Work Picnics, Army Balls and Young Men Sleepovers

Friday was a busy day for everyone. Stephen's work picnic started around noon. It was a nice sunny day (at some points a little too warm). They had a couple different bouncy "activities" like a castle, obsticle course, and gladiator thing for entertainment as well as horseshoes and a bean bag game. Stephen and his coworker Ryan dominated the bean bag game. Joseph and I tried to take them on and though we made a valiant attempt we lost 9 to 20. I know it sounds horrible but no one who played them broke the double digits. Emerson gave the bouncy castle a try but it was too hot on his little feet. He much prefered going on the obsticle course with Stephen that had a huge slide at the end to go down. It was nice to be out in the sunshine and enjoy some fun games and good food. They also had a pull string piniate. Emerson came away with a couple laffy taffy's and some life saver gummies. The picnic ended with a pie in the face session. Normally you have to bid to win the opportunity to make a pie and throw it in the person's face. Stephen didn't think that was fair and decided to make a pie and smear it all over the Major (good thing they have a good working relationship--or at least they did). After the work picnic we came home and I got ready to go and set up to take pictures at the Army Ball. I was asked to be the photographer that sits in the corner and takes pictures for those who want them, like at school dances and such. It was a fun opportunity and hopefully helped to get my name out a little bit. While I went to that Stephen and the boys hung out here and had a little party. Then some of the boys spent the night. It was a very busy day. But definetly a fun kind of busy.

A Walk in the Park

On Tuesday I was given a scavanger hunt by Stephen which led me to a coupon for a date with him for Thursday night. Stephen had originally planned to go on a horse carriage ride but unfortunately that fell through last minute. Then he had decided to go up to Grafham Water and go for a bike ride and picnic dinner, but by the time we got their the bike rental was closed. So we then went to Tesco and got ourselves food to make sandwiches and went to find a place to eat. We had our dinner at KFC using their picnic benches. While we ate we listened to the romantic sounds of chain saws and electric drills. And had a beautiful view of construction workers tearing apart the interier of the KFC resturaunt. After we finished our food we went to see what was playing at the theatre. The only movie playing that we were remotely interested in was a chick flick that didn't start eight o'clock and since we hadn't planned on being out that late we decided not to do a movie. We then got back in the car and drove to a park that I had seen just off the ring road. We spent the rest of our date walking around the park.

We couldn't walk on the path because it was all coned off, but it was still a nice walk along the river. We saw swans and ducks and sat in a willow tree.

It was such a nice evening even with all of the mess ups spending time together on a date like we used to do before we had kids. Oh and did I mention that we came home to a whole in our ceiling?

USA vs. Algeria

On Wednesday of last week USA played Algeria in the Worl Cup. We went over to some friends to watch the game. We took the game in the last minute. We had to win to move into the next round and ended up coming out on top of our bracket. All the boys were super excited as you can tell by the pictures.

Peterburough

On Monday, Joseph, Emerson, Canyon and I went to Peterburough while Stephen was at work. We walked around and inside the Cathedral in the town center. The architecture is really intricate as well as the stained glass windows. After that we went and got ourselves some lunch and sat outside while we ate it. They had these little fountains that were squirting up water in the center of town. Emerson was watching all the little kids play in them while he was eating his lunch. Then after he had had some food he asked, "I go." So I let him go and play. At first he just watched the other kids, but eventually he got really into it and started running through the water. Once or twice he ran through when the fountain had stopped and then it squirted straight up on him as he was going over it. He thought it was funny and would laugh and then go and play some more. He was a little wet afterwards (to say the least) so we picked up a couple new clothes at the mall before heading back home.

Ben Nevis

Stephen and Joseph and some of the young men from church went camping in Scotland last weekend. They went to hike Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK. The trip up was a little longer than anticipated. They had to take a 3 hour detour because the main motorway was shut down. They eventually made it to the campground safe and sound and got themselves set up. Friday they hiked the mountain. They were told to pack warm because it would be cold, but from the pictures it looks like it was really nice weather. I don't think they were expecting it to be so nice as they all came home with sunburned faces. When they finally made it to the top they did a bunch of pushups to show what manly men they were (I'm pretty sure they were all exhausted). I think Joseph had the most energy left when they got to the top (see the last picture). They seemed to have a lot of fun. And all said the Scotland was a beautiful place. Hopefully we'll all be able to go next time.

England Vs. USA

Saturday evening was the first game for USA in the world cup. Their match was against England. This made for a fun event with us living out here in England and having quiet a few English friends. We were invited to one of their homes for a BBQ and then to watch the match along with a bunch of other American and British families. It was a great evening full of good food, good company, and a little bit of excitment during the game. The game ended in a tie 1-1 which prevented bragging rights from either side. Despite either side leaving vitorious the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day with great friends was wonderful.

Ice Cream Socials, Sleepovers and Huntingdon

Friday night we had a couple families over for an ice cream social. It was a nice time to socialize with friends and induldge in some yummy ice cream. It also gave Joseph some kids his age to hang out with. The boys watched soccer and played basketball outside while most of the women stayed in and talked. I had wanted to take pictures of everyone that came but I was enjoying the opportunity to socialize so much that I forgot. We then had Joseph's friends spend the night. The next day we took Joseph and one of the boys who spent the night into Huntingdon. While we were there we went to the Cromwell museum, the market, and the old town church. At the market we bought some "sweeties" for Joseph to try. My favorite were the Vimto chewies. I think Joseph preferred the gummies in the shape of a bottle. And Stephen, well I don't think he was a big fan of any of them.

