Nauvoo

I went to check on Adelaide during her nap and she looked so cute all covered in pink. I love her.

We went to Nauvoo for a quick weekend trip and we enjoyed being together as a family. We stopped at a state park and enjoyed a hike together. I'll have to get the pictures from Aaron's phone. 

Adelaide was happy to finally be out of the carseat and stretch out on our king size bed at the hotel. 

The kids immediately asked if they could watch some TV. 

Even though we swim so much at our neighborhood pool, it's always exciting to swim at the hotel pool. 

Saturday morning our first stop was Carthage Jail. I love that we're studying in the Doctrine and Covenants this year and we wanted to show our kids all the church history that took place in Nauvoo and Carthage. 

I cried as I thought about Joseph and Hyrum Smith being killed at this jail. How grateful I am for the sacrifices of so many of the saints to bring forth the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Nauvoo was filled with so many great experiences... 

riding the ox cart

exploring the Visitor's Center,

riding on a carriage ride,

touring the Main Street Trades which included the Scovil Bakery, Stoddard Tin Shop and Browning Gunsmith, 

playing pioneer games at the children's station, 

and taking a tour all about Latter-day Saints who donated hours of work to build the temple including William and Esther Gheen (an architect), William and Caroline Weeks (a bishop) and Edward and Ann Hunter (a farmer). 

 

The tours were spirit-filled and uplifting. With so much tension and confusion in the world right now, it was just what I needed to be reminded that as we rely on the Lord like the pioneers did, we can make it through anything. 

We're so grateful to live so close to lots of church history! 

 

I love summer.

I really do enjoy summer. My neighbor is getting ready to go back to her job as a teacher and I feel so blessed that I get to stay home full-time. 

I'm participating in a health challenge and I eat this acai bowl almost every morning. 

Aaron was in San Diego for a week for a conference. The kids and I had one of the best weeks at home. I guess I've gotten better about knowing how to adjust when Aaron leaves. We all miss him so much, but I tell the kids that we can either be miserable or do our best to be happy. The lovely weather made it possible for us to enjoy lunch and dinner outside most of the week. We had friends over as well for a taco party. 

The kids were playing outside and found a lost dog. He was so sweet! Luckily he belonged to a new neighbor a few houses from us that we hadn't met yet. Our new neighbors were very grateful when they realized their dog hadn't gotten too far away and the kids felt like heroes! 

We spent Friday at the lake with our friends and Adelaide fell asleep in my arms. Oh how I love baby snuggles. 

We picked up Aaron from the airport on Friday afternoon and then I went and donated blood. I hadn't done it for a long time and I started to faint... but thankfully, I rested and ate some snacks and had the energy to drive home. I was exhausted for 24 hours though. The blood banks have been low because of Covid so I was grateful I could do my part and donate. 

On Saturday we went to Lowes and I smiled seeing all these little kids following Aaron. 

I thought I was taking a video but snapped this pictures accidentally. I loved that we were both smiling. 

On Monday we watched our neighbor kids while their mom was at the dentist. There was a thunderstorm that worried the kids and I was grateful they asked several times if we could say a prayer together. Yes, of course! Prayer brings so much comfort! The kids and I spent hours solving puzzles and trying to escape a museum book. We all thoroughly enjoyed it! 

 

Finishing up July

July has come to an end and here's what we did during the month - 

Eleanor loves to change her clothes a million times a day. I love that the boys wore these Air Force clothes and now she does. :) Cute girls after church. 

Austin lost his front tooth and Adelaide is cutting her front top teeth - these two share the same toothless smile. 

I officially stopped nursing Adelaide - my last baby. Here's the last bottle I pumped. I'm grateful I could breast feed all my babies. Not only did I save money (formula is so expensive!), but I was reminded to stop and slow down and make time to cuddle my babies as I fed them. During the late night feedings, I'd think often of my Grandma Thomas and how she wrote in a letter to one of her daughters that she would have a lot of good chats with her babies during the late night feedings. 

Adelaide grabbed my finger as I fed her a bottle. We're pretty good little friends. 

We went to the money museum one rainy day. It's free and informative and the kids all enjoyed it. We ran into one of Eli's friends and his family at the museum and we had a nice time getting to know them. We even set up a lunch date and enjoyed getting to know this family better. 

One of my kids took this picture of my either cleaning out Adelaide's nose or cleaning a booger out of her eye. I don't like my kids to have crusties in their noses or eyes. 

She smiles and rolls and laughs and we're all obsessed with our baby cakes. 

We went to the park and the boys took over my job of pushing Adelaide in the swing. 

She turned 8 months old and is sitting up and she and Eleanor are looking more like little twins! 

Our neighbor Evan came over for a little play date - his mom just had a new baby so he came over and these two are cute little friends. 

The boys are taking piano lessons and practice all the time. They've learned a lot this summer and it makes my mother heart so happy hearing them play their songs over and over again. Eli and Austin participated in a soccer camp at the High School and Austin wore my Messi jersey that I bought while on my mission and I smiled from ear to ear. 

The camp was for a week and they learned a lot and got rid of lots of energy! 

Adelaide sure loves sitting up and playing on the floor with the big kids. 

I planned an Olympic Open Ceremony Party. We made empanadas, medals and a swimming pool out of blue jello. The kids were thrilled! I haven't planned a theme party for a while and I remembered how much I love party planning. I need to do more things like this for my kids because it was memorable for us all. 

There are several blackberry bushes close to our house and the boys walked with me one day to pick some to take back to our family for breakfast! We want to plant blackberry bushes in our yard. 

We spent Saturday afternoon with Grammy and Grandpa Volk. It's a joy having them close by!

One night before bed, Adelady was very smilie. 

We toured the steamboat museum with our neighbors. 

The boys are big Chiefs fans now and the tickets for a game are extremely expensive. My neighbor told me about tickets to a practice for $5/each and it was a great experience for us all. 

And finally, Austin was invited to a birthday party for his friend Juliet. He swam his heart out and loved every minute of swimming and eating ice cream. 

We're on the final weeks of summer and I always start getting emotional thinking about the boys heading back to school. We've continued to work on math and reading and exercising and piano practicing and swimming and cleaning and taking care of the yard....sometimes it just seems so much easier to let the kids watch movies all day, but I know it's hard work to raise hard workers. When I got home from my mission, I remember thinking how hard my mission was, but I realized that experiences that take lots of effort and work are always worth it in the end. I feel the same about motherhood. Most days I mess up and feel exhausted but then I take a step back and feel so much gratitude for my family. 13 years ago, I prayed over and over again to be directed to the best spouse for me and to be a mother. Prayers are answered because I'm living my dream!