Growing up, we lived next door to my sister, Jana. Her son Zac was recently sent home from Mexico due to the virus. He is planning to go to school in Utah and dropped in to say hi. I have millions of pictures of these boys together from when they were young. One of the older three boys has been serving a mission for the last four years. It was fun to get a picture of them all together again!
As a parent of older children, I often find myself on unfamiliar ground. When my children were young it was my job to lead and guide them. I was able to tell them NO when I could see the result would be undesirable or hurtful to another. When I didn't agree with the choice that was being made, I simply had the right to VETO the choice. As a parent of adult children, I find it is more of a watching game. If you ask my children, they will tell you that I don't especially enjoy silently watching games. I find it much more enjoyable to be involved!
It is sometimes difficult to know when they want you to be hands on, or when it is your job to simply love them and pray that the lessons you taught them stay with them. I can think of numerous times when I have wanted to overstep my bounds as a parent and force my adult children to make a choice I feel is best. I am thankful (most of the time) that I raised children who will listen to me, but who are confident enough in themselves to follow their instincts.
I love that all of our family is back together again. Since we are not going to church at the moment, all of the kids came to the house and Daxon was able to give a homecoming talk on Facebook Live. He did an outstanding job. Ashlynn finished after him with a darling song on her ukulele. JD and I felt very fortunate to have all of our children together for today's events.
Ashlynn loves to bake so she made Texas sheet cake for dessert.
The boys told all of us about this amazing park we could go walk around today. When we arrived we discovered it was not a park, but a fishing pond they wanted to scope out. They wanted to go fishing, but JD and I told them that fishing is not a Sunday-approved activity. I guess if they couldn't go fishing on Sunday, going to the pond to scope it out was the next best thing.
I was in the car with Alyssa and we started to complain when we arrived at the location. Jake does not always speak up, so I love it when he does. He told us to stop complaining and enjoy the experience:). We changed our attitude and had fun walking around the fishing pond. LOL
Luke is a month old and cute as ever. I can't believe how fast the time is going.
Earlier in the day I was getting frustrated because the boys would not put their phones away. I announced that if they did not put them away I was dropping them all from my unlimited plan and they could find their own phone plan and pay for it as well! I walked out of the room and when I returned they had put their phones away. The rest of the afternoon we all had an excellent time. We played four square, the boys dominated and Ashlynn really wanted to play elementary school rules.
We had a sit-up contest and after everyone in the family had quit, Riley and Daxon were still going strong. Riley beat Daxon's number and Daxon was not about to lose so he re-did them all and won. His abs will be hurting today!
When they were playing 500, Ashlynn was not about to let them not involve her. She was tackling them, and acting as if she was the same size as they were. Thankfully they were willing to not smash her:).
The weather was perfect and we all had a
fabulous afternoon being back together again.
After all of the older children had left, we did a ZOOM call with JD's family. They asked Daxon questions about his mission and I absolutely LOVED it. I wish I would have recorded Daxon's answers. I loved listening to his stories and hearing his testimony. One of the greatest gifts of having a returned missionary is listening to them testify of the truths they have learned. I am thankful for the gift of family and the knowledge that they can be together forever! I am thankful for missionaries who go out into the world and teach others about how theirs can be together forever!
I LOVE this darling picture and all the people in it!
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