Reading to Layth / food drive / martial arts / Lydian's play / Steve Jensen and Daniel at the Washington, D.C. Temple

 

Penny and Diana created a service club. Their first activity was a food drive to collect 250 items in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States this year. Here they are with some of their neighborhood friends after they made posters to promote the food drive.

Penny and Diana at martial arts.

At one of Lydian's plays.

Sam took Douglas to the temple each week while I was away for work. She and the girls (and Layth) waited outside the temple for Douglas to finish baptisms for the dead. Here is Penny reading to Layth while they wait.

Diana waiting on the bench outside the Layton Temple.

Penny and Layth

Our cute chunky baby!

Layth with his cousin, Mary.

Our former neighbors, the Jensen family, came out to visit Washington, D.C. while I was out there for work. Here I am with Steve Jensen at the Washington, D.C. Temple.

Diana's dance recital

 Diana had her dance recital this week and now she has decided to take a break from dance for a while. She doesn't want the Tuesday-night dance practices to take away from time playing with neighborhood friends outside.

Diana, Kate, Ivy

Diana and Ivy

Diana and Taylor

And just for fun, another photo of cute baby Layth and his oh-so-cute chubby cheeks.

Mother's Day message for Layth / Happy 12th Birthday, Douglas! / Martial Arts / Penny the High Priest / releasing the butterflies / sleepover with Aunt Taylor

 

I sent this message (through the Marco Polo app) to Sam on Mother's Day.

Sam sent this message back to me.

Douglas turned 12 on Monday, May 11th.

Grandma (Margaret) gave him some money to buy the Pybricks program for his smart LEGOs.

He also received the "Bop It" toy. I thought it would take him months, maybe even years, to beat all the Bop It levels. He beat them all in seven days! Now what? 😁

I sent a short birthday video to Douglas.

The kids tried out a martial arts class this week. The girls signed up to continue taking classes. Douglas didn't care for it much.

I received this photo from Sam earlier this week, accompanied by the following message: Last night we were listening to more of the Old Testament. Penny put on the outfit shown above and declared, “I am the high priest!” 😂

Sam buys caterpillars now and then and the children like to watch them transform into beautiful butterflies. They released the butterflies this week. These are the "Painted Lady" variety.

The girls got to continue one of their fun traditions this week: sleepovers with their Aunt Taylor.

Their cute cousin, Ivy (pictured middle), joined them for the sleepover.

Dr. Buys and her team meet Layth / "We are soooooo bored!" (Diana)

 We visited Sam's oncologist, Dr. Buys and her team today for the first time since Layth was born. It was a routine check-up, but we took Layth to meet them because they were instrumental in getting Sam through her years of cancer treatments before she could even think about getting pregnant again. We love these amazing women!

Sam and Layth with Dr. Saundra Buys.

Dr. Buys, Sam and Layth, Chanteel Ballard (MSN, NP), Angie (Nurse)

They are laughing because Layth was staring and smiling up at Chanteel while we were taking pictures.

Diana sent this audio message to me when she thought we were taking too long at the hospital.

Happy little Layth snoozing on my side of the bed.

The kids feed Layth while Mom (Sam) is at the doctor's office / Our little lion cub / Lindon Temple with Douglas, Dad (Grandpa), and Sara

 

Sam had to be away from the house for 5+ hours yesterday for her routine CT scan and brain MRI. She left us with two bottles to feed Layth while she was out. Penny and Douglas enjoyed feeding their little brother.

Holding my little lion cub.

Today I took Douglas to the Lindon Temple to perform baptisms for the dead. Grandpa (Dad) and Sara met us there.

Douglas and I started a tradition last month: Costco pizza after a temple trip. Yum!

Dad (Grandpa) gave this Squishmallow to the girls.