The FAMILY

During the month of September, my brother's wife, Jocelyn from We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ, is hosting a celebration on the Family, A Proclamation to the World.  Each day there will be something different.  I'm guest blogging one day.  I hope you will take time, if not everyday, but that would be awesome, some days to check it out and catch the excitement!

577 Foundation

We've lived here for 8 years, which is crazy in and of itself, but in all this time, we've never been to the 577 Foundation.  It has gardens, flower and vegetable, fossil bed to dig in, play area, fairy homes and lots of things to discover.  We all loved it.  Here are some pictures of a couple trips we made this month.

Avery and a new friend, Zoe who is delightful

(and will likely write many books that will make her momma proud)

He had to try everything out :) ...he's stronger than I am

playing by the little stream, who can resist a little stream?

One of the fun treasures of good ol' Toledo (well, area, this is in Perrysburg)

Zach the Photographer

 I love this picture.  We had a nice evening out and stopped to see the fish and ducks.  A nice couple gave us some quarters to buy fish food.  Those fish are big.  The kids loved it, and so did we.

The next pictures are ones that Zach took.  He's getting better at taking pictures.  This one is his best!

The next ones Zach took of his friends.

"Jaguar", a friend of both Zach and Avery.  I haven't seen him in awhile.

I had to put this in.  Fun while riding in the car.

Avery will stand pretty still for Zach.

Walking group buddies, Zeb and Matthew.

Kiersten is very poised.

When I take a minute to check photos on our camera, it's fun to see who has gotten a hold of it.  Avery's pictures are all feet and blurry. :)  They just want to do what they see us do. 

Today

I got the writing bug, so I'm going to take advantage of it.

My sis-in-law Jocelyn, is planning a month of celebrating the Proclamation on the Family.  It came out 15 years ago from our prophet, stating what the family is and the potential for greatness a family can hold.  Her enthusiasm is catching.  Here is a link to her blog where you can follow along and even add if you like. 

Family is a gift.  Who knew that two people could choose to be together and then decide to have kids and then you have to be responsible for them, for basic needs all the way to character development and testimony builders.  It's not to be taken lightly.  It's an opportunity for so much good.  Sometimes daunting, but ever fulfilling.

If it is to be, it's up to me.  That phrase has stuck with me a long time and lately I've been thinking about it a lot.  If I want to teach my kids something, I can't, or don't have to wait for formal family home evening to do so.  Sometimes I think they're not listening, but then I'm surprised later that they were. :)  Being a mother is a big deal.  Don't ever think otherwise.  Satan wants us to do anything else, but that and that's why I'm feeling so strong about building up my kids, telling and showing them I love them, I see them and I'm there for them, no matter what.  Eric is with me on this too, btw. :)  No one is going to love them more than me, or help them more than us, other than Our Heavenly Father.  Aren't we so blessed to have His help in such a task.

(we need a pic of the whole family)

What do you love most about your loved ones?

Parade

Our family drove out to Lewisburg, PA for the 4th of July weekend to spend it with my brother, Steve's family.  I really wanted to get away and take part in their now famous Freedom Parade! We had it on Saturday with their friends, neighbors and church members too (I guess they'd be friends as well.)

People came and decorated their strollers, bikes, wagons, themselves all in red, white and blue.  Then we had a flag ceremony and the national anthem. 

The front of the parade.  We left their house and went down several blocks and back again.  Some people came out of their homes and waved to us.  We rested in the shade (it was a HOT day) and some paraders threw us some candy!  score.

Jocelyn put a lot of work into this parade and we loved it!  I felt more patriotic than I had in a long time.  Thanks for a great weekend!!