So much has happened and I am so behind!  We went to Utah and witnessed wonderful things and then we drove home with Atticus and had a special time with him.  And then we got busy here and time has flown.

To start with the Utah happenings, Henry was baptized!!  Yay for a wonderful little boy.  It was so fun to hang out with the family and get to know the kids better and just play with them and see them interact.  Henry got a ripstick for his birthday and got pretty good on it in just a little while.  He was willing to let his sisters try it out too.  It's different from a skateboard in that it wiggles in the middle so that you can make it go without a slope.


He also got a Zelda game and was moving right along with it.  He finally got to grow up and experience older things in the game.  He was excited about getting Epona and doing things with her in the future.  I remember going through that game and watching Erin and Heather do it and it's still a joy to experience.  And then Saturday he was baptized!  What an honor for a dad to be able to do that for his children.  We have such wonderful blessings.  Just last month James was able to baptize Atticus.  The Priesthood is such a great blessing not only to the whole earth, but also to individual families who can have such a sweet intimate joy through the holy ordinances.

What a sweet family!  It was great to see extended family there to be happy for him and congratulate him for his good decision.  And in standing around eating the goodies Raylyn provided afterward, we all decided to have lunch together on Monday!

I love every one of these people so much!  And also the ones that couldn't be there.  It was such a satisfying day.

After the lunch we invited ourselves to see Kathy's new apartment.  She has moved into Salt Lake proper and is so very happy with her new place!  It's just across the street from the park and is cozy and clean.  And the best part is it's lots less expensive to live there and she still can have her two dogs.  There's off the street parking and a nice little grassy area out front for the dogs to run around in.  She is still moving in and deciding what she really needs and what can go.  The really amazing thing is that she let boxes of books go!  Just shows what we can do when we are motivated.  We also got rid of a multitude of things when we moved and it actually feels cleansing.

And here is beautiful Grace who is no longer living with her mom.  She is an adult now and living on campus at UVU with roommates.  It will take some time for Kathy to get used to not having children with her.  I'm still getting used to it!

Sunday we got to go to Collinses' ward and witness Scott becoming a Deacon.  That was a sacred moment for us all.  Again, I say what a wonderful, miraculous blessing the Priesthood is on the earth and in the lives of families who can receive the blessings available through it in a sweet, personal way. At the invitation of the bishop Brian gave Scott some valuable counsel about what it means to him to bear the priesthood and Rachael witnessed how much it meant to her to have the priesthood in the home.

Then we got to go hang out with Bennetts for a while and experience their family.  Heidi had just gotten her ankle fused and was still pretty cautious with her damaged appendage.  She ventured out in the wheelchair to go to the lunch and it seemed to work pretty well so for the 4th of July we went to a neighbor's house to watch fireworks.

Attie had a good time playing with friends and waving around sparklers and running from the sparks emitted by the fireworks being set off in the street.  Heidi and James have such nice friends who were very welcoming and friendly to us interlopers.

I just have to say what a wonderful support James is to Heidi in all her ups and downs with this damaged ankle.  It has been years that it has been a drain on her energy and her ability to go and do and he has always been more than helpful and caring to her and her needs and Atticus' needs.  What a wonderful manly example to his son to always be willing to help when it's needed!  A perfect example of priesthood in action.  That is basically what Brian said to Scott.  The priesthood is an opportunity to help and bless those around you.  Even when you don't feel like doing it.  Even when it's inconvenient and you are tired.

And Scott also exemplified that spirit when we came to spend the night at their house with Atticus.  I know he as a 12 year old wanted to do a lot of different things with his friends, but when we had Atticus there he was more than kind and solicitous to him.  He showed him how to shoot his pellet gun and played with him and was ever so patient when it was time to go to bed.  

Here is Atticus shooting Scott's pellet gun at a target.  He had a wonderful time feeling so big and doing grownup things.

During the day we did errands with Kristin and got to visit Brian and Kinsie and see how they have fixed up their house.  Kinsie is very creative and the two of them are really talented and have done some beautiful and imaginative things to make their house welcoming and warm.  It looks like a happy place to live.
Then we went to see the horses who were doing a friend a favor and eating down his field.  The grass was shoulder high to the horses, but I imagine they will take care of it in time.

In the morning early we loaded up and took off for Texas.  Atticus slept in the back seat for a few hours till it got late enough to wake up.  We made really good time but still stopped every couple hours so that we could move around and get some exercise.   Don't need anymore blood clots.

Atticus was a wonderful traveler.  Even when he ran out of things to do he was willing to try something else that kept him busy.  We listened to the Harry Potter book, Prisoner of Azkaban during most of the trip and it was interesting enough to keep his attention but even when he was bored he was a good sport about traveling.  It took two whole days.

We finally arrived home around 6 in the evening and immediately went swimming at the neighborhood pool with the Barneys.  Lara and I even got in the water to cool off.  It was a nice warm Texas day.  :o)

  Atticus LOVED the Barney kids and loved swimming.  This was the best of everything!!   We swam every day and went to the movie to see Finding Dory and then stopped in to visit with Sam as he was working at Whattaburger and had treats.  He played on the swing in our backyard and watched his videos and played his games and we watched the movie Prisoner of Azkaban since he had heard the story read in the car. I told him to hide his eyes when the Dementors came, but he loved seeing the movie again now that he had newly heard the story.  Sunday he went to church to his own aged Primary class and came out happy and exuberant.  Monday was a sad day when he had to leave.  We went to visit the Barney kids one more time, and then went to the airport.

It was fun to have him and sad to see him go, but there's always next year and the next and the next, right?

So that about catches us up to now.  Dad worked in the yard a few days getting things watered and the grass raked and mowed and trimmed so that it's pretty again.  It has been pretty warm and dry so that the plants have been thirsty.  It's nice to see them perking up again.

Thanks so much to all who hosted us and put yourselves out for us while we were there!!  We so appreciate you and are so grateful for you every day.  We pray for all of you, for your happiness and welfare and safety every day.  We are so blessed with our family.  In the temple we talk about having joy in our posterity and surely we do have it and wish it for each of you.  We love you.