My Sweet 8 year old!

Zeke was baptized on the 1st of August and it was such a wonderful experience!  His daddy did such a great job and Zeke was so sweet.  When he came out of the water he looked so happy, and he was so very cute!  It was just the best experience of the year (sorry Juli).  The talks by his Granny and Grandma were terrific!  Zeke is a very lucky boy to have such wonderful Grandparents.  We missed those who could not come but we are so super excited to see EVERYONE next summer! Yea for family reunions! 

Zeke is such a good boy. He's been trying really hard to choose the right and obey. He has one big job, Unloading the dishwasher, and most of the time it's just once a day, but lately it's been 2x a day and that has given him a challenge, but he always obeys and he ALWAYS sings while he works!  It's super cute!

He did not reach his goal of finishing the Book of Mormon before he was baptized, so he made a new goal, 1 year.  If he finishes it before the 20th of October he will finish it in a year.  I think he'll be able to do it.  And I keep telling him that it's awesome that he even tried to finish it so quickly.  I think it took me 2 years to finish it the first time...so...

We had some family and friends there to help make it a really great day.  Andrea, Sam's sister, took a lot of really awesome pictures of Zeke on his special day.  A few of them can be viewed on my facebook page.  They are some of the best pictures I've ever seen of Zeke.  He is such a handsome kid!  I hope you check it out.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is my Zekie boy is super cool!  I'm so glad I have him to help me while Sam is away!  It makes life SOOO much easier. Zeke, I love you!

Phew!!

You can't say I never post anything!

Enjoy!

Our Vacation!

We had such a wonderful family vacation. We went up to DC to go see some fireworks and to learn something. We accomplished our goals.

Our trip started about the time we wanted to get to our campground so that was our mentality, go with the flow!

We camped at Greenbelt park in MD (which is only $16 a night, AWESOME) and totally had a blast. We got there Saturday night, late, but had a really nice drive and we even stopped at cracker barrel. The boys love it there! Sunday, the 4th, was very nice. We had a leisurely morning and went to church. I had an amazing experience and Sam's was only so-so. We were planning on going on the metro into dc to see the fireworks, but at church the RS president was talking to me and told me in passing that they had good fireworks at the University of Maryland. What and awesome lady!!! She told us where to park and where to go to see the Best FIREWORKS Ever!!! They were so close! It was totally amazing. And we didn't have to spend any money and we were back to our campsite by 10pm. AWESOME!!! (Fireworks on the Mall are totally awesome, too. I mean, really, fireworks anywhere are totally awesome!!!)

So Day 1 was a totally amazing day!

Sleeping arrangements!

Eli and Malachi were sleeping right next to each other, but they are such great buddies that Eli would move over to him EVERY night! This is how the morning would look! I mean, how cute is that?!?
Not even kidding, EVERY MORNING!

Here we are on Day 2 at the National Zoo. I am so in love with this picture! Eli was babbling the whole time. He loves animals. It was too cute to see them all so excited to be learning new things. I was totally amazed with Zeke. He know so much. We went into the building for invertebrates and such and Zeke was naming things and telling us facts! I was totally amazed. At one time asked him where he learned all he knew... to which he relied, From books and movies (as if my question was a stupid one). He's such a smarty-pants!!! ;)


Here we are after having some nice ice cold refreshments! The Zoo is totally fun. 1 day is plenty of time to see all this zoo has to offer. By-the-by the zoo is free, but you have to pay for parking which is $21. I didn't think it was a bad deal. We loved it!

Here the boys are all strapped and ready to go! I know they loved the zoo. Look at their sweet little faces!!! They were showing off their new cool glasses! I love Target's $1 area!

Our Vacation!

Here Sam and I are after spending the day at the National Zoo. We were totally exhausted!! But what super fun day!

Eli LOVED camping!!!!! He was in the dirt any time he was not sleeping or strapped in his car seat (which we did about 30 min before we had to leave, just so he was remotely clean when we left). He is the outdoorsy type!

This was in the Museum of American Indians and I had to get a picture next to Buffy Saint-Marie. I saw her on Sesame Street Old School and she was AWESOME!!! Plus, I love seeing my name somewhere other than on a dog collar or in a tv show title... it's refreshing!

By-the-by... This museum was a little bit of a let down. I think it will be awesome in 10 years, but it's pretty new and I think needs time to grow.

This is our ham getting ready to eat a hamburger!! Here we are at the Air and Space museum. It was a lot of fun and we all had fun...WHY...because I went up to the help desk and told the man I had 3 small boys...what do we need to see? He mapped out a great tour, they got to do lots of hand-on stuff and even touch a moon rock! Super cool!

