New Jersey in a Nutshell

We went to New Jersey!  We were able to stay for 10 days and it was oh so fun!  

We went to NJ for a Bean reunion.  Logan grew up in Farmington, UT, and then in middle school his family moved to Annandale, NJ where they have been ever since.  Logan's parents were called into the temple presidency and have been temple workers at the Manhattan temple since November.  They will have the calling for three years, after which they plan to move west to follow their kids.  None of Logan's siblings live back east anymore so we don't get out there very often because Logan's parents, David and Natalie, come out so often.  Last time we went out there was when Elsy was 8 months old.  We realized this was our last time going to New Jersey while Logan's parents still owned the house so we knew we wanted to take lots of pictures and videos. 

I was sad to discover, on the very last day we were there, that my phone was in a bag full of water and was never to turn on again.  We lost a lot of photos and videos and I was devastated to have lost all the documentation of our last trip to Logan's home he grew so much in.  I have never been so grateful for my blog, because I have been updating my photos every week onto my blog so those, at least, were not lost for the last three months (which was when I last backed up my phone).  So we lost a lot of videos from the last three months which was sad, but I was mostly sad about our NJ trip.  Thankfully, Logan took lots of pictures and some videos from his phone and Logan's family has shared a lot of photos that they took as well.  So we were blessed in that way.  

Here are the photos we do have of the trip!  It was so fun, so HOT, so humid, so exciting, and just so nice to be with family!

Our family had the worst experience trying to buy flights to NJ.  We knew it was going to be expensive since we would have to buy four tickets so we planned, at the beginning of the year, to sign up for the Alaska credit card which allows you one companion fare of $99.  We both signed up for a card separately in order to ensure our kids both got that $99 companion fare.  Well, once we met the required spending amounts (which I was very careful and mindful of) we went online and bought Logan and Tommy each a ticket.  Then we signed out and signed into my account only to discover that I had not qualified for the companion fare and would have to pay full price for Elsy's ticket as well! Yuck!  That was like $700 and I was like, oh no way.  So we contacted Alaska and the lady said I did qualify for it and she would send me a new card, but I would have to start all over spending wise I think is what she said and it would take about a month to update my account?  Ugh.  So we waited and things just didn't work out.  By the time we finally bought mine and Elsy's tickets the prices had gone up to about $850/ticket and we had to pay full price for both of them!  Ew!  Logan and I were just sick about it for days.  I was pretty upset because flights through other airlines were a ton cheaper by like $200 a ticket but we couldn't switch and blah blah blah it was yucky and we spent so much money on flights it was insane.  All right before Tommy broke his arm.  I think we wouldn't have gone to NJ if we hadn't bought the tickets before that.  So I guess that was a tender mercy that we bought them when we did.  Yikes.

But once we had the tickets we did our best to just throw the thoughts of med bills and what nots under the rug and just have a fun vacation.  And we did!  The kids were amazing on the flight.  Because of storms in NJ we had a 3.5 hour delay which had me stressed about bed times and things.  Thankfully both of the kids played for a while on the flight and then both fell asleep!  It was amazing.  Logan and I took turns playing Breath of the Wild on the switch and reading a book he got me for my birthday called "Understanding Temple Symbols through Scripture, History, and Art" by Jack M. Lyon.  We both really loved it and it has opened my eyes to a lot of really cool things about the temple.  I highly recommend getting it, I might be giving it to everyone on my Christmas list. Hehe!

We finally crawled into our beds around 4am NJ time.  It was a long day but we all got to sleep in!  It took a few days for everyone to feel settled on the new time zone (3 hours different than our own) but it all worked out!  

The very first morning I saw these guys sitting on the back porch.  I am so grateful I took this picture with Logan's phone and not mine or it would have been lost.  It is so special to me because I have a picture of Logan and I sitting in that very spot from when I came out to visit him when we first started dating.  Haha, he was even wearing that same shirt in the picture, only that shirt has graduated to just a pj shirt now.  It was so special for me to see these two little humans I love so much sitting in a spot where we did way before they were even a thought in my mind.  

For the reunion Logan's dad rented a big 15 passenger van for us all to ride in.  Every one of us fit in the van except for Gordon's family.  The van was in pristine condition when we got it at the beginning of the week and by then end I had to laugh as we cleaned it out to return it.  It was full of sand, goldfish, wrappers, little socks, books, water bottles, and more.  It served it's purpose very well I would say.

On our first day we did a major Costco trip.  Since Logan's parents are mostly living in an apartment in Manhattan, we needed lots of food for the Annandale house.

Elsy and Ella giggled non-stop.  In fact, that whole first day my kids were just big, spazmatic crazies.  I think it was the lack of sleep and the time change.  The second day they were both pretty cranky and then by the third day things were pretty normal.

We got a family photo in on one of the first days.  I am so glad we did.  I personally am not a fan of taking family photos, although I do understand it's importance and it is fun figuring out outfits.  It has just gotten more and more complicated as we all have more and more kids.  We did family photos with my family in June and then with Logan's on the trip.  It was nice to get it out of the way in the beginning!  And the pictures turned out fantastic.  We took them at the Clinton Town historic mill and we all agreed it was the perfect spot for the last 'hurrah' in New Jersey.  It is a place that we have all loved to go visit and see out there so it is perfect to have it memorialized in the photo.

