We Are Family!

 The big event of the unofficial Jack reunion was family pictures! We'd done family pictures with the Jacks the last time we were all together for Christmas, but that was when I was just pregnant with Riley and 4 other babies and one fiancee have been added to the family since then! Ben's family is definitely more in the growing phase than the Messerly family at this point...other than Riley we've only added Andrew since then! So, Ben's mom really wanted another picture, especially since in that previous picture Tim had been on a mission so he was photoshopped in. (Turns out you can't just bring a cardboard print out of a missionary and assume the photographer knows what to do with that.) 

Why does something that brings so much joy have to make everyone so stressed?? I only had one kid to get ready and keep clean and happy for these pictures and I was exhausted by the end. To get the best daylight Riley had to stay up pretty late, but luckily she was still a super happy girl most of the time! I was definitely second guessing any plans of having more children watching these families with three or four kiddos trying to get everyone looking at the camera. :) 

I wasn't sure how good the pictures would turn out with neither Ben or I able to try and get her to laugh, but luckily our brother-in-law Sterling came up with saying the phrase "Jack Cheese!" Riley absolutely loved it! Every time we said "Jack Cheese" she would crack up. You never know what's going to get her, but thank goodness we struck gold that day!

I love this picture, but Ben points out that you can tell I'm actually laughing in it. I think that's a positive thing, but apparently you're not supposed to laugh while you are kissing. :) I was just so flustered when the photographer asked us to kiss! I am not good being put on the spot, I haven't been asked to take romantic kissing pictures for 5 years! 

Love this picture of Ben and his fam!

Like I said, Riley was really great most of the time. When it was time for the grandparents + grandchildren picture she was very unsure about the whole thing. She's not comfortable enough around any of these cousins to have them fill in for Mom or Dad. This is as close as we could get her to stand by the group. A few people tried to encourage her to move closer, but I knew how thin the ice was that we were skating on so I didn't try to push it. I was happy she was just in the picture! 

As far as we know, no one is pregnant right now so these family pictures will at least be current for 9 months! We call that a win!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

This June we got to go visit Ben's family in Rexburg, Idaho. It's always a little painful buying tickets to a tiny little airport like Idaho Falls, but if COVID did anything for us it was to remind us a little financial sacrifice to see family is definitely worth it! I really enjoy Rexburg in the summer. For the first years of our marriage we only visited during Christmas and while it was fun to be with family during that time now that Ben doesn't get a ton of time off around the holiday we've started making summer trips and I'm totally converted! Even thought it's a small town they've got enough fun things to fill a real fun week. Ben's brother who lived in California moved to Utah the week before we came into town so now all his siblings live in Utah. With that being the case they all decided to come up too and made it a full on family reunion! 

It was so fun being all together! I was worried about the house being able to fit us all, but a neighbor's house being vacant due to a mission ended up really saving the day, one of Ben's brother's family got to stay there and made it possible for us all to fit. The trip had a good mix of fun outings and just casual playing at home time. 

Bubbles with Grandma, a popular activity

If you read a book to one kid, you read a book to all the kids. 

Other than family photos (discussed in a separate post) the biggest event of the trip was a surprise 60th birthday for Meredith, Ben's mom. Weeks before our visit it was suggested Allison suggested we celebrate her birthday which was just a few weeks later on July 2nd. We all met for a zoom call to discuss plans and decided a pizza party with a few songs and games would be just right. We decided the kids would sing a primary song for Grandma and I suggested the kids do a number as well. We started talking about what song they would sing if they did decide to do it. We started joking about a few songs and then I decided that it would be amazing if they would sing a medley of a few songs adjusted to be about Meredith and things she likes. Since I seemed to be the only one REAL jazzed about that idea I said I would take it on and immediately started workshopping. I was so excited about a project that exercised that side of my creativity that by the end of that night I had 2/3rd of the song written. I finished it up the next day. I recorded it and sent it out to the siblings and said if they liked it I'd create the music track and get a presentation ready. At least Angie and the sister-in-laws seemed excited about it so I took that as the official go ahead! The lyric video that I decided to put together to go with the song took much much longer than the first part of the process, but I still enjoyed doing it. 

Once we were in Idaho we learned that Ben's dad sort of spoiled a bit of the surprise. Apparently, Meredith had randomly mentioned at a dinner that she wanted to do something special for her 60th birthday. He wasn't sure what to do and just said that someone may already be doing something. At least she didn't know the specifics of it...we ended up having to do it during lunch time which may have helped us actually surprise her. As far as I could tell she was genuinely surprised when we walked in to a giant 60th birthday sign. We ate pizza and then started the little program. Riley did really well singing the Grandma song which made me so happy because we had practiced and she knew that song! I was so happy she was able to do it even under a little pressure. After the kids it was the sibling song, my creation. It almost immediately brought her to tears. I was so pleased! She even asked me after how I knew all her favorite songs to include in the medley. Some were educated guesses, but some were just lucky like Bohemian Rhapsody. But I guess everyone likes that song right? 

