First major event when we got back from Jerusalem was Ethan's baptism. Ethan had been super excited to get baptized ever since Julia's baptism a year and a half ago. Our stake does one baptism each month on the first Saturday for all 12 wards. Unfortunately, the May baptisms came just before his birthday and then family were going to be gone for the June baptisms, so he had to wait for the July baptism date. By the time that came around he was definitely ready. The baptism service was very nice. They had me and Ethan come 45 minutes early so we could get all dressed and get our pictures taken and things like that. There were greeters there from the Stake and they had a picture spot all set up and church hymns playing and they really made Ethan feel special. I can't remember the exact number, but there was something like 9 kids getting baptized that day, three of which were from our ward. I got to baptize Ethan and confirm him a member of the church and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. At the time and since I was thinking about why we have children baptized at such a young age, before they really know much about the world and before they are asked to make other major decisions in their life. Through seeing Julia's and Ethan's decisions to be baptized I have realized that although they may not have a super deep understanding of the world or all of the details of the gospel, both have had super deep testimonies. Their testimonies and faith in Jesus Christ have been just as strong as mine as an adult and so I guess it is the perfect time to make the decision to follow him. Also, I realized that it is a real blessing to be able to be baptized at that young age, because it comes with the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is very assuring to me as a dad to know that they will both have the Holy Ghost with them now as they face challenges and trials in school and with friends and face all of the temptations that are now presented to children in the world at such a young age. I am so glad that the Holy Ghost will be there to guide them now, instead of them having to wait until they are older.
We had lots of visitors for the baptism, which was really special for Ethan. His great grandparents Meibos, his grandparents Little, Rebecca's brother Tyler and his family, my sister Tianna and her family, my brother Nathanael and his family, and my brother Isaac and his family all came. It was so fun to see everyone and because it was a three day weekend, some of them were able to stay for a couple extra days.
A couple days after Ethan's baptism we got to celebrate Independence Day. Tianna's family and Isaac's family were still here in the morning and so we all went to the 4th of July parade put on by the city. It was pretty good. There were a lot of floats and a few bands and the kids loved running after all the candy that was being thrown. There was also a flyby at the start of the parade, and that was pretty cool. Tianna's family left after lunch, but somehow they forgot James (their youngest), so he got to hang out with us for a week until their next trip out here. Isaac's family was also around for the rest of the day. Later that day we bought some sparklers and pop-its for the children to do and then at night we watched the city firework show. Luckily, we had a great view just from our back porch, so we set up chairs on our deck and got to enjoy the show without the crowds or parking issues. I thought it was a pretty good show, especially for a town this size.
Tianna's family came back a week later to pick up their son (really they asked if they could leave him to play with our kids since they were coming back this way a week later and our boys loved having him around). When they were here we made it to the wellness complex that the hospital built just a couple miles from our house. The complex has a small lake with a beach shore for swimming. The water was cold, but all of the kids and a couple of us adults still got in for a swim.
We have been trying to do a lot of hikes as a family this summer. We probably haven't met our goal of one per week, but we have got a lot in. In the week after Tianna's family left we hiked Chinese peak. I think this is the second tallest peak in the Pocatello area (Scout mountain is the tallest). This hike was about 6 miles round trip, although we drove up a little of it. The peak is 6,800 feet high, with a 1,700 foot gain from the start of the trail. Luckily, the trail is a dirt road and so even though it was steep I was able to push the stroller with Agnes in it all the way up. At the top it was pretty cold and windy, but we still enjoyed some quick snacks and pictures before heading back down. It was a fun trip and the children all did a great job hiking on this one with maybe no complaining!
On Saturday of that week we made our drive out to the Oregon coast for the Little family reunion. The drive took us a little over 12 hours to get there because we got stuck in traffic in Portland. But the children still did great! We had lots of coloring books (a thrift store by our house gives children a free book each time they go in, so we had been stocking up on coloring books), some audio books, and some Winco bulk candy to eat on each hour mark. The reunion was right on the coast at Lincoln City, Oregon. It was really beautiful there. There were three houses that we rented - I think we had 44 of us there. We had a few big events and then lots of fun things in between. On Sunday we celebrated Rebecca's birthday. She is now 35 years old! We went to church in the morning, then walked around the beach a little in the afternoon, and then did some birthday games in the evening.
On Monday we drove down to Newport Beach and went to the Oregon State University marine science center. It was pretty cool for a small museum with lots of fun activities for the children to do. While there we got to see their new octopus and touch some sea anemones. We then went and saw a lighthouse and had a picnic lunch at a location with some cool cliffs. I guess sometimes there are sea lions there, but we didn't see any.
