Our Yellow Comic

Genetics is a funny thing, hence two brunettes creating a dark blonde kid. That is our Peter, big ears, dirty blonde hair, a goofy smile and a love of silliness. This sweet boy had a birthday just last week and here is a taste of his humor:)

He is all about the silly face pulling.

     

We recently learned that a few of our children don't really care for birthday cake. So I, in my gracious laziness of not wanting to get arthritis decorating cakes that are not really desired, offered to make them whatever other dessert they wanted as their "birthday cake". Peter chose brownies. I love this kid.

  Not sure why the face, but you can see how well he has been tutoring his young girl padawan in the making of silly faces. I think they were going for fake sadness about the loss of the candles? Maybe? Who really knows.

Cute Luke

There is something about Luke that will just always be cute. Now that he has turned five, he has gone from super cute 4 year old, to super cute 5 year old.

Being all boy he loves spiderman, hence the cake:)

Just look at that face!

I think this one was "OOooooo!"

He is a sweet, happy and loving little boy. He has plenty of silly in him which is why he is so cute even when he is trying not to look cute:)

Mark turns 12

I know it's late, but at least that's better than not at all right? Besides, it's not like we forgot his birthday, we were just so busy enjoying it that we forgot to share it with everyone else:)

Because this was such an important birthday, and we had family coming to visit, we had to compromise on the cake. Mark really likes my ,ahem, homemade cakes, by Duncan Hines, but it's a lot of work to decorate, so this year, he got two "cakes". First was the Jello on his birthday, and then the Sam's Club cake the day after when all the guests were there. He loved having the jello, but we did learn the hard way that candles in jello is not such a, um, hot idea:)

The night of his actual birthday, our brave boy was all alone. He needed to do an overnight campout to complete a requirement for Scouts, so he went on his first overnighter with the other Scouts and no parents. What a trooper! (Seriously, he had a blast, no parents to tell him to go to bed, coyotes running around the campsite, yeah, I'm not sure he even missed us:))

On Saturday we opened gifts, which is always a family affair:)

We also decided that 12 was a good age to begin investing in suits for our boys. So here he is all dressed up and ready for his first General Priesthood Meeting with his Dad.

 David has been anxiously awaiting this day for about twelve years. They even stopped for ice cream afterwards.

It's Not Pretty

Luke.  Cute, fun-loving, adorable Luke.  He turned 5 recently.  And apparently, 5 year olds are clumsy.  Their motor skills can't quite keep up with their energy level.  He literally falls at least once a day.  Sometimes it creates a bruise or a cut, most of the time he just gets right back up and continues on his way.

I wonder if he's just trying to get out of pictures?  We get professional pictures when they turn 5.  But Luke has been falling consistently for the past 3 weeks.  And with each of the recent falls, he has acquired a new bruise on his chin or nose or face.

His most recent fall (today) was a real doozy.  It was bad enough that Karen took him to the dentist...who referred her to an oral surgeon.

He was doing exactly what his mother had repeatedly asked him not to do.  Unfortunately, Luke had to learn the hard way.  He was climbing on the back of the settee in the 3 seasons room and fell...hitting his mouth right on the edge of the windowsill.  

Here is the windowsill (yes, with the blood):

And here is Luke's mouth while we were waiting at the doctor's office:

Pictures never quite do it justice.  But I prefer looking at the pictures as opposed to the real thing!  The good news is that the oral surgeon told us it should heal on its own.  Just a return appointment in 2-3 weeks to make sure that's the case.  But he warned us that it will get uglier before it will look better.

Luke was brave.  He played on Karen's iPhone while we waited and was accommodating for the doctor.  As long as we keep Tylenol in his system, he should be good.  But hopefully, he'll avoid future falls so we can get his 5 year pictures before he turns 6!     

Out With the Old...

Well...here's the last picture of our kids in the only family van they've ever known.  We brought 4 kids home from the hospital in this van.  It's been with us in Missouri, Illinois, Virginia, and back to Illinois.  It's been a good van for us.

But it was getting old.  We had bought this van new 10 years ago.  Last week as I was heading to the dealership, I thumbed through all the repairs we've done over the years (and especially within the last year).  And that made the decision to negotiate a price for a new van MUCH easier.  Up until that point, I was struggling with the reality of monthly car payments vs the freedom of owning a vehicle free and clear.  There was something nice about having the title to the van.  But it was time.

