Reid and Stefani Adopt

 On Monday, November 2nd, we woke up to hurricane-like flooding in our neighborhood.  Apparently, it was just a storm that decided to drop 20" of rain on us all in one day.   Our garage was flooded all the way up to the door that leads into the laundry room, and the water was within one inch of coming in through the front door.   Isaac was excited.  He and his siblings got school off for 3 days while we were trapped by water in our own home.  The truck in the first picture belongs to our neighbor.  It's a BIG truck and has had it's suspension raised quite a bit more than a normal truck, and it still almost got flooded.   Thank the Lord that we were okay.  I know of at least one death and LOTS of damage-even among my most immediate neighbors.  

 This summer, Esther went to girl's camp for the first time, and Isaac went on a High Adventure trip with the youth group from church.  While mom was at Girl's camp with Esther, Dad was at High Adventure with Isaac, and Grandpa came to hang out with Jaydon.  After those 2 events ended, Grandpa took Isaac to Idaho to enjoy some summer fun out west.  He's still there, and won't be home for another week.  He is missed, but he seems to be having plenty of fun without us.     Before Grandpa took Isaac to Idaho for his big trip, he hung out with Jaydon while I was at Girl's camp with Esther and Reid was at High Adventure with Isaac.  Here we are at the 4th of July Parade in Sebastian, FL.  Reid and Isaac were still at High Adventure. Isaac went camping with his grandpa and cousin, David.  Here they are sporting s'mores. Esther was the smallest of all the girls at camp.  She is only 11, and most girls are 12 or older.  Here she is sin...

The summer has arrived and we kicked off the summer by going to the temple in Fort Lauderdale and then snorkeling and biking.  It was a short but sweet trip.   Updates on the kids: *Isaac passed 7th grade at West Shore Jr/Sr High School (which is a nationally renowned school) with As and Bs.  He passed his mom's math class with an A.  He will now be doing summer camps--mostly helping him with his soccer skills. He enjoys screen time, sugar, and fishing.   *Esther passed 5th grade and still loves lizards.  She calls herself "lizard leader" and is either catching lizards and critters, or making books and drawings about them.  She is slowly breaking out of her shell and was able to give a talk in church and teach a lesson to the 5 young women that come to church on Sunday.   *Jaydon came dangerously close to being held back in school this year, but was able to squeak by this school year.  He now has a tutor that works hard with him to get him ca...

This year for my family reunion, we went to Utah.  Day 1 was "This is the Place" Monument.  Then we ended up at a park, singing happy birthday to my brother, Tim, and hanging out at the Airbnb.  There were people all over the place.  Two of my siblings have grandkids now, and 2 more have children who are married or are getting married.  So there are people of all ages at my family reunions.  Isaac's closest cousins are my brother Tim's and my sister Kati's kids.  At first he felt a little lost, but found cousins to hang out with finally.  Esther palled around with Tim's youngest daughter, and Jaydon with anyone who would play with him.  He didn't seem too bothered by any age gaps.  We spent two nights at each place we stopped, and by the time we left Utah, I was totally ready to be in the same bed for at least a month.  I don't get that though, because the Archibald reunion is coming up at the end of July.  From L-R.  Isaa...

For Isaac's official "friend birthday party", we allowed Isaac to plan the party.  He reached out to his friends on his own, and set up the time and place.  When his friends were 45 minutes late, he was ready to go home feeling defeated.  But finally everyone showed up, and those 5 boys had a good time in some rough waves.    

The first summer vacation of 2024 was thus: biking in Bentonville, AK.  Except that Bentonville got hit by a series of tornadoes right before we got there...and most of the biking trails were closed.  So we had to invent a few other things to do besides biking.  Here are a few of them: This is a chapel built as a memorial for Mildred B. Cooper.  It is super pretty there.  Right after this picture was taken, we got kicked out so that a wedding party could start practicing for the wedding. The Crystal Bridges Museum of Art was another place we ended up visiting.  We got into their special exhibit for free because of the tornadoes. One of the exhibits at the art museum.  This was part of the special exhibit we got into for free. Showing off the loaves and fishes at the Great Passion Play area in Eureka Springs, AK. The giant statue of Jesus at the Passion Play area. Jaydon enjoying the full sized truck we got to carry our stuff and bikes. Literally eating...