Fun Summer Day

This has been quite the day!

This morning I didn't have to go to work so I was able to be home for our morning scripture reading and family prayer. I love being able to participate with the boys as they read from the Book of Mormon. It brings such a wonderful spirit into our home and things just go much better.

After scriptures and family prayer Michelle prepared a hot breakfast of oatmeal cereal. Then the boys finished their morning ADLs and David and Donovan get ready for school. We picked up Braxton and Brinley and I took them all to summer school for the morning.

The rest of the family ran some errands and did some shopping at the DI. First we dropped of some unneeded items and then swung around to see if we could spot any deals. We were lucky today because we found a small bicycle that appears to be just the right size for Aleky (who has been extremely jealous since we found a bicycle for Michael just a few days ago).

We raced home and managed to meet David and Donovan just coming home from summer school and we were able to go in and have some lunch. I decided that the day might get a little carried away so I took the opportunity to get a little exercise in before I ate my sandwich (that makes two days this week that I have exercised; up from 0 times in the previous few months!). Before i could make it downstairs to exercise the boys all began pleading with me to take them to 7-peaks water park. You can't really blame them since the temperature is rising and we haven't made it once this year. So I told them that if they got their chores done I would take them to the water park.

When I finally came up to eat lunch the boys were busily engaged in chores around the house. David mowed the front and backyard lawns; Donovan cleaned the kitchen sinks and washed windows; Michael was cleaning door knobs and spreading mowed grass in the garden; Aleky was helping spread grass too; and all the boys had helped collect and sort the laundry. The boys had also written in their gratitude journals. I didn't have any more excuses...it was time to take them to the water park.

We got our swimsuits on and started with the sunscreen. I was a little apprehensive about taking the boys since Michelle didn't want to go with us (due to the increasingly uncomfortable feeling of being 9 months pregnant). But taking 4 active little boys to a crowed water park was still a little unsettling. Fortunately I got back-up. Amelia and Eleanor were able to join us and Aleky just had to wait for them to show up to take him; I took the three older boys and I left Quinten home asleep.

The boys had a blast and the lines were far too long for them to adequately enjoy all of the attractions. David was fearless, Donovan followed and Michael tried to back out. We worked on the buddy system so the boys had to stick together but it stretched their mental acuity to the limits! We rode a half dozen slides and then hit the lazy river.

Things were going pretty good. Donovan could bob up and down in the river most of the way. There are a few drop-offs that caught him by surprise the first time around and he discovered at least 3 or 4 ways to prevent drowning in such circumstances. David was trying to race Donovan around the river. Michael was holding on to me for dear life.

As Michael and I floated around the lazy river, dodging tubes and swimmers, we came upon David sitting on the side of the river crying. He was holding his bloody foot. Somehow he had managed to slice his foot open while running in the river and was sitting on the side of the river in pain and agony.

I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. I couldn't leave Michael in the river, Donovan had already floated away and was long gone, and there was no life guard in sight to get a band-aid of even directions to the first aid station. So Michael held on to my neck as I carried David out of the water and in the general direction of help (once out of the water Michael had to walk). Fortunately a couple of the park guests could see our predicament and pointed us in the right direction.

It was at the first aid station that Amelia, Eleanor and Aleky caught up to us. Since I was still missing Donovan I sent Amelia on a search and recover mission while I kept the rest of the little ones. The EMT/First Aid guy bandaged David's foot and we gave them a quick report of what had happened. That was it, no glory or glamour. Just a large purple wrapped bandage on his foot.

Amelia found Donovan clinging to the side trying to get out at the next exit to the lazy river. I sent Michael with Eleanor and Aleky to the kiddy pool where he would be happier. David and Donovan were not done playing so they went back to the lazy river for more racing fun. Eventually we got all of the boys in the kiddy pool were we could keep an eye on them and we stayed at the park for a couple of hours.

Of course the boys were disappointed when it was time to go. When we got home we discovered that Michelle had arranged a dinner party (cook out/BBQ)! I had to run to the store to get a few missing ingredients and then chop the wood to get the fire started. We were eating with the Anderson because Richard didn't have to go to work (had the night off) and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to visit with them.

The boys loved the fire (as always) and burned just about everything they could get to the fire pit. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, potato chips, fruit salad, bean salad, fruit juice and roasted marshmallows for dessert. We had to slowly extract the boys from the fun so they could bathe and clean themselves from the day, but it was a process that didn't even start until about 8:30 pm. Needless to say, the boys were finally in bed by 9:30 pm and went right to sleep.

Once the boys were in bed and the Andersons had gone home we quickly cleaned up the kitchen and headed to the shower so we could clean up from the day. After our showers we watched our Netflix DVD on the TV series Quantum Leap (Netflix didn't stream the first few episodes so we requested the DVD).

I had an absolutely wonderful day with my family. The funny part about this day was that virtually none of it was actually planned; it just kind of happened. Some of our best planned days haven't worked out quite so well but today worked out great. I spent time with my family, had a blast, got some work done around the house and even found a great treasure at the DI. It's almost a shame that I have to go back to work because I could get used to doing something like this every day.