Later that night, since the kids were still on Washington time, we stayed up late to go and see the fireflies down by the river.  It was so beautiful and the kids loved them.  It was fun going back to all the places Logan took me when we first started dating.  This was my fourth trip out to NJ and there have been so many fun and adventurous outings there.

We went back to the river in the day time for a walk.  Grandpa Bean warned us all of the poison ivy and we were careful to keep the kids on the trails.  We caught a little frog and all the kids thought that was really neat.  Little Dallin grabbed it up so fast!

And of course when we saw a snake I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch it. :)  When my dad was young he wanted to be a herpetologist, someone who studies reptiles and amphibians.  He used to take us kids out frog and snake catching in the evenings on Snively Road when I was little.  We always had frogs and snakes and lizards that we would catch and keep in the ice chest.  Then we would release them about a week later.  My poor mom hated it all but she finally gave in to my begging and let me get a California mountain king snake for my birthday.  He was beautifully ringed in red, black, and yellow and I used to let it crawl through my hair while I did my homework.  I fondly named him Fluffy and we would trick the missionaries when they came to visit by asking them if they wanted to hold our pet Fluffy.  I still remember one elder who ran straight out of the house, but by the end of his transfer finally took a picture of himself holding it with big work gloves on so he didn't have to touch it.

I didn't know what kind of snake this was so we looked it up before I caught it, I didn't know the native snakes to the area.  It turned out to be a harmless rat snake so I grabbed him up.  Logan's dad was the only one who would touch the tail but nobody else seemed interested.... hmmm. Haha!  Logan told me I was taking unnecessary risks.  And we had a good laugh.  I don't care if he doesn't like snakes, they are a part of my heritage. :P

We had a lot of down time at the house where the kids got to just spend time with their cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles that they don't always get to see that often.

Most of the days they played in the front room like this.  They all got along so well!

Logan's parents had bought an inflatable pool for the kids and they played in it almost every single day, sometimes several times a day.  It was so hot there!  I kept thinking, "Man, I stink!"  But no matter how many showers or how much deodorant I used I just couldn't beat the humidity.

Gordon and Sarah brought water balloons and the kids had a blast running through the hose.

We spent an afternoon going through all Logan's and his sibling's storage boxes of memories and decided on the things we wanted to take home.  That was a lot of fun!  Logan found some old memory cards and we watched some old videos from when he was in high school and we even found an old binder with homework in it.

Let me just say that one of the things I may miss most about NJ is the Fudge Shope.  Seriously.  I have yet to find better chocolate anywhere.  Their chocolate covered fresh fruit is unparalleled by any other.  We also always get chocolate covered gummy bears there. Oh yum.  We just ate the last one today.  So sad.  I told the kids they could have any piece of chocolate in the whole store that they wanted.  Guess what they decided on? A bag of gummy worms.

I always forget until I hear the first train, but behind Logan's house, on the very edge of their property is a railroad track that is frequented by trains several times a day.  There is an intersection close by so they always blast their horn when they are directly behind the house.  Some could say it is annoying but it just becomes part of the house and I kind of like it.  The kids had a hard time the first night but after a while they thought it was so exciting every time they heard a train clickity-clacking down the rails.

Natalie showed Elsy all kinds of fun things.  One day I couldn't find Elsy and I found her in the master bedroom with Grandma.  Natalie had a little drawer with old and cherished baby toys from when her kids were babies and she and Elsy were looking through them together.  Elsy was having so much fun!  I hope she is able to remember this trip.  I know Tommy wont really, but I hope Elsy does.

And of course the kids had a lot of fun with Grandpa as well!  He took them on lawn mower rides and they went out and picked blackberries and winesap berries (soooo sour! I had never had them before!)  I am bummed because all my pictures and videos of them on the lawn mower were all lost.

Logan found his old ukulele.  Something I love about that house is there are all kinds of instruments in it.  The kids especially loved the drums they have in the living room.

While we were there I found a book called "The Hiding Place:  The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom".  Natalie has asked me on a few different occasions if I have read the book, which I haven't.  I had started to think I wasn't truly a Bean unless I read the book haha! -  which is one of Natalie's favorites.  So when I saw it and realized I finally had time to read a book I just devoured it.  And you know what, it could possibly be one of my new favorites as well.  What an amazing story of a woman and her family's work to help save Jews during WWII.  It was a very powerful story and got me thinking a lot about how I can better be of service to those in my community.  I am still researching opportunities in my area, but if you have any suggestions, I would be glad to hear them!

Each of the cousins took a turn with a 12 hour fever, except maybe little Dallin.  Both of my kiddos woke up from naps on Wednesday with fevers.  As always Elsy had 102 but Tommy just had a 99.  He has a way better immune system I think.  Lukily it only lasted a few hours and they were totally fine the next morning (which was good because that was our New York day!).

While we were there we had some yummy food!  Logan's dad went to Spain on his mission and he always makes us the yummiest paella!  Pair that with Logan's cottage loaf bread and you have a perfect meal.

On Thursday we did a New York day trip.  We all piled into the big white van and drove about an hour into the big city.

Oh my, it was hot there too.  We drove straight in to see Logan's parent's apartment, which is a high rise connected to the temple there.  It was such a sweet and quaint little place.  Lucky for them it is right next to Central Park so we headed over there and let the kids climb on the rocks and then we headed to the carousel.

