The Ralph Family House of Ideas: 17 July 2016

This week has been busy and fun.On Monday Ben and Carli went to work. Ben for the construction company and Carli at the Dance Studio.

Jessica, Elizabeth and Jenna had great activities for the kids and also made time to exercise and bike. They rode the Soos Creek trail on Monday and did Elizabeth's Camp Gladiator workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. Monday night was FHE with a "Don't Eat Pete" game by Grandpa Stephen.

On Wednesday they went to Remlinger Farms. It was a bit of a disappointment since they changed the rules and didn't let the little ones ride the rides that they rode last year and the big ones were to big to ride on most of the rides so they didn't get to do as much as they planned.

A ride on the train...

But it was Nathan's birthday and I baked the vegan vanilla cake that Jenna gave me the recipe for. Unfortunately, I didn't double the recipe so it was very small. So I started making a carrot cake to go with it but it wasn't done in time and I started to not feel so well so I waited until Thursday to frost the cake. That evening during the birthday celebration. Isaac decided to make a quick turn with a little bike on the side patio and he face planted on the cement. His eyebrow was very swollen very quickly and he had a black eye the next day.

Ice pack to the eye.

Thursday, Jenna had some moles removed from her arm and her thigh so I stayed home with her and Joshua while the rest of the gang went to catch a ferry ride from Bremerton into Seattle. They took two vehicles and stopped at Jessica's friend's daycare. So it was a productive day.

Friday Stephen walked the older kids to the park for lunch and the ladies were going to take the younger ones with them shopping at Value Village. On the way I remembered that the car was to be serviced so we stopped the walkers on Kent-Kangley and I spoke was Stephen. He said he would need to take the car in so we were to go back and bring the van. He seemed somewhat frazzled with 5 kids.

That night we had a campfire in the backyard. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and made s'mores. The kids seemed to really enjoy the moment and it was a nice finish to the work week. Stephen created a new sensation with the addition of fresh raspberries to his S'mores. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent addition.

After the kids were in bed, we played games and finished early. Stephen had to get up at 4:15 to help Jessica get her kids and luggage to the airport by 5:00. I was grateful that I didn't have to go since I had to work that day but I couldn't get back to sleep so I might as well have taken her.

After work I had a hard time staying awake and found myself drifting off the road several times. By the time I made it home, I stayed in the car to finish the chapter in the Book of Mormon that I was listening to and I must have fallen asleep because I was jolted awake when Stephen opened the car door.

Stephen created a fresh raspberry s'more.
Tasted like chocolate raspberry pie...yummy!

Saturday must have been a whirlwind for the girls because the house was nicely cleaned when I got home. What a wonderful blessing. When I got home, Ben was outside with the older kids and a BB gun shooting at targets. Katelyn was the first one to hit the target and she was very excited. Isaac also hit it along with Andrew. They really enjoyed the activity.

Target practice.

We had spinach ravioli with spinach/basil pesto and peaches for dinner. Everyone was to bed early that night. I was to be up early to get Rebekah to the airport for her trip to SLC at the same time that Jessica had left the day before. I called Jessica that night to make sure about the timing. She said she had plenty of time and not to get there before 5:30 but Rebekah didn't hear that conversation so she was texting me before 4:30 in the morning wondering where I was. She made it in plenty of time.

Today Stephen spoke in the Spanish Branch. He is getting better and better with his Spanish. He was able to just speak from the heart after about 1/3 of his talk. He felt good about it. It was what I felt last week when I spoke. I just had to follow the spirit and pray that I was in tune to what needed to be said.