The In-Between Time

 It's been a whirlwind these past few weeks and I'm a little intimidated by all the events and pictures to sort through to even kind of get caught up here on the blog, but I am committed to try.   This post will be dedicated to the few days right after Adam got home from his mission and before we took off for our family reunion gathering (basically the time period of August 22-25). 

More than any other thing during that time,  I was really happy to just see our kids spending time and having fun together.  It makes my Mom heart joyful to see that my kids not only get along with each other, but are genuinely good friends and enjoy being together.  

My brother, Matt, and two of his kiddos were still with us during most of that time, as was our niece, McKenzie, who was in between summer and fall semesters at BYU. Their presence during this special time for our family only added to the experience.  They are all delightful people to have around and we are really happy that they were here.   Then on Saturday, Matt and kids left for Maryland and a few hours later, Cami, Lucie, and Oliver rolled into town from Alabama.    We also spent a lot of time on Saturday getting ready -baking and shopping-for Adam's homecoming and open house the next day.

With Lucie, Oliver, and Cami's arrival, our house got wild and loud very fast!   Lucie is as sassy, energetic, and talkative as ever and Baby Oliver just may be the sweetest baby I've ever met in my entire life....and I've met quite a few!     He scoots all over the place and basically only cries when he's hungry or when someone takes something away from him that he's excited to hold onto.  

Lucie and McKenzie definitely hit it off and Lucie was calling her "Auntie McKenzie" before long.  I loved, loved, loved seeing all my girls back together again and I loved seeing Spencer's and Adam's soft sides come out with Lucie and Oliver's presence.  I'd have to say that Lucie and Denali's obsession with each other was about equal and Denali LOVED all the attention she got while they were here.

 On Sunday, Adam gave his homecoming talk in our ward and we hosted an open house at our home afterward.  It was a joy to see so many old friends and to meet some of Adam's mission friends, though I neglected to get pictures of everyone that was there.  We  loved hearing him share some of his experiences as a missionary, as well as hearing him testify of Christ's love for each of us.  It was clear that he made a difference to many people over the last two years and we are proud of his willingness to serve the people of Oregon for that time.  

After the homecoming, we just reveled in our Lucie/Oliver time and enjoyed being all together as a family for the first time in more than two years.   My mom (Gramma Rosynanna to Lucie and Oliver) and my sister, Heather, were also very much enjoying all the snuggle and toddler time.  We ate a lot of family dinners all together and eventually we dropped McKenzie off at her new apartment for the fall, so she wouldn't miss her New Student Orientation. 

Next up on the agenda, our adventure to the wilds of Idaho...stay tuned...

A Big Week and a Passing of the Baton

 The couple weeks leading up to Adam coming home from his mission were a bit chaotic.  Not only did I get all sorts of bees in my bonnet about some long-ignored house projects, but we also had guests in town and lots of hiccups with the house projects.   

Despite the hiccups,  we did manage to purchase a new dining room table, a rug, some new plants, some pictures for the wall, and got Adam's room ready.   Perhaps I'll do a whole post on these improvements eventually, but for now I am just mentioning them....

We did manage to get this banner hung up....

Spent as much time as we could with Matt, Anna, and Ben visiting from Maryland.... 

and also McKenzie, who was on break between summer and fall terms at BYU.   

Then on August 21st, this handsome guy arrived home after serving for 2 years + a week in the Portland Oregon mission!    I was soooooo antsy before he got home and we were all so very, very excited to have him home again.   Matt, Anna, Ben, McKenzie, Heather, and my Mom all came to the airport to welcome him.   Then our dear friends, the Van Dams from our homeschool co-op in Virginia, happen to walk by just a few minutes before Adam's arrival, so they joined us too!  

Then, on the way home from the airport, we stopped by the Taylorsville Temple and started the next leg of our missionary family journey, when Ellie opened the mission call she'd just received the day before.    Submitting her papers and waiting for her call had been a much longer process than she'd anticipated (thanks to her health issues and a series of comic mishaps that were 100% out of her control), so the timing was different than she expected, but serendipitously beautiful--almost a handing off the baton in a way.  