Again, I am so sad I lost my photos.  But we do have one of Logan and Tommy!



And Jen, Hiatt's fiance, took a few pictures as well.  Elsy still tells me her favorite part of the whole trip was getting to ride the merry-go-round.

Elsy wanted to hold Jen's hand the whole trip.  We are heading to Utah for Hiatt and Jen's wedding next weekend.  We are so excited to have her be a part of our family and get to know her better!

After the carousel we stopped at a splash pad and let the kids get cooled off!  Us adults ended up sticking our legs in as well though because dang, it was so hot and humid!

After the splash pad we went to the apartment to have lunch and put the kids down for naps.  The real reason we came to NYC was to do a temple sealing session together as a family in the temple where David and Natalie spend so much of their time now.  It was so special to get to do that with everyone.  The temple was so quiet that day and I felt like we had almost the whole temple to ourselves.  After the session we all were able to sit in the celestial room as a family alone.  I thought that was so special. Sadly Gordon and Sarah couldn't make it because of scheduling problems and we couldn't have missed them more!  

After the temple we all changed back into our street clothes and headed off to our last outing, which was the Natural History Museum.  I just absolutely love museums and I could probably have spent a week in there.  Tommy was amazed at the elephants and the kids loved seeing the bugs and especially the ocean animals.  Elsy and Tommy are super into Octonauts and they know so much about ocean creatures now.  Elsy was especially excited to see red urchins and a kelp forest (which was just a window display)  I was pretty proud of her for know what they were without me telling her.  But of course, their absolute favorite part was the dinosaurs.

Before we left, David took us to the top of the apartment building, which is like 36 or 38 floors (I can't remember) up and we could see what felt like all of New York City.  It was a huge view!  And from one side we could look down on the angel Moroni on the temple, which was kind of a fun perspective on the temple.  No, I did not let the kids go up there!  I am so so SO afraid of heights and I got dizzy looking over the edge and had to stay in the middle after that.

Here we are, walking to the car at the end of the day.  Logan was being dramatic for the photo but I think it is safe to say after all we crammed in that day we all felt like that.

Friday was a nice, quiet, and restful day.  We went to the Amish market to get the yummiest pretzels I have ever had before.  So I guess I will miss that place to, besides the Fudge Shope.  Tommy's face says it all.  They were absolutely delightful.

At the market there are so many fun and wonderful things to eat and try.  There is also a gift shop type section full of handmade things.  I was on the lookout to find something we could bring home as a keepsake from the Amish market since that too was a family tradition.  We ended up finding a candy cane jingle bell for Christmas time. :)

Gordon and Sarah flew out Friday evening and right before they left we did a pinata!  We were celebrating Gordon's birthday that week so we finished it off with a fun activity.  The poor little kids could barely put a dent in it so Aunt Rachel stepped in and gave it some good wallops.

Saturday was our last day in NJ so we headed to the Jersey Shore!  Oh it was so wonderful.  I grew up my whole life going to the Oregon Coast, which has a much more scenic coast line, but it is way to cold to really enjoy the beach the way a beach should be enjoyed.  The weather was hot, the water was cool, and the mix of the two was perfect.   I wish I had a picture of Logan and all his siblings out in the waves!  I finally went out there, but lets be honest, I have watched way to much Shark Week in my lifetime and my anxious tendencies do not go well with deep water.  Not long after I came back, Holly came in too claiming something quite large swam between her legs.  So that was the end of that for her and I! Haha!

I was content to sit in a low beach chair in a big puddle of water.  Logan, Holly, and Jacob dug a little kiddie pool for the kids and they spent a long time gathering clam shells.  Elsy also spent a long time with Marshall building a sand castle, but that photo was also lost. :(

Thankfully I sent this picture, and the next one to my family (to brag about our great day at the beach).  So these two photos were the only photos I personally took of the day at the beach and I was glad I was able to pull them from from the conversation later.  Oh how I love those two little babies of mine.  My heart could just burst.

And I sure do love this guy too.  We are such good friends.  In three days it is our 6th Anniversary.  Wow, we have done and gone through so much together.

So, the downside to the Jersey Shore is the horse flys.  Oh my, those are painful!  We all got bit more than once I would think.  And poor Elsy, we forgot to spray her back!  And if you look right under her eyes and on the right of her nose we missed a few spots.  Poor girl!  The next day when we flew she couldn't wear her backpack because it hurt to much. :(

Goodbyes were hard!  We were so sad to go.  The one thing really driving me home was getting to sleep in our cozy bed with our new sheets instead of an air mattress.  Thankfully, we get to see everyone again next week for the wedding.   I am so grateful the world is smaller now, that we can travel farther, see people through technology, that sort of thing.  I just can't imagine how hard it must have been back in the day when goodbye really was forever.

Our flight was again un-eventful.  The kids again slept on the airplane and I did a little too.  Flying is so uncomfortable guys.

And here we are!  We made it to our destination, home!  The one thing that was just so nice walking off the airplane was the complete lack of humidity.  I felt like I could breath real, true fresh air again.

So here is a little something I learned after my trip.  I always hear about people who travel sharing the gospel with the person they sit next to on the airplane or giving away a Book of Mormon.  I have been wanting to be better at sharing my testimony with others so I packed a BOM in my flight bag and carried it with me all week and on the flight home.  

