Oklahoma Temple

 Yes that is round little me.  I don't have any flattering church clothes to wear, in truth, I dress for comfort these days!!  Nathaniel looks soooooo handsome!

Nathaniel took me on a relaxing trip to the temple!  A member in the ward watched the boys on Friday night and Saturday so that we could go down and stay in a hotel then attend the temple the next morning.  The Oklahoma temple is about 4 1/2 hours away and is one of the smaller temples, but it is always beautiful to see these spiritual Houses of the Lord.  I guess the trip started out very stressful with strong winds the entire drive and just before we left home, Nathaniel found out that he was missing a few things for his application for licensure in Washington.  He took care of what he could, now hopefully it all comes together in a timely manner.  Well, once we got to the hotel we were able to relax and not worry about getting up every minute for one child or the other.  It was nice to only worry about getting myself ready in the morning instead of four little boys!  The temple was a great experience where we both felt the peaceful influence of the spirit.  Our group was tiny with only five of us ladies and seven men, we thought for a 9:00 session on Saturday it would have a bit more.  Anyway, I am glad we were able to attend the temple before this baby comes and especially at this time in our lives when we need the comfort of the Spirit.

Field Day

Joshua and Jonas got to participate in their school's field day.  It was super hot and very very windy, but Logan, Jesse, and Mommy went to cheer the boys on.  Mom was the only one who got sunburned!  They had fun activities like an obsticle course, sack races, tug-o-war, and more.  Logan kept wanting to join in the games and Jesse got bored and hot after awhile of just watching, but they both enjoyed the popsicles afterwards!

Week of Celebrations!

 What a week it has been! It feels like almost everyday was a celebration for something. I will admit we strung mine and Jonas' birthdays out over a couple of days.  I took a closeup picture of my favorite flower out of the bouquet of roses that Nathaniel brought home for me earlier in the week as a pre-birthday present.  I love how the outer petals were pink and the inner petals orangey-peach!

 My birthday cake was a strawberry/peach angel food cake that was soooooo delicious and not fattening at all!  The boys let me sleep in until 7 for my birthday, which helped me wake up in a good mood. I loved the handwritten cards from my boys the best!  We had waffles with fresh strawberries for my birthday dinner.  When we asked Jonas what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said he wanted one just like mom's but with sausage too!

 My first ever attempt at a shaped birthday cake! I thought it turned out well and the boys loved it!!  They did catch one mistake, I put too many candles on (8 instead of 6) but I wasn't even thinking about only putting the amount of Jonas' age on, I was thinking about the look of the cake.

 Jonas had a birthday party at the park on Saturday with some friends.  We had three friends show up, so add them to our four boys, and we had the perfect amount for a party!  The only activity besides cake and presents that I planned for them was making their own pirate flag, then they just played at the park for the rest of the time.

Jonas with his cake!

Saturday evening we went to a pig roast with Nathaniel's coworkers.  The boys loved the meat (even our picky Logan)! By the end of the day I had swollen feet and was having some semi-painful contractions, but they stopped once I got home and rested.  I don't have any pictures of Mother's Day, but the boys were all handsome and helpful.  We had Jonas' creamsicle bars for dessert (he asked for those for his birthday instead of ice cream, but I didn't take them to the park for fear they would melt) and his sausage/breakfast for dinner.  We relaxed and played outside with Jonas' presents all day (he got a bug catcher house which now holds a family of roly poly's, and a bucket with shovel, scoop, and rake).  Thank you to his grandparents for their presents and a special thank you to Great Grandma and Grandpa Peel for their cards and gifts to me and Jonas!!  This week is a week of partying for the boys at school.  They get to go to a movie, the zoo, have field day, and visit a farm in their last week of school!