Summer visitors

This summer has been full of visits from family, which has been so so fun.

Cousin Lily spent a few days with us on her day to see a friend in Boston.

Swimming with cousins is the best.


Lily was so kind and patient with the boys (Robbie I think had a little crush on her) and hung out with Clara.

Grandpa and Grandma were here for almost a week, which was wonderful as always. Grandpa brought his back massager, and the grandkids couldn't get enough of it.

Seth and Marissa stopped by on their way to Nova Scotia for dental school, and the boys really enjoyed playing with Andrew.

We took everyone to Wildwood Park for a picnic.

Grandma enjoys swinging along with her grandkids.

Benjy loves to swing. This giant hat has been so helpful in covering his fair hair--he generally tolerates it.

Cookout with cousins!

The Shenandoah Valley has some of the sweetest corn.

We then enjoyed a visit from Bethany and her boys, William, George, and Frederick. Here Benjy is meeting his newest cousin.

Firepit evening.

And devotional. Aunt Melody also was visiting, and she was super helpful. She is going to stay with us a little longer this year, too!

We let the boys stay up and catch fireflies.

See what I found, Mama?

Robbie, William, and Henry were buddies.

More family time.

Wrestling.

And reading.

A week or two after Bethany and her boys left, my sister Heather and most of her kids came to visit for a couple of days. Despite the huge age gap, her kids were very kind and tolerant of ours and we really enjoyed their visit.

 We went to the pool of a couple of times, which is fun for all ages.

 Heather graciously came with me to Henry's follow-up appointment at UVA pediatric neurology to discuss his Complex Motor Stereotypy disorder. (On that front, his movements have really decreased since his previous appointment and our family fast, and we've decided to not pursue therapy right now and will look into it when he's a little older as needed.) It was nice having time just the two of us to chat in the car.

 Blondies!

 We took them to the Mt. Crawford Creamery and had fun bottle-feeding the calves.

 They sucked that milk down so fast.

 Robbie wasn't a big fan of the animals, but Catherine enjoyed them. Duncan was a good example to the boys.

Farm fun.

 The farmer showed us how he disinfects, wipes, and then milks the dairy cows.

 And of course we had to have some of the ice cream made with the fresh milk from Smiley's Ice cream.

Continuing in the country vein, we stopped by the Shenandoah Heritage Market and tried some of the jams. Heather gave us a jar of "Lollipop Jelly," which was made of apple juice Kool-aid, among other things.

More reading! Heather was glad to be able to let her kids catch fireflies one evening as well, since they don't have them out west. I was honored that they were able to spend time with us on their busy trip.

Then the following week, we were thrilled to have L'Anita and Erik Heiss and their kiddos for a few days.

 We drove down to Sherando Lake, and Michael took the cousins out on our pedal boat that has been sitting unused behind our shed for far too long.

 Fun in the water. Although I have to say, I think they had more fun at the pool when we went the following day.

Digging a "small pool" for baby Benjy, is I believe what Robbie called this endeavor.

 Lucy and Henry were two peas in a pod and enjoyed these shovels that they unwittingly borrowed from another family.

 Benjy wasn't too sure of the sand and the water, but he got used to it and had fun splashing around.

 The best part was driving back and forth with L'Anita--girls in the van, boys (minus Benjamin) in the truck--and chatting. Here is Benjy with new cousin Lily--she is such a doll!

 Banana splits for the win.

 Saturday morning park visit and Abigail on the zipline.

 With Uncle Erik.

 Samuel and Robbie were such buddies--so similar in age, interest, and personality.

The chicas.

 Four-year-old fun (well, Lucy was almost four).

Seven-year-old shenanigans.

It was truly a joy to watch the kids play together. Michael involved everyone in an epic filming of baby Moses for a Sunday afternoon movie starring all the cousins, and there were lots of light saber and Nerf gun fights, talking, role playing games with Abigail as lead director, Lego building, etc. Robbie wanted to make sure that he could give everyone a hug goodbye when they left.

TREK!

Clara came back from trek yesterday. I was nervous about her going, but Michael was confident and we pressed forward, taking a step into the dark. We had corresponded with the trek stake leader, Brother Bean, and made a "trek IEP" for her at the suggestion of another leader. He forwarded it on to her trek ma and pa, Terri and Ernie Calhoun. They were amazing.

