The past two months

Here is a photo summary of our past two months with some captions. We took a trip to Washington state, stopping by Multnomah Falls on the way.
The falls were impressive from the bottom, and from the top.
We enjoyed Mt. St. Helens National Monument. We actually had a clear sky and could see the mountain.
We traveled to the Olympic National Park and spent some time in the rain in the rainforest at Sol Duc falls.
Our favorite tide pools are located at Salt Creek on the Olympic Penisula.
One day we went to Seattle and visited Pike's Place Market, which isn't a nice place for children.
The Pacific Science Center was better for children, but still not as good as the promotional materials made it sound. All of us, except Lucy, got a butterfly to land on us.
We had fun at the Point Defiance Aquarium and Zoo in Tacoma. This is the closest you ever want to be to a polar bear.
Lucy loved the meerkats, but unfortunately we didn't get a good photo of her and them.
Of course, we spent lots of time with family in Washington.
Then, once back home, we celebrated Kirk's birthday.
We went on a camping trip to Southern Utah. This is the favorite part of camping for the children: watching the adults take care of the fire.
It was very hot at Zion National Park, so we all enjoyed wading in the Virgin River near the Narrows.
The Japanese tourists liked taking photos of our children and their cousins.
We managed to hold on to the children long enough for a photo at Weeping Rock.
The next holiday was the Fourth of July, which we celebrated on the 3rd.
Andrew, Edward, and Lucy were thrilled when Grandpa Tanner built a large boat for them.
We had a great family reunion--with 28 children ages 14 and younger.
We played games.
Some people took naps.
And we even had some time for the adults and older children to enjoy a campfire.
It was an eventful two months. The best part was seeing so much of our family.

Happy mid-July

It has been two months since I last posted anything here. Obviously, posting to a blog is very low down on my to-do list. Getting food on the table is a higher priority. We have also been traveling or having family reunions since the first week in June (more about that later).

Andrew finished kindergarten and was thrilled with the whole experience. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Porter.
He also participated in the school's end-of-the-year dance festival. All the kindergarten students did a "Jell-O dance."

This week he gave a talk in Primary. Here it is:

Elijah the prophet went to a mountain to talk to Jesus and stayed in a cave. He was sad because the people were bad. A big wind happened, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, Elijah heard “a still small voice” and went out of the cave to talk to Jesus. This scripture story teaches us that the Lord and the Holy Ghost talk to us with a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:12)

I am going to share three experiences about the Holy Ghost from our family.

1. Last week my cousin Carina got baptized. After she got baptized she got the gift of the Holy Ghost. This made me feel happy to watch her. The Holy Ghost can help her all the time now. I am thankful that my cousin Carina got baptized so that I can have a cousin that is 8.

2. Once when my Mommy was teaching in Chile, a long time after my Mommy’s mission, she was prompted by the Holy Ghost to go back to school in Wisconsin and not stay in Chile for another year. She then met my Daddy, Kirk, and the Holy Ghost prompted her to marry him.

3. When my Mommy and aunt Becky were younger and picking prickly pear fruit in the desert to make jelly, the Holy Ghost told my aunt Becky not to put her foot down. She looked down and there was a huge rattlesnake. She told my Mommy there was a snake. They both jumped in the air and ran away.

I know that the Holy Ghost is true and that we can get prompted by him so that we know what to do. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.