Birthday fun and other fun stuff

 It was super fun to be able to celebrate my birthday with David and Char's family who are currently living in Washington DC for almost a year before they head to Thailand.

Sweetest cousins! Kate was so great with Clayton.

Sunday afternoon walk in the woods.

Evening boat ride. Clara got her hair done multiple times by Aunt Char, lucky duck. Their son Isaac and all of their girls were so sweet with each of our boys.

Abby and Robbie--since Abby had stayed with us a couple of years ago, their friendship picked up where it left off.

44 years old, wow. That is seriously so weird.
Our kind neighbor, Debbie, made me a delicious Texas sheet cake, even providing candles and ice cream.

Weiler cousins Eryn, Sarah, and Ben came down from Pennsylvania. 

Random but had to show the garden this year. I decided plant mostly wildflowers. The cosmos took over, the celosia and sunflowers did well, the bells of Ireland did fairly well. I didn't anticipate the overgrowth. Next year I'll probably go back to veggies but it was a fun diversion. 

Robbie won first place in two of his meets this year, wow!

I was able to join Nana and Bapa on a fun weekend getaway to Minnesota to hang out with Eliot and Pete and Adam and Wendi. They are such fun people and were very kind to let me tag along and make the car and the cabin more crowded.

We visited and old-fashioned soda/candy shop. Martian poop soda, anyone?

We ate so much yummy food. So much.

An outdoor sculpture park on our way north was a highlight.

Talking with my mom on a walk in beautiful surroundings.

Pondering this giant (what looked like to me to be a chromosome) . . . sculpture.

Gorgeous view from the cabin.

Adam. Such a good brother.

This state park was just beautiful.

Love these two.

I was super proud of Henry for running for student council secretary. He gave a speech, and he won!

Seminary year three! Such great kids.

Some cut flowers from my garden. Made me so happy to cut them and give them to others or display them.

Back to school

 School is back in session, and we're all fairly happy about it, depending on the day.

8th.

2nd and 5th. 

Clayton started preschool at Little Oaks just after Labor Day! He was so excited and couldn't wait, counting the sleeps until his first day. 

24 years

 It's so hard to believe that we've been married for twenty-four years. Wow. We went this past weekend on a getaway to DC to celebrate, and we looked through old photos from former anniversaries, trying to remember how we celebrated. We definitely have been able to celebrate our anniversary in a bigger way now that our kids are getting older. Last night as we drove back from seeing Josh Groban in concert at Wolf Trap (super fun), we reminisced over memories of the past years, when we remember first seeing each other for the first time, special memories in our marriage (e.g. going through labor and delivery together as a team with Henry, for example), hard times (e.g. infertility after Clara, challenging parenting times, stressful times at work, etc.) It's been a beautiful journey and I'm so thankful for our relationship. Neither of us is perfect, but being yoked with the Savior and trying to communicate and repent makes even the hard times sacred and meaningful. 

We started our trip off with a quick visit to the lake house to drop off some stuff and get some weeds pulled, lol, and then we drove to Mount Vernon. It was a special visit, especially with this year marking the 250th anniversary of our (so young) country. I'd never been there before, and I was moved by George Washington's love for his home and family and also his sacrifices for his country. It was also sobering when the tour guide held up a graphic showing the 300+ people (nearly all enslaved) needed to run the household for the Washington family of five. 

Loved the colorful dining room.

This banister was original to the house. Super cool.

This Tulip Poplar was planted by George Washington in 1785! 

Truly incredible.

We stayed at the Morrison House, which was built in the 80s to look like an old Federal mansion to fit right into Old Town Alexandria.

Wolf Trap is a super fun venue--open on both sides, a picnic area, and cross breezes through the seated sections.

Josh Groban looking debonaire in his double-breasted suit. His voice is wonderful, even if he is a bit self-aggrandizing through his humble brags, haha. I really enjoyed the guests he had on as well, and the orchestra was particularly incredible. 

We loved eating at Ada's on the River in Old Town Alexandria--delicious and so fun to be able to walk around the town afterwards.

We hadn't been to the DC temple together in awhile now that the Richmond temple is closer. I'm so thankful for our sealing 24 years ago!

Birthday boys

This year was a "non-party" year, which made it nice to celebrate in a smaller way.

Jake Zopp (left) shares a birthday with Henry, so we were happy to celebrate with them the night before their official day. We miss them since they moved from across the street.

The big 11! I feel like 11 is just right for Henry right now. He's gotten so tall and is now the top dog in elementary school as a fifth grader. 

Next up was Robbie's 14th birthday on July 11th. He got an electric scooter, the lucky duck. 

Hyrum and our/his friends the Hinkles were here when we got to celebrate Robbie. 

Two weeks later, Benjy turned 8! Reese's Puffs were the requested breakfast that morning. 

Benjy got a new (to him) bicycle and bell. It was seriously a tender mercy finding this bike--just his size and color, gently used, on the day of his birthday because I had procrastinated. 

