Summer Days

I loved this sunrise on my Monday morning run. I'm trying to be dedicated to running every morning. I love getting up before everyone else is awake and listening to a good book/podcast. 

On Tuesday we went to the zoo with friends from the ward. The KC zoo gives out free passes to the zoo so luckily, I took mail to show we live here now and we got a free pass for the day. I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the CO Springs zoo, but we were presently surprised how much we enjoyed it. 

After the zoo, we stopped by to get a shaved ice at a place we spotted during our first week here. The boys completed their summer school book so a treat was in order!

Between cleaning and cooking and grocery shopping and every day chores, we try to sprinkle in some fun. We tried out a new park and loved it. 

We have a basketball hoop by our neighborhood pool and one more we went down early to shoot hoops before it got too hot. All the kids stopped to read instead. 

And the kids and I started remodeling the basement bathroom. We worked for several days to remove the wall paper. It's looking so great!

And this quote from a podcast I love really hit me.

I came down to the boys laughing. They had put tap on Eleanor's mouth. Then she said, "Eye." She and Austin wish they could wear an eye patch each day like Eli does. 

Aaron's work had a family day on Friday. We all enjoyed seeing where Aaron works and meeting his co-workers and seeing his cubicle. Face painting was one of the stations and Eleanor got her face painted for the first time! 

Saturday morning the boys biked and I ran to the temple. The boys were hesitant at first to go that far, but after some convincing, they made the trip and then loved being on the sidewalk up to the temple. 

The rest of the day included chores. Eleanor crawled in the dryer as I was folding the laundry.

Saturday afternoon the boys were invited to a birthday party. Last week, we met the kindest lady and her kids at the pool. This sweet lady has a daughter that will be in 1st grade at Eli's school. She invited us to the birthday party so Eli could meet new friends before school starts. It was such a blessing and answer to my prayer as I pray Eli will adjust quickly to his new school. We all had a great time at the party. I loved meeting families in the neighborhood who have kids that will be at the same school as my kids.

Eli and Austin have amazing primary teachers. I helped with Eli's class on Sunday and I felt the spirit so much during his class. His teacher testified of being a child of God and testifying about it to others.  How grateful we are for teachers that are helping our kids' testimonies grow. Eleanor walked into nursery again and was excited to say HI to everyone. 

 On Sunday afternoon, we drove down to Olathe to attend Phoebe's baptism. She's my cousin's daughter. Our kids love being at baptisms and talking about their own baptism day in the near future.