Goodbye To Friends

Every summer it seems I have to do a few weeks of catch up work because of vacations.  I am determined to not let it get me to far behind.  It seems like forever ago that we got home from New Jersey, but I guess it was only a month ago.

This is how poor Tommy felt the day after we got home.  He just was so emotional about life because he schedule was just all bonkers.  I feel like it took us over a week to get back to the somewhat normal normal range of a toddler's mood swings.

Only three days after we got back one of my very best friends, and neighbor, Andrea and her family moved to Utah.  We were around to watch their kids, though, while they packed.  I even got to watch baby Kai.  Elsy loved sitting by him and keeping him company.

And here are Tommy and his little buddy Nora.  They wanted my attention and kept climbing all over me haha!

We went over before they left to say goodbye and take pictures.

And of course they had a big group hug that ended in giggles in a pile on the floor.

We are going to miss them so much!  It was so nice to have a neighbor I was so close with and who had kids the same age as mine.  We loved all the spontaneous play dates, borrowing mayonnaise, sharing recipes, and chats.

This cute little muffin stuck a pony bead up her nose while I was reading the kids stories before naps.  She told me she kept sticking it up and pulling it out and then it just went a little to far.  She tried to get it out herself before asking for help and that just stuck it up even farther.  After a few attempts to get it out ourselves I decided we should probably go to the urgent care.  Once we got in the car Elsy was able to calm herself down and she realized she could still breath "through the bead" I believe is how she described.  When we got in, she just relaxed on the little bed and let the doctor fish it out.  She even smiled while he was doing it.  I am so proud of her for being able to see the positive side of things.

When we got home I took off our shoes... don't judge that I, in particular, have three sets of shoes out in this picture haha... and went in my room to contact Logan about all the happenings.  By the time I turned back around Tommy was right where I left him.  He had missed his nap and was just oh so tired.

Last year we went on a fun hike with the kids so we decided to go on another this year.  This one was a bit shorter because Tommy is to big to carry in the backpack now (without killing us) but is the sloooooowest walker in all the land.  He just always is trailing behind us oh so far.

And of course they insisted they bring their backpacks which, of course, Logan and I ended up carrying.

But it was fun!  We took our time and enjoyed ourselves.  The kids brought their binoculars and raced from trail marker to trail marker.  That was really our only hope to get Tommy the slow poke to get anywhere.  At least he did better than last year, where he lay in the middle of the trail and refused to get up so we had to carry him the whole way.

One day I couldn't find Elsy for a while.  She finally popped up from behind the pillows on our bed.  I just can't get enough of this giggly and softhearted girl.  She sure has a way of fin-angling toys away from Tommy.  One day I bought each of them a pluto from the fruit stand to try but forgot about them.  Logan pointed out that one had gotten all yucky on the top.  Elsy heard and came to see.  "Oh no!" she said, "Look what happened to Tommy's pluto!"  Logan and I laughed and laughed because, of course it was Tommy's pluto that was ruined and not the other way around.

The other day while driving Elsy piped up from the back and said, "Mommy, I can't wait to grow up.  I want to be a mommy just like you.  I will have babies but I won't live in the same house.  But I will still live in the same town as you."  That made me feel all the feels.  That is definitely my dream too.

And sweet little Tommy who is often quite rough around the edges, said to me last night as I was laying in bed with him, "Mommy I wanna keeeeep you." and he reached his little arms around my neck and gave me the sweetest little big hug he could give me.  So of course I had to stay for a while longer, even if it was after bed time.

We had an indoor picnic, because I ran out of bread and couldn't make sandwiches.  So we had leftover homemade mac n cheese.

And then I decided to make some bread.  I thought it was absolutly delicious, but apparently I was the only one because I ate that bread for days and still never got to the second loaf before I had to throw it out.