We borrowed some clothes from a woman in our ward. Here she is at drop-off. She was feeling pretty good (the night before she was telling me, "You're making me do this!" and I immediately said, "No, Clara, if you don't want to do this, we'll just unpack everything and put it away. You have to want to do this." Unlike some things, I didn't feel like trek was a "requirement" for her. She felt up for it. But that afternoon as I drove home from DC in literally the worst thunderstorm I've ever driven in, I was so worried about her and wondering if we'd done the right thing. I was concerned not only for her but also for her "family" and how it would go for them.

Michael's sister Melody is here with us now and graciously did her hair the night before. So cute!

 A kind friend sent me these pics of Clara during the women's pull. Her ma and pa were very strategic about where they put her on the cart.

 Awesome.

 Love that determination!

Many people knew how hard it would be for Clara, and everyone was so incredibly supportive. I am continually humbled by the kindness of both leaders and other youth towards her, especially when she generally appears to be oblivious to their effort or help.

Here is her "family." (Clara opted not to put on her bonnet or apron again.)

Coming to Zion! Her ma, Terri, wrote me later and said that Clara nearly quit at the end. I have to include her email in response to my gratitude for her help. She wrote:

She was such a trooper!!! On more than one occasion I told her "You might stop giving me my usual Sunday hugs... cause this is what you gotta do..." 

What really helped me was the email that Bro Bean forwarded to me, Clara's trek IEP. I kept that in my mind the whole time, the best ways to help her. There were only a few times where I felt I was more forcing than giving a choice. But as soon as she heard that her sisters needed her help, it became her choice. 

Yes, she did ask numerous times what the plan was, how many miles (I wish I knew), and when we were getting to the finish for the day. I just kept assuring her that she could do this, she could do hard things. I knew my answers frustrated her, but it also seemed to spur her on in a way.

Ernie or I stayed behind the cart with her, encouraged her to help push, only a few times did she actually push "against her will" (more of a way for us to help her keep up). She would call out my name at any point when I was with her and I knew she just needed my hand; she didn't ask for it specifically, but I knew it was what she needed to get down those nasty slippery slopes. I kept reminding her to trust her feet to know what to do and to trust herself. Usually, by the time we reached the bottom of many of the rocky hills she had a smile of supreme satisfaction.

She did an awesome job during the women's pull. I knew she may not have been as physically up to it as the other girls, so I tried to put her in a position to be helpful but safe if her strength failed her. Only twice did Ernie need to be that extra help on her rope to help keep the wagon in place. I, in turn, help push from where she was in the back. I didn't feel right asking such a difficult task of my girls without doing it myself (even though I wasn't supposed to help at all). It was after that that she truly felt stronger and even said "I am stronger than my brother now." 

She "demanded" hugs, I happily provided cause I knew it gave her something she needed. She asked for help on tasks I knew she could do, only a few times did I actually have to help ("You can do hard things Miss Clara, you got this, just try for me"). 

What really impressed me, her sisters embraced her, helped her, encouraged her all before I could pull them aside to let them know the struggles Clara would be facing. Lucy help her tie her shoes once, Aspen pleaded for her to go to the dance with them. Camille asked when and where Clara would like to help so she wouldn't feel excluded. Hallie and January were her constant words of encouragement. 

Not one person complained if Clara didn't help, not one word of teasing escaped their lips when Clara's reaction/responses were not "normal." The whole three days and two nights consisted of a family relationship every parent dreams of.

Clara almost gave up. Right before the last hike she had told one of the quartermasters that she had a headache. He tried to encourage her to come with us as he had to stay behind to clean (he had the air conditioned truck). My response was to say "Think of the look on your momma's face when you cross into Zion with your family. She is going to see the strength in you. She is going to see that you can do hard things." Yes, she grudgingly came with us, but I know she needed to in order to really feel stronger. When we crossed o er that last ridge I pointed out the parent cars and told her that I will look for long red hair (I wish my eye sight was that good), that helped give her that last bit of strength to run with me into Zion... to find you.

Clara did so well with this monumental task that was asked of her. I am very proud of her.

 She was in tears when I saw her, and I was so proud of her finishing strong.

She did it! She told me more than once on the way home, "I'm stronger than I was!" and last night she said she missed her friends. What a blessing that so many supported her, that Michael helped me through my doubts, and that she pushed through and worked so hard. I asked her if she'd felt the Spirit, and she said, "Kinda, during solo time." Baby steps :-).

