Matthew turned 4

Matthew's birthday was on Thursday, the 18th. He's been talking about being 4 since March, when his best buddy turned 4. We spent the day playing, going swimming, eating dinner at McDonald's (of course), opening presents, and having cake. YAY--I'M 4!

Adam always loves to help--and Matt is kind enough to let him.

Matt loves anything sports. So, we got him some soccer cones and a new t-ball set. Here's Adam trying it out. We played t-ball for a good hour that evening.

Legos.......

The junior college here has a "Kids College" during the summer. They offer a bunch of week-long classes for elementary students. Adam took one this past week called "Lego Train". There were about 12 kids in the class. They built a track, two trains, and the surrounding city/setting. Adam really enjoyed it. He was the youngest in the class but he did well. On Friday, we got to go see what he and the others had built.

Dinosaurs........

HELP!!! I'M BEING EATEN ALIVE! AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

We've had a very full week. Last Saturday, since Girls' Camp ended early, we went up to Hays, KS to the natural history museum at the university there. It's a great museum for being in the middle of nowhere. (I've heard Hays, KS is the exact center of the U.S.--north to south and east to west). It had tons of dinosaurs. The boys have been on a bit of a dinosaur kick because of the "Night at the Museum" movie and Matt got a package from his Nanna full of dinosaur stuff.

This is a picture of Matt walking next to the T-Rex. Matt looks tiny. This dinosaur would move and roar. The boys loved that. There was lots of hands-on stuff for them to play with. It was a fun daytrip.

New Calling

I got a new calling on Sunday. I'm back in the Primary presidency. I think this is the fourth time I've had this calling. The pres. and I got together today and after awhile I thought to myself, "Man, I've had these same discussions many times". It feels very familiar. It will be fun.

Girls' Camp

Where to begin? Sometimes I feel like my blog has become one, big run-on sentence from my planner--"and then we did this, and then this, and then this, blah-blah-blah". Most of the time I don't have anything intelligent or witty to say, just what's happening. So, here we go again. I left for Girl's Camp on Wednesday--got up to Scott Lake at 1pm. There was a bit of a drizzle throughout the afternoon, enough to wear my rain poncho. We got things started--some games, walks, certification, tinfoil dinners, smores, and then the DOWNPOUR began. It was raining so hard and so fast that everything began to flood. Within a couple of hours, we had about 5 inches of rain everywhere, including inside the tents. So, we decided to get the girls up to the church bldg. in Scott City (about 15 minutes away). We got everyone there by about 9:30pm. Then the second round of loading up everyones' sleeping bags began. We got those to the church, basically put them all in the "wet" pile to take the the laundromat. And then the third round of finding and bringing everyones' buckets (we tell the girls to pack all their stuff in a 5-gallon bucket so it will stay dry in case it rains). Everyone got the buckets by midnight, except for me. Mine was MIA. Oh, well--earlier when we were decided to go to the church, I had the feeling to grab my contact stuff, wallet and phone. It wasn't really that big of a deal because someone lent me a pair of shorts and another gave me some socks. The YW did great, playing games, eating popcorn and hot cocoa, while us leaders washed and dried stuff and decided what to do about camp. All the sleeping bags were dry by about 1am (it cost $50 to dry everything). So, we got to sleep in the church (a first for me)--the girls in the gym and the leaders in the RS and YW rooms. We knew the forecast included thunderstorms everyday and knew the ground wouldn't dry out enough, so we had to end camp early. Thursday we spent the day doing the rest of the certification, service project (cleaning the church after we dirtied it up), skits, and testimony mtg. I was pretty impressed that even though we were only at camp for 32 hours, we were able to complete everything, minus the hike, and the YW really bonded and felt the Spirit and enjoyed themselves.

Buh-Bye.....Again

I know I just took a trip last week, but I'm off on another tomorrow. Last week I took the boys up to Cheyenne so Grandpa could check their teeth. (Adam had three cavities; Matt had none.) We had a lot of fun--besides the trips to the dentist, we went swimming, saw the movie "Up", painted our own pottery, and of course, went to McDonalds. We got back Saturday evening. The last couple of days I've been doing laundry, restocking groceries, etc, 'cause tomorrow I leave for Girls' Camp. I'll be gone 'til Saturday. Rob is taking those days off so he can be with the boys. So, bon voyage!! Pray it doesn't rain.

Quick Post

This is a quick post before the time gets away from me. Robert went up to Kansas City on Thursday for work. He stayed through yesterday. He really only had to be there for Friday but it was his parents' 40th wedding anniversary (kudos to you guys) so he wanted to spend time with them. He got home late last night. The boys and I are leaving tomorrow for Cheyenne. My dad is checking their teeth. So, we're glad for the free dental care but bummed we can only be with Robert/Dad for a day.

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Alas, tomorrow is a big day for another reason, too. It is Adam's last day taking his OCD medicine. He's been taking it daily for 16 months. It tastes terrible and has to be mixed with OJ. So, after tomorrow, Adam won't have to drink anymore orange juice, unless he wants to. Thank goodness! Every morning I have to repeat over and over, "drink your juice, drink your juice, drink your juice" and on and on and on. We've been waiting for this day for a long time. He has his last appt. with his doctor later this month. After that, we don't have to go back unless/until he starts up with his rituals. Yeah!!

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Yesterday our sunday school lesson was on temples--temple service/attendance, etc. It got me thinking that I want to attend the temple now with the sole purpose of doing service. I can't think of a time that I've gone to the temple simply to serve. I always think, "Oh, I need a boost-let's go to the temple", or I'm looking for an answer/guidance. There has always been something in it for me. Now, I'm thinking I'd like to take a year's time and every time we go, simply go to serve and not have any personal reason/desire/need be the reason for attending. And, then after the year's up, really reflect back on how my temple attendance and mindset have changed.