Continuing our Journey

The next day we made it to Farmington, New Mexico.  We had intended to drive over to Four Corners but the trucks were SO SLOW!  By the time we made it to New Mexico we just wanted to get out of the car and be done for the day.  So we hung out in the Wal-Mart parking lot, aka our campsite.  It was kind of awesomely ghetto.  We circled the wagons and had fun playing ball in the parking lot. 

The next morning we headed for Uncle Kent's house and had a mini Palmer reunion.  Thanks to all my family for coming. 

Kade disappeared on me.  Again.  I finally found him hiding in the shed, playing with the kittens.

 

Nana brought a pinata for the grandkids.  I was worried about my kids getting a sugar rush while trapped in the car so Nana filled the pinata with toys, raisins, crackers, fruit snacks, and don't worry, she included some candy too.

 

 

Reagan kept lifting the blindfold up so she could see what she was swinging at.  Such a cutie!!

 

Nana helping Braelynn.

 

Kent and Kassy had a fun little surprise for the family.  Gabe's shirt reads "Little Brother Expires 03-2014."  So excited for you guys!

 

When Kade knocked the cone off the pinata Uncle Kent made him wear it as a hat.  Kade liked it.

Kade wasn't the only one who loved the kittens.  This little miss couldn't get enough either.

A New Adventure

Thanks to our being a military family we get the awesome opportunity to move every few years.  I hate moving.  It's always so much work.  But I love having friends all around the world.  As always it was really hard to leave those friends behind.  But we look forward to all the new friends we will get to make.

Say good bye to the old home.  We worked so hard on to make this shell of a house a decent home.  We literally finished the landscaping hours before we drove away.  I hope the renters enjoy it.  We made a lot of great memories in this home.

 

We took 6 days to drive from Idaho to Louisiana (our new place of residence).  I tried to have something fun to do everyday of our trip.  Our first stopping point was Utah.  Of course I had to take the kids to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Dad and Uncle Andrew had a lot of house to load up into the trucks and since 5 littles tend to get in the way we left early.  Thankfully Aunt Katie met me at the museum.  Such a blessing to have another adult help watch the excited kiddos.

 

Notice Braelynn is barefoot?!  My friend was watching her while I cleaned up the house before we left.  When I picked up the kids we loaded up and left for Utah.  I was halfway to Utah before I realized Braelynn didn't put her shoes on.  My friend gave the shoes to Dad to bring to us but we didn't meet them until the next morning so Braelynn toured the museum barefoot.

 

Jordynn really loved digging in the wet sand.

 

Nana has been teaching the boys about fossils and they LOVED seeing the skeletal fossils of all these extinct animals.  The weirder the better!

 

Love Aunt Katie!  Glad you could come!

 

Unearthing fossils in the dig zone!

Dad and Uncle Andrew were supposed to meet us in Springville that night.  We had planned on camping in the camp trailer all along the way.  But they were VERY late leaving Idaho and it was nearly midnight before they finally made it to our stopping point.  I didn't want to sit in a dark parking lot waiting for them so I drove out to Midway and crashed at Aunt Katie and Uncle Kyle's house.  Thanks for taking us in guys.

Science Camp at Yellowstone!

Nana has trained the kids well.  They think Science is cool.  So we brought a few experiments to camp with us.

Trayton has been really excited about making a baking soda and vinegar volcano.  The picture was to late and didn't catch the full eruption but the kids thought it was awesome.  (We even had a few kids from the camp next to us come over and participate.)  We also made the alka-selzer rockets again.  So much fun.

You can't learn about geysers without making a soda geyser of your own.  So easy and so cool.  Diet coke and a package of Mentos.  Dad and Uncle Kyle had a competition.  Who could get more mentos in the soda and create a bigger explosion.  Here's Dad's.  I think he got 7 mentos in.

And here is Uncle Kyles.  Needless to say he lost! 

Yellowstone National Park!

We decided that before we leave the beautiful state of Idaho we needed to visit Yellowstone National Park.  Who knows if we will ever make it back to this region.

The only thing I had on my agenda was to see Old Faithful.  She didn't disapoint.  Right on cue she sputtered.  Did you know that the water that spews out of the geyser is hotter than boiling?  And Old Faithful sprays over 100 feet into the air!  Nature is amazing.  By the time the water flowed over to where we were standing it was still as warm as bath water.  Then a ranger yelled at us for touching.  Whoops!  I told him it was okay and that we let Grandpa touch before the children so they wouldn't get burned.  He didn't think that was good enough.

The park ranger at our campsite suggested we go see Black Sands Basin.  So glad we did.  It was even cooler than Old Faithful.

The unique conditions surrounding Yellowstone create this pools of water that are steaming and sometimes boiling.  You can feel the heat being emitted from the ground.  It was like a sauna.  The heated water creates an interesting environment for microbes to grow.  The microbes form these amazing colors around the edge of the pools.

