We slept in until 8 am (that's pretty late for us)....we needed it. We wanted to get breakfast and have our sacrament meeting before heading back out to the water. I'll admit. I wasn't feeling so into trying to hold church...but Mark led out and called everyone to gather around. It's the 2nd of August, so that means it's supposed to be testimony meeting. We sang songs we all know and Mark blessed the bread and water. Then he shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon and his faith in the atonement. The Spirit came into the room. I felt it and so did the kids.
Ethan shared his testimony of what it would be like to live in peace and righteousness like the people in Fourth Nephi. How he felt like we would experience that when Christ comes again.
Mathew talked about looking out on the moonlit ocean last night and feeling the joy of the world and knowing that God created us to be happy and make happy memories with our families.
Anna talked about learning what prayer can do for her. She feels Heavenly Father helping her when she remembers to pray and notices the difference when she doesn't.
Laney was also thinking about how beautiful the world is and grateful that we get to take a trip with our family and spend this time together.
Everly was snuggled up next to me and I could see she was feeling safe and happy. She shared how much she loves us all and that she knows Heavenly Father loves us.
I was looking at each of my kids and thinking of all the hard things we have gone through and the fun times we've had together. I've been spending so much time writing about these past years as I catch up the blog and it has given me a sweeping perspective on our lives. It might sound strange, but I almost felt like I was standing back and looking at us with the understanding and love that God has for us. I can see that my kids are learning and growing. They are thinking about their own lives and their place and purpose in His plan. I needed to feel that and I needed to put it into words for them.
Megan said she didn't have anything to share, but I will say that I know this girls heart and I see her everyday struggling with herself and disciplining her thoughts and actions to be better and do better. I am so grateful for Mark and his determination to do right and teach the kids to do right. It was an unexpected morning and true gift.
Now on to the day! The ocean calls!
We alerted the Flynns that they better get up out of bed because we are coming to park at their condo and take advantage of their beach access.
We will always and forever be obsessed with finding shells.
My only request for the day was that everyone wait for just a second before bounding into the water and come be in a family photo. I guess you could say it wasn't so much a request as it was a mandate. We are becoming quite familiar with mandates in this Covid-19 world.
Consider this a Mama Mandate. That has a nice ring to it.
Our photographer....Laynie Peterson...capturing a pre-shoot selfie. I need to remember to do this the next time someone asks me to take a picture for them.
And then we had a day at the beach! Talking and relaxing, hopping over the waves and finding all of the shells.
The Space X astronauts landed off Pensacola shore about 2 pm. We were all watching to catch a glimpse, but we didn't see anything. That would have been super cool!
And when we were properly dehydrated and completely fried, we packed up and headed back to the house. Showers and normal clothes, then naps and Jurassic Park.
I ran to the store for emergency sunburn gel. We all got a lesson in proper sunscreen application. We made spaghetti for dinner and headed over to the Flynns to hang out and let the teenagers hang out at the beach. The little girls took a dip in their pool, Courtney and I chatted as we watched them and Mark and Todd watched a basketball documentary. We all ended back inside when the mosquitoes started to get hungry.
The big kids all started dragging in and they had been attacked by the little boogers. Poor Emma had more than 30 bites. Ethan came in second place. Ouch!
We were all exhausted and ready to go, but Anna and Courtney were battling it out with a game of Exploding Kittens.
When we got back to our place, not teeth were brushed, no faces were washed...the house was silent within 5 minutes.
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