Lydia's Baptism

 Look at our beautiful, beautiful 8 year old daughter! We are so excited for her! I love this age and opportunity for these 8 year old children to start making grown up choices. We have spent the last year talking about Jesus Christ and his example to us of getting baptized.

 Lydia decided that she wanted to get baptized, too.
Working in the Primary is such a great constant review to me about what we are promising to do when we are baptized. Lydia promised to follow God's commandments, to always remember Jesus Christ, our savior, to stand as a witness, and to lift and comfort those around her. Then she is promised to have the Spirit to be with her, to guide, direct, warn and comfort her. What a great promise and something so wonderful to strive for.

 Look at the world all dressed in white, just like Lydia, for her baptism!

 I hope Lydia felt loved and supported on her special day! She was surrounded by loved ones, friends and family!

 Mimi and Pa and Hilarie were there. Pa gave the closing prayer, and Mimi gave an amazing talk about the Holy Ghost. It was such a special talk, all for Lydia (she was the only one getting baptized from our ward). The Spirit was so strong and special.

 Grandma and Grandpa Sam and Shawna were also there to support Pearly. Grandpa Sam gave the opening prayer in the meeting. Also, Richard and Laura (just days away from having baby boy 4) brought Ethan, Gabe and Logan to support us, too!

Lydia and her Daddy right before the meeting. Such a wonderful day!

Rexburg for Adam's Mission Farewell

 How much fun, sweetness, and family can you fit into 24 hours? I will tell you: a lot!
Steve, Richard, Zoe, Liam, and I went to Rexburg on Saturday morning. We got there in time to help Dad with some printing. He was printing his Christmas cards. I really loved this. I could certainly get into this if I had access. Liam was really excited about it.
We also got to play a new game with Grandma Sam. It was called Snake Oil and we had some good laughs playing any second we got.

 Next we headed over to Pizza Pie cafe to meet up with Shakespeares and eat some pizza. Also to admire James's extreme cuteness!

 Even more fun? Yes! Swimming at Super 8. I will admit, I never left the hot tub. That pool was freezing! Didn't seem to slow down the kiddos at all.

 Grandma Sam didn't have any ice cream in her freezer!!!! First time ever! So we decided we HAD to go to Millhollow to get some frozen yogurt. Actually, I hadn't eaten any pizza so I got a sandwich instead. Those sandwiches are killer.

 The next morning we got to go over to Nana's home to visit with her. She was so happy to see everyone, though a little confused and overwhelmed. We kept the visit brief then left Steve there to have lunch with her.

 Then we headed over to the meeting house for the farewell meeting. Adam's talk was so great. All about love. He did such a wonderful job. He is quite a well rounded young man.
We went over to Ricks's home after the meeting to eat lunch and visit with Adam a bit before his friends came over.

 I love my family!

 Elisabeth and Daniel...soon to be newlyweds.

6 of 8 siblings represented. Pretty amazing. We miss the Texas Samuelsons and the BamaSams so much!
What an amazing trip! Totally worth the drive!
We love you Ricks's and Elder Adam!!

you reap what you SEW

 This summer Zoe and her friend, Alexis, decided they wanted to learn to sew. We learned all the basics then came up with some projects they wanted to do. First, we made corn heating bags. Then we made swim suit cover ups

Lydia update

She is missing her two front teeth and is seriously adorable!
Lydia gets up every morning and picks out a cute outfit with matching headband. She brushes her hair and it ready to go. It is a relatively new thing.
A few weeks ago, she decided she wanted to learn to ride her bike. She was very tentative and scared as I ran her around the neighborhood and cul de sac. Then, as Travis and I were chatting, she hopped on the bike and rode off. Yes, she is 7, but we were very proud of her facing her fears and learning so fast. She now wants to ride her bike every waking hour. Which is fabulous!

Dance!

 Zoe took Hip Hop the last few months and recently had a dance concert. She has never really done dance before, so this was super fun for her. Look at her funky costume! It was fun to see her be a part of this. She make a lot of friends in the class and just had an amazing time. I was surprised how she jumped in, without hesitation, even though she had never taken dance before.

CAST your pearls before swine

Essential summertime items: swimming suit, towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, sprinklers, swim shirt, flip flops, a cast...wait, what?
On the first day of summer vacation, Liam and his friend, Ethan, had a lemonade stand when it started raining. They both started running to save the stand. Their feet got tangled together and Liam landed funny. He didn't seem that much in pain. In fact, I didn't take him to the Dr. for several days. When I did, he sent us over to the hospital to get it X-rayed. Sure enough, it was fractured.
Liam had a pretty good attitude. In fact it was strangely excited about it. I think he thought he was going to be showered with attention and gifts. He did get attention for it but didn't the gifts he thought he deserved.
He only had the cast on for 4 weeks, which is great because he got tired of watching his sisters go swimming.
First broken bone of the family. Not bad.

totally toothless turtle

 It was dangling pretty good!

 She looks like Nanny McPhee.

 Here is the note she wrote to the Toothfairy. I think she had some help from cousin Gwennie.

I guess I need a better "after" picture where you can see the gap. She is adorable. She also got a little bob haircut with bangs, that I am generally pulling back because it is in her face. She just wanted to have sweepy bangs like her sister.

