Beach Trip

We took advantage of an opportunity to go to the Beach this past week. I wanted to go this summer, but I didn’t really want to go to the beach with a tiny baby...so we decided this would be the best time to get away.
We had a great time. Our friends, the Horlachers, joined us and we all had a great time. We took some family pictures again (not my favorite thing to do at 8 months pregnant...but so it goes) and now everyone can see the belly.
I am just amazed by how constantly entertained kids are at the beach. We built sand castles, filled in motes and holes with water, dug tunnels, dug holes, jumped over waves, drove dump trucks, collected shells, found crabs and jelly fish, and watched clams burrow into the sand under the tide. It is just one project after another and we all had a great time.

And I am now 8 months along! It is officially 4 more weeks until Baby Day! June 3rd at 11:15am to be exact. Here are a few belly shots...

Words to Live By

For many years now, this has been my favorite quote. It serves as a sort of litmus test for me to see how well I am doing at developing Christ-like charity. I need to read it from time to time and today is one of those days. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and thought I would share. It comes from this talk, which is wonderful.

Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.
-Marvin J. Ashton

Playdate with Grandma and Grandpa Johannesen

After we were home from the beach my parents still had a few days to visit with us. They came down to our neck of the woods one day and we took them to lunch at Maddio’s and then went to one of our favorite places in Atlanta, PDK Airport Park. I snapped a few pictures of the kids with my parents. I love my parents. I couldn’t ask for better parents. They were really cute with the kids and we enjoyed our time with them while they were here!

Amazed

I am constantly amazed by what my kids do. For example, Olivia can take one smoothie (about 1/2 cup) drink most of it in a cup with a lid and straw. Then, when mom is not watching very closely, she takes the lid off to get that last tiny bit, and it ends up from ear to ear and all over her! Usually there is a bit on her forehead, definitely down the front of her shirt and all of this happens in mere seconds...needless to say, Spray and Wash is my best friend right now.

Happy Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend. :) We attended an egg hunt with several friends and had a GREAT time. I have now put up all the plastic eggs in our house because all my kids want me to do all day is hide easter eggs so they can find them.

I always love it when Conference weekend is the same weekend as Easter. We took our kids to a session of conference at the church on Sunday and something about the dark room helped them to be quiet. About 1/2 hour into the session, Owen asked when the “movie” would be over.

This year the Easter bunny brought them things we can use to do some gardening outside (in our little containers...) and today we planted wildflowers, tomatoes and basil. They each helped out with their shovels, rakes and watering cans in hand. We decorated little stones for them to put in their gardens and put pinwheels in the yard too. They loved it and it was a lot of fun to spend time this afternoon outside playing.