I ended up sitting next to this really kind Korean fellow who was so polite when Elsy had to go to the bathroom like 3 times in an hour.  The whole time I though, "I should talk to him!" but he had his headphones in and I didn't want to like, pull them out and say "Hi!!!"  So, I did what everyone does and that is not talk to him until we are on final decent and you can talk because it is only going to have to be about a 10 min conversation and that isn't to bad or awkward, right?  So in those last few minutes I discovered he was going to Issaquah, which is where we live, on a bushiness trip to Costco Headquarters, which is like 5 min from us!  He told me how long he would be in town and even showed me the address of where he was going. 

After I got off the plane I couldn't get over how coincidental it was with out of how many thousands of places for him to be going in Seattle, he was actually going exactly where we were going.  So I thought about it for a few days and I just couldn't help but think it must have been meant to be.  So I skipped playgroup and dragged my kids to the church book store a few days after we landed,  got him a BOM (I looked for a Korean BOM but the didn't have one) and a chocolate (just in case he didn't like the BOM), wrote him what I thought was a really nice little letter, and drove up to Costco Headquarters (which is actually like a campus really).  I was really nervous at first but once I started my mission I was dead set and I knew that if I was willing to sacrifice my entire morning and be willing to do this, then God would provide a way for me to find him.  I felt like a real missionary, doing things way out of my comfort zone but doing it in the name of God.

I marched into the main entrance with my kids in tow and walked up to the receptionist fellow and said something like, "This may sound like a weird request, but I met a kind fellow on a flight and he said he was going on a business trip here.  He was a really kind guy so I bought him a book for his flight home, the only problem is I didn't catch his name.  Could you help me out?"  Okay, guys, I am so naive.  It didn't even once cross my mind that I might come across as a stalker lady that fell in love with a Korean fellow I sat next to on the plane, but the receptionist didn't miss a beat.  "He must have been some guy!" he said.  My face got really hot and I tried to laugh it off.  I said, "Oh no, I'm married, he was just a nice guy." but that, too, came out wrong I think.  The receptionist smiled and gave me a look like, that doesn't mean anything, you totally have a crush and are looking for some excitement.  I thought, "Buddy, if that were the case I would not have shown up with two children wearing the grunge hair and outfit of the century."  Which I should have said but was just to embarrassed and felt like I couldn't say anything anymore.  He sent me to a lady who tried to help me track down a "New Jersey Korean who was there on business from Samsung" but she too, seemed to think I wanted to get a hold of the fellow, not just hand him a book.  Ugh.  I left absolutely humiliated.

I took the kids out back of the campus (where there is a man made lake with a walkway all around) and let them ride their bikes while I kind of stormed around the lake feeling embarrassed and upset.  For one, why can't people just be kind to someone without it seeming like infidelity?!  But also, hadn't I acted in faith and been willing to do so much? How come I wasn't successful?  It took me a while of walking to finally figure out what I think I was supposed to figure out.  And that was this:

I realized, 'Look how much you were willing to do to anonymously give someone a Book of Mormon so that you wouldn't actually have to have a conversation!" I realized I could have just reached down and handed him a BOM on the airplane! So simple! So easy!  But I was to worried about what he would think of me or how it would come across. (I also didn't want it to come across insincere and preachy) Instead, I gave up an entire morning to do something so I didn't have a face.  I realized this was a lesson I needed to learn.  That I need to have courage in the moment, and not regrets that drive me to do things out of guilt rather than a spiritual prompting.  

Later that day I told my mom and sisters over the phone and we all laughed and laughed at how it all played out and it felt good to laugh about it, oh I was so embarrassed.  And then when Logan got home I told him about it and cried and cried and it felt good to cry about it.  I was grateful that I have people in my life who can help me laugh about things but also let me cry about things.  I am grateful I feel safe enough with Logan to be able to share those experiences with him and that he lets me feel what I need to feel.

I kept my Book of Mormon, wrapped in brown paper and string, in my diaper bag.  Hopefully I will find someone someday that I can have the courage to say to them, "Here is something that makes me happy.  I want to share my happiness with you and this is the best way I know how.  Here is a Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ". 

Happy Birthday America

We had a spectacular last two weeks and are looking forward to another fun one, starting Friday.  We were able to go visit my family for the 4th of July, the sun has shined the entire week here in Seattle, and we are heading to New Jersey in two days!  Oh how I love summer time.

We have been busy these last few weeks as well!  Logan finally gave in to my hints of wanting a bunk bed for our kids.  He drew up some plans and had it made in two weeks.  It would have taken less time I think but we went out of town for five days of that soooo....

Tommy spent his last night in his crib! It was a sad occasion.  We took it to my parents house to store in their garage until we have another.  A part of me didn't want him to get out of his crib because that would mean he is no longer a baby.  But, I also needed him to practice before we traveled the next few weeks so he wouldn't get out of his bed when we go to NJ!  I have always told Logan I want three things to happen with Tommy before we have another kid.  I want him potty trained, in a toddler bed, and no longer sucking on a pacifier.  I just didn't want to deal with all that like I did when he was a baby and transitioning Elsy out of those three things was hard when I was already not getting much sleep with a baby.  So we are knocking down the first check-box!

