the 4th, and thoughts

 Thomas trying to take his bib off.  I love how his left eye is squished.

For the 4th of July there was a little BBQ outside our house with some friends.  We didn't plan this one, but we happen to have a grill by our house so the party came to us.  It wasn't very warm, but the kids had fun with the pool, slip'n slide, and water balloons.  We don't have a hose, but someone had the idea to just put some buckets of water and some soap on the slip'n slide and it worked pretty well.  

Dictated by Sam:  This is a picture of the pool.  

This is Alexis, she kept going back to the pool long after the other kids were done.  She loved that water!  Here she is with Sam's helmet and scooter.

Dictated by Sam:  Here's Alexis.  With Sam's helmet.  That's all.

Little fire cracker things.

Dictated by Sam:  There is some toys.  And there's a picture of Thomas.  Thomas is doing fireworks.

 
Sam says:  Here's Thomas, Trey, Joshua and Sam.

Thomas is just cleaning up after the bbq.

Sam had kindergarten shots on Friday, even though he doesn't start kindergarten for another year.  As a reward for being brave he and Thomas got some icecream.

 Thomas didn't get any shots, but he was there for moral support.
                                     

This is a picture Sam drew of our family.

 Sam helped make brownies for the men's shelter.  Can you tell?

Last week we called Eliza and Stephen to see if they wanted to play/if their mom could watch Sam and Thomas.  They were working on their garden so the kids got to go help.

Well this is out of order but also on the 4th we went to the Exploratorium since it was a free day.  It was kind of crowded, but we still had fun.  Here is Sam in a cloud tunnel.

 Dictated by Sam:  There's the exploratorium and here's a picture of Sam.

 Dictated by Sam:  Me and Thomas were taking a hair cut.

I had a couple of thoughts I wanted to record.  The first is a scripture that summarizes what I've been feeling lately.  It's doctrine and covenants 27:17.  The previous verse talks about putting the armor of God and lists some things, but verse 17 is what I was struck by.  It says, "Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;"  I've just been thinking about how sometimes faith comes easily to us and sometimes it doesn't, but in those difficult times we can choose to believe based on our past experience.  And when we put our faith and trust in God then we are able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, whether those darts the burden of a "cross" we "take up", the burden of doubts, misunderstanding, or whatever it may be.  The answer is faith, and sometimes that takes real effort, but in my experience when I choose faith, peace that passes understanding follows.

Another thing I've thought about lately is that my patriarchal blessing talks repeatedly about joy and happiness that the gospel brings.  And that has been my experience in trying to live the gospel; it has brought me increasing peace and joy.  When I haven't lived it as diligently I have experienced more confusion.

It seemed like there was something else I was thinking of, but that's all I can think of right now.