On the Eve

After our Christmas Eve soup and bread, and opening Christmas pajamas, we watched The Muppet Christmas Carol. They all started out on furniture but ended up on the floor by the end.

Topher asked if we could put out milk and cookies "for Mom and Dad." We did, and he then declared it a new tradition he had started.

We finally chased all the kids to bed and got to work setting out the stockings. Do you notice an extra one up there? Bryan's brother Paul joined us for Christmas this year. We loved having him visit and made sure he had a stocking as well.

Even doing our four gift rule (want, need, wear, read, not including gifts from siblings and grandparents) the tree was full. Gifts for eight people take up a lot of space.

We set out the stocking supplies and were in bed around 1 o'clock in the morning. Thank goodness our kids have never been the type to wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning. Santa and Mrs. Clause needed a solid night of sleep.

Totality

On Sunday evening, after General Conference and dinner, Bryan had a text conversation with his brother Spencer. Spencer asked what our plans for the eclipse were. Bryan said we didn't have any. He had bought eclipse glasses, but the forecast called for a pretty significant cloud cover, so we figured we wouldn't see anything. I had already decided to keep the younger kids home from school since they wouldn't be watching the eclipse there and would be coming home on the bus while the eclipse was happening. In case the clouds cleared I didn't think it would be safe for their eyes. Spencer, who lives in Indianapolis, said that if we left our house right then we would be at his house by the morning with plenty of time to watch the eclipse.

So we did.

We threw clothes and snacks and sleeping bags into the car, made sure Peter (who had a mandatory dress rehearsal the next day and couldn't come with us) was okay staying home alone, and were on the road by a little after 9 o'clock. Topher had already gone to sleep for the night, so we carried him downstairs and put him into the car.

And then we drove for ten hours. And by we, I mean Bryan.

As we neared Spencer's house (and the sun was coming up) we saw this message on several digital signs.

Spencer was waiting outside to greet us and show us where to park. Bryan almost immediately went to sleep in Spencer's apartment and the kids and I walked around Spencer's apartment complex to work out some stuck-in-the-car energy.

Spencer treated us to a delicious waffle, bacon, egg, and fruit brunch. He even had gluten-free waffles for me! After about four hours of sleep, I woke Bryan up so he would be ready for the main event.

We all got our special glasses on and went outside. Topher and I had to spend some time inside because the temptation to look at the sun without glasses was occasionally too great. Also, Topher heard someone say part of the code to get into the building, memorized it, then used it so many times in quick succession that we were locked out of that door for a while.

As the eclipse was nearing totality our shadows got sharper. Sophie asked me to take a picture of her jumping to show her crisp shadow.

We remembered to take a family picture, but we failed to intentionally take any pictures of us with Spencer. He is in the background of this one though, so that's something.

During totality the sky looked more like dusk than mid-afternoon. The street lamps came on and the animals and insects thought it was night. The wind had picked up during the countdown and went still during totality.

Bryan was able to get some cool pictures of the eclipse during totality.

When it was over Bryan went inside to rest a little more and I took the kids to a nearby park. We knew we would be spending another ten hours in the car and we wanted to get as many wiggles out as we could.

After the park, we gathered our stuff back up, said many thanks to Spencer for inviting and hosting us on such short notice, and were on the road back home by a little after 6 o'clock. That second night of driving was a lot harder than the first. I had planned to drive a big portion of it, but after an hour I could feel myself getting sleepy. I realized the way I usually stay awake while driving long distances is to sing along with the radio or streaming music. Since we were driving at night and everyone except for me was asleep, I couldn't use that trick. So once again Bryan did most of the driving.

We got home at 5:47 in the morning. Everyone made it to school (including seminary for the boys) and work. Cooper was asleep by 7:30 that night and I know the rest of us were similarly exhausted. In fact, I would say we're probably still recovering.

But it was an awesome experience and worth all that sleep deprivation.

Cousin Time!

Uncle Jordan and his kids visited us for the weekend while Aunt Leah had a much needed rest at home. The weekend was full of playing, church, playing, movies, playing, food, playing, sprinklers, and playing.

Zariah enjoyed doing Peter's hair before church on Sunday. Peter was not as enthusiastic about the project, but was a good sport nevertheless.

Zariah and Maverick were both eager to help water the garden.

Sophie was practicing her babysitting skills. She loved getting to help watch the babies.

I snuggled Maverick to sleep while Jordan got Zariah and Legend to sleep one night.

We did a little park hopping the morning of Memorial Day.

That afternoon we pulled out the swimsuits and sunscreen and ran through the sprinklers. Bryan prepared a delicious dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, and sides. Popsicles served as dessert.

Then everyone came inside, washed off the grass and sunscreen, and watched a movie while Jordan packed up the car.

It was fun for Topher to be one of the bigger kids this weekend. He and Legend played well together and didn't require the same level of supervision that the littles needed. 

Thanks for visiting guys! We love you!

A Day on the Bay

Peter's spring break was a four-day weekend and I feel like we packed a week's worth of activities into that time. On Friday Phoebe went with some friends from church to an indoor waterpark and had a great time. That evening Peter and Cooper saw the Super Mario Brothers Movie to celebrate the birthday of a boy from church. They loved it.

The next morning we drove to Maryland to celebrate my brother Jordan's 40th birthday. We had fun chatting and playing at their house before relocating to a park on the Chesapeake Bay for a cookout.

photo credit: Leah

photo credit: Leah

It was a chilly day, but we were so happy to spend it with family!

The Hill

On the first day of our adventure last week we drove to Palmyra, New York.

We met Bryan's grandma, Aunt Lorna, Uncle Paul, sister Melinda, brother-in-law Jake, nephews Nathan and Sam, and niece Emma at the visitor's center for the Hill Cumorah. Topher and I were taking a break in a quiet room nearby when this picture was taken.

Next we hiked a very, very steep hill to see the monument of the Angel Moroni and the gold plates. I wore Topher in the Bjorn and was thankful I didn't pass out.

Then we drove over to the Sacred Grove. It was beautiful. And Topher yelled nearly the entire time we were there.

Afterward, we claimed the awesome seats that Paul and Lorna had saved for us for the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night. We met some of the cast members before the show started.

Then we shared picnic dinners and ran and played and unintentionally lost a few children and then quickly found them again and got out as much energy as possible before the show started.

It was a long, hot day, but it was really fun. We loved getting to see our family!