First Time

After a lifetime of seeing them in the movies and reading about them in storybooks, last night I witnessed lightning bugs firsthand for the first time and it was amazing. We all sat on the front porch steps and watched them flashing in the night sky for a long time. I can't wait for tonight so I can see them again.

True Colors

We are back from our first trip out West this summer. We had a great time. The Bates Reunion was fun for all and Kellie's wedding was beautiful. I will add more details and pictures soon. We are leaving for California in 19 days. I am not sure that I will have time to recuperate or get as much done around here as I would like to, but I am going to try. My biggest obstacle right now? AUDZILLA! The boys have started calling her this because she seems to attack her toys more than play with them. She is into everything. This house has not been child-proofed since we moved in two years ago. Child-proofing is so much harder with three older kids leaving stuff out and Wal-mart does not have a gate wide enough for our stair case. She is a terror and explores and destroys in a way that none of her older siblings did at this age.

After California, we will be in Utah for a couple of weeks. So, my dear Utah friends, if you are around, I would love love love to see you! Let's plan something.

More soon. Audrey calls. Our entire trip to Utah, she was so good. Everyone commented on her amazing behavior. But I am telling you, I think that she puts on a sweet face for public even more that her mother does, because she is a major stinker at home!

Going to the Chapel

Vince was called as Branch President last month. Yesterday, he performed his first wedding ceremony in our chapel here. An older couple that moved into our Branch a few months ago married each other for the third time. The ceremony was nice. Vince did a good job. When he pronounced them husband and wife and told them that they could kiss each other, they got a little carried away. After a very long minute, Vince put his hand on the grooms back and said, "that's enough". Landon laughed so hard he almost fell off of the pew.

A Few Close-Ups

Midwest Weekend

Things have been busy as usual around here. Friday was the boys last day of school. They both brought home perfect report cards. Sophie said the prayer at breakfast this morning and she said, "Thank you that my boys don't have to go to school anymore." Very cute.

Friday night we drove to a small town for the Country Show. Gentry has a population of about 100 people but the Country Show draws a pretty good crowd every Friday night. Some of our friends invited us to go with them and it was fun. They have a band and play a lot of old country songs and then invite "walk-ons" to come and sing or play with them. Our friend Roger played some harmonica with the band and then his son Micheal sang a couple of songs. There were people of all ages dancing and they sold some home-baked food in the back. The door prizes were pretty random. Landon won an orange soda but his friend Auburn won a can of cream of chicken soup.



We had Stake Conference this weekend too. We were privileged to have Elder Holland speak to us both Saturday night and Sunday morning. After the General Session on Sunday Morning, since we were already down in Kansas City, we decided to stop by some of the Church History Sites. We went to the Independence Visitors Center first.

The kids were pretty rowdy in there. They had just sat through 2 hours of Stake Conference on the stage in the back. They didn't want to sit and be reverent any longer.

So we didn't stay long, just long enough for Sophie to say something embarrassing. A Sister Missionary asked her if she likes to play with her brothers and she said, "yes, and they like to play with my Barbies, naked." So we finished the tour and then decided to do some driving to a couple of sites we hadn't seen yet. We drove to Richmond, Missouri where some early Church leaders were buried and then to Hans Mill and then stopped at Farr West again. It was a good day.