Palmyra Pagent

This year we decided to go to the Palmyra Pagent. We drove up on Friday night, arrived late and camped. We then spent Saturday attending the Temple, walking in the Sacred Grove, walking the Hill Cummorah, and playing at the park. That evening we watched the pagent. Taylor and Cole both loved watching the stories we read about from the Book of Mormon. Cole believes that Jesus really did come down from the sky that night. It is so humbling to see his faith and remember that Jesus truly did come to America, that he lives, and that he will come again. One of my favorite parts of the pagent was the story of Lehi's Dream and the Tree of Life. It was a visual reminder of why it is so important to remain true and faithful. My desire to be with my family, partaking of God's Love, fills my soul and brings joy as we work to attain this. Saturday night we camped again and attended church in Palmyra. Wow! It was so crowded. On our way home, after church, we stopped off at the Peter Whitmer Farm. This is where the first church meeting was held when the church was organized. It was an interesting experience since our children were overtired from the long weekend. Maybe next time we come we will attend church there..... and we can try again.

4th of July

We had a very busy day on the 4th of July. We started out with yummy Red, White, and Blue pancakes. Then we went to a parade in a small town an hour outside Philadelphia. We attended with some friends and saw the longest line of fire trucks ever! We were a little surprised at just how many there were. After the parade we went to a few friend's homes for food and fun. At the end of the night we were grateful our friends, the Hardy's, would let us join in their firework fun. The boys loved the sparklers as you can see from the pictures! It wasn't until days later they revealed to us their attempts to light leaves and plastic on fire. It was raining while we were doing the fireworks, so they weren't going to light anything on fire- especially since it was a struggle to light the sparklers. Boys will be boys!

Tired Cole

Apparently having a new member join the family has been exhausting on Cole. He woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. He must have been too tired to walk back to bed because he was zonked out on the floor when we found him.

Grandma's Visit

A few days after we had Lucy, Mom Johnson came to help out. We are so grateful for the time she spent with us. She did the dishes, laundry, cooking, played with Taylor and Cole, sewed baby blankets, and got up at night with Lucy and Sherrie. What an amazing help she was! When we dropped her off at the airport it was hard to see her go. Cole kept saying from the back of the car, "Mom, I don't want it to be sad that Grandma is gone." We love her and appreciate her sacrifice and hard work.

Holding Lucy

When Lucy was born, Taylor had a virus with a 104 fever. We didn't want to risk getting Lucy sick, so he couldn't hold or touch her until over a week later. Cole had to wait, too, because they play together so closely.

When they actually could hold her, they were so tickled. You can see the love they have for her. We never imagined they would love and adore her so.

Sweet

Here are a few more pictures of Lucy. She is a good baby and is learning to sleep through the noise from the boys. You can see that when she gets mad, she turns beet red. So Fun!

Lucy Annilee Brady

June 17, 2008 we went to the hospital at 7:00 am to induce labor. Sherrie's doctor was going on a cruise the 21st, the day after her due date, and the 17th was the only day she could induce her until the 31st. Mom Johnson was coming to help with everything on the 20th, so we wanted to be sure the baby would be here. When Taylor was born, he didn't come until we induced him 12 days after his due date. Mom Johnson only saw Taylor for about an hour before she had to leave to go home. We did NOT want this to happen again, especially since we knew we would need her help.

Once at the hospital we had to wait for a room to be cleaned. Around 8:30 the doctor broke Sherrie's water and started her on the Oxitossin and Antibiotic for Group B Strep. Troy and Sherrie played a little Skip-Bo while the contractions increased. Apparently the nurse (and doctor) took this as a sign that the contractions weren't very painful or doing much, so they increased the medicine to up the contractions. We never finished the game because of interruptions for contractions and it got to be too much. The contractions were really working and it wasn't long before Sherrie was ready to push- and Lucy was born at 12:01 pm.

She was 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 20 inches long. One of the first things Sherrie said was, "You are such a big baby!" (She was hoping for a smaller baby, since Taylor and Cole were both 8 lb babies.) The whole delivery was a miracle. Lucy was perfect and Sherrie was able to deliver her without any complications. We feel very grateful to Heavenly Father that she could join our family. She is truly a miracle, as all babies are. Thank you to all our family and friends who have prayed on our behalf and given your love and support in countless ways.

Waiting for Baby

Well this post doesn't have a picture, because the title says it all. We thought our 3rd baby would come early. We didn't stop our normal activities in the hopes that it would speed things along. Sherrie cleaned, went to Lancaster, took the kids to the zoo, and we went camping as a family. Once she realized that all this activity only made her sore and tired, we slowed down a bit.

Kindergarten Graduation

Taylor Graduated from Kindergarten on June 11. It is a Big deal here! The Kindergarteners put on a program, showing the parents all the songs they've learned for the year (many that include concepts they learned in class). It was very well done. We were surprised by all the songs Taylor knew, but hadn't sung at home.

Seeing Taylor and the boy he has become brought tears to my eyes. All of a sudden an overwhelming sense of gratitude filled my heart- gratitude for the good child he is and that he is part of our family. Accompanied with that gratitude was fear- for his future and all the challenges he will face- many that I never experienced. How will we teach him everything he needs to endure? Parenting is so hard!

Photo Shoot

For Father's Day I wanted to give Troy some updated pictures of Taylor and Cole. So we went to the park to try and catch them in their finest. It worked out ok, only I shouldn't have tried to take the pictures on "Park Day". They did not want to take pictures and were more interested in playing with all their friends. Not to mention their friends wanted to be in all the pictures. Luckily I was able to get a few shots that worked out ok.

Ridley Creek State Park

On Memorial Day we went to Ridley Creek State Park. There are several hiking trails and a few biking trails. Troy and the boys went biking around a little and we enjoyed a light picnic. We love spending time outdoors hiking, biking, exploring, etc. - basically any place with room to run. This is the same park we went camping with a church group a few weeks later. I think we will visit here often to escape the busy, crowded, city life.

Fun at the Zoo

One of the many things we enjoy doing as a family is going to the Zoo. The Philadelphia Zoo is the first Zoo in the Country, so it has been around for a long time. We hope to return again and again!

Sand Cake???

Troy and my birthday are within 5 days of each other, so the kids have been a little arded with Birthday stuff. As if they didn't have enough cake, they creatively made their own cake with Sand and Sidewalk Chalk. Yummy!

Sherrie's Birthday

Sherrie had a birthday on May 3. Troy and the boys did so many things to make her feel special. One of the best treats was to have Dad Johnson and Kay come to visit for the weekend. It was great to have time with them! We are grateful for all the love and support they show for our family.

T-Ball

This was the first year of T-Ball for Taylor. He did a great job and loved playing with his friends. He was lucky to be able to play on a team with so many other boys from church. He looks forward to doing it again next year... (only maybe next time coach pitch?)

School Concert

We were able to attend a kid's music concert sponsored by the Kindergarten Center (Taylor's School). Taylor performed with other kids in the school at the end. It was a very exciting event, as you can see by the pictures. Taylor spent most of the time dancing or singing along, while Cole was mesmerized and seemed content to just sit back and watch. It was so fun to go as a family.

Troy's Birthday

April 28th was Troy's Birthday. We won't say how old he turned, but you might be able to count the flames on the cake. We are so grateful for Troy and the amazing person he is. He is a wonderful Husband, Friend, and Father. We love you Troy!