Pearl of Great Price

 Lydia came home from school the other day excited about a project assigned at school. She was to decorate a shoe box to be a "float" in the first grade Thanksgiving Parade. We had a lot of fun decorating the shoebox. I showed her how to dip crepe paper into glue to make it look like flowers.
It was so fun I thought about how fun it would be to have all of the kids do one every year with a theme of "what I am thankful for". It would be a great Thanksgiving day activity.

 After the parade, the teachers were ambitious enough to host a Thanksgiving Feast. When Lydia found out that the feast consisted of Turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing she literally cried. Geez my kids are picky eaters. I packed her a lunch instead.

 My little Pearly girl is getting so big! Look how lovely she is. She has made a lot of progress with some behavioral issues she had been dealing with this year. Also, she has been working really hard at her reading and sight words and doing great.

Here is a picture she drew. I love how, while the drawings are very simple, you know exactly what those little stick figures are doing and feeling. Hilarious! Thank you public schools and cable t.v. for my 6 year olds knowledge of Justin Bieber.
Lydia is always drawing or coloring. She can't help herself. It is a compulsion (in the best sense possible). She always has a pencil, pen, marker, or paintbrush in hand. I love it. I know it won't last, so I really savor this passion she has.

Crying in the Wilderness: Felix's first day of pre-school

Okay, the title is a little misleading. I didn't cry, but it was definitely bittersweet. He REALLY needs this eduction. He will have access to speech therapy and occupational therapy at school. He really loves nursery (at church) and playing with friends, so I think he will enjoy school. It is also hard for him to get accustomed to new schedules and routines.
 He wouldn't look at the camera because he was too busy looking for the bus.

 He was very excited! He is my BABY!

He is only gone less than 4 hours total. I did the dishes, mopped the floor, studied my scriptures, made some phone calls, planned my week, went for a contemplative hour-long walk/run, checked and returned emails, blogged, and showered. I doubt I will be so productive everyday.
I am excited for his new chapter in life. I hope he is too.

First and foremost

 First day of school for Zoe (5th), Liam (4th), Lydia (1st), and Felix starts preschool next week. He couldn't be left out this morning so he donned his backpack, too.

 See how they are all smiles? I was so mean to them, and they were so bored that they were overjoyed to start school.

 Zoe and Alexis

Liam and Ethan.
The bus stop is directly out in front of our house this year. It is a pretty sweet deal. When they almost miss the bus, they don't have to run all the way down the street to catch it. In the wintertime we can wait for the bus in the comfort of our livingroom. Nice.

One last Hoorah!

 School starts soon. Summer is winding down. The kids are needing to get onto a schedule, but I couldn't resist one last quick trip.
I loaded up the kids and headed to Rexburg. We stopped many times, but weren't in a hurry, so it didn't matter. We got to Sam's house late afternoon. We had time for dinner, a game of Barbie cards, and some visiting with Sam's before we headed to Heise Hot Springs.
I have recently written about my historic friendship with Kate when I posted about my trip to Hawaii to visit her in February. I couldn't pass up a trip to see her and her family. Even if only for a short visit.
It was so nostalgic for me to drive to Heise. I spent quite a bit of time there as a child, but especially as a teenager. I even lived there for a fun-filled month the summer before our Senior year. We stayed at Kate's house, which holds a lot of memories!

 The kids totally loved the house. I wish I would've got more pictures. It has the loveliest porch (with lots of seating) all around the house. Any way you look there are AMAZING views of gorgeous countryside. 
Liam wanted me to take a picture of him being cool on the porch. Wow, Liam. Super-cool!

 The next day we went Zip-lining. I went with Liam and Zoe while Kate and Josh stayed with Lydia, Felix, Kai'a and Finley. Then Kate, Josh, Kai'a, and Lydia went after us.

 All suited up! Zoe's helmet would not behave!

 All ready to Jeep to the first zip line.

 Liam went first, the first time. He didn't even hesitate. He was super excited! The guys working the lines called him "Crazy Tim"! We all LOVED it! It was so fun! We got to go down 7 zip lines. The zip lines were all on the mountains behind Kate's house. On a few of them, we could see her house and the kids playing out on the porch!

 We all went down the last line upside down with the lines twisted. I got some good video. I guess I need to figure out how to put video onto the blog.
Certainly a highlight of our entire summer!

 As I mentioned Lydia went later with Kate, Josh and Kaia. I just love her look in this picture. The guys that worked on the zip line were totally hilarious and made the trip so fun. Lydia really got a kick out of them.
I was worried that she wouldn't be brave enough to go down, but she did. She rode down with Josh or Kate each time. She loved it and I was so proud!

 We spent the rest of the day swimming. Lydia also went down the water slide by herself and spent hours taking turns with Kai'a swimming to Josh in the "deep end". What a big girl. Thank goodness she and Kai'a got along SO WELL! It seemed very natural to them both.
We all had fun swimming. I think Felix spent the entire time jumping off the edge to me.

 How much fun is this? The kids got to travel around in the Mule.

 I know, I know.

We finished off a perfect day by heading down to the pizza parlor for some delicious dinner.
After getting the kids to bed we were even able to spend several hours chatting. What an absolutely delightful trip!
If you have never been to Heise Hot Springs, you really should go. Not only is it so BEAUTIFUL, it is super fun! There is a lot to do! I would like to promise you that you would have as much fun as we did, but I can't guarantee that unless you go with your oldest best friend and her awesome family!
Thanks, Kate. We had a blast!