One of our fun outings was to go to their local splash pad. It was a pretty fun thing, but it was also incredibly loud not just because the number of children, but the sound of all the splashing water. Riley was immediately out. She was not going near that play structure. Luckily, just a few yards away they have a normal park. So Riley and I went to play on that playground instead and she had a lovely time. 

Sleepy girl way past her bedtime

Taking more family pictures during family pictures

My favorite thing we do near Rexburg is float down this little chill river. It's like a 30 minute float and it's all calm, shallow water, so perfect for our group. Riley was definitely not excited about it at first. She was sitting on my lap in the inner tube, but the water was still touching her and she wasn't happy about it. I was sure it was going to be a miserable time, but after a few minutes she started to understand it was actually pretty fun. We had this fun game where Ben and I would grab hands and pull our inner tubes toward each other quickly causing us to bounce off each other like bumper cars. She thought it was hilarious! She also really liked when the water was shallow enough we could collect some rocks for her. Near the end she was on Ben's lap and he would grab her toes and pretend different colored fish were nibbling on her toes. She would crack up every time. At the very end the weather was starting to get a little cloudy so we were glad we didn't arrive at the river any later, but it was definitely a successful trip for everyone. 

One day some people wanted to go to the little water park Rexburg has. To make sure it was warm enough they planned to go around 2 pm. Well since that was Riley's nap time Ben and I decided to do something we don't do often...leave Riley behind and go to the water park by ourselves! When we arrived at the water park there was a line of 15 or so people waiting outside the doors. We learned that they were at full capacity (not a COVID thing the Rexburg natives said this has always been a thing). The catch was you had to buy your ticket before you waited in line. Stephen and Hannah just went on up and bought their tickets. They had gone to BYUI and seemed pretty confident the line wouldn't be more than 30 minutes or so. So, our whole crew got in line. I thanked my lucky stars I didn't have a little child to deal with in line, but the other families did. Luckily, they all waited pretty patiently and after about 30 minutes we all got in! It was pretty funny just standing there watching people walk by, praying that they would walk out that gate. We had a fun time at the park, since we were childless we helped out Stephen and Hannah with their three little ones. The only downer of this trip was that Ben lost his ring, but since we just wear silicone rings now it wasn't too much of a financial hit to order him a replacement. 

Another really fun thing during this trip was providing some exercise routines for the masses. The Monday after we arrived I went out to the little basketball court in their backyard and did a little BodyCombat workout with my Les Mills account. Afterwards a few of the ladies mentioned they wanted to do a work out with me so we scheduled a yoga workout for the next morning. So Tuesday morning my mother-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, and an almost sister-in-law all came out to the court to do a BodyFlow workout. Unfortunately, my computer had a horrible glare so I had to use my ipad which wasn't big enough for everyone to see so I kind of co-taught the class because I would pass along whatever the teacher said or did. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and wanted to do it again the next morning...or so they said haha. I guess pawning the kids off to dads wasn't realistic for two mornings in a row and only Meredith joined my for the barre routine the next day. It was still fun though! I love sharing the joy of exercise with others! 

A trip to the duck pond

Ready to feed some ducks! 

One of the very few times Riley was playing beside one of her cousins.

This picture took some doing, but it happened. Claire is grabbing Riley tight so she won't get away.

Riley wasn't too interested in playing with her cousins most of the time. She still kind of sees other children as more of a problem than a playmate. She just knows they are going to want to play with what she's playing with and she's not about that. Hopefully, nursery will help her see other kids as friends, but it might just make it worse. One person she played with way more than he would've ever wanted was Dobby, the family dog. That poor dog was constantly being bothered by Riley. She never let him get a moments peace and she always wanted to know where he was. See the video below to understand the true joy that dog brought to her. 

The best outing of the trip (as it always seems to be for Riley) was the zoo. This girl loves animals and this zoo took it up a notch by having a little petting area! It was just for the goats, but Riley was fine with that. She loved those dang goats. So enjoy the following pictures and video of our delightful time at the zoo. 

    

Just thought this was a really cool looking monkey

On our last night there I sat down at the piano and played some songs for all of us to belt out to. There wasn't a big crowd because two of the families had left after the zoo that day, but it was probably best that way since there aren't many songs with that many parts. 