Tuesday was our big beach day. The water was cold, but we still had a fun time. Our children only played in the waves for a few minutes before they decided it was too cold and played in the sand instead. They built sandcastles, buried people, looked for shells, flew kites, and just tried to keep warm wrapped in their beach towels. I, on the other hand, took full advantage of the waves and spent maybe an hour or two body surfing. I wasn't all that great at it, but I still had fun. I had a bad sun burn after that. That evening we had a cook-off competition. That was a lot of fun, especially since Rebecca and I watch a lot of those cooking competition shows. The latest one we have been watching is Beat Bobby Flay. So for this cook-off we were split into three teams and each given a set of ingredients to make a dessert without looking up any recipes. All of the groups received the same regular ingredients (sugar, salt, flour, chocolate chips, eggs, milk, etc.), but then a unique fruit and candy bar which had to be incorporated into the recipe. We got butterfingers and dragon fruit. I had dragon fruit on my mission a lot and it is like a giant mild kiwi, so we lucked out. Another group got papaya, which I really don't like, and the last group got some fruit that I had never seen before, but looked more like a vegetable than a fruit. We decided to do crepes. Rebecca made a chocolate mouse for the filling and then we had a chocolate dragonfruit sauce to put on top. Another group who worked in a separate house also made crepes, which we were really surprised about. The last group made a cake that was really kind of blondies consistency. They were all really good, but the judges chose the blondies as the winner.
On Wednesday we traveled up to Tillamook to tour the cheese factory. It was a really pretty drive through a lot of small Oregon towns and the tree covered hills. It is amazing how many different types of beautiful places that we have in our country and the freedom that we have to travel around to them all. That really stuck out after visiting Israel where the landscape for the whole country has some variety, but it is all pretty much the same. I was surprised by how many people were there to visit the cheese factory. The highlights were definitely at the end. First, they had about ten or so cheese samples to try. My favorite was definitely the smoked cheddar. Then we all got some of their ice-cream. Our family ordered way too much and we all gorged out on our cones. After the cheese factory we had to work off all of those calories and so our family took a short hike to God's Thumb. It was a pretty nice hike, only about 3 miles round trip. Most of it was through the forests which was a lot different from the hikes we have been doing in Pocatello. The very end of it is a super steep hill that juts out into the Ocean. Rebecca was a little worried with the kids going up it, but we all made it safely and had an excellent view at the top. That night we put our kids to bed and all of the cousins went out for ice cream. Not the best choice after Tillamook, but that was our only night and we still had a fun time.
On Thursday we went to the lake, but since it was cold and a little drizzly, we just played at the giant playground there. We got in a few games of capture the kids which everyone loved. That evening we had a talent show. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that, but there were a lot of good talents that were shared. Our family demonstrated the children's morning routine, by having Julia, Rebecca, and I hide behind Christian, Ethan, and Elliott and be their hands. Here is an example from the internet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNqqt_3pyE). Another funny one was done by Rebecca's brother Trenton and her cousin Kyle. They did a ballet dance. Here is an example of that one from the internet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx9tJWuBAKM).
On Friday we did some shopping at the outlet malls. We hit every store, but only ended up buying two necklaces. The children did a great job throughout the trip though. Then we had one last day at the beach. The children spent more time in the water this day, even though I thought the water was colder then the previous time we went.
Other fun things that we did during the reunion were lots of fun games at night after the children went to bed, lots of time in the hot tub, family home evening, a scavenger hunt, and lots of creative crafts for the kids organized by Aunt Peggy. Also, most of the mornings Rebecca and I were able to wake up early and go on jogs/walks on the beach just by ourselves!
Saturday we woke up early and drove home. The drive went smoothly which we were grateful for, especially since it was mine and Rebecca's 11th Anniversary! It has been a wonderful 11 years. We didn't really do anything special for it, but instead counted our Jerusalem trip as our celebration.
In the week after we got back from our reunion we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate our birthdays. Caleb gave us a gift card at the end of his stay with us and this was our third time using it. We had two free kids meals from the children's reading program at school, plus a birthday coupon for a free side of ribs. So we ended up getting two kids meals, a side of ribs, I got the roadkill, and Rebecca got a country fried chicken. Rebecca and I split our meals and the ribs and then of course I ate 6 of their rolls (the first time we went there I think I maxed out at 10 of them). When we got home (Rebecca and the kids had to roll me out of the restaurant), I looked up how many calories I probably ate. It was 2,989.5!!! Although super yummy, I am sure glad that we do not eat out very much. With all of our coupons our total bill was only $19, so looks like we will still have one more trip paid for by my brother Caleb.
