boston temple

In June our Primary (the childrens program at church) visited the Boston LDS Temple. We each got a family picture outside it, talked about why the temple was important, and then had a delicious picnic dinner down the hill from the temple.

I'm amazed all the photos didn't look like this.

with our friend Lily

It was really hot so previous enthusiasm quickly flagged, but once we were in the shade for the picnic it was absolutely perfect weather.

with Lily's little sister Cali, one of Levi's best buds 

 This was the perfect climbing tree and Anna climbed really high. I couldn't touch her when I put my arm above my head. She loved it.

I'm so grateful for temples and for the peace I feel when I attend. I always leave feeling closer to my Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, closer to my husband and more clear on our purpose as husband and wife and as parents, and ready to face the hard things in life.

the rest of may

Here are some other fun things we did in May:

Swimming lessons with Quentin and Lily. Anna loved this and Levi did too since most days I'd hop in the pool with him while Anna was having her lesson. The teacher telling us that Anna was ready to move up to the next level was the catalyst for getting her into lessons this summer where she figured out swimming by herself. She still can only go 5 ft or so, but the basics are definitely there.

Sam's last day of classes! He actually skipped his last class which was a day after this so that we could have one more business day to look at houses in TX. Several people gathered to watch us surprise him after class, and I think they were a little disappointed at Sam's understated reaction. Just goes to show they don't know Sam :) But we had fun doing it.

We spent a few days in TX looking at homes to rent and while we were there, we got to meet Seth's girlfriend (now fiance!) Natalie. She is darling and we are so excited to have her join the family this winter. The kids fell in love with silly Uncle Seth (Levi says "Ses") and got to go to Legoland with Grandma while Sam and I found a beautiful home with big trees for us to rent.

We got home from TX and Sam had finals the next day. At the end of that week I went to NYC with some friends. And once I came home we had some free time to cross a few things off our Boston bucket list.

We went to Dana Park and Mt. Auburn Cemetery one last time. 

 The Boston Temple from the top of Washington Tower at Mt. Auburn

 Boston Skyline

 Fenway and the Prudential Tower

We also finally found Longfellow's grave (it's location on the map is misleading) just in time to visit Longfellow's House. I was even more impressed with Longfellow after I visited than before.

The desk where Longfellow stood to write

There was a great story about this chair 

This pic with the irises is for you mom

And most bittersweetly, my friend Jenny threw a going away party for all of us graduating that year. We ate delicious treats (the norm at Westgate- my friends were such good cooks), talked, and they sent us on with thoughtful notes and cards. I miss these women daily, since that's how often I got to talk and laugh and serve and be served by them!

(L-R) Front: Kristi Templeton, Alice Umugwaneza, Julia Nixon, Kristen Cutler, Jenny Reuel, Jessica Smith, Mallory Perry

Back: Lis Haslam, Me, Julie Johnson, Megan Palmer, Danielle Churchill, Katie Larsen, Shelly Jensen

kennebunkport, me

On one of our free days between finals and graduation, we drove up to Kennebunkport, ME for one last visit to the gorgeous Maine coast. It was a perfect day, as you can see.