Why Are My Kids So Dang Cute?

Peter, what a cute little guy. He is SO fun. I am embarrassed at how bad this kid is spoiled! We cater to his every need--what is bad, is that it is so enjoyable. He is endearing, snuggly, and even at his worst moments, he is irresistible! He turns 3 on June 13th. He keeps talking about his Choo-Choo birthday. He is a big fan of anything train! I've been collecting "train" stuff from garage sales and he found my stash the other day. I quickly got him distracted, but he knows it is coming soon. He is still really small. The other day, I was sorting through his clothes--most are 18 month size. There was a 3-6 month shirt--and it still fits him! Maybe that is why he is so fun to love, he is still so little. He likes to "wrestle" with Parker and Michael and thinks he is really tough, he prefers relieving himself in the outdoors (Marilyn taught him this, not David), he loves to pick strawberries from the garden, he likes to sleep with anyone who will make room for him, he doesn't like to be called "Pete"--(I wonder where that comes from, Dad?) , when he is sad or in trouble he goes to the person who will give him the most sympathy! We are happy to have this little guy in our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!

Summer in the Orchard

What fun times in the orchard. This week we spent more time thinning, but mostly pruning "fire blight" from the trees. It is hilarious to hear the kids talk about brown rot, pitted fruits, fire blight--they can't wait 'til we get to harvest. Today we picked some cherries--they were gobbled up pretty quickly. We got there early to avoid the suffocating heat. The kids love to climb in the trees and each have their "bases". KK (one of Katherine's many nicknames) is a great baby--she loves to hang out in the grass!

A Visit To Cousins

Another fun family weekend—We had a temple trip on May 24th. Eliza got to go to the temple with the youth and do baptisms for the dead. She was excited to be able to go in with David. They did some family names of a lady in our ward—one of the boys was baptized for Daniel Boone. Eliza thought that was pretty neat. After that, we drove another 2+ hours to Savannah, GA to visit Tina and Stuart (David’s sister). They are so much fun. It always amazes me how the kids just instantly start playing together without any stage of awkwardness and getting reacquainted—even though we haven’t seen them since last summer. The Heimdal’s are great hosts (We slept great in Stephanie and Monica’s bed—thanks!) and we enjoyed our time at the beach, walking around Savannah and being together. One thing I love about visiting people is that you get some “real” insider tips on what things work in families. They have a great tradition of a Sunday “closed eye rest”. We’ve talked and laughed about needing more of those around here. The Heimdals are super fun—it will be fun to get together more often. I know that Laura will miss them—in fact, our kids got called “Adaline” and “Bridie” more than once!

The pictures are of our Sunday trip to the beach where we were just going to "get our feet wet".

Also, is a picture of David, Eliza and Mandi Veech at the Columbia South Carolina Temple.

A Visit From Cousins

Here goes another attempt at this blog. I tried to do it on-line, but it didn’t work, so I am going to try and copy and paste from this word document. The slower connection really is a valid reason for not doing this more often!

We’ve had a great couple of weeks and thanks to all m y family and friends who still check to see if I have posted anything. We had a wonderful month of May—unusually cool for the south, but perfect summer weather in my book! It was cool in the mornings and evenings and warmed up during the day, but not too hot! I like to be able to work and do things outside without melting.
In May the Hale’s came for a visit. Chad, Camille and their five super fun, cute kids were here for a weekend. (Camille is my cousin—we are a year apart and grew up together with loads of fun memories). They live in Ohio so we are able to get together once in a while. They came down for the BMS Drag Races and the Lions Club Turtle Derby—talk about a contrast. We went from 300 mph to about 300 inches per hour. One of the kids even asked if they’d need earplugs for the turtle races! Those turtle races are one of the “secrets” of Kingsport. It is FREE to go, everyone gets a ticket and if your turtle wins, you get 50 cents. With all the tickets we had, we had a winner at every race. They have all kinds of prizes—Camille had the winning ticket—she won a pizza and a girl’s bike. She gave the bike to Grace—who was thrilled! We ended the day at Carter Fold. The kids danced ‘til they were sweating. It was fun and the kids have a blast together. Thanks for the visit and come back soon!

Summer Time

Hey, everyone. We are still alive and kicking. To all those who still check my blog, thanks for your faithfulness. This is a lot like my journal--I start every entry with.. "I haven't written in so long and am going to do better!" Well, I won't make any promises, but here is what we have been up to.