So we went from a van with 121,503 miles to one with only 5.  I like the sound of 5.  Five may equal monthly car payments again...but it also comes with peace of mind that there will no longer be strange noises that prompt a phone call to the repair shop.  I can live with 5.  And we're hoping this lasts us even longer than our first family van.

Our Last Third

It's our last third. Or more specifically our last's third, or our sixth third. I digress . . .

It was Eliza's birthday this past week. We celebrated with cake and presents . . .

Eliza has been mournfully borrowing her brothers riding toys all summer, so she was thrilled to finally have her own trike. Plus it's pink and purple, which is, of course, the best!

A few days later, David and I took the birthday queen to Chuck E. Cheese for the traditional 3rd birthday dinner and playtime.

She ate her pizza with 3 year old manners . . . 

 played every racing game in the joint (whether she could reach the pedals or not) . . .

 crawled around in the plastic tubes enjoying gazing down on her kingdom . . .

and finished the day by being just plain sassy.

We love this spunky little girl. It's been a great three years and we are anxiously/apprehensively awaiting many, many more! Happy Birthday Eliza!

The Love of a Father

We went to Nauvoo recently.  It was a semi-family reunion.  Despite not having everyone there, it was a great experience.

There were two sacred places we visited on Sunday.  And neither are particularly a "popular attraction."  But they were hidden gems and I'm grateful for the stories that the missionaries shared with us.

The first place was the home of John Taylor - 3rd prophet of God in this last dispensation.  He left Nauvoo with a large group of saints in February of 1846.  The wagon was only 3x11.  So there was no room for non-essential items.

His son was heart-broken that they couldn't take his favorite toy.  They crossed the frozen Mississippi and set up camp across the river.  That night, his dad decided to risk his life to retrieve the one earthly possession loved most by his little boy.  The mob knew who John Taylor was.  He had already miraculously survived a mob attack that left the Prophet, Joseph, and his brother, Hyrum, dead just 20 months earlier.  If they captured him...

But he crossed back over the river during the middle of the night and brought his son's toy with them on their exodus out west.

The kind missionary (who I assume is also a grandfather) pulled the rope away to allow the kids to gather around that precious toy.  He told us not to tell his wife. :)  So five of our kids and their cousin, Kyle, posed for the picture.

It was a good reminder of the small sacrifices fathers make because of their love for their children.

Across the street was another gentle reminder of the tender mercies a father feels for his children.

Jonathan Browning was born in Tennessee, became a lock and gunsmith, moved to Quincy, Illinois and, as justice of the peace, came into contact with many Mormons who had been exiled from the state of Missouri following the extermination order.  It was through that contact that Jonathan Browning came to know Joseph Smith and converted to the Gospel.  He moved his gun shop to Nauvoo, Illinois.  The Browning's had several children.  However, one of his daughters died as an eight week old infant.

I can only imagine the pain felt by a parent who loses a child.  As a reminder of the covenants made in the temple that bind families for eternity, he buried his little girl in their backyard...in plain sight of the Nauvoo temple.  He knew that by staying faithful to those sacred covenants, he and his wife would reunite with their little girl.

This lesson of two incredible fathers was just one of many wonderful experiences in Nauvoo.  Never had our family spent so much time in this beautiful city.  There is a special spirit here.  And I hope our family will be strengthened by it as we visit Nauvoo more often.

Scabs, Sharpies, and Trumpet Vines

Sometimes life can be so random...kind of like this post.  Here are just a few things that proves we're no where near done moving, learning, growing, loving, etc.:

1. James is ALL boy. :)  You have to understand.  We've never really experienced the "boy" thing yet.  Although we have 4 of them...they're not really fans of getting dirty or wrestling.  And they certainly haven't had many scabs.  So now that James lives on his bike, he's experiencing the joy AND the pain.

2. Eliza does not understand the concept that writing apparatuses are only for paper.  We have "taught" her several times.  I guess we didn't make it clear that a sharpie is also a writing apparatus.  Yes, a sharpie...on the wall AND carpet.  Lovely.