On Friday we made the loonnng trek back. It was a real late arrival for us and especially for Riley. To make this more complicated they lost Riley's carseat so we had to get one from the airline in order to drive home. Although slightly inconvenient because Riley was so tired we didn't want to wait around in line to make a claim some one with the airline arrived the next day to give us Riley's seat and take the other one off our hands so it wasn't the worst lost luggage story. Trips like this one always make me yearn to live closer to all our family, but this just isn't the season where we are able to do that. So, we will just become resilient and well travelled. :) 

Oh if you wanted to see the video I made for Meredith I think this link should work: https://youtu.be/mDbpLjldXC8

It's just the lyrics and the background music, but take a listen if you are interested. There is a video of them singing it, but I haven't got my hands on it yet. 

Expect the Unexpected

Oh boy, over memorial day and the following week our house was invaded once again by some travelers. Loren, Luke, and Elise paid us a visit and we had so much fun! They had a seriously packed week, so for Riley's (and my) sake we didn't tag along with all their adventures, but even just hanging out in the house was a good time. Britt and I loved hanging out with Luke and Elise now that they are all grown up. It was so fun to see the people they are now! They are some of those rare teenagers that are actually fun to be with. 

So the crew showed up around 11 pm on Friday night. We chatted for a bit and explained all the house rules, but then it was off to bed because I would have a child waking me up in not many hours. 

Saturday was our only day we would have the whole crew together so we did the easiest thing with a big group, walked around the National Mall. I wanted to get everyone out of the house as early as possible to not delay Riley's nap too much, but that proved to be difficult and not just for the teenagers. Loren came upstairs looking like death, the jet lag was real for these Mountain Timezone people. Britt also wasn't too thrilled with me when I knocked on her door, but we all made it to the cars just 15 minutes after my desired departure. When I looked at the forecast for the week of Loren's visit a few days earlier it said that almost every day was supposed to be rainy! It turned out to be a much nicer week than that, but Saturday was a little rainy in the morning. It ended up probably being a good thing because Loren chose to visit DC on Memorial Day Weekend so it could've been full of people, but as it was it wasn't too crowed. Loren kept us all cracking up through out this trip. Half the things he says makes you roll your eyes, but he always keeps you laughing! For example, at one point a man who may not have been all there walked by use saying loudly over and over, "Expect the unexpected." For the rest of our day Loren would randomly, loudly proclaim, "Expect the unexpected!!" Making it seem like he was the one who wasn't quite there.

As we arrived at the Mall Britt and I both realized we hadn't eaten anything yet and we were real hungry. As we walked by the collection of food trucks a guy let us sample a chicken quesadilla. It was the most effective sampling there has ever been! It was SO good. Britt and I vowed we'd be back for that quesadilla on the round trip. 

There are fences blocking the view of the White House so it wasn't worth the walk all the way up there.

After seeing the White House and the Washington Memorial we headed to the WWII memorial. Luckily, the fountain was back on, unlike when Mel and Kip were here. I felt so bad that they missed out on that experience because the fountain really is the thing that makes that memorial. (But remember Mel, they missed the cherry blossoms!) The sound of the rushing water just takes you out of your surroundings and lets you focus on the sacrifices and suffering that happened during that war. 

The wall they are standing in front of is where you stand and cup your hands behind your ears. When you do that it changes the sound of the water and it's said it sounds like roaring applause for the men and women who helped in the war. 

Just flexing my photography skills.

After WWII we headed to the Vietnam Memorial which turned out to be the highlight of this trip. Since it was Memorial Day Weekend there were a few hundred bikers called the Nam Knights that had come to pay their respects. We figured most were Vietnam veterans and seeing their emotions as they looked at the memorial really made it hit harder than ever before. There were also pictures that had been placed along the bottom of the wall by loved ones, being able to see their faces and not just their names also made it feel more powerful. 

This Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial has quickly become a favorite of mine. It's a little tucked away so you have to search it out, but it's so worth it! It is absolutely beautiful and the solitude of it adds to its affect.

Lukes look of absolute fear when asked to be in charge of a child. ;)

So, as promised, once we checked out all the sights we were going to see this trip we hit up the line of food trucks and enjoyed our delicious quesadilla in the rain. That night at home we played a rousing game of Codenames that nearly got Loren kicked out of the house and also determined that if you want to win you just have to be on Ben's team. 

Sunday and Monday we hardly saw Loren and fam as they took off to museums that had scarce tickets on Sunday and headed up to Gettysburg to connect with Jared Childers on Monday. Good thing I didn't need to get around much either of those day because I don't think Last Minute Loren mapped out all of his planned outings. ;) They went all around the area, they know it better than we do at this point! 

On Tuesday evening I made us a reservation at a place called Ted's Bulletin that was on both mine and Britt's list of places to try. The thing that we were excited about were the Homemade Poptarts and the fact that they serve breakfast all day! Between all of us we got to try almost every poptart they had. We decided the Blueberry Cheesecake was definitely the winner. We also really loved their hashbrowns. Other than that I don't think we were blown away, but it was fun to try a new place. 

