Our Summer Month of June

I bought a water bottle with a lid specifically to prevent me from accidentally swallowing a fly. Our kids are always leaving the door open and flies come in. Well, as fate would have it, I left the lid off of my water bottle for about ten minutes the other day. A fly flew in and I didn't know it. I took a gulp, wondered what squishy thing was in my mouth. I chomped on it, fished the wing out from between my teeth before I realized what it was. I then spent a good deal of time almost vomiting in the sink. Jon Mark was laughing hysterically the whole time. The irony, I'm sure, is funny. 

  Here is what is left of the fly. Do you see it's guts coming out? Yeah, that was in my teeth. I have been traumatized.

Mercedes and Jm had a good time at the Father Daughter dance at the church. There was a dance contest and lots of laughter.

Jm and I had the opportunity of meeting with some of Jon Mark's old missionary friends. They were a lot of fun to get to know, so were their wives and kids. Jon Mark was quite popular on his mission, or so I was told. He took pictures of the friend's pictures.

Here is Mercedes in her gymnastics class. She is getting better and better. She and Hannah both love going to gymnastics. Today Mercedes was practicing her hand stands and handstand roll.

Oh, you know, just one of a hundred pictures I took trying to get all 5 kids to cooperate.

My niece Daisy was born to Nick and Bethany.

Joshua makes great cards! :)

A card I wrote for Hannah to Jm for Father's Day.

We threw a surprise party for Jon Mark's birthday. The kids were busy all day with decorating and preparations. They had so much fun planning it. We put paper down on the table so the guests could write Jon Mark a message. Mercedes took a long time writing a special note and drawing a special picture for him. She wanted a picture of it before I tossed it. You can't really see it though. Mercedes thought of the idea to throw him a party. She is a very thoughtful girl who feels all emotions in a BIG way.

We get creative on hot summer days. We filled up a small pool with toys and water and the kids jumped on the trampoline with water and ice. We've had a fun summer full of cousin play dates.

Mercedes was spoiled for her birthday. We had a good time bonding together with pedicures. She also got a cousin sleepover and party with no boys.

Hannah spent a lot of the pedicure feeling bored. I think she enjoyed it, but she kept asking when it was time to go home.

Mercedes got this beautiful tutu and these pretty ballet shoes. Like I said, she was spoiled. :)

I don't have many pictures of Joshua. He hides from the camera, unless he is wanting to annoy his sister. It was our 13th wedding anniversary this month. The kids wanted to try on my wedding tiara. They also insisted that I wear it the rest of the night. We celebrated with take out dinner and a family movie "Lost in Space". JM and I had gone on a date earlier and celebrated as well.

I feel like this picture needs a caption. I'm not sure what, but it's perfect for a caption. I was watching the movie and didn't know that the kids were taking my picture.

Luke won a spot in a race at speed camp. He always works so hard and the coaches like him. He was competing against much older boys, so he didn't win, but just being selected to participate made his day.

This is the Peterson's cousin Alivia who is best friends with Mercedes. She bought her a bff necklace.

A family that works out together, stays together. We prioritize exercise. My kids can all (except Cub) run at least a mile, Joshua more. Even Hannah can run a mile.

"Not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once, as I ever was". I was showing the girls how to do a leap, it was a video that I did a screen shot of. My leg isn't entirely straight, which back in the day I could do an inverted split, but it was fun showing the girls that at 36 years old, I'm not horrible. :)

We went pottery painting as a girl's night. I painted this plate. This picture is before it has been glazed.

Mercedes LOVES babies. This is baby Daisy.

Lindsay took our family picture. I'll post the originals soon enough.

My dad is great! I love that he lives close enough to come help me on a moments notice. Here he is trying to fix my garbage disposal. Prayer is what fixed it. :)

This is the girl's room. I made this garland out of felt with Lindsay's help. It took forever and someday I hope my girls know how much love went into their room.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

The above picture is one that was taken spontaneously by one of the kids. I like it because it captures a day in the life. Jm "fighting" Cub in his underwear (Cub, not Jm :)), which is Cub's favorite thing to do, Mer practicing on my hair, which is something she likes to do to bond, Joshua moving all over the place, and Luke behind the camera with Hannah. They both like taking my phone all the time, although Hannah doesn't know how so she needs Luke.

I made a few valances out of foam board. The bottom curtain fits the window now.

I can't remember if I posted my latest painting of a diva on stage.

Kids practicing their gymnastics... I make them do exercise/stretching hour every morning this summer.

Luke will often make religious cards and notes. This is a comic book about "bad stuff" and how Jesus can make it go all away.

Mercedes left these for Jm and I to find.

All of the kids have had a great year. Mercedes and Luke got straight A's and Joshua got on honor roll.

