A lot to Catch up on. February, March & April

Time flies when you have 5 kids and are in medical school.  However, we count our blessings and the amazing quality time we have together.  A lot of our days lately had been full of hanging out, doing schoolwork and adjusting to this new little LemonLime that has joined our family.  

I was lucky enough to go with the young women in our ward on a temple trip to D.C.  WE arrived late Friday night and walked around the mall.  lemon was a good sport, as always!  Again, I am just in love with the history and legacy we come from.  There were such amazing lives lead, many great battles fought and such epic sacrifices made.  All in the name of truth and improvement.  

We stayed at a home of a very kind family, just a mile from the temple.  It was a beautiful home.  Full of great books and beautiful artwork.  We are so blessed in so many ways!  Blessed to live in this nation, blessed to have the freedom to search for truth, and freedom to worship our Father in Heaven and live a life that is in accordance to his laws.  We are showered with blessings when we live a life where we try to do our best, and repent when we screw up.  Because we all screw up. And still...we are blessed and forgiven. I am so thankful.

Just a week or so before we were talking about the long process it took in order for the time to be prepared in order for the gospel to be restored.  One of the things we discussed was the translation of the bible into English.  We had no idea it was there at the library of congress!  How cool was that!

On of our young women leaders is working on writing a book and has been working at the Library of Congress for the past 6 months!  She gave us a behind the scenes tour.  It was very neat!  That building is AMAZING.  I could spend a lifetime studying and learning about all the symbolism in that building.  It is a peice of art, a place of learning, a history lesson, a philosophy school and so much more, I was in awe. I love the history of this place.  The Library of Congress was also the first building in D.C. to have electricity.  Just a little tid bit of useless information thrown in there as well.  

Carlee Finished out her last "season" of soccer.  A few families in our ward got all the kids together to let the kids learn some soccer skills.  It was fun!  All the parents took turns coaching.  It was the perfect introduction.  Carlee loves running and playing with her friends!

Anytime the ball would come close to their end of the field, they would all run to guard the goal.  It was pretty entertaining!

Spring in Virginia means a lot of rain!  The kids really loved jumping in the rain and then once it got hot, insisted on the sprinkler under the tramp.  Every childhood dream.  Being back here, all on our own has created an environment where our kids have become the best of friends.  It is pretty magical.

Martins birthday was a success.  The kids insisted on a BBQ.  We enjoyed the nice weather and some yummy food.  

For the birthday celebrations we took the kids to Fairy Stone State Park.  It was about a 2 hour drive, (but what isn't a drive back here!)  It was so beautiful.  One of the pluses of homeschooling is that we choose our own holiday.  We had the entire park to our selves pretty much! We went hiking around  Virginia's largest lake.  We saw millions of tad poles and water snakes.  And even the perfectly carved B+M carved into the tree.  Its true...Brook Loves Martin.  Happy Birthday Martin!

He had had enough walking. Silly boy.

No filter needed.

Fairy Stone State Park got its name because of a legend where, once the fairies living in this area of the forest heard about Christs Crucifixion, cried. Once their tears hit the ground they magically turned the stones into crosses.  You can read more about the fairy stones here.  The kids spent a few hours searching for the perfect stone.  

After the search for stones, we ventured over to the beach area.  Again, we were the only ones around and I realized that I left the beach bag at home.  So, we decided to just throw caution to the wind, and let the kids run wild.  

The happy birthday boy!

The kids were in heaven. 

And then we read the sign...Opps...what a silly sign.  The kids had a blast and Mom got eaten alive.  The bugs virtually disappeared for nearly 6 months!  But alas, all good things come to an end.  The little buggers.  (The ring around the bottom of the pole was the "toilet" that Carlee and Cameron spent most of the time making...I just about died laughing when they told me what they were working on.  No comment to the question regarding whether or not it was used.)

Happy end of April!