Here are some more of the colorful microbes.

I was so fortunate to have Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Kyle and Aunt Katie come with us.  That meant 6 adults and only 5 children.  That's right, the kids were totally outnumbered. 

Some of our friends joined us also.  Here's Jordynn with her best bud Jensen, Hagan, and Trayton.

The colors of the microbes were so vibrant it was really incredible.  Here's a look up close.

Happy Birthday Trayton Dear!

Can my baby really be NINE years old?  Where has the time gone?  Trayton, you are a delight to have around.  You are an excellent big brother and a super big helper.  The last year has had many changes and you have really stepped up and been a leader in our home.  Thank you for all you have done.

Favorite Color:  I don't know.  Let's just say red.
Favorite Book:  Wolves of the Beyond
Favorite Movie:  Harry Potter
Favorite Toy: Legos
Favorite Food:  Fatty'z Pizza
Favorite Place: Boise Aquarium
Favorite Person (wink-wink): Dad (What?!)
Favorite Thing to Do:  Wrestle with Dad
Favorite Scripture:  Stripling Warriors
Favorite Memory:  Riding Horses with Nana

Agency

Some days I feel like I talk but my children don't hear me.  I beg.  I plead.  I shout.  I get blank stares.  I wonder if my words will ever be understood.  Some days they get it, and my heart soars.
Family Home Evening tonight (6/24/13) was amazing.  I've been pondering a lot lately about the Plan of Salvation.  The war in Heaven wasn't about right and wrong but the right to choose our own path.  There are consequences to every choice.  Good and Bad.  Lucifer's Plan would bind us to one fate.  Our Eternal reward would not be earned it would be forced.  I love my family.  I panic when I think about losing any one of them to sin.  I want to shout at them to just do what I say.  I know best!  I don't want you to experience the negative consequences of making poor choices.  But the more I force the more stubborn they become.  I listened to a speaker in Sacrament on Sunday discuss agency and I realized that their resistance wasn't because they didn't love me or respect me.  And it wasn't because they were defiant children.  It is because they had fought for their right to choose and won.  Growing up I was an easy child.  I aimed to please.  I did what I was told.  I was in college before I questioned my own spiritual beliefs and decided for myself about what was truth.  We are told all the time that this generation of young people were saved for these latter days because of their strength.  I know this is true.  I saw this strength in my own children tonight.
  After lesson in FHE our family has the tradition of providing an opportunity for every one to bear testimony.  I bore my testimony regarding the sacred gift of agency.  I told my children that I would commit to learning how to teach them without limiting their ability to choose.  And then I gave them the floor.  Braelynn shared a testimony that was cute but mostly incoherent.  And then Kade spoke.  Normally, I have to nudge Kade.  Coerce him to speak, until begrudgingly, he feels compelled to share a testimony.  Tonight he volunteered and the Spirit filled our home.  He bore witness of his desire to be good, to be like God.  He said he didn't want to make mistakes but he knew he would.  His tear-filled testimony made my heart soar.  Kade you are a choice spirit.  Your desire to make your own choices comes from your experiences in our pre-Earth life.  At the age of 7 you have more conviction in you then I had when I left the safety of my parent's home and confronted the world.  I often worry that your stubbornness will lead you down difficult paths.  Tonight I realized that you will not be swayed by the influences of the world or even by the pleadings of your mother.  You may not remember life before you came here to me but your testimony is far greater than anything I could have taught you here.  Your Eternal experiences have already shaped your life.  You will make mistakes and I will say many prayers on your behalf.  You have the potential to become like God.  I have faith that you will.  And not because you were told to or even compelled to, but because you want to.  I will learn to not get angry as you exercise your agency and you will continue to use your agency to inspire me to be better. 

Nana and Grandpa Coach!

As soon as school was out Nana and Grandpa Coach were on their way to see us.  Hooray.  It was a much needed reunion.  A lot has happened in the last year.  Grandpa Coach was sick. I broke my leg.  And on a happier note our little Emersynn joined our family.

The kids were super excited.

This was about all I saw of Grandpa Coach.  Jordynn was almost always by his side (here she is sad that he is sharing his attention with the boys).  And the boys were always wanting to wrestle with him. 

Don't worry Nana got plenty of attention too.

Kade and Grandpa Coach showing me their 'cool' faces.

Our little Emersynn is getting so big.  Her dark hair has faded and so has her mellow nature.  Don't get me wrong she is still an awesome baby.  She has just become VERY active.  Can't slow her down for anything.  She started crawling at 6 months and now at 7 months she is already pulling herself up and starting to cruise on the furniture.

Of course, we can't have Nana and not have science time.  The girls just like wearing the awesome goggles!  Nana had some fantastic experiments lined up for us.  The kids dissected owl pellets (yuck!), cleaned pennies, dissolved an egg shell, launched rockets, and more.

 

Here the kids are launching their alka seltzer rockets.  So easy and so much fun!!