Sunday, July 6th, was a big day for our little family. It was Eliza's blessing day. I can't help being amazed every time I look at this little girl that she is part of our family. Now, when I pray for my family, it has a whole new meaning. She has changed our lives forever, and I think we kinda like it.
We also had a very big weekend - being the 4th of July and all. The family came down on Friday and we had a great picnic in the park while the kids played in the stream.
Then we watched the fireworks - Thanks Scott and Brandee for saving us such great seats! ;)
Our little home in Washington is just right for us, but not for the big gang we had visiting, so we had some most gracious relatives let us borrow their home in a little town called Pinto. This place is amazing! We forgot our camera, naturally, so I'll have to get pictures from some of the siblings and post them. The house is really old, but they've taken great care of it. And it's full of great old keepsakes and mementos. There is even a closet FULL of all these great clothes from the 70s and 80s. The girls had more fun going through the closet than anything else. We spent some time touring the old church in Pine Valley, visiting the Mountain Meadows Massacre site (very sad!) and...Alex's favorite...the splash pad! We also had a surprise "visit" from some very special guests - Grandma and Grandpa Merkley! We finally got our webcams to work on both ends and we were able to talk to my parents in Myanmar! We surprised everyone and just brought the computer out with Mom and Dad smiling on it. The kids thought it was great. The sound wasn't very good, so we just spent a lot of time looking at them (and the boys making faces at themselves in the camera), but it was fun nonetheless.
We sure do appreciate everyone coming and spending time with us! And even those who couldn't make it, we love you still. :) We'll get more fun pictures up of the cousins meeting Eliza and some of the other fun stuff we did...as soon as I bum the pictures off others.
Lesson learned.
Take the camera.