Robbie turns 7

It's hard to believe, but Robbie turned seven this past week.

He chose Reese's Puffs as his cereal. Finally, a cereal I looked forward to sneaking a bowl of.

Robbie and Henry really do enjoy sharing a room. There are times when Robbie gets upset when Henry is being noisy as they go to sleep (Henry tends to roll around, suck on his blanket, and sing to himself), but he prefers having a roommate to sleeping alone.

After taking Clara to trek that morning (more on that in another post), we visited our friends the McAllisters in DC and then drove back home. Robbie chose Chick-fil-A for his birthday dinner. Easy for me! Then he opened gifts after we came home. Since he was having a friends party this year, we decided to give him only two gifts from the family. Here Henry is doing heavy heavy hang over--he got some sweet colored pens he had wanted.

He had really been wanting a watch for a long time. Lucky guy!

The next day was his party. He wanted to an Iron Man cake. Michael and I have become a good team when it comes to decorating the kids' cakes. I bake it and make up the frosting from scratch, we look up ideas online, and then he executes our ideas.

The light actually turned on.

The "o" is an infinity stone.

Favors for friends--an Iron Man slap bracelet and markers.

It was a super hot day for the slip n slide (our grass still hasn't recovered).

So grateful that Michael is a kid at heart and helps make things even more fun.

Then we played some water balloon games (it was pretty much impossible to keep the kids from throwing the water balloons and using them up in like thirty seconds).

Hosing the kids down (our neighbor, Tim Walton, also came over to help and hang out).

Blowing out the candles.

Pictured here with James Mushugasha (a friend from school) and Joshua Allred from his church class.

Here is Luke Zopp (neighbor) in front, Avery Weniger (neighbor), Noah Zopp, Asher Roberts (neighbor), Henry, and Thalidan Liskey (from church).

We're so grateful that Robbie's in our family. Last Sunday during Sacrament, Robbie went up to the stand to sit with Michael. We sang the Star-Spangled Banner for the intermediate hymn, and my heart melted as I saw him standing next to his dad, sharing the hymnbook, singing all three verses with his hand over his heart. His innocence is endearing, his energy admirable, his love much appreciated, his intensity fatiguing, his intelligence exciting, and his curiosity thrilling.

Beach camping!

Last weekend we went beach camping for the first time. We reserved our campsite at First Landing State Park several months ago, but as we got closer I started to question my sanity--looking at the massive pile of baby gear, beach gear, plus camping gear we'd need made me wonder whether it was worth the effort. However. even though we only stayed a night this time, it was super fun and we are looking forward to going again next year (maybe we'll get a yurt!).

 Benjy was not too sure about the sand, but he tolerated it as well as a ten-month-old could.

 Hanging out.

 Robbie tried out the boogie board. Henry was scared of the ocean but got in for a little bit.

 Clara didn't want to come on the trip, but she was glad she did and enjoyed herself at times.

 Buried alive . . . aaahhh!

 Robbie was super stoked about being able to fly our kite. It was magical.

 Ugh, hate the beauty filter that Clara put on the phone, but I do love this guy and had to include it. It was so nice to relax together away from home.

 I had the kids pour popcorn (Boom Chicka Pop from Costco--one of those huge bags--I think they might have been more excited about that than the trip itself!) into sand pails before we used them.

 Benjy eventually fell asleep in his play yard under the canopy--what a trooper. He slept pretty well at night (I nursed him once in the night, I think, when he woke up and cried and I didn't want the other kids to wake up.).

 Another buried body.

 Enjoying a fire after we had hamburgers on the Coleman stove, courtesy of Michael.

 We have been reading Little House in the Big Woods to the kids, which they've been enjoying.

 Benjy is quite a little climber, haha (Michael is standing behind him).

The boys were pleased that they could climb this tree by our campsite.

 The Chesapeake Bay was great because it had waves but they weren't nearly as big as the Atlantic. The boys loved collecting shells on Saturday morning before we packed up. On Sunday on the way to church, Robbie told me he wished we were still at the beach camping. I asked him, "What about when you said that you wanted to leave when we were at the beach?" "Well," he responded, "I was only homesick for, like, a minute or two."

Despite the stress of preparation and clean up, we discovered that one nice thing about combining the beach and camping is that camping is messy already, so the sand and dirt from the beach isn't as stressful to clean up as it is in a beach condo. It was a fun and memorable trip!

Looks like another trip will be in the near future.