Early in the summer months, Jeff pointed out that there were decent flights from out west to our airport (something that doesn't happen very often at all). I decided to let family members know the great deal available, and see if anyone took us up on it . . .
Within a couple of days, we found out we would have SEVEN wonderful family members coming to play with us in August, AT THE SAME TIME! We were excited to here the news, and looked forward to August for their arrival.
We took a lovely day trip to the beach, and remembered to bring a tent this time to protect the little ones from too much wind, sand, and sun exposure. (I may or may not have taken a nap in said tent with our little one). I love all the people who match these cute feet -
We packed a picnic lunch with us, and pretty much ate everything we brought. Everyone was very polite, and HUNGRY. You know people are hungry still when they very politely ask if there might be any more carrots left? Can I please have some more carrots? We made sure to introduce them to Bojangles on the way home so that everyone's tummies were good and full.
Sunday, we all sang, "Isaiah Says" while Jenny accompanied on the piano. It's one of my favorite songs, and not because it's difficult or complex. It's probably because of it's simplicity, and most of the times I have sung it with family, listening and feeling the harmonies, and the lovely message:
Isaiah says,
Jehovah has born our griefs and sorrows.
He will raise me,
He wills save me thru His love.
Isaiah says,
Jehovah was wounded for all our sins.
He will heal me,
He will seal me thru His love
Isaiah says,
Jehovah can wash red sins to whiteness.
He will cleanse me,
He will claim me thru His love.
He will claim me thru His love.
-words by Penelope Moody Allen, Music by Kenneth Jones
Thanks for singing together everyone!
. . . .
We attempted seeing the Gardens on Sunday morning, and only lasted about five minutes before the buckets and buckets of rain poured down, (definitely a memorable experience in and of itself!) so we went again on Monday and it was lovely.
The whole crew: Rebecca, Jeff, Me, Lily, Benjamin, Jared, James, Olivia, Grace, Jenny, Anna, Ella, and Jonathan.
Um, I think this says who is taller, what do you think? ;)
Jonathan and Jenny and their cute family had to get back first. Enjoyed having them here, and that the kiddos were able to play together. Grace and James were inseparable, holding hands as they went to primary, and being sequestered in the house making forts out of anything and everything they could find. They did this really quickly, too!
Olivia spent a lot of time in the sling, but got pretty good at sleeping there.
We took them all around our area, and then the last full day we were treated to "Tim Tams" from Jared's mission. They tasted a lot like very rich Twix bars. Jared kept saying that you could use them as a straw with our hot cocoa, and even though I couldn't get that to work, they were really yummy. I had no idea that the foods he ate in New Zealand were heavily influenced by India, so we went out for Indian food just before they had to catch their flight.
Sure loved having everyone here! Some of my favorite moments with them here: Rebecca worked magic with Olivia to get her to sleep, Anna took charge of rolling out the pizza for grilled pizza night, Jared walked with Benjamin to Best Buy even though it was out of the way-totally winning brownie points with his nephew, Zumba with all the girls (even Lily got to go), Running with my brothers, and getting the chance to ride our bikes outside for the first time together since our little one was born.
Sure love you all!
