Will & Brady's baptisms

Will is the only one of our children who has a summer birthday so he has been able to celebrate several of his birthdays while we are on vacation in Idaho visiting family. This year was extra special because he was able to be baptized with his cousin, Brady. Brady turned eight the middle of June, but chose to wait a month so that they could be baptized on the same day. It was extra special for Will. Thank you, Brady!
Here's our little poser...he loves having his picture taken. Will was baptized on his Grandma Allen (aka "Mama") and Aunt Beth's birthday.
Here's the crew...not all of the Power family, but most of them. It would be asking too much to have everyone look at the camera at the same time so this is the best you can get!

Will had three cousins who were born the same year as him on the Power side and two on the Allen side in Ohio. Brooke and Cisco were both already baptized, leaving Gray and Tobi who will both be baptized later this year. I hope as they grow up they can all remain close and continue to share these special events together.
Here they are today...Brady, Will, Tobi, and Brooke!

Blogcation

Last Sunday we left for a three-week vacation to visit family and friends in the West. We are having a great time and enjoying the break from normal life as we know it. This includes blogging so be prepared for lots of posts in a couple of weeks...

He's back!

I feel like I haven't seen Justin the past two weeks. Maybe it's because we haven't! He spent six days with his cousins in Ohio, was home for a couple of days, and then left for Scout Camp. He's home for less than 24 hours and we're leaving tomorrow morning for Idaho. We'll have lots of quality time in the car the next few days to catch up. He had a great time and loved being with his friends all week. What a great group of kids and awesome leaders!

Lake Michigan

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach at Lake Michigan. We are now a 45-minute drive from such beauty and relaxation.
The kids had fun making some new friends and playing in the sand.
The boys stayed busy digging in the sand most of the time we were there. Our kids haven't ever been to a real beach at the ocean. They had a great time here.
Naomi kept running into the little waves and letting them splash on her. She kept telling me, "fun, Mommy!"
Elizabeth thought about getting in, but only made it about ankle deep. Last night on the news I saw that the water is high 40's to low 50's. Brrrr, very cold! This explains why most of our time at the beach was spent playing in the sand.

It's GREAT to be EIGHT!

Today was Will's 8th birthday! We celebrated last night because Justin left early this morning for Scout camp and Will didn't seem to mind a bit that he got to open his gifts a day early.
Even though we didn't plan it this way, Will seemed to have a baseball themed birthday. He got a pitching machine, a baseball bat, and a baseball glove. His good buddy Dalton plays baseball and he's also been playing some with his friend Dallin. We didn't really have any baseball equipment for him to practice with so that's what he got. He also got a few new things for his room like a lamp and alarm clock. He's been really into his new room so it was perfect timing with his birthday.

Will loves clothes. He is about the opposite of his older brother, Justin, in this respect. Justin hates wearing anything with a collar and/or buttons and Will loves it. When I picked up Will's suit from the dry cleaner a few weeks ago it was a weekday and he was begging me to let him wear it. What kid wants to wear a suit during the summer? He comes out of the bathroom all the time with wet hair because he fixes it after he uses the bathroom. Funny boy!
Aaron took Justin and Elizabeth to pick out a cake for him Saturday night. They bought the candles that re-light and were so excited to use them. Will was getting so frustrated trying to blow them out and having them keep re-lighting. We had ash all over the cake by the time it was over, but it was so funny to watch.

Will is the only one of our children who has a summer birthday and has celebrated many of them in Idaho. He is so excited because we are going there next week and he is going to be baptized at church with his cousin Brady who also just turned eight. We love you, Will!

Antique sign

Will was talking to me a few weeks ago while I was packing and saw this lovely sign. He commented to me, "Wow, Mom, that thing must be REALLY old." I asked him why he thought that. He said, "Because it only has five stars!" He must think I'm ancient to have a flag with five stars; guess I better hang onto it!

Fun day...finally!

I feel like the past month I have been so busy getting ready to move and then moving that our kids aren't having a very fun summer. I kept telling the kids that when we moved I would find some fun things to do. Today we had a very deserved break from all of the chaos!
We started the day off (if you can call 11:00 starting the day, but it is for us this week) at a local splash pad. Will thought it looked pretty lame when we first arrived, but had more fun than anyone! Naomi didn't like the fountains so she just played on the playground equipment the whole time.
Today was dollar day at the county fair so we headed over after naps. Naomi was pretty nervous about the rides as you can see from the carousel, but the other kids had a great time. The scariest moment for me was riding the ferris wheel with all of the kids. We were stopped on top and I was so afraid one of them was going to climb up on their seat (most likely Will or Bruce). Aaron just laughed at my nonsense when I told him. Since when did a ferris wheel become dangerous? I guess I'm getting old!
Naomi loved all of the animals and waved at all of them from her wagon. So, so cute!
We were just getting ready to leave when we saw that there was a show getting ready to start. Galaxy girl and her death defying stunts were starting. The boys loved watching the motorcycle stunts that were part of the show.
Justin has spent the past four days in Ohio with his cousins and will be returning home tomorrow. Aaron is working out of town so we missed having both of them with us. Aaron has informed me that since he's been traveling so much he has been looking at our blog so this post is as much for him as anyone. Wish you were here with us!