Ever the one to think outside the box, Benjy folded a quick fan and blew out his candles that way. Benjy got a new (to him) bike for this birthday since several months earlier his bike had been left out (ahem) and I ran over it and got a flat tire in our own garage. I told him he could earn money to get it sooner or he could wait for his birthday, which he chose to do.

Then Lucky Charms for Clayton a week later for his 5th birthday. 

Clayton requested hot air balloons for his cake :-). Happy birthday to all our handsome boys!

Summertime . . . where the livin' is easy . . . (?)

 Well, summer has come and gone. It flew by faster than any summer before, which was certainly bittersweet. I felt we were a little too scheduled (last summer I didn't feel we had quite enough structure, so I guess I swung the pendulum the other way this year). With swim team, baseball camp for Henry, art camp for Benjy, farm camp for Clayton, FSY and young men's camp for Robbie, running camp for Robbie, golf lessons for Henry and Robbie, golf camp for Benjy and Henry, Capernaum camp for Clara, daily jobs, piano, the library summer reading program, and hosting friends and family at the lake, it was a full time. Not to mention four summer birthdays (for another post). Good times to be sure, but maybe it was a little much. Still, when they're involved in things, they're not at home complaining that they're bored, so . . . Needless to say, this season of life is busy and meaningful and I'm grateful for it. The kids each have their own challenges and strengths and we are all learning and hopefully improving. They are truly a gift.

Job charts for the summer help keep things more sane. Kids hate 'em, I love 'em. 

Another good garlic crop! Easiest plant ever to grow but makes you feel like a boss in the garden.

One major highlight of the summer was hiking St. Mary's Wilderness, which ends at a beautiful waterfall and freezing pool after about a 2.25 mile hike in. 

Favorite hikers.

The water was so tempting that Michael got in despite his not bringing a swimsuit. 

Fun at the lake with the Lansings--my old BYU roommate, Joy's family.

Boat time. 

Fun with the Hunts, Inkuhi'anganas, Briggs, Karrens.

We decided to take the kids to DC to see some of the monuments with them in honor of our country's birthdate. We took a hop-on hop-off trolley tour, which definitely helped with little legs in the heat.

I was truly sobered by the Vietnam Memorial. The sacrifices of so many, which we take for granted.

Jefferson Memorial.

Swim team for these boys! Clayton was on the junior barracuda team. His jammers were adorable. The older boys were less than enthusiastic at times, but I am super proud of their sticking with it and getting some good exercise and improving their skills. Robbie was also very diligent about running according to the schedule his coach had given him. 

Lake time with Uncle Hyrum.

A fun treat (but also slightly stressful) was pet-sitting for a neighbor who has a bearded dragon. I had seriously considered getting one, and I was grateful for the opportunity to realize that no, I don't have any extra bandwidth for more living creatures. Even though Eliot (the dragon) was super chill and fun.

This year I decided to grow wildflowers in the garden instead of vegetables. An absolute joy was going out to pick flowers for centerpieces for various occasions, like a neighborhood potluck dinner and Benjy's baptism.

Lots of trips to the library meant super long check-out receipts.

Three of my seminary students (one not pictured here, Mallece Lorimer)--here with Shanna and Haley Robertson--received their endowments this summer. So special.

We were so grateful that we could have Grandma and Grandpa Weiler come up for Benjy's baptism!

They were even brave enough to venture out on the "couch" to be pulled behind the boat.

Benjy's baptism was beautiful and there were so many people there to support him.

I'm grateful that Michael was able to baptize Benjy.

Reading time with Grandma.

Golf camp for Henry and Benjy. The problem is that they don't have many opportunities to play unless I drive them somewhere, but hopefully little by little they'll get the game and love it. Despite my initial reservations when Michael was taking it up during dental school, I see how the sport can help them with their mental self-talk, learn to manage disappointment (so frequent in golf, haha), learn good manners, get them outside in nature, and provide good exercise their entire lives.

I am also in charge of our joint ward playgroup and planned an activity each week. This hike to Fridley Gap was a fun one despite the super shallow water due to the drought conditions.

The Rockingham County Fair is a big deal around these parts, the largest in the state. The kids didn't want to see the animals this year and instead just hung out in the midway. Clayton enjoyed bumper cars for the first couple of minutes but then wished he could get out. Me too haha.

Fun times. Robbie said this was his last time riding rides at the midway because he gets too sick. I can't blame him. We also enjoyed some overpriced soft pretzels and fresh lemonade.

Every year, Michael budgets a certain amount for community giving, and a big chunk of that is spent at the fair, where he bids on auctioned animals that some of his patients (40 or more) raise to sell. According ot the Shenandoah Valley website, "The International Association of Fairs and Expositions has awarded the Fair 1st place for approximately 20 years with the "overall program" for Competitive Agricultural Exhibitors." So that's cool. Michael purchased six goats and then gives them back to the floor--not sure exactly what that means. But one thing it does mean is that we get all sorts of goodies from grateful kids, like this personalized glass food container with cookies inside.