Having a bigger big kid is awesome!! He babysits and mows the lawn and I am enjoying this new stage. Growing up has it's perks, but I'll always miss my babies.

The moon was a big, beautiful spotlight in the sky. The picture doesn't capture the beauty.

Caleb wanted his picture taken. He kept saying, "cheese".

We went to Utah for Jax's baby blessing. While we were there, we went on a zip line that was 8,000 feet long and at the highest point, 500 feet in the air. It was so beautiful. Joshua is the bravest 10 year old I know. At 500 feet, we braked to a stop and sang a primary song for Gavin who also would have been old enough to go on the zip line. I loved conquering my fear of heights and stepping out of what makes me comfortable. It's something I have been trying to do more of.j

Couple of more things I want to remember:

Jm: He does such a good job at being a husband and father. He does so much to serve me and love me. Last night he changed a poopy diaper because he wanted to serve me (Cubby shouldn't be pooping in his pull-ups anymore at night time-- he is potty trained but wears pull-ups to bed). He also bought us dinner at Cafe Rio so I wouldn't have to cook. He took us all swimming at the public pool so we'd have a good time together. 

Joshua: Zip lined like a pro and wasn't even scared. He mows lawns and babysits and likes doing things to earn money. He loves dart guns and dart wars. In Utah we had a massive dart gun war and dodgeball game at the church. He was in heaven.

Mercedes: Is learning to braid hair. Asked to spend time with me for her birthday, so we will be getting pedicures. Loves to hold babies and baby dolls and says she feels the spirit when she does.

Luke: Told me yesterday at the pool that he didn't want to wear his swim shirt because he'd rather let the girls just see all of his muscles. He did a front flip off the diving board first try. He is also fearless.

Hannah: Learned to do the splits. Loves dancing and even dances at church to the hymns. Loves gymnastics and wears her leotards and ballet shoes everywhere. Is excited to start school.

Caleb: Is fiesty and loves everyone on his terms. He is the definition of a cat personality. He loves getting presents. He loves to play fight. 

Me: Lately I feel a bit spiritually stagnant. That's not to sound alarming. My testimony is solid, but I feel like I haven't had any strong spiritual experiences recently. For awhile there, I was having many. Now, it's a bit of a plateau. I understand that we can't always feel so close to heaven all the time, because life is a test, but I rather enjoy seeing with my spiritual eyes. I did have an experience recently though. I was at my parents home for Sunday dinner and I kept having a thought that I needed to share with my Aunt Katherine the song I had written for Michelle about Sacred Scars and Gavin. Aunt Katherine had lost two children several years ago in a car accident. As far as I know, no one really ever talks about them or the accident all that often. Maybe they do and I'm just not a part of those conversations, but when I am around I don't hear of it. I also don't have a very close relationship with my aunt and so going up to her and talking about her two children she lost seemed uncomfortable to me. It was Mother's Day and the thought just kept coming to me to tell her I remembered all of her children and I wanted to share a song with her. I kept ignoring it, but finally it got strong enough that I couldn't ignore it in good conscience. I went up to her, I told her that I had written a song for my sister in law who had lost a child and that I was thinking maybe she'd like to hear it sometime but I didn't want to make her sad. She said she wanted to hear it right then. So, we went into a quiet room and I played it for her. She loved it. I said that if she ever wanted to talk about Micheal and Amanda, I would love to listen. She said that she doesn't ever talk about them because she thinks it makes people uncomfortable and she would like to talk about them very much. I then hugged her and told her Happy Mother's day from all of her children. It was nice. The next time I saw her, she brought a photo album of Micheal and Amanda and we talked about them for an hour or so. The experience was a beautiful one because I followed a prompting. Perhaps it wasn't a super complicated or difficult prompting, but I showed the Lord that I can be trusted to act. 

I think that the secret to spiritual growth is steady, consistent following of promptings, as well as a steady and consistent study of the scriptures and saying prayers that are heartfelt. I think we need to pray for experiences, seek for them, and when they come along, thank the Lord for them. Perhaps I need to pray more heart felt prayers and do a closer studying of the scriptures. I also think it is important to recognize that in times in which Heaven doesn't feel maybe as close, that we ought to remember life is a test. Don't beat yourself up about it, course correct if need be and seek for the spirit. My spiritual experiences often come in bursts and clusters. They leave me yearning for my Heavenly Home, and it feels as though leading a perfect life is almost attainable because I see so clearly. Of course I yearn for those experiences all the time! I want to feel my angels near, I want to feel my Savior near. Those are acceptable desires to the Lord and our Heavenly Father. We should be seeking after those things. So, in the meantime, I'll be thankful for the experiences I have, I will seek for more, and I will do those things that ought to be doing to be found worthy of such experiences.