Our studious Jack

Jack read the entire Fisher Price catalog several times through while he ate dinner. I loved his expressions as he studied the different toys. He was quiet and thoughtful while he looked at the pictures and when he was done he showed me his favorites. Can you guess what they were? Yep, cars and trucks.

Good Night Jack

When I went to check on Jack tonight, this is what I found.

I love that he is wearing only one of his rain boots.
He is now safely tucked back into his bed and his rain boot has been removed. I sure do love this boy. Especially when he is quietly sleeping and I can finally go to bed.

Good night.

Hill Cumorah Pagaent

Jack and Adeline attended their first performance of the
Hill Cumorah Pagaent.

Before the Pagaent started, we took a walk through the Sacred Grove.


We really love living so close to Palmyra and its history and my favorite place is the Sacred Grove. I always feel at peace when I am here and love to see the light through the trees. Saturday was such a HUMID day that everything felt green and thick and the grove seemed even more quiet than usual.

Except for the outburst of my 2 year old who was upset that he was not eating ice cream.
While driving to Palmyra, we told Jack we would get ice cream at my favorite ice cream place. He fell asleep in the car so Ryan and I got ice cream and took a drive through some of the small towns so Jack could get a longer nap. When Jack woke up at the Sacred Grove for our walk he had not forgotten the ice cream promise and repeatedly asked for ice cream. Fortunately, he got ice cream right after our visit to the Sacred Grove.

Here's a picture of Addy enjoying her toes while waiting for Pagaent to start.
Note: I recommend taking your own camp chairs and blankets and sitting on the back lawn and not on the hard chairs that are set up. This is the first time we've watched the show from our own comfortable chairs and I enjoyed the show much more. Addy and I even laid down on the blanket and were really comfortable.




The Jensen Family
Our friends are in Pagaent this year and it was really fun to see them in full costume and have them describe their scenes so we could look for them. We saw Blaine's arm hanging over the edge after he was killed in one of the Nephite/Lamanite battles just like he described.
(sorry the picture with Blaine and Kyle is blurry.)


This is a picture of my favorite scene (Click on them to make them bigger). It depicts the Savior's appearance to the people on this continent after His resurrection in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon.

Some cute helpers

I had to post some more pictures of all the cute helpers.
Addy was a real hit with all of the girls.

My Beautiful Yard

The finished product.*

Jack loves his sand box.


*Well, we still need to put in some plants and install the back privacy fence but that is nothing compared to what we (and our great friends) already accomplished.

The Yard Our Friends Built

Some of you are aware of the jungle behind our garage.
(see above picture if you are new to this part of our yard.)

Since we bought our house, we've wanted to do something with this part of the yard but always found it a little overwhelming. Ryan and I got motivated this year because Jack needs a better place to play than the dirt pile next to the air conditioner that we affectionately call the Ghetto Sandbox.

The other night, Ryan took a weed wacker to the tall weeds and Jack helped put them in the trash. Jack was so proud of himself and his good helping. It was worth the extra work of hefting him up to the garbage can to support his enthusiasm.

Recognizing the magnitude of the task ahead of us, we sent out an S.O.S. and look who showed up this morning to help.

Some WONDERFUL friends came with shovels, pick axes, rakes, a tiller and strong backs. I can not even begin to describe the great friends we have here in Rochester. They worked so hard digging, racking, hauling a really big pile of rocks*, transplanting plants, taking pictures, caring for kids, running errands. All 12 children were helpers too in taking care of each other, helping to clean up debris, and being patient. Our friends could have done so many other things with their time today but they came to help us. We are so GRATEFUL for their help and we know that we would still be working on this for weeks, no months, to come without their help.

But we had some fun too. I call this next collage of pictures: Fun with Pick Axes.

We had planned to leave this stump in the middle of the garden space because we thought that it was too much work but our friends were determined to remove it.
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of everyone else taking their turn picking at the stump. It took everyone's collective effort to get it done.


This is what our yard looks like tonight after 4 hours of HARD LABOR.

Just waiting for the mulch to arrive early next week and we are done.




*My sweet neighbor knows the history of the rock pile. Apparently a previous owner planned to make a fire pit from rocks that they collected from their family farm. Well, they collected the rocks but did not make the fire pit. Mystery solved.

Fourth of July: Event two and three

Event Two:
Swimming at the Pulley's House with a BBQ. I have no pictures because I was chasing the two kids on my own. So see HERE for some pictures. Ryan was able to make it for about an hour before he was called back into the hospital. Yummy food and great friends always makes an evening at the Pulley's so much fun.


Event Three: You will not see any pictures of us at the fireworks because with Ryan missing in action, I decided to take the kids home to bed. It was a wise decision. I was sad to miss our friend Annabel's performance of The Star Spangled Banner on her flute. It was the highlight for me last year.