Botanical Garden

On Memorial Day we visited the Bellevue Botanical Garden. The garden is free to visit and always beautiful in the spring and summer. Below are my three youngest children posing in the Japanese section of the garden. Melissa loved wearing her new animal hat. And of course Nathan was wearing his new fireman boots.Me and my five kids. If you click on the picture it will make it larger.I loved these pretty pink flowers at the garden. After seeing them I found a small pot of them for sale at the garden gift shop and purchased it. I planted the flower in my front yard upon returning home and can't wait to see how it grows and spreads over the years. Hopefully someday I will have as many flowers as the picture below.Nathan's favorite part of the garden with this John Deere gator that a worker was using to haul around fresh bark in.Today I am thankful that:
*My mom is an excellent seamstress and was able to alter this dress that I bought for Emily to make it more modest. She had to shorten the straps.
*Scott's sister and brother in the law stayed at our house this weekend while they were here on their househunting trip. We can't wait for them to more here with their children next month.
*Scott bought an electric trimmer and did an excellent job trimming a big bush near our house. It was much easier and cleaner looking than when we trim it by hand.

Kindness

The most common Family Home Evening lesson at our house is about kindness. Our kids struggle with not being first, not getting the best spot on the couch, not listening to each other, not sharing... I have signs around the house like this one but I often wonder if they are making a difference.However, yesterday I was looking for Nathan and this is where I found him. Up in his big sister's room playing Playmobil with her. Emily is very possessive of her toys and rarely let's Nathan play in her room. Seeing this act of kindness on her part really warmed my heart.So sweet. Megan recently surprised me by setting the table for breakfast (something I do each day). She did this before I woke up as a special surprise. I love these kind surprises.Today I am thankful that:

*it is another sunny day (we've had like 4 in a row) and my flower pot looks great.*Holly got to participate in her school play last week. She helped off stage and had alot of fun.

*I got to attend a special fireside with Mary Cook (first counselor in the general YW presidency). Me and the other members of my ward's YW presidency sat on the 4th row of the meeting. It was a sweet experience to learn about our YW responsibilities from her.

Fun with Dad

We had a nice weekend (no rain) and so Scott went out to mow the lawn. Nathan followed him around the yard, careful to jump out of the way when his Dad got close. Here he is chatting with his Dad.
Eventually Nathan got bored with watching and stomped around on the patio with his new fireman rain boots. I think he is smashing a flower with his boot.

Here is my boy smiling. I had to take about 10 photos to get this good smiling one.

Then Nathan grabbed his play lawnmower and joined in the fun. I love this photo of both Dad and son mowing.

Then big sister Megan joined in. She and Nathan are good buddies.

After all the outside fun Nathan quickly fell asleep for his nap. He didn't even make it to the couch. And yes, he has been wearing the boots nonstop. He doesn't even take them off to sleep.
Today I am thankful that:

*Emily's 11th birthday party has already happened. She had 6 friends come to it on Friday night. Pizza, games, painting nails, and watching the movie Enchanted made for a fun but LOUD evening.
*Our Easter decorations are finally down and put away. Why are decorations so much more fun to put up than take down?
*Our pear tree in the backyard is in bloom. Too bad the pears will all get eaten or pecked by birds.

Time Out for Women

Happy early Mother's Day to me. Scott tended the kids so I could attend Time out for Women in Seattle on Friday night and all day Saturday. I had attended Time out for Women in Phoenix 5 years ago with my book club so I was excited to hear that it was coming to Washington. I went with four friends from church this time and it was a lot of fun. This is a photo of all the women getting seated in Benaroya Hall. The Hall seats 2500 people.
My favorite musician of the conference was Micheal McLean. It was neat to hear him sing the songs I have heard on his CDs and church movies throughout the years.

My favorite speaker was Mariama Kallon from Africa. You cannot help but be inspired by her storyand feel so grateful for the many blessings you have.

My favorite quote from conference was this "don't let yourself be held hostage by your least happy kid". This spoke to me because I often let my kids' bad behavior or attitude influence me. Another idea that made me pause was this "speed and efficiency shouldn't be your top priority, people are". The theme was Choose to Become Something and All things are possible to him that believeth.

These are the windows in the lobby of Benaroya Hall and the beautiful view of Seattle outside.

Looking down on the lobby where Deseret Book was selling lots of books and CDs, specifically ones by the presenters.

View of the Hall from up above. My little group was lucky enough to be sitting at the bottom on the far left in the 5th row back.

A view of the side balconies.

Me and two of my dear church friends. We all serve in Young Womens together.

As we left the Hall it was fun to see so many women carrying their Time Out for Women bags. It was like we were flooding Seattle with the bags.

I can't wait for the next Time Out for Women to come to Seattle.
Today I am thankful that:

*Nathan loves our tulips. I just wish he wouldn't pull the tulips open to look inside.

*Old church videos--I pulled some out today and the kids loved watching them.

*My sweet neighbor who had a garage sale and sold some of my things for me while I tended my kids comfortably in my house.