The Park

On Friday Joseph, Emerson, Canyon, the puppies and myself all went to the park in Ellington for a picnic lunch. It ended up being a gorgeous day and perfect weather to be outside for a couple hours. The puppies did very good. They stayed with us and never wondered very far. Honey kept getting herself caught in the soccer nets and Joseph or I would have to go and fish her out. You could tell that they were exhausted because on the way home Maple would just stop and lay down. Emerson had a good time as well going down the slide, running around with the puppies, and being pushed in circles on the merry-go-round. It was nice to get out an play around a bit and also to relax and enjoy the sunshine and a slow paced afternoon in the park just hanging out and killing time.

Softball and Pebbles

Last Wednesday during Stephen's softball game Emerson entertained himself with the little pebbles/gravel that make up the infield of the softball field. He would collect a handful of pebbles, take them to our friend Pierce, then Pierce would give them back. Emerson would then take them and put them back with the other pebbles and then get a new handful of pebbles and repeat the process again. I thought it was quiet funny. It's nice to have so many people around us that like Emerson and help to entertain him.

One Month

Canyon is already a month old and I have no idea where the time has gone. He is a very relaxed little boy as long as he has a full tummy. He is not phased at all by his highly energetic brother. He is already too big for his newborn clothes. He is very alert when he is awake. And he is a perfect addition to our family.

Games

We have been playing a lot of games since Joseph has been here. There are a lot of games that are more fun when you have mmoe than two people playing. On Sunday we played some "scripture scrabble". (You have to put a word down that you can find in the scriptures and then share the passage with everyone.) Stephen was impressed by our words, hence the photo. We've also been playing some games that Emerson can participate in like Candy Land, Trouble and Guess Who. The other day Stephen and Joseph were trying to decide where a safe place would be to start up a game of Risk. Hopefully we don't find one...that game takes forever.

Canyon's Blessing

On Sunday at church Stephen and a couple other men gave Canyon a baby blessing. It was a beautiful blessing and the spirit was very strong. Another family's little girl was blessed as well. I love blessings, the beautiful promises which are in them and the added insight you receive as a parent about this precious little spirit that is now apart of your family. We had a wonderful day and the blessing was beautiful, unfortunately my camera kept fogging up so most of our pictures are really hazy.

Not Quite Ready

We thought that Emerson was showing some interest in wanting to use the toilet to go to the bathroom so last Saturday we put him in "big boy underwear" to see what would happen. We didn't have any success unfortunatley just a bunch of accidents. We would ask him in he needed to use the potty and he would say yes so we would run to the bathroom and set him down and wait but he wouldn't do anything. He'd sit there fo a couple minutes and then say "I potty" and/or "all done". With the understanding that Emerson is a parrot these days I think that he is just repeating what you say and might not fully understand what to do. Also, maybe he doesn't realize that we do more than just sit on the toilet when we go to the bathroom. After Saturday and a couple days of training pants without any success I think we are going to wait a little while before we start Potty training again. Below are a couple pictures of our little country boy in his big boy underwear.

Uncle Josiff

We picked up Stephen's brother Joseph from the airport Tuesday morning. Emerson had been talking non stop about picking up Uncle Josiff but when he saw Joseph he was a little shy and didn't do very much talking. That didn't last very long however. Emerson is always asking were Josiff is and wants Josiff to do everything with him. Joseph has been here almost a week now and Emerson has really enjoyed having a cool boy to hang out with. We have been relatively busy but unfortunately I have not taken any photos of our activities. Since Joseph has been here we've had a softball game, young mens activities (to include cooking and 'go-kart' preparations) we've had friends Joseph's age over to play basketball and snooker and going away parties were almost every man between the ages of 12 and 30 were outside playing soccer. This next week should also be somewhat busy and hopefully we'll have some pictures to show for all our adventures.

Temple Trip

Stephen had Monday the 31st of May off for Memorial Day so we went up and spent the night at the London temple. It worked out really well because Stephen's younger brother Joseph was flying into London the next day. We got up early and made our way down to the temple. It was a holiday for the British as well so there was hardly anybody on the road. We spent some time in the temple that morning and then had lunch together. Then Emerson, Stephen and Canyon all took naps. It was very quiet and still in the room that I almost fell asleep as well. The boys were then woken up from their naps by the fire alarm. We went on a little walk around the temple grounds and Emerson and Stephen picked flowers. It was very peaceful and quiet because not many people are usually at the temple on a Monday evening. After our walk we had some dinner. The rest of the evening we hung out together. After Emerson went to bed we played a game that Stephen got as a present from one of his brothers. The next morning we packed up and headed to the airport to get Joseph.

A Child's Prayer

Emerson has been doing most of the prayers in our house lately. He really likes to say them and it has proved to be the most effective way to get him to sit still during prayers. He has gotten the hang of how prayers go and can start and finish a prayer and then we help out with the milddle bit. On Sunday we were getting ready to have some lunch. Emerson was sitting in his prayer waiting for us to come in. We were getting ready to step into the dining room and we hear "Heavenly Father, thank thee..." We both paused to see if he would say anything else. Emerson then continued his prayer with thanks for the day and for church and for juice and milk. You could tell that he was very grateful for juice and milk because he then reapeated it about three to five times. It was a very cute prayer and a sweet opportunity as his parents to hear him praying on his own.

The Snack Step

When we have snacks a lot of times we share our snacks on a step leading from the playroom into the rest of the house. On Sunday I gave Emerson some olives to eat while I made up some pizzas. When I went to check and see where he had wondered off to I found him on the "snack step." It was cute to see him so content sitting there enjoying his snack.

Sleepy Boys

Last week both Emerson and Canyon passed out at the same time for a nap. This has only happened a couple of times since Canyon was born and is a very peaceful experience. The feeling of a still home as these two cuties are off dreaming is very relaxing and at the same time very motivating to get those little things done that are more difficult to accomplish while they are awake.