Summer Fun at the Fillmore Estate

We've been having such a great time at the Ann and Bruce Fillmore estate this summer.

Here are a few highlights:

The kids visit their new school Riverview Elementary with Praise and Delight.  (This was fun because  like the rest of the kids, Praise observed she'd never been in a real public school before.)

Mom stylin' on the freeway

Rachel & Ella modeling Ta'iala wear

 Mark showing off his handcrafted bow (made from golf club shafts)

Dinner at the Craigs (Judd's).  And everyone, that's Rachel's friend Dave.

 Lots of time at Martin Park

The Fillmore Family reunion was July 24th but I unfortunately didn't take any pictures.

Soderborg/Dahlin reunion August 3rd

They recreated the combined Soderborg/Dahlin family with children of about the same ages so we could see what the family might have looked like at the time.

And then the real children (or likely substitutes) stepped in.

Lovely cousins

Jean's nametag says, "I am not Ann."  

Mom's says, "I am not Jean."  

They have the same haircut, so people might've gotten confused.

Uncle Wade stayed with us and showed us how to make sushi

Lincoln's Wedding Reception at Wheeler Farm on Aug 6th was unlike any reception we'd ever been to. It was like a huge birthday party for families.

Feeding the geese

 Two big bouncy slide things.

 Laser tag

Ella's dream came true when we took her ice skating at Seven Peaks Skating Rink.  

It was A LOT harder than it looked.  But after an hour of struggling, it because fun. 

 While in Provo we saw some historical sites.

Ella and Isaac have been doing some sewing projects.

And they discovered grandma's costume box.

Back to School night at Riverview.  They introduced the teachers.  Can you find mom?

We'll have more to come as the good times keep rolling.

My Maturity Ranking

 Well I recently went up in my maturity rankings, July was a pretty big month for me. Huge actually. I transformed from a baby to a full-blown woman. From a seedling to a spruce. From an avocado to a guacamole. ...? You get the idea.

Let me enumerate.

1. I bought a car!

Yes, I own this. Pretty slick, huh? It's an 09 Mazda 3. So that also means I have
2. a car payment now. My 
3. very first loan.  Also a very grown up thing. And 
4. car insurance! Goodness, I'm just aging right before your eyes. Plus at work I just signed up for
5. a health savings account and 
6. dental insurance. All within July!

I think I'm done for a while until I get a mortgage or buy a cemetery plot. Those seem like the next steps in my progression.

All of this womanhood is overwhelming.

Although this keeps happening....

....so I've still got room to grow.

Hill Cumorah Pageant

We made a fast trip to Palmyra in July. We hadn't been there since the Soderborg Reunion in '03, so it was practically the first trip for all the kids. That week in July happened to be the week of a heat advisory--with the humidity, temperatures felt like the low 100's. We visited and loved all the usual sights, then set up camp at Cheerful Valley Campground. (It was just like I remembered it from my first year of girls' camp there in 1989.) 

Anyway, Jason stayed with the younger two while I took the older three to the Pageant. Of course, protesters were there, standing in our way, in the crosswalk leading up to the entrance. They had their signs and leaflets and bullhorns. (Though I tried to avoid eye contact, I noticed that one person distributing leaflets was a lady in a simple dress; another was a teenaged guy. I thought this represented a little diversity, since protesters at these things usually seem to be middle-aged men.) 

Anyway, I was clutching my kids' hands, wanting to just hurry away from these people, until we passed through the fence to the Hill Cumorah grounds. There, standing in front of us on a small grassy knoll, were pageant cast members in costumes. They weren't dressed as angels, but they felt like angels to me. They smiled and welcomed us, and I felt so happy to be there; I was close to tears!

I realized that the pure love shown by everyone who greeted us was in total opposition to the enmity and bitterness exhibited by the protesters. Those people outside the fence hated me and my religion, but on the Hill Cumorah grounds, I was loved by people who didn't even know me. The contrast between light and darkness was just so stark, and perhaps non-LDS visitors to the pageant could also recognize it. If we hadn't had to walk through the "pit of heck," as it were, to get there, maybe we wouldn't have appreciated being in "heaven on earth" at the Hill Cumorah. Perhaps in that way, the protesters were accomplishing the Lord's purposes, in fulfillment of 2 Nephi 2:11.

There were some children cast members in a line who were greeting visitors. They were around my kids' ages, so I asked for a photo. Notice the boy who has his arm on George. That is so cute. These are memories I want them to have.

We took this from the top of the hill earlier in the day. It certainly makes one ponder their place in the universe. . . . or their seat at the pageant.