She'll be serving in the California-Ventura Mission (Spanish speaking) starting Home MTC just before Christmas.   She's had  a journey in life that's been marked with challenges and I know she'll be an amazing force for good as she sacrifices time away from family, friends, and schooling to stretch herself in this way. We are so proud of her decision to serve, but are happy that we get a few more months together first.   Yay for missionaries! 💕

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Finishing Up in Portugal

It's taking me forever to get through the posts about our trip, but I'm motivated to document them here before we start to  forget some of the details of it.  This is the last of the posts on Portugal!

November 1-2, 2016 
(these pictures were taken at two different beaches--Praia Grande and some other I'm not sure the name of)

The weather was so warm and pleasant while we were there, that we decided to visit the beach!  

Although a lovely day, it was November and a tad too cold for full blown swimming, so the kids mostly played in the sand...

and just dipped their toes into the water.    We figured out that we were pretty close to directly across the Atlantic Ocean from home there on the beach in Portugal, so we made sure to wave to our friends across the way! 

Spence found some cool rocks to climb and believe me when I say that these were some very sharp rocks.    I won't lie and say that I didn't feel a tad nervous about him scaling to his precarious position  across the jagged rocks, but he made it up and down without incident, so all's well that ends well!

After exploring the beach for a while, we discovered a steep set of stairs that  beckoned for us to climb them!

We climbed and discovered along the way that there was some well preserved fossilized dinosaur footprints along the cliff wall. Apparently about 60 of them.   (Click here if you want to read more details) 

We admired those for a bit and pondered on how there were footprints on the side of a sheer vertical cliff, but really just couldn't wait to get to the top, so we could take advantage of these amazing views overlooking the beach!   

Wow, wow, wow!    

It was worth every step of the steep climb!

Hiking and exploring are two of my favorite things to do in any circumstance, but  doing them in a beautiful foreign land alongside people I love is pretty much what Lara dreams are made of!  

My only disappointment with it all....

was that I couldn't make my camera capture the full measure of the beauty we experienced there.  

That little hike was not all that strenuous, but it was like a salve to my soul.  I wanted to absorb that serene beauty right into my body and take it home with me.   

We'd loved so much of our time in Portugal and this day hiking and exploring at the beach, was a perfect capstone to a perfect  week!   This is exactly why I love to travel!

Eventually the time came to say goodbye to the beach and head back to the villa.  On our way home, we stopped in a cute little port town called, Cascais.

We didn't really have a plan while we were there, but enjoyed wandering around for a while....

and especially loved this little town square with its patterned cobblestone.

The next day, we just packed up our belongings...

practiced our braiding....

loved on baby Ben (even though he pickpocketed Spence earlier in the week)   😂...   

took a few more group pictures...

 

and got another picture with my Emma girl...

And then headed to the airport...

where Matt's family and Emma headed back to England  and Spence, Adam, Kristina, and I took off for Spain!    

Lisbon

The only reason why we ended up visiting Lisbon was that was where my brother and his family were for fall break.   Truth be told, Lisbon had never really been somewhere I'd thought of visiting before that.    That's why I was so surprised when I ended up falling in love with it.  

I was completely enamored with the architecture....

 the narrow cobblestoned streets and sidewalks....

the gorgeous tiled walls....

the striking red roofs....

the hilly landscape....

 and most importantly, the company we were keeping!

 Really, the tiled walls were quite stunning and I  wished I had more room in my luggage, so I could have brought a few decorative tiles home.

 I also had a special place in my heart for this Golden Gate-esque bridge that dominates the landscape as you come into town.    It's called the 25th of April Bridge, which as some of you may know, just so happens to be my birthday.    Apparently it is the date of a bloodless governmental coup that took place in the 1970's and a lot of things around Portugal (streets, this bridge, etc) are named after the 25th of April.

We took a tour bus around Lisbon one day and saw a whole lot of things.

My iPhone says that these pictures were taken at the Praça do Comércio   (Commerce Square)...

but unfortunately I don't remember much about them.  Wikipedia says that Praça do Comércio was mostly destroyed (along with most of Lisbon) in the great earthquake and ensuing tsunami and fires of 1755.   It was rebuilt as a center for commerce (go figure!) and was the site of the assassination of King Carlos I in 1908.

Lisbon is a very lovely city and we very much enjoyed our time there...

and I hope to get back here someday to explore it with Glen!

Stay tuned for one (or two) more Portugal post(s) and then onto the rest of our trip....