Just because

I love this hairy, slobbery, chunky child.

Kaitlynn can always get Olivia laughing. Not the best video of them playing together but of course they are always cuter when they know you don't have the camera.

Adam-ondi-Ahman

We were really excited for Pioneer Day even if we weren't going to see any parades or fireworks. We had special permission to take the elders back to Elder Johnson's old area to baptize a previous investigator. Adam-ondi-Ahman is in the area so were went out early so we could stop there and see it. Sounds like a pretty cool way to spend Pioneer Day, seeing Adam-Ondi-Ahman and watching a baptism but it didn't work out quite like we thought it would.

First off I think we tried to kill Elder Johnson about twelve times! He is allergic to peanuts. Guess what we brought for the kids to have as a snack, Nutter Butters and peanut chocolate chip granola bars. He had a drink sitting next to Jack, so Jack helped himself. That meant Elder Johnson couldn't drink it anymore and he couldn't let the kids touch him since they had the poison on their little fingers. He survived thankfully but I was pretty paranoid about it.

This is Elder Johnson leaning forward because the kids fell asleep and were crowding up the already limited space.

Since the kids fell asleep they weren't exactly happy campers when we arrived. This is the best picture of the family. Kaitlynn refused to look at the camera, and Jack followed her lead and hid in my skirt. Olivia found something more interesting to look at over Ryan's shoulder.

The weather was beautiful when we started the trip but the clouds rolled in right when we got there. We had to hurry and get in the van for shelter. We planned to spend forty five minutes there and ended spending only five. Just enough time to wake up the kids and make them angry.

And now for the best part of the trip. The motor on our windshield wipers stopped working! So we were caught in a big storm without anyway to see, and we still needed to get to the baptism! Ryan braved the storm and got us there safely and in time. It was only a tiny bit stressful not being able to see in a van with whiney kids.

By the time the baptism started the kids were happy again but restless from being in the car for a while and now had to hold still and be reverent. I think we were extra worried about every sound they made since we didn't even know her.

It was a beautiful baptism and I was happy that my kids could watch her. So even with all the trouble, it was still a nice way to spend Pioneer Day. Very fitting I think to be baptized on Pioneer Day, she is from a very strong Baptist family so there was no family support there for her. She is her own pioneer.

Temple Trip

We made our first trip to the temple since we have been out here... well kind of. We went to the temple site for the new temple they are building out here. Our neighbors called us up and asked if we wanted to go with them, so it turned into our family home evening activity since it happened to be Monday night. We had the missionaries over for dinner so we brought them along too even though it was out of their zone, oops!

Make sure you wear appropriate clothing when you go to the temple.

Don't forget your recommend.

Here it is.

I took these pictures from the top of the van to get a better view. I was only following Emily's example.

This is Emily.

This is Emily's husband, freaking out about the top of the van. They are a funny pair.

In about two years we will only have a twenty minute drive to the temple instead of two hours.

I didn't know they had the camera

When I down loaded my pictures onto the computer these little beauties showed up. They had a photo shoot without me. I have spared you most of the fifty pictures they took but thought I would share my favorites.

This is how you do spider in a baby swing. It looks a little tight to me but they seem to like it.

Olivia is already trying to steal her older sisters clothes.

This cinderella doesn't need a pumpkin carriage, she can go much faster on her own two wheels.

She didn't want me taking her picture.

Can you spot her?

Playing outside is way better than inside. We put water in the bottom of that thing and she was happy to splash as long as the older kids.

Why is water so much fun?

Can't play with water without water guns.

Working on his back swing. We have dreams of him going pro someday, look at that form.

This is our next door neighbor, I think Kaitlynn has adopted her.

Jack too. They both love her to death.

This is why she hasn't learned to roll over yet. She is not a fan of tummy time.

It was raining really hard the other day so we built a fort. They stayed in there for a really long time, and much to my surprise no one colored on the couch!

Just having a little sword fight before church .

This looks more like baseball than sword fighting.

Ryan has been doing awesome in school. Only two weeks left until he is done with his first semester. Which really means only two more weeks until family comes out to see us! I am so excited. Today is our two month mark, I feel like we have been here way longer than that and still I am surprised to find we are already halfway through July. Time is a funny thing.

What happens when you only have sisters?

Happy Fourth of July

Fireworks are illegal in Kansas, but not in Missouri. Cross the border and you can get all the fireworks you want. Our little town got pretty busy a week before the festivities. Tents like this have been set up all along the road for the past month. I am pretty sure that most of the yearly income for the town is made from fireworks. A neighbor of ours was buying fireworks and said that the person in front of them spent two thousand dollars! Yikes! Fourth of July is a big deal around here.

This was on one side of the street.

And this on the other.

We walked around and took a tour of the tents and went people site seeing. Sorry not a great picture, but I didn't want them noticing me taking the picture. Just got a kick out of the trailer and camping chairs. Every tent had this set up.

Wearing their fourth of July out fits to the parade, Thanks Nanny.

This was the best attempt at a family picture. We are not the most photogenic people.

Eating some of the goods from the parade

Olivia preferred watching it standing up.

They were a little worn out from the day of parades and BBQ's and swimming.

We were kind of lame and did fireworks before sunset. Just to hard to wait that long, and they didn't know any better anyway.

Kaitlynn would smash her snaps instead of throwing them.

We have be listening to fireworks for a while now, the only really bad day was the forth, people were shooting them off well into the night. I woke up at two to help Olivia and I could still hear them going off. I think most people have used up their stash now. So life should be a little quieter again.

Hopscotch

We pulled out the side walk chalk the other day and I drew hopscotch for the kids. It was the first time Kaitlynn had played and she loved it. Kaitlynn and a couple of girls played for about an hour! Simple pleasures.

This little girl loved hopscotch too. Well at least she loved watching the kids play. A perfect afternoon.