The BIG weekend continues...

"The second weekend in May was a BIG one for us. Everyone was coming to our home to celebrate
Kobe's baptism,
Mother's Day,
and Greg's 40th birthday!!"

Friday-

We got a slow start... or at least I did. The kids were up bright and early as usual. So much to do, so little time! I had to go to the grocery store, to get food for the rest of the weekend, the baptism, and try to stock up on food for the next week when my folks are here with our kids. Holly and Sheryl decided to come with me to do a little shopping of their own, Greg was at work, and Nathan got the lovely job of caring for, entertaining, and feeding lunch to NINE kids ages 4-12. He does a great job with the kids- and not many kids can resist Uncle Nathan's Famous Mac 'n Cheese. (Kraft Mac 'n Cheese with tons of butter basically) :) Holly HAD to get a sandwich at Wegman's and because she is so persuasive, Sheryl and I each got one too. She cracked us up all the way home with her pure joy in eating that sandwich. She also delighted in seeing us eat ours. :)

After the big shopping trip, we loaded up the kids and drove the hour and 15 minutes to Palmyra, NY. Nathan opted to hang back for some quiet study time. I still needed to find a gift for Greg's birthday, so I left Holly and Sheryl with all the kids at the Smith Farm and took off for the local LDS bookstore.

They toured both homes...

and they took a nice hike through the Sacred Grove...Jackson was d-o-n-e by the time I joined them again. He'd taken a nasty fall and his elbow was really scrapped up. He'd recovered, but seeing me again, all the emotions came back up. We drove over to Hill Cumorah where I waited in the car with Jackson.

Holly took some great pictures at the farm and at Cumorah.

Heading up to the hill.

Grammie G stops to smell the lilacs.

There is a path that criss-crosses up the hill, but the kids decided to head straight up...

... to the top...

...and down again. (Love this picture- love the green and love that perfect tree across the road. We call it the Tree of Life.)

We got home for a late dinner. Greg & Nathan were home. More fun was had by all. My parents arrived late that night after driving from Michigan. I was up VERY late that night ( 5am I think), still finishing Kobe's slide show for his baptism and creating the printed baptism program. It had to get done though, this was crunch time. The baptism was tomorrow!!

To be continued...