We had a great weekend with the Hale's (Chad and Camille and their five super fun, cute kids). Camille is my cousin--we are just a year apart and grew up together and have loads of fun memories throughout the years. Anyway, they live in Ohio and it's close enough to get together once in a while. They came down for the drag races at BMS and the Turtle Derby!! One of her kids asked if they'd need the earplugs at the Turtle Races--we went from 300 mph, down to 30o inches per hour. It was really fun. Camille had a lucky ticket and won a pizza and a girl's bike that she gave to Grace. Grace is the proud owner of a new bike. The races were great. Our odds were greatly increased, we had a winning ticket every race, since there were so many of us! We also went to Carter Fold--the kids danced 'til they were sweating. We love getting together with them. Thanks for the visit. Hope to see you again soon.

Parley Adventures

The big kids are at school and the babies are both asleep, so I’ve got a few minutes. (I’m just in between loads of “red clay” laundry and the house and yard that need some attention). I just wanted to record some of my feelings from our “Pratt Adventures”. We’ve had a great couple of weeks.

Last weekend April 9-12, 2008 we drove up to Kirtland, OH for a Parley P. Pratt reunion and tour. It was amazing. I feel like many others went to years of work and effort and we slipped in the back door to experience the "fruits of their labors". It was very uplifting and a testimony builder for me. We toured several sites where Parley had preached the gospel, run from a bulldog, places where he lived, and rivers where he baptized people. I wish that I would have been able to focus a little more—I don’t remember all of the details, as we had all of our kids with us, but I do remember the wonderful feelings and amazing strength of the early Saints. The best part was our evening in the Kirtland Temple. Our group about 20 adults, plus our kids and 4 others, were given a tour and also spent a few hours singing several Parley hymns, listening to talks and feeling the spirit. We read D & C 110 together where Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appear in the Kirtland Temple. It was an amazing experience. It was worth every effort. Our children did enjoy the trip too and their memories of these events I’ve sure will be a lot different than mine, but they are now connected in a more real way to Parley P. Pratt.

The following weekend April 17-23, we drove to Alma, Arkansas where Parley was murdered. The family excavated his gravesite, in hopes of finding his remains. They were fulfilling his dying wish to be buried with his family in Salt Lake City. That was also a great experience. There were no physical remains found of Parley, but it was certainly worth the effort. They dug where he was buried and it brought a feeling of peace as they dedicated his gravesite. I’ll write more latter, but this a poem that I wrote, from the experiences of those two trips. We've sure put the miles on the van and will have a huge gas bill this month, but it beats walking like those who trails we followed did.

We Found Him
There were no remains, there was not too much found,
But we made a connection and to Parley we’re bound.

The red clay claimed Parley who once had lain here,
But we found many friends who where faithful and dear.
In the courtroom Parley and Eleanor stood true,
As Judge Ogden released them, his love for them grew.

We did not find Parley in Smith’s white linen,
But immersing the converts in icy Chagrin.
We found him running from Stu-Buy, a big ‘ol bulldog,
And reading the Bible in a hut made of log.

No pine box or walnut, a gift from Steward, a friend,
But we found P. Pratt testifying up ‘til the end.
From Shakers, abroad, and with George Higginson—
A firm dying witness was shared with Z. Wynn.

We searched the Fine Plot and his body was gone—
On his last mission, he’s still living beyond.
Friends and kin came to Arkansas, both young and old
With pedigrees and memories of Parley they told.

Yes, we found Parley and to him we are bound.
There were no remains, but so much was found.

"Look Out, We're Comin' Through"

We are the proud owners of a new (well, used) BIG 12-passenger van—and this is certainly worthy of a blog. It is GREAT. I wasn’t sure how I’d like driving it, but it is nice. I feel like I own the road. It took a little getting used to (only ran off the edge of the road a few times), but we really like having some extra space.
How you know when you drive a big vehicle:
You dream that you are driving a school bus (Yes, this really happened!)
You need walkie-talkies to talk to your kids in the back seat.
You pull up next to a BIG pick-up truck at a stop light, the guy looks UP and you and then back, with a look on his face that seems to say, “Dang, I need a bigger truck!
It costs $10 in gas to go to church, but the trade off is a little more sanity and WELL worth it.
You have a back-up camera mounted to the rear license plate—no it doesn’t “beep” when we are in reverse. The kids love the camera, sometimes, you can drive around and it will pick up security cameras in stores. There is a gas station near-by whose camera is on the same frequency. We like to go there. David will go in and wave to us. We are SO easily amused.
You can pick up several friends to go to the park and everyone has their OWN seatbelt.
You can put a full size cooler between the two front seats—and still get to the back.
The kids are excited, because now we can have 10 children!
There are no fights over who sits where (I know this won’t last for much longer, but the novelty of trying out a different spot each time hasn’t worn off yet!)
You don’t look for the closest parking spot, but one where you can pull straight through and straight out without having to go into reverse.
At the bank, McDonald’s drive-through, etc, you have to lean way out and down to push the buttons and get your food.
And the BEST thing, is that you can drive with 8 people in the van for four hours to Columbia, SC to go to the temple and still be worthy to go in!!