Summer Is Ending

The last month has been all kinds of random fun things. Lexi had a camp in the St. Cloud area, it was All State. She was the only girl accepted from her high school, and the only girl accepted from our school district! It's a pretty big deal! She has a large vocal range, but really enjoys harmonizing so she auditioned as an Alto 1. She met lots of new kids, and even met a few LDS kids up there. She was thankful because as the week went on there were a lot of things going on at night that she wasn't all that comfortable with. It was nice for her to find kids that kept her same standards.

Ashlee had her second hip surgery- and it went much better than anticipated. Her recovery has been a lot faster, and she is so thankful! She still won't be able to play soccer until spring- but at least she knows she won't have the pain she's had the last 2 years.

Baylee finally had her gymnastic camp- she couldn't wait for August to get here! She LOVED it! It was from 8-4 Monday- Thursday, she was completely exhausted each day but learned so much! She and Carly love to see who can get their splits all the way to the floor.. Bays is getting closer!

Lexi has been teaching our neighbor piano lessons all year, and she held a recital for her. I asked if Carly and Baylee could join since their teacher is a teenager and I didn't expect him to plan one. They all did really well, and we even got Lexi and James (Carly and Baylee's teacher) to play a song. 

I started my ASL classes at Saint Paul College. I was nervous for so many reasons, but it has been great! I really enjoy learning how to sign, and my instructor is a great teacher! She is deaf and doesn't speak, so there's no talking- we just have to learn to communicate through sign. After my first night I came home to a boston cream pie cake, a clean house, and a sign hanging up for me. I am so blessed to have such a great family!

We have 1 more week of summer left and the kids are enjoying every minute! We have a few more things planned like going to the Minnesota Fair, Lake Elmo, and enjoying our gorgeous 70 degree weather over the next week!

More Summer Fun!

The last 3 summers Anna and Adeline Patterson have come and spent a week with us while Aubrey went to a yoga convention. This year Aubrey was able to come stay too, since the convention was earlier in the year. Did I mention we love visitors?! The little girls don't have any awkward moments- they squeal and hug- and then run off to play.

Carly and Anna continued with their "Weirdest Weirdo's" video's and added musical.ly's to them. They spent hours on the trampoline, and both even started trying new tricks. Aubrey and I laugh because they have a healthy competition with each other, and it pushes them to do something they might not try to do on their own. Carly got her back tucks because Anna was there to encourage her- and then Anna started doing them too! 

Baylee and Adeline created their own club, and played with their American Girl dolls. 

We visited Mall of America so they could do a little shopping and ride a few rides. I don't know if Adeline is ever going to forgive me for putting her on the rollercoaster, locking her in, and then running away while she sobbed onto Anna's shoulder. I was really proud of her though- she did it and survived to tell everyone she rode the roller coaster.

 Look at poor Adeline!

 Look at them with their cute purses!

The goodbyes were super sad. Carly put on a brave face until they drove away and she cried the rest of the afternoon. She and Anna get each other- like they really get each other. It's a special friendship that I know will continue until they're old old old ladies!

After the Patterson's left, Lexi and Ashlee went on a "Pioneer Trek". They dressed the part, and pulled handcarts just like the pioneers did. They were rained on, and had moments where it wasn't so fun. They quickly realized bad attitudes made it worse- so they started looking for the positive, and ended up really liking it.

Abbey and Hailey Taylor came to visit Lexi and Ashlee for a week- all the way from Utah! It was fun for them to have time together aside from family reunions, and get to know each other in a relaxed, really relaxed setting. There was a lot of Grey's Anatomy being watched, a lot of shopping, a lot of sleeping, and a lot of visiting. We were sad to say goodbye to them! While they were here I was thinking back to when I lived with their parents right after high school- I never would have thought we'd have kids the same age! I love my big family!

The Beehive class came and decorated our driveway one night- it was adorable! 

Family Trip

We tend to take trips and do things spur of the moment, and at the last minute we decided to take a church history trip to Kirtland and Palmyra, and also stop at Niagara Falls. I picked up Lexi and Ashlee from Girls camp, and we left the next morning on our trip. Lexi was not happy because she had a date she had to cancel. 

We stopped in Kirtland Ohio, the early members of our church gathered here and built the first temple. It has never functioned like the other temples do in our church, they had to leave because of persecution. We were able to go on a tour of the temple and visit many more church sites. The temple was amazing- to look at the structures that are still there, and to think that so long ago they built it and it still stands. The Community of Christ owns the temple, and they give the tours. Our tour was interesting, it seemed like we were just visiting a regular old history site. They asked for donations many times so they can continue to restore the temple back to what it originally looked like. I was kind of bummed to feel so eh about it. I know that Joseph Smith did indeed see angelic messengers besides the Savior in that building. That's kind of a big deal! Because of a vision he had there the Priesthood was restored. This is why I was bummed I was just feeling eh. Our tour guide just kind of glazed over the spiritual things and stuck to the structure and them needing more funding. But at the end of the tour he gave us music and a lady in our tour group volunteered to play the piano while we sand The Spirit of God. I felt the spirit so strong, and it was a great reminder to me that the spirit is in us, and we can feel Him near us if we are paying attention and allowing ourselves to feel Him.

Our next stop was Niagara Falls, and it happened to be the 4th of July. It was crazy busy there! We bought a pass for each of us to see everything there- which was well worth the price. Our favorite things were Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds. Maid of the Mist was almost overwhelming! You cram 600 people on this boat that takes you out to the Falls, and then the boat turns around and brings you back. It sounds kind of boring and underwhelming- but it's not! The sound of the Falls, and just being so close to them, you can feel the strength of the water. 

Cave of the Winds was incredible, but as I said it was really busy. We had to wait almost 2 hours in the sun, standing... Baylee was not thrilled, honestly it was quite miserable. We had to deal with people shoving our kids aside to cut in front of us in the line over and over- it got really annoying. They give you snazzy sandals you have to wear and yellow ponchos- we couldn't wait to get soaking wet!

Baylee was freaking out and wanted off the stairs as quickly as possible, and then a couple people shoved her over and she about lost it. It was slippery and windy, and you're basically in the water fall- and she was DONE! I couldn't even give the ding dongs who shoved her a dirty look because it's so windy and my face was covered by my gorgeous yellow poncho. But, the rest of us thought it was amazing, so incredible!

Our next stop was Palmyra, New York. It is such a small quiet town, and we got there a few days before all the crowds came for the pageant. We were able to see all the church history sites and visit the Sacred Grove a few times. It was one of our favorite places to go- it was so quiet and calm. 

 We were able to meet up with my brother and his family- who happened to be visiting the same time we were! We love to see family!!

We were told the walk to the Hill Cumorah Monument was steep- but there's nothing that can prepare you for it! We finally go up there and were able to sit on benches to catch our breath and enjoy the view. When we started walking down Carly and Baylee were scared they were going to lose their footing and end up rolling down the trail!

 Our friends the Judd's from Arkansas happened to be in Palmyra the same time we were- it was great to go on some of the tours with them.

All of our kids enjoyed the pageant, and all the history sites. It's so different traveling with older kids who are pretty self sufficient, it's much easier! We ended up being able to drive home a day early- and driving the whole thing in one day. We were about 15 minutes from home when Baylee got car sick. We had to pull off the road and get her taken care of- there was all kinds of drama. We made it and everyone was so thankful to sleep in their own beds again.