He has taken to his toddler bed like a champ.  He still stays in it, as if it still had walls around and he can't get out until I come get him.  I remember Elsy did that too.... until she discovered there were none.  Yikes!  Then it got rough.  I will just be grateful for now.  Although, this morning was the first morning two kids greeted me at my bedside instead of just one.  Elsy apparently decided to wake Tommy up and let him 'out'.

We went to Tri-Cities and it was a much quieter weekend than I have ever had there, I think.  Sharee had moved to Texas, Leisha's in-laws were in town, Lenise was in Utah teaching at EFY, Kelsy just got married, and Riley was at EFY.  So a lot of the time it was just us, my parents, and Carl.

Tommy let my dad give him a back rub.

It wasn't completely dead, we still had a lot of fun!  My little baby brother turned 18!  I can't beleive it.  He was just a little kiddo when I left for college.

But Logan can still whop on him.  We watched Amazing Grace on Sunday night, Logan really loves that movie, and after these two got a little restless.  My mom and I sat on the sidelines and watched them wrestle until they were both exhausted.  Logan is 5'8" and Carl is 6' 2" and Logan still got him pretty good. Haha!

Tommy has always loved playing with older boys but has usually gotten into quite a few tiffs with kiddos his own age.  He has finally started warming up to the idea of playing with younger friends.  Asher and Tommy, while they still did fight a bit, had a lot more fun together this trip.

We pulled the bouncy horse out of the garage and washed it down.  Once it was inside, Tommy didn't want to get off!  He named it Kit, after my horse on Zelda, and became very concerned with his well being for the week.  The first thing he said when he woke up in the morning, "I have to go wake up Kit!"  And of course he would have to feed him.  I would hear him downstairs saying, "Ya! Giddy-ya!"

We went to my Grandma Merkley's ward 4th of July breakfast.

And then after went to the river where we got to go jet skiing!  Since you have to have a licence in Washington and I haven't gotten mine yet, Logan had to take us each out one by one.  The kids were so excited.  The last couple of nights when I ask Tommy what his favorite part of today was when we are talking before he goes to sleep, he says, "Jet skiing."  Haha!  It must have made an impact.

Here we are, just hanging around the house!  The kids followed Carl and his big tall cousins around.  Watching them play Mario Kart was a big event while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Later on we got out the sparklers!  Elsy and Tom had a blast until a spark fell on Elsy's foot.  At that point she started to get really nervous and anxious about the fireworks.  She finally broke down and just cried and finally said, "Why do we have to have fireworks on the 4th of July!?"



Logan and I got to sit and talk with her for a while and explain to her about the wars and the cannons and guns that made sounds and then explaining to her about how we became free because of the wars and we are free to go to church and believe in God.  She slowly started to catch the vision and she relaxed and was able to really enjoy the fireworks once they started.  I am continually amazed at how slowing down and explaining things to my kids turns their attitude around and calms them down.



My parents live in West Richland where areal fireworks are legal.  The year they became legal our neighbor kind of went nuts.  He spends thousands and thousands of dollars and puts on an amazing show.  It took a few years for people to find out but now I think half the town shows up.  We are lucky to have a back yard fence that opens right up to the show.  We rope off our property so people wont park in the way and then let all our friends and family in haha!  Last year he hired a fire breather to do a pre-show.  They do music that matches the fireworks on big speakers.  It really is an amazing show and you get to be so close.  The kids were just amazed.  It is always short, but it is just perfect for us.

My dad let us borrow some ear phones for the kids.

So fun!  And we just took the kids straight into the house after and put them to bed.  Simple. ;)

When we got back, this was our house for about three days.  Logan put the bunk bed together so I could paint it, and it takes me a lot longer to make progress than Logan because I had to wait until the kids were asleep so they wouldn't touch the paint.  I had to go back and get more paint like three times... soon to be four because we still haven't painted the ladder.

Two of my bestest friends are moving in the next few weeks, Andrea and Laura.  I may have already cried about it.  We are trying to get as much time in with them as we can.  Andrea got a Groupon to the Funtastic Playtorium for 4 kids for a buck.  She asked us to come along and the kids had a blast.  This was the only non-blurry picture I got.  I have a picture of Elsy in this thing from a year ago.  Her legs are so much longer!

On Saturday we finally were able to put our house back together!  It was so nice to have a clean house and Elsy not sleeping on the toddler cot anymore (because she was waiting for her bed to be finished).  We re-arranged their room and we finally have a 'girl side' and 'boy side' decoration wise.  The boy side isn't done yet but I'll send a picture when it is.  I was so pleased that the book case actually fit under the bunk bed.  Logan also put some shelves on the end for me and it is perfect for storing all those toys that have nowhere to go.

Since there was leftover wood, Logan built the kids a treasure chest!  They kept carrying around his Pelican case that he stores his lights in and he decided they needed something of their own.  They love it and have been keeping the scriptures in it. :)

Elsy gave a talk on Sunday.  It was so fun and turned out great.  It was on keeping the commandments.  This is what she said:

At my house I like to play with super hero paper dolls.
My little brother also plays with some.
Super heros have powers to make them strong.
I may not be a super hero, but I can get special powers when I keep the commandments.
The scriptures tell us of real super heroes.
I can eat healthy food like Daniel.
I can have faith like Peter.
I can pray like Enos.
I can share the gospel like Abinadi.
I can read the scriptures like Joseph Smith.
When I try to be like the scripture super heroes by keeping the commandments I become more like the Savior and I have a special power inside.