Logan let me go on a walk by myself one evening.  I was feeling a bit crankified and I think he thought a break would help me, and it sure did!  I went on a walk around Yellow Lake and enjoyed being by myself for the first time in many days.  We have been experiencing terrible smoke problems from the fires across British Columbia as well as other in our country.  The smoke made the sunshine an orange-ish color all the day long.  It really was interesting... but also yucky to have suck a thick haze all over town.  The walk helped me clear my head and realize I have just been trying to pack to much into one day sometimes.  And then when I don't accomplish it all I feel like a failure.  It was nice to slow down and just experience the nature around me.  I realized I don't have to do everything to feel accomplished each day.  I also found a baby mole on the trail!  When I got home, Logan was sweaty and the house was all clean.  What a sweetheart!

I also got to go to the temple that week and it helped me so much.  I really do love the temple.  Logan got me a book about temple symbolism that I have been reading and it was interesting to go to the temple with some of those things in mind.

Look at these two sweeties!  In the summer our ward has Park Days, where people sign up a park they like, one for each week and we all go together.  This time we met a new family that just moved to town.  I was so excited, let me tell you why...

So, I have been trying to put together a cohort of moms who are willing to do preschool rotations with me for Elsy.  But we couldn't find many people who were interested.  I was pretty bummed because I only had Elsy and two other little girls from last year's Joy School.  I was talking to my mom about it and she told me how she prayed girls into our ward when we were littler.  She said she wanted more girls in our ward so we would have friends and sure enough they got tons of new girls!  I realized I had never even thought to pray someone into the ward! Haha, that sounds silly.  But I knew if it worked for my mom it would work for me.  So I prayed for new families to come to the ward to do preschool with us.  The very next Sunday a new family showed up with a little girl just the right age!  And they agreed to do Mother Goose Time with us (which is the program we are paying for).  And not to long after that another mom from another ward said she wanted to do it too.  What a blessing!  I am so grateful the Lord answered our prayers.  And, not to mention, the new family is so awesome.  I am excited to get to know them better.

I started having Elsy have quiet time in her bed at nap time.  I realized on our trip to NJ that she was so much happier if she took a nap, even though she hasn't been taking them all this year.  Well, I set a timer on the iPad and told her to read books until it ran out.  She didn't read books, but rather just stared at the timer.... this is what happened.  Mom for the win!

I just love cooking with these two batter tasters!

We went to the North Bend Outlet Mall to get Logan some navy blue pants for his brother's wedding.  Logan had a blast. Haha!

Oooooo I just love these two!!

Tommy is quite the character these days.  You just never know what he will do next.  He walks around with a box on his head saying he is a robot.  He loves to make up names and words for things that make no sense.  His new word he made up and loves is "meemo mamia".  Elsy had a word like that, "Skuskada".  But Tommy just keeps them coming all the day long.  Gambambow was one, or bungobeeg.  I need to remember to write more down so I can compile a long, long list.

Tommy just said the other day, "Dad is my friend."  He just loves his daddy.  At dinner he turned to Logan and said, "Dad, you are my friend."  Logan said, "You are my friend."  And then Tommy shouted, "No I'm YOUR friend."  He doesn't have his grammar correct yet.  I will say to him, "Tommy are you my buddy?" and he will respond in a grumpy voice, "No, I'm DADDY'S buddy."

He is really into this whole grumpy talking thing.  He has learned to say 'sorry' when he upsets Elsy and says it in the cutest voice, "Sa-reeeee" and if Elsy doesn't respond (because she is crying from being hit or is just mad at him and doesn't want to talk to him anymore) he says it louder and louder.  This morning I heard screaming in the other room and rushed in to find Elsy rubbing an owie while Tommy was sitting with his face just inches from hers as he screamed "SA-REEE!" in her face as his was getting red and veins were popping out of his neck.  We had a little discussion about responses with Elsy, and that screaming "sorry" doesn't help things with Tommy.

