The Miraculous Journey of Edward Thomas

Evelyn's 7th ballet with this studio.  She loves it and loves all her friends in the different classes. This year's adventure was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Thomas. Evelyn was a "party girl" and a city person.  She did a great job!  We were able to see it with Uncle Seth, Wilcox Grandparents, Aunt Janelle, Grandma Robertson, Maisy, Beth, Rose and Jack as well as our immediate family.  She got a sunburn right before and we had to use full coverage foundation for the first time.  That was new for both Evelyn and I.  Ada was very helpful and walked us through it.

 

bunnies

 

Our neighbor's baby bunnies are escape artists. 6 got out and have been hopping around our backyard.  I just keep quoting pieces of Watership Down in my head.  They're so cute... I am starting to take it more seriously though.  They're starting to get old enough that they could start burrowing and having babies in my yard.

Sam's 17

Our week has been a rush and we had to celebrate Sam's birthday in pieces. We had cousins and friends over to watch a movie in the backyard.  They pulled the trampoline over and watched from there. We took steaks to Grandma and Grandpa Robertson's house to have birthday dinner with the Tarkingtons... especially Eli (They probably won't see each other for about 3-4 years with mission schedules)... And we had presents and some time to relax and play instead of doing all the chores.

This is a good kid.  He's quickly not going to be a kid sooner than I want, but I want to acknowledge his goodness, bravery and sincerity.  Whatever he does, he does it well.  His main challenge is being too hard on himself when he wants perfection.  He doesn't demand perfection from other.... but he does from himself. He's so kind and wherever he goes and the family he creates will be a place of love. 

Between Margaret, Jim and I, we made angel food cake for Sam.  It was yummy.

I think the thumb harp was his favorite gift.... a musical fidget is always a win with this kid.  He also got a Harry Potter lego set and a set of tongs for his forge set up.

 

temples, missionaries and bunnies

This week is full of Evelyn's dress rehearsals before the ballet this weekend.... so makeup and hairspray and in abundance. Her costumes are covered in glitter this time and Ada's not so pleased about it.... but Evelyn thinks it's funny to try to touch everyone with her glittery hands.

We've pulled out the summer activities and we're in full summer daycare mode.  

Our neighbor's 6 baby bunnies got into our yard last weekend and have been caught and escaped several times.  I think it's adorable and the daycare kids loved to try to "catch" them.  We've seen 4 black/dark brown ones, a white one, and a speckled grey one.

Syl decided that it's not so bad being on the cat harness and loved walking around the yard with Sam this week. 

My cute little poppies.

Last and definitely not least, Eli, got to go through the temple for the first time before his mission.  He was so adorable.  You could see the absolute light shining from him and the joy that he could feel being in the temple.  Thank you for the invite Eli!

 

Ward Youth Conference

Sam and Evelyn got to go to Ward Youth Conference this last week. They did lots of hiking, swimming, fishing, etc.... It was a great time.  My neighbor Emilee said, "It was fun getting to know your kids better and see their personalities for longer than just on Sunday or Wednesday."  I feel like that's a true statement. We don't know someone by meeting.  We know that better by being together often or always. 

They came home happy, tired and dirty.

 

Family Night

Our family night, we got to get together with the Robertsons because Becca's family was in town.  We had hamburgers, games, chatting, etc... We wished Grace well on her mission and said hi to the married grandkids. It was fun hearing them all giggling like little kids even when they're all 22-18 year olds.

 

15

We came back from Bear Lake and these wildflowers had popped up in some corners of the yard.

Our cute young women set this up for Evelyn's birthday and two sets of them came by to sing her happy birthday. It was so sweet and Evelyn looked at me and said, "Mom, I loved that!"  Her, Ada and I were all part of putting together a special sacrament meeting too.  Evelyn had a part about serving other through the year to walk with Christ. Ada gave a talk about aligning our will to God (and did an excellent job), and I accompanied three special musical numbers.