DnD

These three can spend entire Sundays playing DnD (Dungeons and Dragons). They take turns being the DM (Dungeon Master) and have fun coming up with campaigns. 

Blanket

Logan has had this blanket that his Grandma Eldredge made him since he was tiny. Once he decided he was too old for lovey, this blanket became his comfort object. He recently decided it could be retired-and not a moment too soon! It is literally falling apart, it's so well loved. He's growing up, he's going to be on a mission soon.

Paper Monsters

Paper Monsters made another appearance in our home, and thankfully this time Jake was old enough to make his own! And make them he did!

Building Blocks

Eli used the blocks to help with a lesson he taught about the Tabernacle from Moses' time, and then he built this amazing structure!

Father's Day

These four and I are so lucky to have Jason as their dad. He loves spending time with them, works hard for them, and is an amazing example of all an honorable man should be. Happy Father's Day, my love.

Vacation: Park Omega

One last post to wrap up our vacation. We stopped at this fun place called Park Omega; they call it a Canadian Safari. We spent about two hours driving through this park, and every few hundred yards your car would be swarmed by deer, elk, and other similar animals begging for carrots. They'd stick their head as far into your car as you'd allow them too, and run after you if you drove away. It was hilarious.

The last tender mercy of the trip came as we went to drive home. We pulled out of the hotel parking lot and our low tire air pressure notice came on. We groaned, filled it with air, and hoped and prayed for the best. It didn't lose any air the whole way home. The next day, we lost a bunch of air again, took it in and had to replace the tires. We're so glad we didn't have to deal with that delay on our way home! We had such a fun trip!

Vacation: Niagara Falls and Hotels

We really enjoyed our time in Niagara Falls. Again, when the kids first saw the falls, they were a bit underwhelmed, but they saw the appeal once we were on the boat. Jake was a good sport: he wasn't happy about getting wet on the boat, but huddled into me and didn't make a bug fuss. Everyone else thought it was AMAZING to be so close and get soaked. We also did a journey behind the falls, which wasn't as cool as we'd hoped, but at least gave a slightly different view (you could see the falls coming over the edge of the rockface). The three older kids and I went to the fireworks and light show one night (Jake wasn't wild about the drizzling rain). The kids were all amazing troupers as we walked a ton, and we loved our visit.

We also thoroughly enjoyed each of our three hotels' pools: this one was very picturesque.

Another blessing we had on the trip was that one night Eli threw up. He felt fine before and after, and no one else got sick. Whew!

Vacation: Quebec City Part Two

The day we toured the main part of Quebec City we experienced one of several tender mercies on the trip: rain was forecast all day, but it didn't rain until we were literally walking back to our car at the end of a long day! We saw a lovely old church, their Citadel (military fort), the lobby of the famous hotel Le Chateau Frontenac, ate the famed poutine (or at least Jason and Logan did), took a ferry ride on the river, saw the city wall (the only one in North America north of Mexico City), and wandered their amazing cobblestone streets. Jason and I could have wandered all day, but we capped it at a few hours for the sake of our four very good sports (when asked about this day, one of them said, "Oh, we just walked around a lot,").

Vacation: Quebec City

 A big part of why we chose these cities to vacation to was that we wanted to give our kids a taste of a foreign country, without the flights or cost of one far from us. With that goal in mind, we were pleased that in Quebec the people are very committed to French, while at the same time being very accommodating to our non-French-speaking group. Their signs were all in French, but sometimes English was in small print below. They always greeted us in French, even if they obviously heard us speaking English to each other, but were happy to switch to (usually quite good) English when we told them they didn't understand them. It added to the charm and the experience. And Jake learned that, "laughter means the same thing in all languages!"

We LOVED Quebec City, and have talked it up to everyone since we got back. If you get a chance-go! It feels like a little European City and we enjoyed every bit. 

The day we arrived we went to Montmorency Falls and were amazed. It was a really big waterfall with lots of amazing ways to enjoy it: 100s of switchback stairs that take you down to the bottom, a cool bridge that went over the top, and lookouts all around-and all for free! It is apparently taller than Niagara Falls (though much narrower), and it was so impressive that when the kids first saw Niagara Falls a couple of days later they were like, "That's it?" (Once they got on the boat, they understood how cool it really is!).

Vacation: Palmyra

We finally got to take the trip we'd planned to take summer of 2020- to Palmyra, Quebec City, and Niagara Falls. We've been thinking about it for so long we wondered if it could live up to our hopes: it did! It's one of my favorite trips we've ever done as a family. And part of that may have been due to the ages and endurance of our kids, which would have been different two years ago, so maybe the wait was a blessing in disguise.

We started out in Palmyra, New York. It was pleasant weather, and not very crowded, which made visiting the church sites very enjoyable.

"I'm like Joseph in the Sacred Grove!"

"Now I'm Angel Moroni!"

We loved seeing some of the places Joseph hid the plates. And after we saw them I had this thought: sometimes the plates were very well hidden (like under the bricks in the fireplace, or in a barrel under beans), but other times not so much (like under a blanket in the bed his sisters were in, or in the rafters of a barn in full view if one looked up), but every time he did the best he could, and so each time he was blessed, and the mobs didn't find the plates. Our very best effort varies from season to season and sometimes from day to day. The Lord, in His mercy, knows this, and blesses us the same no matter what our effort is-as long as it's our best effort.

We enjoyed being in Palmyra with our children, but we reminded them that what made these places special is what happened there, not really that the woods or houses themselves are that special on their own. We can make our own homes and environments special by doing special things there.