She held up the super hero paper dolls I made for the kids a few months ago (I just printed off the super heroes, colored them, and laminated them, if you want to make some let me know and I will send you a link to the document, although I don't think I can post it for copyright purposes because I copy and pasted a lot of them haha).  And she held a corresponding picture for each of the prophets.  My favorite part when she gave it was at the end.  Right in the middle of the last sentence she turned to me, big blushing cheeks, and said, "I have to go potty!" right into the microphone.  I realized she hadn't gone all morning since she woke up!  We quickly ended and she ran out the door with Logan.  We all got a little giggle in and it makes for a great story.

I know I am always saying this but I just love how great of friends my kids are.  The like to get the grapes out and sit on the couch and chat while they eat them.

I got out of the shower yesterday and came into my room and found two little heads peeping out of the pillows on our bed.  They were playing back there.  So cute!!  They do know how to have a good fight, but they mostly just love to run all over the house, shouting and yelling whilst wielding swords and jamming out to intense movie theme music.

Tommy and Nora are such good friends and I am so sad they will no longer be together.  Tommy's closest friend that is his age is Nora.  The other day when she came over to play he ran up to her and they gave each other a big bear hug.

We went to Lake Sammamish this afternoon with the Carruths to play in the water and sand.

Elsy sat on the edge of the blanket the whole time to dig.  She is such a priss and doesn't like to get messy.  She finally figured out it would be fun to get dirty right before it was time to leave.

Logan and I were so proud of ourselves today.  We have been wanting to wake up early for such a long time to get stuff done before the kids wake up, but it is hard when your kids are finally sleeping in to 7am to not want to sleep in with them.  Today we finally did it, we woke up early!  Logan got up and was able to record two tutorials and went to work early so he could come early and do more recording.  He also made us a yummy dinner.  I was able to study my scriptures, do dishes, fold laundry, work out, sell my couch pillows (finally!), drop stuff off at Value Villiage, get gas,  and still have Issac over to play with Elsy and then go to the lake!  We did baths and bed time and are now sitting together on the couch watching Cooked while eating chocolate ice cream with a clean house around us.  We are pretty pleased with ourselves, and I think we got kick started by waking up that hour earlier than the kids.  Yay!  I hope we can keep it up.... while I know it has only been one day haha.

I think of everything, though, my favorite thing about today was lunch time.  We have been reading The Friend magazine while we eat most days and it helps remind me to teach my kids and facilitate another part of our day into an opportunity to feel the Spirit.  Today we read about a missionary experience in The Friend.  Elsy has been increasingly concerned and confused by why some people don't believe in Christ.  Again, I was grateful for promptings from the Holy Ghost to me.  She asked again yesterday and I didn't quite know how to answer her simply.  So I prayed about it last night and felt prompted to explain to her about how some people just don't know, while a lot of other people just forget about him.  So today at lunch we all talked about that.  How it is easy to forget about Jesus and we talked about the importance of saying prayers, reading our scriptures, and going to church and how those things remind us of Him.  And if we stop doing those things, we can forget about Him and stop believing.  I could tell both of the kids felt something as we talked about it.  They were both listening and that was special.  We even stopped to try and feel the Holy Ghost and I asked if they could feel anything and both kids excitedly said, "YES!"  I felt it too.  It's always hard to get Tommy engaged but this is something he loves.

PS, if you have Netflix you should watch Cooked, its so good and now we want to have a pig farm. Hehe!

We have another busy day tomorrow, getting ready to go to New Jersey.  So excited to see that side of the family!

Between Vacations

Well, the kids are in bed and I did a little online shopping so now it is time to settle in and write a little update on our family!

The last two weeks have just been really chill for us... I mean me... Logan has been super busy and I feel a little helpless at home because I want to help him but there are some things that are just out of my expertise and ability.  So for now I will resort to trying to make sure the house is clean so he can come home to a non-chaotic place.  

We really have had not much to do these days.  I cleaned out the closets and all the kids clothes, scrubbed the bathrooms, and have been working hard to keep up on the dishes after every meal (instead of just leaving them all until the kids are in bed... yikes!).  It has helped keep me busy when not much is going on.

We went to the last playgroup at the church before Park Days started.  We were the only ones there for a while.  Tommy and Elsy rode their bikes in laps at said they were riding motorcycles.  They pretended to be racing in Mario Kart and Elsy was Peach and Tommy was Link.  They would pump their arms up and down and say, "I won! I won!" or my favorite was when Elsy would pretend to loose she would cover her face with her head and shake her head in shame.

My mom unearthed these pictures from the Volmer Family Reunion last year at the Oregon Coast.  They were to cute not to share.  

I am so sad we don't get to go to the Oregon Coast this year.  It is my favorite place to travel to with my family.  I have only missed going there once since I was born.  Logan's brother, Hiatt, is getting married though so we will make an exception. ;)  We are really excited to get to go to Utah this summer for that!  Hmm.. I am realizing we don't have outfits for that yet... maybe time for more online shopping! ;)

Logan lets me have Thursday nights to myself, it is my night off.  We started doing this a while back and it has been so nice for me, I had no idea.  I often go shopping or hang out with some friends or whatever!  It is great.  I went to Old Navy and bought the kids some clothes, sadly they didn't fit.  I decided to drag them both there to find them summer clothes that actually fit.  It didn't go very well.  But we made it out alive.