On Wednesday Riley and I ventured out with the travelers again. We headed to a place I'd never heard of called Harper's Ferry. Actually I lie, I hadn't heard of it before like 3 days earlier when Britt was saying she wanted to go there. Haha, she was a little peeved I'd be going on a day she had to work, but I told her I'd see if it was worth seeing. It was cool, not sure if it was worth the 50 minute drive out there cool, but hopefully Loren, Luke, and Elise enjoyed it. I may have liked it more with a two year old at my side. It was a little tough trying to keep her reverent in the museum about John Brown. I think the best part of this destination was that I was able to flash my military ID and get my free National Parks pass. That's right! One of the perks I actually enjoy about the military is free entry/parking at any National Park. So, for those that don't know, Harper's Ferry is the place you could say the Civil War revolution began. John Brown was a white man that tried to get the slaves to fight for their freedom by storming the armories. He did not succeed. But his efforts are appreciated by this town. Another claim to fame is that Lewis and Clark stopped at Harpers Ferry for a month to prepare for their journey and gather all the supplies they needed. They spent some of that time trying to make a boat they could fold up and carry with them and then assemble as needed. The boat did not work. But their efforts were sure appreciated. This town has a lot of stories that don't end quite how you'd like them, but they are proud of them all the same. There was also a confusing memorial in the town paid for by the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. Apparently, the first person killed by the John Brown conflict was a free black man. So the S&Ds of the Confederacy bought a memorial honoring him...it was a very confusing statement on the memorial and we weren't really sure how we were supposed to feel about it, but it didn't feel good. Here's a wiki link about it I just found, kind of interesting. Memorial Wiki

Just chilling in an old building looking cute.

Not sure climbing on a memorial is encouraged, but I just took a pic before intervening :) 

One of the nice views at Harper's Ferry

Thursday was our last full day with the Messerly crew and we finally did something Riley actually enjoyed...we went to the Zoo! This was the first time Riley had been to the zoo where she was old enough to appreciate what was going on. I'll let the picture below tell you how she felt about it....

This girl was on cloud nine the whole time at the zoo. The first animal we saw was a tiger that was pacing around its habitat and yowling over and over. The rest of the day she kept talking about the tiger and it's tiger sounds. One downer of the trip was that we weren't able to secure tickets to see the baby panda, but that didn't get Riley down. She loved the big Panda status that were all over the zoo more than she would've just seeing a panda from afar. 

Hugging the panda with Cousin Luke.

She loved them so much on the walk back to the car she kept requesting to stop and see each one. Luke was driving the stroller at the point and sweetly took her up to each one so she could touch it. He also made sure she got under every little misting station which she also loved.

Riley LOVED the elephants. She talked for days after about how the elephant was using it's trunk to throw dust on its back and belly. She also really liked the antelope thing that she thought was a reindeer. 

Thursday also happened to be Ben and my 5 year anniversary! In celebration I made pizza, and one I shaped in the form of a heart. Half with pepperoni and half Hawaiian representing half Ben and half me. Well I took a picture of it and sent it to Ben because he was going to be home late and that pizza would probably be gone by the time he got home. That text ended up providing some laughs because instead of saying that 'IT won't exist by the time you're home' I had typed 'I won't exist by the time you're home.' Presumably thinking that I'd had a rough day he responded, 'I won’t know what to do with the Hawaiian half with you gone, so hang in there!' When I looked back and realized my typo it gave me a good chuckle.  

After dinner Loren and Luke experience the never-ending energy of Riley. They started a game of Keepy Uppy and didn't realize that Riley would never let them stop! It was very enjoyable so I have a few videos for you to watch. 

Their visit was a lot of fun and we were so glad they came to visit! It was so fun for Loren to get to know his niece and Luke and Elise to know their cousin. Loren got to appreciate how many times Riley will say a sentence that gets in her mind, her love of books, and her absolute love of Paw Patrol. While Loren was at the house he ordered another stuffed Paw Patrol to be delivered, Everest, one of her favorites. When she opened it she was initially very excited, but then soon started saying, "Rubble will be my last surprise." Hahaha she had just gotten a surprise and had already decided she needed just one last surprise. That's very in character. (I have to add that a few days after Loren left a Rubble arrived at our door. Thanks Uncle Loren!) 

Something else we learned in this trip is that Loren has a phone from the 90s. Look at this would be cute video of Bo and Riley playing...the video quality is a travesty! 

It was also really fun for Britt and I to get to know Luke and Elise better as teenagers. They are basically adults now and sometimes we still think of them as those adorable little kids! It was super fun to see that they are really good kids and fun to hang out with.