One of the things I just love about him is he always is asking for permission or a question. But he does it in the most interesting way and I haven't quite figured out why.  He will cock his head to one side like a puppy, pucker out his lips and sort of wink and then he makes a negative statement, such as, "We don't climb up there"  What he is really saying is, "Can I climb up there?".  To which I either say, "You are right, we can't climb up there" or "Actually you can climb up there!"  One time he said, "Cats don't have bums."  But he did his little head cock and his lip pucker with the wink and I knew he was really asking, "Do cats have bums?" Haha!  That was a funny one to answer.  Another time we drove by a field of cows next to some power lines and he said, "Cows can't climb dat." but he was really saying, "Can cows climb the power lines?"  It has taken me a while to catch on that this is how he asks questions.

I decided to go buy paint (finally) for the bunk bed ladder (don't ask if I actually used the paint yet.. yikes).  When we got to Home Depot there was a kids workshop going on.  I called Logan, who was on his way home from the temple to come meet us.  He went home and changed and then we all had a fun time hammering and building little moving vans.

I was glad Logan showed up because Tommy was taking initiative and trying to move forward on his own a little to much.

We went to a park to pick blackberries but they just weren't ripe yet.  The park did have a splash pad, though, so the kids had fun eating apples off a tree there in the park and playing in the water.

While laying next to Elsy in bed one night, she looked up to me and said, "Did you know your nose makes a B if you go like this (traces the holes in my nose) only it is sideways."  No, I guess I didn't realize that. :P

I wanted to take a picture of her little freckles.  She has such a pretty face.

My friend Laura gave us some free tickets to the Seattle Aquarium.  The very next day Logan took the morning off and we all headed over to look at all the fish.  The kids are still into Octonauts and loved finding all the fish they have been learning about.

Elsy measuring Tommy.

Facepainting!

Touching the sea creatures!  The kids loved seeing the sea stars, anemones, octopus, and otters.

Afterward we had time to go walking out on the pier.

Sometimes I forget we live right next to a real city.  But I am glad I forget, because lets be honest, I am not a big fan of them.  But it is fun to do the tourist thing now and then.

(Elsy, Savanah, Issac, and Hunter)

Within only two weeks we had to say goodbye to another very dear dear friend, Laura and her family. :(

I can't tell you how bummed I have been to loose my two very good friends.  We had a little going away party in the church gym for Laura.  The kids all brought bikes and scooters, Laura brought her snow cone maker, and I made some cookies.

We lined all the kiddos up for a goodbye picture.  Just to sad! but also too cute.

Tommy has recently been throwing up his own, homemade gang signs every time we take pictures lately. I don't know why this has started but it is pretty funny.

Laura was my visiting teaching companion, which I think is how we started to get to know eachother initially.  Elsy and Issac were such good friends.  We went to visit Melissa, on of the ladies we visit teach, the day before Laura moved because Issac wanted too.  He really is such a sweetheart.  We miss him so much too!

And here is a little of what happens here at our place now and then.  Standing in the corner is how my Mom did it and so far it has been effective for us too!

Lately I have been working on trying to recognize and follow spiritual promptings.  It is something I pray for almost every day, to receive promptings, to recognize when they are promptings and not just thoughts, and then having the courage and strength to act on those promptings.  I have been doing this for a while and I am noticing now how often I recognize a prompting but lack the strength to follow through with it.  It has definitely been a struggle but I feel like the more I ask, the more I receive.  And I know I have a lifetime to figure it out, one day at a time.

And here is a little throw back I came across the other day, Logan taking a picture (in the bottom right corner) of us video chatting back when we were dating.  (Look how blonde my hair used to be! *sob* I never have ever dyed my hair and it used to be blonde and now it is brown after having kids)  After only dating in person for two weeks, we spent 5 months apart.  I have always attributed his diligence in showing me I was important enough for him to call me every single day helped our relationship kick off.  And it was also so good to just get to know each other so much through just talking for such a long period.  He used to set up video chat dates where he would send me things in the mail for us to do together while chatting, or lunch dates through video chat.  What a fun guy!!

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".