Last week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we drove down to Provo for a wedding for Rebecca's cousin. We left Monday morning and did some shopping on the way. that evening there was a picnic for family members of the wedding party. It was pulled pork sandwiches and the yummy part was different types of bbq sauces. I tried the watermelon flavored one and Rebecca had the chipotle one. The wedding was on Tuesday in the new Provo City Center temple. Rebecca and I woke up really early in the morning to go to a session in the Mount Timpanogos temple. We don't often get to do a session together, so it is always fun when we get a chance to do that. Then we drove down to the Provo City Center Temple as a family. We walked around the temple some and the visitor center and it is super pretty. We didn't get to go inside, but next time Rebecca and I are down that way we are planning on doing a session. After that we had a few hours to kill before the reception and so we spent them showing the kids BYU campus. We ended up buying our first piece of artwork for our home at the BYU bookstore. We have pictures from our home in Anchorage, but we haven't really decided to put any of them yet. This was a painting by Del Parson that has Christ and two little girls. We put it up in Agnes' room as soon as we got back. They had their reception at a country club just outside of Provo. It was pretty and they had lots of fun twists for the reception, like a cream puff cake and a toast of milk and cookies. Early the next morning we made our way back home.
Between all of our travels we have been doing a lot of yard work. Some of our neighbors have been getting on us about our not having our yard put in yet even though our neighborhood covenants say we had to have it in 60 days after we moved in. I think we have it all planned out now though. I am still working on some of the small jobs (retaining walls, moving around dirt, garden boxes, fire pit area) and we have some people lined up for the bigger projects. But it still doesn't look like we will have it all done until maybe September. I guess the neighbors will have to go a couple more months looking at our bare yard. Our builders did come and put the stairs in for the back deck, so that is one more thing checked off their list. They still have to do our gutters and paint touch up outside, but then I think we are finally all finished. Rebecca might know a few more things on their list though, but that is all I can remember.
The children have been enjoying a lot of playing inside and outside. Up until recently the boys had some pet beetles. I think they had five or so of them. Every time they caught one in our yard they would just add it to their collection. I am not sure what those things would eat though. We read online that they eat green plants and so we would put those in their cages, but it didn't seem like what we put in ever diminished. We also made sure to give them water, but I never saw them drink anything either. Once they also caught a praying mantis and put that in their cages too. One morning when I was out working we caught a lizard. We have been seeing a lot of them on the hot days on the rocks and the retaining wall stones. When we caught it, without my knowledge, the Ethan and Christian ran inside, got their beetle cages, and emptied them all outside thinking they needed to make room for the lizard. It was sad because I had to tell them that lizards needed special cages and lamps and we could only keep this one for the day. They had a fun time playing with it for that day though and already have plans to start catching more beetles tomorrow.
This last Thursday we made our last trip of the summer. Yeah! All of the trips have been fun, but also pretty exhausting and I am ready to just be at home for a little while. We drove down to Colorado as a family for a conference that I was attending for work. The drive was only about 9 hours, so we left early in the morning and were there by 4 pm. We stayed with Rebecca's Uncle John and Aunt Corin. They have a really beautiful house about 45 minutes south of Denver. On the first night we did a picnic dinner and swimming at the neighborhood pool where their son works. It was a little cold, but the children still loved the pool time. On Friday I was at my conference all day. I had my presentations and a few other meetings and did some good networking and study planning with colleagues while I was there. The highlight was a catered lunch meeting that I had. There was this amazing truffle bisque that I couldn't get enough of. Each spoonful I wanted to keep in my mouth as long as possible. I wasn't expecting it to be so good and I ended up being really impressed. I was sad that I couldn't share any of it with Rebecca though. While I was at the conference Rebecca and the children did some fun activities with two of her Aunts and their children. They went to a couple parks and her 10 year old cousin's baseball game. That night after the children went to bed Rebecca and I got to watch a movie in the theater room, which was a lot of fun. Then on Saturday morning we got packed up and the children played around some while I went on a short bike ride with her uncle. We met some old friends from our Oklahoma days at the Denver temple just to quickly catch up. It was fun to see them again. Then we made the 9 hour drive back home. Again, it went pretty smoothly! We did get a tire replaced before we left, but I have been really impressed with how well our 2002 Dodge Caravan has been doing. It has 175,000 miles on it now and it is still going well.
Sorry, no pictures for the second half of this post. I dropped my tablet the other day and the touch screen no longer works. I can still do pictures, it is just less convenient so I haven't been taking as many of them.
Now just two more weeks until school starts for both me and the children. I think because we have had such a fun and eventful summer we are all looking forward to getting back into the school routine.
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