Sacajawea

About 5 minutes from my parents house

is the grave and memorial for Sacajawea.

Kyler had learned about her in school

and thought it was pretty cool to visit this site.

 

 

Look at the colors of this cemetery!

There were so many flowers and

colorful paintings on the headstones.

It was as pretty and happy as a cemetery ever could be.

It was lovely.

 

 

Sinks Slide

My dad went back to work
And so the boys, E, and I
headed back up Sinks Canyon
in search of the natural slide we had heard about.
It was only about a mile hike,
but the heat was getting to us
(I'm so not used to 90 degree weather anymore!).
We took it slow
and the chilly river water was very welcomed
for the most part.

 

 

We made it to our destination.
but unlucky for us,
because of the drought,
the waterfall was teeny tiny
compared to its normal size.
But it was still slideable.

Kacin and Kyler have no fear whatsoever.
They were hardly intimidated by the drop.

 

Eric hesitated, but took the first slide.

 

 

 And survived!

It was Kacin who gave us quite the scare.
It was terrifying for me to watch.
As he was making his way to a spot to slide down,
he slipped before he was ready
and as he went off the edge
he turned
and hit his forehead on the rock.
It was so lucky that he didn't knock himself out.
I was ready to jump in after him,
but he came up out of the water
and swam over to me.
He was slightly shook up and had a little bump,
but was rearing to go try it again.

 So here they went . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I never did do the slide.
If the water had been warmer
I definitely would have tried.
But I'm not a fan of freezing cold water.

It was beautiful there
and fun to have a natural waterpark to ourselves.

Pioneer

Once you spend seventeen hours in a car,
what's two more?
We decided since we were that close
we really should check out two of the
Mormon Pioneer sites.
No regrets on this one.
Three words kept coming to my mind
as we heard the stories of some amazing people
learned the history and interesting facts,
saw the landmarks,
and experienced a small piece of their journey:
strength, faith, and sacrifice.

 

Now I've heard countless lessons and stories
about pioneers before,
but this time it really sank in for me.
And a few weeks after this trip,
it took on a real life meaning.

It was the Sunday
two days before the kids would come into our home
and two days after we found out they were coming
and three days after Eric finalized a business trip
that would take him away from home for one week.
I was feeling rather concerned that Sunday.
I was sitting at church thinking about how Eric would be leaving me
less than a week after getting two young kids.
And we didn't know all of their needs.
And how in the world would I do it all
when we all know in the past it has been hard enough on me
on my own with our two energetic boys??
I was fretting.
Then I looked over at Kyler who was reading from the Friend magazine.
My eyes fell on the title and pictures of the story he was reading.
It was a pioneer story.
My mind was flooded with the stories I heard while in WY
and of the spirit of the pioneers
and their strength and faith and courage.
And I decided if those women could do that,
I could do this.
I could.
It would be hard, I was certain.
But unlike the pioneers,
I would have a cell phone to talk to E
a computer to skype
and
the convenience to run to a local fast food joint if I needed to.
I was comforted.
I was resolved,
well until the next wave of worry washed over me,
but I guess even then,
I was resolved
to just do it.
To just trust in the Lord and do it.

Thank you, pioneers, for the inspiration and courage
to face a challenge.

Survival

I survived one whole week with four kids
alone
with Eric on a business trip
from a Sunday to a Friday.

However, I only survived because
I prayed like crazy
and so many people were kind enough
to bring me meals,
text and call to check in on me,
take an older child of mine for two of the afternoons,
let me borrow strollers,
drop off a baby gate,
bring me flowers,
drive my son from soccer to pack meeting,
bring me homemade bread
and even load my dishwasher and clean my sink.

I can not even begin to express how very, very grateful I am
for all the support
in so many different ways.
It means so very much to me and to our whole family.

Eric is home now.
Most days are still considered successful
if we are all alive at the end of the day.
But we are figuring out routines
and all getting used to each other
so life is getting easier.
And I am glad of that.

I do think I've gained at least 5 pounds though.
My baby weight always seems to come
After the kids get here.
But that is because one of my necessities
to survive
these crazy days is mint Oreos.
That can do it to you.

Other things to note on week 3. . .
We are all in love with baby L.
She has the cutest smile.
She doesn't scream quite as much anymore
when Eric picks her up.
We are proud of the fact that she
has learned to wave, clap, high five, and sign "eat"
since she's been with us.
She's also getting much closer to walking.

D is a cutie.
How can you not adore his laugh?
He is a little tease and loves to play and tickle.
He loves music--
the piano, primary songs, and banging on everything like its a drum.
He sings and babbles happily to himself most of the day.
He will now mostly stay with me
and come upstairs, downstairs, or outside
when I need him to.
He is becoming quite successful at using a spoon
to feed himself applesauce.

Kyler and Kacin are both amazing big brothers.
They are extremely helpful.
Kacin loves helping with bath time.
Kyler loves to play with them.
And they both help to make sure the kiddos don't get into trouble.

Eric and I still wonder if we are crazy to be doing this.
I think we are.
But I do not doubt that this is what we are supposed to be doing.
And when you are asked to do something hard,
even at an already busy time of your life,
there's always a way to do it.
We are loving all these kids with all of our hearts
and trying to enjoy these moments
as best as we can.