Here's my super adorable Eli! He just woke up and was so happy. I totally love this kid!

Our Vacation!

Still Air and Space and I loved this. Zeke is such an awesome kid!
I totally love this picture!

This is when we were walking in DC in the sculpture garden(?)... again I'll have to ask Zeke... it was super cool! This is a metal tree! We touched it and, yes, it was super hot!

This is us trying to be artistic with the camera. But that tree was super cool!
So we walked from the Air and space museum to the American History Museum and the first thing we see...

Bam... C3PO! What!?! The boys were totally excited! I know you can't see it in the picture, but they were!

This was the coolest museum ever!!!! It was totally cool. I loved the First Ladies gowns and seeing Kermit the Frog! and looking at the kitchen where Julia Child could have cooked! It was all amazing! If you go, plan to spend a few hours there.

Our Vacation!

So this is still at the Museum of American History. I think this says a lot about our children.

Malachi who loves attention and thrives on being in the spotlight, would love being in front of cameras and smiling his super cute smile...

And then there's Zeke... nuff said!


I thought this was super funny! A dart board of L.B. Johnson and a voodoo doll of R. Reagan. Super fun. My favorite thing was the vote wall, which sadly I didn't get a picture of, but it was this wall of voting signs. Super fun to see what tactics they tried to get people out to vote. ;)


This was in the the Natural History Museum. We couldn't tear Eli away...

He was totally mesmerized by the fish.

This was at the end of day 3.

Our Vacation!

Here we are at the Virginia Air and Space Museum.

Zeke and Malachi thought it was the most awesome thing they had ever seen. They totally loved seeing all the planes up close. I have to admit...it was pretty awesome!

Zeke was totally soaking up all the information he could the whole time. He read almost every sign and was acting more giddy then ever before. He was in his element.


I love Zeke's face here, it's as if he's saying, "See mom. There are jet packs!" I told him that they hadn't really invented jet packs yet and he was sure he'd be able to buy one very soon. It was as if he'd won the argument!!

Malachi is such a ham! He thought this was a cool place, but really he was just posing for the camera. He is standing in front of a space-something-or-other. I'm sure Zeke can tell you exactly what it is.

We totally loved this! C3PO and R2D2! We were one lucky family!!!

We had such a great trip. Followed by getting all things in order to sell our house...which happened! Whew!!! It was tough, but all worked out wonderfully! We are super blessed. We have 3 wonderful boys who keep us on our toes and keep us laughing! They help us to see the world the way we should. :)

Stories and News

Well, we are moving. Yup, back to Winston-Salem. We're sad because we love it here and excited because it's a new adventure. Well we told the boys, but we weren't allowed to tell anyone else until they had announced it at work (which I have to say was the hardest thing Sam has ever had do), so we told the boys not to tell anyone . It was all fine and good utill Malachi's preschool teacher asked what he would like for snacks. His answer, "We're moving to Winstom-Salem"! I mean really, how did that happen?
So we've been without Sam for 3 weeks now and it's old! I'm so ready to be moved!
We went to see our new house today. It's super cute and the boys LOVED it. We also got to take a tour of Zeke's new school. It's really nice. We are excited all around.

So lately I've been trying to see God's and in my life and it's amazing! I'll just give you 3 of the many:

1. We had planned the Pinewood Derby for the 30 of January. All was preped, the boys (all 2 of them, 4 including the "amost 8's") had their cars ready, and what does it do the night before racing day? SNOW!!! I hate snow!!! It ruins everything! So I was so sad because, in the South, snow closes EVERYTHING! I knew we would have to cancel. But this was our last week we could do it. I just had a prayer in my heart that all would work out... and then the rain started. I know Heavenly Father sent that rain for me! Because He loves me and knows how important it was for me to be there. We had so many people show up! And a less active family that I've been working on for 6 months.

2. So I was so worried that we would never be able to move, because our house is never going to be done, and we just didn't feel right about renting an apartment or buying a house. So I looked one more time on Craigs List for something, and there was a house...in our price range...2 mins from the elementary school...in the area where we would like to buy...and super cute. I really saw His hand again.

3. OK ...so we went to Winston to see our house and new school and were on our way back. We stopped for dinner and I wasn't hungry, so I was just gonna get the boys food...then I saw the sign of a really yummy BBQ place and I thought, "I'll just get a sandwich". Got to the drive thru and first thing the lady said was,"we're out of BBQ". His hand again! I definantly DO NOT need that extra inches, He knew I would be sad later, so He fixed it.

I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what's best for me and helps me to see his way. Even if it means no bbq for me.