We had a very busy June with a lot of events and a lot of pictures. Feel free to just scroll through the pictures if you don't want to take the time to read about the events. A picture says a thousand words, right?
I love seeing my family all snuggled together. Here they were watching an inspirational message about service.
Lincoln and Annika graduated from UPK-Universal Pre-Kindergarten. They had a special graduation party. Each class sang some songs and received "diplomas". After each ceremony there were inflated toys to play on and a free book for each child when we left.
Annika is loud and feisty at home, but when she gets around a lot of people she scowls and doesn't even smile. She was rather overwhelmed by all of the people.
Annika's teachers: Ms. Mareva and Ms. Nicole. Mareva was the best teacher and I was so glad that she was one of Annika's teachers. She genuinely seemed happy to see the kids each day. Mareva and I had a few good laughs over some of Annika's quirkier habits. Sadly, Mareva moved two weeks before school ended so there shot my hope of Eden having her for a teacher.
We had front row seats for Lincoln's graduation program so I was able to get better pictures of him. Lincoln participated in the singing and seemed extra smiley.
UPK teachers: Ms. Susan, Ms. Erin, and Ms. Abby
Fun times playing during Kimball's baseball games. We had a very wet Spring and the ground was so soggy the fields couldn't always be mowed. Here Lincoln is sitting in the grass that was half his height!
Baseball fun! Usually Joseph takes the big kids to the minor league baseball games, but this month he took the three little ones. They only stayed about an hour, but they had a fun time. When the tickets are free through work it's easier justifying leaving after an hour.
Lincoln and Annika were happy to pose with "Scootch", but Eden
didn't want anything to do with him!
Joseph's parents came to visit for 3 days before they left for their third church mission. We decided to take them to Boldt Castle. I love Boldt Castle! It's just a magical island and I love seeing the restoration of the buildings.
The water level was very high and some of the buildings near the water had standing water inside.
I like the two above pictures. The first is a distance shot of Lincoln sitting under the tree being carefree and happy. The second picture is a close-up.
This is the biggest boat I have ever seen. There really isn't anything in the
picture to gauge the size, but it was big.
The second adventure that we had with Grandma and Grandpa Coffey was a trip to the Zoo. School is still in session until the end of June to Kimball and Rebecah missed our adventures. When we went to Boldt Castle Lincoln and Annika skipped school, but we went to the Zoo in the afternoon after preschool.
I love these two cuties. I love how they are the same size and great friends. They both wanted sun visors for the trip so we found some that were huge on them, but they made it work.
Happy Penguin family!
There was a giant bug display with sounds and robotic bugs. We kept having to explain to the little ones that the bugs weren't real. If they had been real it would have been a nightmare!!
Lincoln's favorite part of the zoo was "milking" the cow. He even started squirting the water at us.
Joseph and the kids enjoyed some camping adventures this month. Twice they went to some primitive camping sites and once they camped in the backyard so Eden could participate, too.
There was a camping display at the library and the librarian said my kids could sit in the tent and pose for a picture.
June brought the end of baseball!! It just wasn't a fun baseball season. I think Kimball is even tempted to go back to soccer next year.
Joseph and I went on a group date with some couples from church. We had a fun time discussing The Scarlet Pimpernel. I had suggested it to one couple and they loved the book and the movie so we gathered a group of Scarlet Pimpernel lovers to discuss the book/movie over dinner.
The kids ran in the annual "Swamp Rat Run". I love that the kids love participating. The kids didn't improve their times, but who cares?!
Eden is growing up. She is out of the baby stage, but I'm trying to hold on to her littleness as long as I can. She still naps so Lincoln and Annika can have some play time without her interfering. She always protests taking a nap, but always sleeps. She is the best!
We also celebrated Father's Day. I say it every year, but I
the love the questionnaires the kids fill out!
Lincoln and Annika moved up to bigger bikes. We were lucky that we had two bikes the same size for them. They had been sharing a smaller bike and they are happier with their own bikes although they still switch bikes so they can ride both bikes. They love to go on bike rides with Joseph through the neighborhood.
Hiding at the vision center.
Joseph spent months sanding the peeling paint off our deck so we all helped him paint the deck this month. It looks great! We just need the other half of the deck to be sanded and painted. So many projects, so little time!
Joseph bought a mountain bike recently and fell gashing his leg just below the knee. It could have used some stitches, but he just bandaged himself up at home and it worked.
The last day of school was late this year...June 25th. The last day of school was sad and exciting all at the same time. I made a Nutella star bread to celebrate. It was so yummy!!
The kids sure are growing up quickly! I'm glad I have one more year with Lincoln and Annika in preschool, Rebecah in Elementary school and Kimball in Middle School. Kimball wasn't willing to pose for a picture.
The day after school got out we had some special visitors. Joseph's brother, Spencer and family came to visit. It felt like a special month, we had family visit twice. Since we live so far away we rarely have visitors so it was nice to have company. We were so grateful that Spencer and Leslie made the effort to come visit us. It was a long drive for them. The little ones were looking forward to the cousin time for DAYS!! Eden was excited to share her crib with Jacob and she and Annika slept in Rebecah's room.
Day 1 Joseph took everyone to a park on the lake. No pictures.
Day 2 We toured some Church History sites in Fayette and Palmyra.
Peter Whitmer Farm:
We lunched at McDonald's which was a treat for everyone!
Joseph Smith Farm:
I love that Kimball wanted his picture taken with the temple in the background!
Sacred Grove: I love the special feeling in the Sacred Grove.
I had a nice walk with Kimball on one of the trails.
Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center
Day 2: Green Lakes State Park
The water was beautiful and the day was hot!! After 3 hours I had my limit of sun and I had everyone go home so Jacob could take a nap and I could get out of the sun!! The kids had fun playing in the sand and water! Spencer found a bird that he was needing for his birding list. Joseph missed out on the fun because he had to conduct a funeral. Kimball was resistant to having sunscreen so he has been paying for it with a bad sunburn. I think he'll be more compliant in the future!
Annika very happily spent about 30 minutes making her sand creations. She was so proud of it.
We had a great time visiting with family and the kids got along really well. We tried really hard to convince Spencer to look for a job here. Fingers are crossed!!
Kimball's glasses broke playing football at school so we ordered him two new pairs. The vision center was running a special so now he has a back up pair. His new frames look nice.
One more "pile on dad" picture.
We are now in Summer mode with adventures around every corner.