Provo City's Science-Palooza

We made it to Provo's annual Science-Palooza this year. The boys had a ton of fun since they already had an idea of what to expect. These guys just jumped right in.

Here they are learning about blood, what makes up blood and how important it is for the human body.

David is trying his hand at panning for gold. It takes a few tries but he finally scores his golden keepsake.

Quinten stays contained in his stroller for his own protection and so we can keep track of him with so many distractions running around. He did good for most of the activity but was ancy to get out by the end of the day.

The boys tried their hand at catching carbon dioxide bubbles. They discovered that the glove was the key to success.

A little black light art lighten things up, and not just on paper either.

The video is a brief synopsis of the science palooza and some of the other activities that were there.

Kids at the Bottling Party

Today we had another bottling party for our ward. While the ladies worked their magic processing the fruit the kids had a blast too. Frequently you could find the kids trying to help with the fruit preparation like Rachel and Sarah Simmons.

But most we found playing inside and out...mostly out. Here Aleky is following Eleanor Anderson up the ladder.

Donovan has discovered how to swing on his own power and is having a blast.

David loves anything that goes fast. Here he is simply unwinding from a hectic day.

Michael has decided that ladders are for the little kids. He must climb up by some other way.

Tennison Anderson is just happy to be here. What a great kid, hardly noticed he was here because he was so content.

Eleanor Anderson going down the slide on her own.

Relief Society Bottling Party

One day, not so long ago, my dear wife was talking with Samantha Anderson. Now that isn't so shocking but on this particular day they happened upon an idea! This idea was to gather the fruit in the ward (that would normally just fall to the ground and be wasted) and bottle it and actually utilize it productively. This fruit could be gathered freely.

But this wasn't just about gathering the free fruit. This was an opportunity to teach those sister who were interested how to bottle that fruit so they could do it on their own the next time. And so the idea began to develop. Each person who heard the idea was inspired and excited to further the effort. Eventually Michelle, Samantha and Lydia (Taylor) began the organization of this bottling party. Word was put out to gather canning and bottling equipment, camp stoves, tables, bottles, lids, fruit, etc.

Every day this week something new has arrived, either fruit, bottles or other canning equipment. We were forced to (partially) clean out our garage to make room for everything. Then, the night before the canning party Michelle took me aside and gave me some very specific instructions about what I was supposed to be doing before, during and after this bottling party. As an afterthought she asked me if I'd be willing to help out!!!

Fortunately I was mostly in charge of the kids. I like that part. Especially when they decided that they wanted to play with each other. However, I was called upon frequently to move large boiling pots of water, steaming hot applesauce, etc. as needed.

The kids getting in some playtime...

It wasn't hard to find fruit testers...



And more playing...


The bottling party is just getting started. Note, only two stoves to begin with. We ended up with 10 burners going simultaneously!
The first step was taking care of the apples. At this point we had lots of big helpers.
The nectarines were started simultaneously as more sisters arrived.
Getting the bottles ready for fruit.

Then it was time for peaches.
Once the apples were ready it was time to squoosh them into applesauce.
Still more nectarines...
And apples...
There is an art to putting the fruit into the bottles to maximize the space.
More bottles to prep
But look at all that applesauce
Instructions and teaching moments were frequent


And here is the whole set-up. The canopy for preparing the fruit, the cooking on the patio (10 burners fired up and we could have used more!). The grass was the washing/cleaning area.
Making some jam

Finally processing for the finished fruit bottles And finally time to clean up

This was quite the process but it yielded some great results. These ladies bottled about 120 quarts of fruit...
Applesauce: 19 quarts and 18 pints
Pears: 22 quarts
Nectarines: 54 quarts and 2 pints
Peach jam: 17 pints and 16 half pints
Plum jam: 4 pints

We're lucky enough to be planning "round 2" in about 3 weeks. It was really quite the production but everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time, learned about bottling and came away with 120 quarts of free fruit! But the best part of the whole day was having 2 investigators come and participate in the bottling project! What a great introduction to the church and one of the ways the gospel blesses our lives.

Dutch Oven Dinner

We had a fun little dinner last night. Richard Anderson has some culinary genius somewhere in his genes and he was willing to share that gift with us. So he came over and cooked us some dutch oven chili and cornbread. Michelle wanted to contribute to the taste bud bonanza and made a dutch oven peach cobbler. To make a complete meal we invited the Johnsons to bring a salad and drink. (Now we just need some good firewood that is more burn than smoke!)

The Andersons brought over some chips and salsa for an appetizer. My boys loved the chips but they just weren't into the salsa. However, little Eleanor loved the salsa but wasn't into the chips. These kids certainly complement each other.

It was a beautiful day, wonderful food, and great friends. What more could you ask for? The boys thought it was great to have a fire and to be able to play in the back yard while we were out there too. But when it comes to food, well they aren't the best eaters on the planet. None of the boys ate their dinner. So what do you do when it's time to serve dessert? We caved in to the peer pressure and let the boys have dessert too.