Here is Tommy throwing his cast away!  HOORAY!!!  His arm has been healing really well.  We are trying to do little exercises with him but its hard to keep him engaged.  The other night I was praying to know what to do and I got the idea to put stickers on his chest and have him take them off with his 'owie arm'.  He has been doing well getting it straightened out (it is so close to being all the way straight!) but he still struggles with bending it.  We are working our way to having him be able to touch his shoulder.  The sticker game has been going well and it is fun enough for him that he wants to do it. After just three nights of that I am already being able to tell a difference.  I am so grateful that God answers even our smallest prayers sometimes.

Say "Cheese!"

Tommy and Elsy have been running around the house in their slippers lately saying they are ice skating in the kitchen as they slide around.  Then they run over and put on their sandals and flip flops and call them their "Ice-Climes" and try to climb up the slide we have with their slippery sandals on.  They are just full of imagination these days!

We have really been struggling with family scripture reading.  Not that we don't do it, just that it is a constant battle in our home.  The kids just don't want to sit still!  We have tried the picture scriptures, reading to them straight from the Book of Mormon, showing them pictures and explaining stories ... My cousin Alicia told us that she had her kids each read a verse (they are my kids ages... plus one younger!).  We decided to try it out and we read and they each get a turn repeating it back.  What a difference it has made!!  They are both engaged and are 'stuck' listening to our explanations because they aren't done reading yet.  The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard the kids talking to one another.  I stopped to look and Elsy and Tommy had the Book of Mormon out and Tommy was repeating after Elsy.  "And it came to pass..." "Came to pass..."  "That Lehi had a dream..." "Hi had a deem..." "To move to da wilderness..." etc.  

I have started working on my car mat again.  I started making Tommy a mat with roads on it out of felt to give to him last Christmas.  You know the kind the kids drive their little cars on?  Anyway, I am still working on it.  It is hard for me to work on it because every time the kids are around they want to play with it so I can't work on it or Elsy wants to help... which includes her pulling the needle through every stitch which makes for a long process.  I decided this week to teach Elsy to hand sew for herself.  She loved it and caught on so quick!

The sun has been coming out in patches of two days or so and then going away.  We finally had a sunny day so we went to the big slide park in the Highlands for a picnic.  You can't see very well but Tom is at the top and Elsy is on her way down.  I settled down to read a book and we all got a little color to our skin finally!

I just love to read, but lately I don't.  My problem is I can't put a book down once I start and that is problematic when you have motherly duties to attend to.  I bought this book for myself, The Witnesses by Stephanie Black, during my surgery but it didn't come in the mail until after I was done being bed ridden.  I finally started it and, yep, read it late into the night and all day until it was done.  It was a pretty good book, nothing to amazing or anything, I just really get into books! Haha!

We had a ward BBQ at the Montagues!  It was so HOT! We were all sticky with sweat and bursting with food by the end.  Especially the kids since they had Cheetos and doughnuts for dinner. (Eyes rolling).

Elsy and Tommy have been in a fantasy world for many many days now.  Tommy is Link, Elsy is Maui, and they both call me Moana, not Mom anymore, at least when they are playing their never ending game.  They keep laying down like this together and then racing into our room and jumping on the bed (which is the boat).  They bring stuffed animals to protect with their swords - a red one (the flame sword) and a blue one (the ice sword).  If they kill anyone with the ice sword the flame one brings them back to life and visa versa.  Tonight we were listening to the 'bad guy songs' from the Moana soundtrack (which is just the background music for the movie) and they were running around shouting and screaming.  I wonder what life is like for them inside their heads.  It seems stressful to always be on the look out for bad guys...

While cleaning out the closets I found the big tub of moon sand I made for the kids.  Tommy calls it snow.  I let them play with it one last time before I threw it all away.  It was just to messy.  But I learned from last time and I stripped the both down before letting them play in it (It is just flour and baby oil).  They had a blast... until they started throwing it. :(  Poor Tommy got it all in his eyes and cried and cried.  So i stripped them down even further, rubbed them off, put on their swim suits and took them to the pool for a 'bath'.  I am sure I would have gotten in trouble if anyone knew how much flour was underneath their suits. ;)

We have been working on obedience and both kids had a sticker chart.  They got a sticker if they did things the first time I asked them.  They both decided to go to the pool when their charts were done.  I love it when they pick something we already planned to do anyway!  Only today they both finished their charts and it was the coldest day of the week.  So when I took them for their 'baths' we just stayed in the hot tub.

Look at those precious squinty eyes and those little fingers!  I just love miniature hands of little kids.  I love seeing them do things that adult hands do, but just in miniature form.  A few months ago we checked out "The Kissing Hand" from the library.  I had never heard of it, but we all fell in love with it.  Its about a little raccoon who goes to school for the first time and his mom gives him a kiss in his palm and whenever he gets lonely he is supposed to press it to his cheek.  Anyway, almost every day when Logan leaves to work Elsy runs to him and gives him a little kiss in his palm.

While she can be a sweet, sweet thing we have also been having an increasing number of battles with this little girl.  She is quick to ignite and slow to cool off.  The obedience chart was helping a lot, but the instant it was filled she was back to her tantrums.  I think I need to start a new chart in the morning...

