Growing Family

Our family has grown so much! Here are some pictures that really show the growth.

                                                                     Fall 2012

                                                                       Fall 2013

Lily has grown the most!

Easter 2013

Much more recently

The girls hugging Justin on his way out the door

The cute frame from Nate and Kelly that we finally updated the pictures to reflect our two additional children!

We are amazed at how much our family grows and how much our love for them grows as well!

Halloween

I know it is 2 months late but better late than never!

Lily was Tigger--she almost was going to be a ladybug again or a princess like Madeline but I found the Tigger costume that Benjamin and Seth used and couldn't resist. Her favorite stuffed animal is Tigger. She was at first upset that I put her in some weird clothes with a hood, but as soon as I showed her in the mirror and said who she was she got really excited and happy to run around with her tail.

The kids got to paint their pumpkins one week and then carve them the next week--double fun with just one pumpkin apiece.

Benjamin dressed as Harry Potter (complete with pipe cleaner glasses that missed this picture) and talked Justin into helping him make vampire fangs on his pumpkin.

 Seth enjoyed being an astronaut but overall wasn't feeling well so didn't want to be in too many pictures. Luckily there wasn't school the next day so he was able to rest up and get feeling a little better.

Madeline loved twirling in her princess costume--Thanks Grandma Clendening for bringing and modifying the dress! (I vaguely remember her watching some of the kids while I took other kids to the doctor--don't remember now who or why...) We have been having amazing weather sprinkled with cold which could be contributing to the rash of illnesses that have been making the rounds in our family for the last couple of months.

Lily's adventures

 Lily is definitely an adventurous one! She was out playing and climbed up on Seth's bike all by herself and was so excited. I took the pictures and took her off--she got really mad at me and climbed back on!

Her latest adventure involved everyone. I wasn't paying attention to coincidences at first, or I might have realized earlier that the kids' toilet started having trouble flushing around the same that 3 of their toothbrushes disappeared. A few weeks later and all of Justin's efforts to fully unclog the toilet never lasting long, I made the connection, and we finally took the toilet apart. Sure enough, lodged in the very back curve was the longest missing toothbrush.  We are very insistent with the kids that they keep the bathroom door closed and the toothbrushes pushed far back on the counter to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

At least we didn't have to buy a new toilet! We love our Lily--and life is an adventure with her!

Benjamin

 Benjamin has had an eventful fall full of growing up things. He has wanted to play a strings instrument since hearing about the after school strings program at his elementary in 1st grade. He showed us this summer that he would be conscientious about practicing by practicing the piano regularly without any whining. He chose the viola and is loving it! He practices without complaint and sometimes without prompting. He is doing really well and sounding great. He also loves how it helps him manage stress--3rd grade is the start of End of Grade testing.

He also is helping out around the house more and likes doing dishes "because the water is so warm".

He also got glasses and is happy that he can see! He is amazed at how well he can see different things that used to be blurry when they were far away.

Benjamin is of course loving reading and reads voraciously (hm...kind of like Amy).

Backyard Progress

When we feel like there is so much work still to do on our yard, we need to remind ourselves of how far we've come.

Summer 2011 (2nd year in house--I don't seem to have any earlier photos)

Pictures from earlier this year as we were starting the fence and had cut down the last of the trees.

Pictures taken today :) (And we actually got peaches this year from one of our trees!)

Progress can be slow, but it's nice to remember how far we have really come!

Life Lessons

Sometime we get so overwhelmed with the push to acquire and to "get ahead" in life that we forget that money isn't everything. A while back I read an article titled something like "10 Things that Are Better Than Money" by Geoffry James. It really stuck with me and today I decided to get creative in reminding myself about all the wonderful things I am blessed with. The 10 things are James' but they can definitely all benefit from the sentiment. Feel free to add to this list in the comments section. What are you grateful for that has nothing to do with money?

Benjamin's Baptism

This year Benjamin turned eight years old and chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He wanted to be baptized on his birthday but consented to wait until the Saturday to make it easier for people to come. Here are some photos of that special day. Justin was able to baptize him and Grandparents Clendening were able to come from Utah to share his day and bear their testimonies of the restored gospel. Aunt Marianne gave a talk and Uncle Eric gave a prayer. Benjamin chose the songs "How Firm a Foundation" and "When I Am Baptized" for us to sing. Grandpa Clendening, Uncle Eric, Justin, the full-time missionaries, and President Clark stood in the circle to confirm Benjamin a member of the Church and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. Justin and I are so proud of Benjamin for choosing to be baptized and for his growing testimony of Christ and His restored gospel. He continues to save money to serve a full-time mission when he turns 18 and learn more about the gospel, strengthening his testimony and setting a wonderful example for his siblings. We love you Benjamin!

Girls' Dresses

We bought the girls' matching dresses and they love to wear them together to church! Lily is already figuring out how to take pictures--she went up to the wall and stood there smiling even after Madeline had left and we had taken several of just Lily!

They are growing so much and are such a joy to have around!

Camping

 Over the July 4th weekend, we went camping at Falls Lake, a campground about 20 minutes from our house. Since this was the first time we have ever been camping as a family, we decided we needed to stay close to home in case things didn't go well. We borrowed Marianne and Eric's camping gear and tried things out! They came and had dinner with us the first night and took pictures!

We had fun but next time we definitely will go somewhere cooler or wait until October!

 Our kids love to make funny faces!

 Quinn came as well for the first night but chewed through her leash the morning of our second day. After keeping a hold of what was left of her leash for the early afternoon (and dealing with the heat and humidity), we decided to head home for an AC break. We enjoyed our AC for a few hours, removed a few ticks, and headed back for the evening and night.

 Lily had our monkey backpack (with leash) on for the first while so we could make sure we kept track of her.

The kids loved camping and didn't want to go home! However we were definitely done with the heat and humidity!

Quinn the dog

The two pictures above are of Quinn when we first adopted her from the Collie Rescue (she is a collie mix). We went in expecting to adopt an adult (since I didn't want the hassle of training a puppy). However, Quinn stole our hearts with her gentle, calm nature (it also helped that she was mostly house trained).
Obviously the kids fell in love with her and their enjoyment of her has only grown.

 Lily loves Quin and lays down on her or hugs her regularly. Quinn never seems to mind--if she's done, Quinn will just move. Once when Quinn was on her back under the kitchen table, Lily grabbed a handful of skin and hair and pulled Quinn a few inches--Quinn just lay still, not yipping, nipping, or barking. She is a wonderfully calm dog most of the time--even though she is just shy of 5 months old.

 Obviously Seth wanted to show how much he loves Quinn too. You can also get a pretty good idea of how much she has grown in the 2 months we've had her!