3. At first glance, you would think our backyard is in a beautiful tropical forest.  Look at those vibrant flowers.

So beautiful.

Attracts hummingbirds.

But when you look away from the pretty flowers, it is very much a jungle in our backyard!  These innocent looking vines are trumpet vines.  They're extremely invasive and have been known to tear apart siding, roofs and cement slabs.  Their beauty comes with a price.  Fortunately, these are only on the back fence.  But the shoots have literally overtaken the entire backyard.

So tomorrow morning, we'll begin chopping them down and applying concentrated Round-Up to the open cuts so the poison will be absorbed into the roots.  They say it should kill the shoots entirely within a year or two.  And now we'll get to design a beautiful landscape for our backyard.

Scout Trip

No, not the Boy Scouts.  This was an old fashioned scout trip...one where we scouted out the area to learn everything we could.  We have tentative plans to take the family to Chicago later this year.  So I booked two round trip train tickets to Chicago for me and Mark.  Our objective was to see what the train experience was like and check out various sites in the Windy City so we could have a better idea of what we might do with the whole family.  

So here we are in the Bloomington-Normal Amtrak station early in the morning.  This was the first time Mark would be riding a train...and he was pretty excited.

Our first stop was the Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower...aka tallest building in North America and 3rd tallest building in the world).  The elevator would ascend over 1300 feet in a matter of 60 seconds.

I zoomed in on this next picture...if you look closely, you can see four glass enclosed balconies that extend beyond the rest of the tower.  They were added just a few years ago and certainly added to our little adventure!

On the way up, there is a screen above the elevator doors that tells you how you compare with other structures in the world.  We passed buildings like the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, and the Empire State Building.  It made a short trip to the top go by even faster!  

The views were just like you've seen in all the other pictures from high elevations. :)  But it's always fun to experience it in person.  Mark was in rare form making the best faces!

1.5 inches of glass separated Mark from a vertical drop 103 floors down!  I didn't realize until after I took the picture that Mark was crossing both of his fingers.  I thought that was cute.  That first step is always the hardest.

This is looking towards the building.

And now we're finally comfortable and sitting on the 1.5 inches of glass.  What a feeling!

After the Willis Tower, our next stop was Millennium Park.

That metal bean is not much to look at in a picture, I'm sure...but when you see it in real life, it's actually quite fascinating.  Who thinks of things like this?!?

Here we are taking a picture of ourselves.  

Chicago is definitely a city worth exploring on your feet.  The architecture is amazing and there are plenty of parks to break up the city blocks.  There were also a number of water fountains/playgrounds for kids and adults alike to cool off.

After walking down the "Magnificent Mile" on Michigan Avenue, we ventured over to our last stop of the day: Navy Pier.

Mark and I agree...neither of us recommend the Ferris Wheel.  The view was nice but it was pretty boring.  It's a slow ride.  The wheel is constantly moving.  Riders get on and off without the wheel ever coming to a stop.  You make one revolution in 7 minutes and then you get off.

Here's the view from the top:

Oh, and Mark spotted this ride while we were on the Ferris Wheel.  So, of course, we had to check that out, too!

I stayed on the ground so I could take pictures. :)

Lake Michigan is absolutely beautiful.  There were sailboats and speedboats and lighthouses.  And it was probably 10 degrees cooler on the pier with a constant breeze.  Navy Pier has just as big of an indoor area as they do an outdoor area.  We explored the outdoor areas on our way to the end of the pier.  On the way back, we walked through part of the indoor section which included an art exhibit and lots and lots of shops.  

We had walked all day long, so we opted to take a water taxi on the Chicago River back to Union Station.  It was a great way to end the day.  Seeing the city from the river was a cool perspective.

Union Station in Chicago is MUCH different than the cute little Amtrak station in Bloomington!  It was a maze to find our train.  But we found it and got home safely.

It was a great scouting trip.  We learned a lot and had a lot of fun.  We're not sure this is a trip for a family of 8 (especially when several of them have such tiny legs)...but we haven't done a complete report back to Mom...so a decision has still yet to be made.  We've done 4-mile hiking trips before...just not in the city.  Can you imagine our little family trekking through the city of Chicago?!?  They wouldn't know what to do with us! :)