The other night as I was rocking Tommy before bed, Logan sat next to Elsy talking.  I had to stop for a second and listen because I didn't know what he was saying.  He was talking to her in Spanish and I had to smile.  Tommy jumped off my lap and ran to Logan to listen.  Both of the kids just giggled and thought it was the funniest thing.  After that Elsy started talking in gibberish super fast.  She sounded a little like a chicken.  Tommy, Elsy's mini-me, followed suit.  They gibber-jabbered to each other back and forth for the rest of bed time.

Look at this darling little boy!  I just can NOT give him enough kisses, and he seems fine with receiving them so I will keep giving them until he grows out of it... and then still might anyway.

Tommy loves to talk in silly voices, I know I have mentioned before.  Sometimes he talks in a high pitched, puppy sounding voice and other times it is a deep, growly voice.  Often times when he does this we will ask, "Tommy are you a puppy?" or something along those lines.  He always stops us and says, "No, I'n just a Tommy boy."

However, the last few days, whenever I call for him to do anything, "Tommy come get dressed" or "Tommy come sit up!" he says "No! I'n LINK!"

We have been reading the friend during lunch time and we were talking about the celestial kingdom the other day.  (I like reading from the friend because it brings up topics I never thought to teach the kids about!).  As we talked about it I told them about how they will be kings and queens and Elsy seemed to like that.  She asked, "Mom, since heaven is way up in the sky, what do we stand on?"  She is such a thinker, just like her dad and I love it.

I said to Elsy, "Do you want to go to heaven?" and she said, "Yes!".  Then I turned to Tommy and said, "Tommy do you want to go to heaven with me?" and he said in his growly, grumpy voice, "No! I wanna go a grandma's house!"  I guess that would be heaven to him. Haha!

Logan has been working hard this week building us a bunk bed for the kids room!  Really, it is more of a platform bed that Elsy will be sleeping on with the toddler bed underneath for Tommy.  He is old enough to be out of the toddler bed now I think.  He is to big for a pack n play now so when we travel he won't be confined.  I am worried about not getting any sleep on our vacations so I want to teach him to stay in his bed before we go on vacation.  Logan is getting close to being done and then we need to paint it and it will be all set!

One of the other reasons I want Tom in a toddler bed is so I can reach him better and give him kisses when he is sleeping!  Every night before I go to bed I go check in on my babies, re-tuck them in, give them little kisses, watch them while their are peaceful.  They are both growing up way to fast!  And I can't ever lean down and give my baby boy a kiss because of the bars in the way.  So I am excited to have him out of there... although now that I think of it, Elsy being up high will now just make it hard for me to reach her now.  Darn.

Last night as I went in to give my babies kisses I had to sit down in the rocking chair in there and have a good cry.  They are both growing up so fast.  I want to be the perfect mom for them and teach them what they need to know but I am worried I will fall short sometimes.  My heart just ached for them while wishing they could grow up to know, as I know, to rely on the Savior for strength and hope.  It seems like such a daunting task sometimes.  Another month has passed with us still not getting pregnant and I have felt loss in that, even without ever loosing anyone.  I have been realizing more and more that I was just expecting to have more kids and just assumed I would enjoy all the little things when I had my 'last' child and cherish those things then.  Now that I have begun to wonder if we will ever have any more kids I realize all the missed opportunities in enjoying the little things more, like nursing in the middle of the night, rocking little bodies to sleep while they still fit on my lap, baths in the baby tub, chopping food extra small for tiny fingers to grab, keeping boxes and cartons around (because those are babies favorite toys), those kinds of things.  I really don't know if we will have another kid.  I am still hopeful!  From all the tests we have run so far we seem to be young and healthy.  We have another month of trying Chlomid before running some new tests.  So I am hopeful that I haven't experienced the last of those things.  But when we have been trying for such a long time it is easy to get discouraged and have sad thoughts that maybe go a little over the top ;)  I just allow myself one day a month to really feel sad about everything, and that day is always when I get a negative pregnancy test.  But after a day I am able to re-align my desires with what the Lord has in store for me and I do my best to stick to that way of thinking.  We have faith in God's plan and timing and we are learning much from this experience.

Logan came in last night and saved me from my tears.  He helped comfort me.  I am so grateful for a husband who sometimes knows exactly what to say but also knows when sometimes he doesn't need to say anything.

Today I read a talk by Elder Ulisses Soares.  He quoted a Portuguese hymn, "Not Now but in the Coming Years."  I felt like his whole talk was meant just for me, but I especially liked this hymn:

If clouds instead of sun spread shadows o'er our heart,
If pain afflicts us, never mind; we will soon know who Thou art.
Jesus guides us with His hand, and He will tell us why;
If we listen to His voice, He will tell us by and by.
Confide in God unwaveringly, and let Him us sustain;
Sing His glory endlessly, for later He'll explain.

Some other things Elder Soares said that helped ease my the burdens I was feeling were these:

"'Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God...IF ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, ... and serve him with all diligence of mind,... he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."... regardless of [your] difficult circumstances."

"[The Savior] removed every impediment to our rejoicing and finding peace on this earth."

"Without faith, we will end up losing the capacity to appreciate those designs of our God regarding the things that will happen later in our life."

I am so grateful for the Lord and the peace he gives when I remember to ask.  I just need to remember.  And until I learn to remember on my own I think I will just need to keep praying to remember.