Independence Day Delight

 We woke up the morning of July 4th and decided to attend the Fort Vancouver Celebration.  Glenn had not been to Fort Vancouver since a child, and I don't remember ever having been before.  We knew we didn't want to stay for the fire works, but we wanted to explore during the day.  We were concerned that the fireworks would not start until dark (after 9:30) and we would not get home until close to midnight.  Too late for Emma and Glenn, since he had to go to work the next day.

 On our way to Fort Vancouver, we stopped at Toy's R Us to purchase Emma's first bike!  We were so excited, but it soon became a difficult situation.  Right next to the bikes were the electric cars.  Emma didn't want a bike, she wanted the horsy car (the Barbie Mustang) that was pink.  She kept crying and saying "I want the horsy car!" and did not understand why we were looking at bikes.  Finally we chose the bike and dragged our crying, begging child out of the store.  We decided to find the experience funny.  After all, we did not think we would be having the car discussion for at least 13 more years!

Next we drove across the river and searched for parking.  We got lucky, and were not that far away, and easy to find.  We walked into Fort Vancouver, and the first thing we came across was the play structure.  Emma was in heaven!  Glenn and I quickly realized that we should have brought chairs, or at least a blanket to sit on.





After a while, we walked over to the historic fort and explored.  Emma did not like going in those dark buildings when it was so bright out.  I finally got her into the blacksmith's, where we watched two men working.  She was fascinated with the fire and the bellows they were using. We finished up at the fort, stopped for a snack of Elephant Ears, and took the long way around to our exit to go home.  It was fun, and maybe we will think about staying all day some time.  I think it would be fun with a large group of friends or family.

Visiting the Temple

 I am the Primary Secretary, and as part of my calling I was asked to put together a Temple Visit Activity.  One of our ward goals is to have every member of the ward visit the temple this year. This activity is our attempt to help families get the kids there.

We have a large primary, so we decided having an activity at the temple with all our kids was not practical.  We were concerned with not only the logistics, but also the reverence factor.  If all of our active children attended, we were looking at over 60 kids (not counting the nursery children.) So, to help our children attend and keep things simple and reverent, we decided to personally invite all the families in our Primary and Nursery to attend, and provide them with and activity.

 On a beautiful June day, Emma and I visited the Portland Temple to do our research.  We started at the Portland Temple Visitors Center and spoke with a wonderful Sister Missionary there.  Our visit ended up being timely as she had just received a "Temple Treasure Hunt" from another primary leader in another stake for the same purpose.  She was able to share that information with me which we included with our invite.

 Even with that information, Emma and I decided to take a walk around the temple, and gather our own information.  I went ahead and created a Walking Tour of the Portland Temple with some fun temple facts. I loved creating this activity, and sharing the temple grounds with my daughter.  I love the temple and want her to as well.

Father's Day

 For Father's Day this year, we gathered at my parents house to celebrate. It was a beautiful day, so we had a BBQ on their deck.  Emma loves to play with her grand parents and cousins. She was so excited to just be there.

 For Glenn, Emma gave him a special flip book that listed 10 reasons she loved him.  It had photos of Glenn and Emma (with a few of me thrown in) through the years of fatherhood.  We received it a few days before Father's Day, and were too excited to wait before giving it to him.  We like instant gratification around here!


 For Grandpa, everyone got together and bought him a Fryer.  Chris had the idea, and researched what we needed.  Emma and I went to pick it up, and wrap it.  She was so excited to be part of the process.