Wavin' Hello to 7 months

Erica is officially 7 months old!  And she loves to wave to everyone...especially Daddy.  It is tradition, every morning when Dad leaves for work, we go to the window and we all wave goodbye to Dad.  Apparently Erica has caught on to our daily wave and is now participating!  She is also sitting up like a pro!  We still have to be careful where and how we place her, because she does get over excited or reach for a toy and topples over!  

Grizzly Mama Returns

Laura got called to be a bear den leader.  As we were heading off to our first den meeting, CJ asked, “Which den are you going to be working with tonight Mom?” (sidenote...Laura's heart soared thinking that her boys wanted her to be their leader!!! Whoohoo...mama points tonight!) To which Preston replies, “Bears! She's my leader!”  “Oh man, when is she going to be my den leader?” asked a disappointed CJ.  Preston without skipping a beat then replies, “She has to work with the bears...She’s the Mama "Bear"!!”  Haha...we were all laughing!  But, then the next question came... “Well, what kind of bear are you Mom?”  To which Laura didn't even have to think  A Grizzly Bear  of course!!  Grizzly Mama returns!  (For all of you that know the history behind the Grizzly bear and Laura can laugh along...for those of you who don't...well, you'll have to ask Clay and Laura next time you are with them...it goes way back to when Clay and Laura were dating!)

It's so fun to be a scouting family!! Clay is the Cub Master and Laura is the Bear Den Leader!  The Schwanns Man even calls Laura "the scouting Mom"!! I guess she made an impression!!

Tickle Me Erica

 Papa found his way to Erica's heart through her feet...tickling her feet!  She loved it!  It was so fun to watch these two light up when they were together!

Annual St. Bernards Trip

 

We got into St Bernard Farm Corn Maze for FREE!!! So even though CJ and Clayboy were at a merit badge college.... Laura, Papa, and Nana took the other kids and got lost in the maze, rode the tire swings and had a fun afternoon in the sunshine and dust!!!  It doesn't officially feel like fall until we have taken our annual  trip to the corn maize....

Papa and Nana are RMs

We had a great time visiting with Papa and Nana as they head home after their mission.  We have missed them while they were away in Wisconsin, but they did some amazing things while serving there.  It was fun to stay up and listen to their stories and experiences.  The kids enjoyed their object lessons, and we all enjoyed the famous Wisconsin rootbeer they brought back with them!  

This object lesson was a baking sheet and a marble.  The boys were to roll the marble around and try and keep it on the tray.  The faster the marble moved the harder it was to keep it on the tray and the more area the marble covered the harder it was to keep it on the tray too... it usually fell off within seconds of being rolled around.  However, if we placed the marble in a bowl on the cookie sheet, then the marble was able to be free and spin really fast but was safe and never fell on the floor.  This was compared to our lives and commandments, sometimes they look restricting (like the bowl), but it actually lets the marble move faster, freer and safer, just like we are able to live free, safe, and experience more in life when we follow the commandments.  Neat object lesson that really made a great point!

Rain Gutter Regatta

Our Cub Scout Pack did a rain gutter Regatta.  The boys built boats and then raced them by blowing air into the sail using a straw.  Preston build, designed and created his boat all on his own!  Clay is the cub scout master so he oversaw and ran the whole thing!  CJ was the token boy scout and was the "big mouth" for the flag ceremony.  Laura, Aparri, Detric, and Erica were the cheering squad.  It was fun watching the races and participating in a great scouting activity.  

Mancation

Clay just "had" to go on a business trip....poor boy!  Laura thinks it should be more appropriately called a "Mancation"... a Man's Vacation.  The poor boy even took his motorcycle "just in case".  Interesting how this Man found time every afternoon to make it to the mountains with his motorcycle....hmmm... like I said MANCATION!

Starting to Sit

At 6 1/2 months, this girl won’t sleep during the day…only cat nap all day long. 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there…. but she is happy!!!  She also loves bananas, loves to talk, smile, and be outside!

Bottomless Lakes

On the way home from our weekend in Alamogordo, we stopped in Roswell at the Bottomless Lakes!  What a fun spot!  The kids loved playing and exploring on the beach.  Then we strapped on some life jackets and took some paddle boats and foam boards out on the lake!  Whew... that is a workout especially when there is a nice breeze!