It was my brother's birthday. He's a good man. Nellie made him tacos and I brought ice cream.  This was the Uncle pile after dinner.  It's a good thing that the kids are cute.  They dog pile him all the time.

 

New Nephew

 

Joy. My heart is so happy for these two!  They are going to be amazing parents and I can't wait to meet Jude.  After 10 years, Jay and Emily adopted a sweet baby boy.  Welcome to the family baby!  

When your brother.....

 

When your brother loses his appendix, you get to spend time with your nieces and nephews.  Aubrey loves my camera and has some promise.  She took all of these except the one of her.

Road trip eleventh leg

Our second day with John and Diane, the girls went to the beach and the boys stayed home and played epic board games.  Sam couldn't get his foot wet and so I think this worked out really well.  Ada is always a fish in the water, but she's not very often a fish in salt water.  She loved it, especially the waves, but was surprised at how thirsty she got by the end.  Evelyn got adventurous and tried to follow the older people out farther, but they managed to keep her safe.  It was my time of the month, so I chose to dig in the sand with Susan, Samuel and Gideon while everyone else swam.  

When it was almost time to go, we saw a tornado funnel forming in the distance.  By the time I got my camera out, it had already faded quite a bit and disappeared by the time I got it put away.  

After swimming, we went to the grocery store for ice cream.  It was fun, and even more fun knowing that it's one of Diane's favorite places.  I loved it.  

Samuel and John, Ruth, Ada, Jeremy, Adam, Sam, Kate, Johnny, Diane

Me, Evelyn, Susan, Seth, Arwen, Joseph, Anya, Gabriel, Joshua, Rachel

Road trip tenth leg

The next day, we made our way out to North Carolina.  We stayed in New Bern, just a little ways a way from our cousins in Maysville.  We sure loved being together again.  It almost felt like we'd never been apart.  It's been 4 years since we saw each other, so there was a little bit of kids trying to reconcile their memories of cousins with how grown up they are now, but they got the hang of it and just jumped right back in.  

Arwen and Evelyn

Susan.  I think she looks just like a miniature Cinderella.

Rachel and Ada.

The chairs in the lobby looked like jail cells, so Evelyn and Seth put themselves in jail and Ada became the jailer.  

I got to meet baby Gideon.  He's the sweetest and most smiley baby.  He has such a cute little dimple.

Ada and Anya bonded over drawing dragons, and all the kids loved the chickens, ducks and kittens.

Joshua kept bringing me things trying to scare me, luckily I don't scare that easily.  He brought me grasshoppers, a chicken and a frog.  He is a master blocks builder.

I think this is my favorite picture.  All these littles that aren't so little anymore.