Zoo trip

Last week went to the zoo. It was so fun to go with the bigger kids and the little ones. Some of the bigger kids had not been in quite a while - I was surprised - I think Noah had said that he had never seen the new lion exhibit. I guess I tend to forget who does what around here. But can you believe this adorable little face - she is such a cutie! I can't believe this little one will be one this week!


These were by far the scariest animals there! Just kidding - They really had fun and it was great to see everyone getting along so well and actually enjoying each other - it has been hard this summer - I have figured out what has been so hard for me - the no sun factor! So I guess that the children have had just as hard a time with the weather not actually being a full out summery kind of season.

It was fun to have Luke around for a couple of weeks - the kids had lots of fun having all their nephews and niece around! We spent time playing chess and playing at the pool and in the backyard. These guys are so lucky to have their nephews and niece be so close to their own ages - they act like brothers and sisters most of time - I love it!

Here's most of the gang - I guess my camera skills are not so good I cut Jonathan and Noah out a little bit - oh well, Also, who knows where Autumn ran off to! Even though it was not that sunny of a day and we even got a few sprinkles on us it was a great day and memories were made. And really that is all that matters!

A special sharing time today

Today was an amazing day in primary. I had such fun doing sharing time. We were learning about the temple and being a forever family. As I searched this week for what to do with the topic I had several ideas and had a hard time narrowing it down to the 15 minutes. I really prayed hard last night that what the children needed to know would be taught. I woke up this morning around 4:00 with a song in my head. It is one of our families favorite songs "A never ending chain" - I prayed for a while on how I could incorporate that song into the sharing time. Then it all came together for me in my head. I talked about how I have a large family and they could not all be here with me at church today so I was going to use some of the children for my "pretend" family. Then we talked about some of the ordinances we need to do before we can go to the temple. "Bobbie" was getting baptized so he had to find the picture of a young boy getting baptized - "Sam" was going to be a deacon so he had to find the picture of the boy passing the sacrament - and so forth. I had the children, a mom and dad, and grandma and grandpa. Then I had them link arms as I talked about how the ordinances in the temple linked us together as forever family. Hayden sang the song for me and joined our "pretend" family. Then I taught the primary the song - the most amazing feeling was in junior sharing time. After they learned the first verse (it is short) then I had the whole primary link arms and stand together in a circle and sing to each other. I really felt the spirit testify to me of the truth of this gospel principle! Afterwards as the children were leaving a little girl about baptism age came up to me and said "Sis. Weitzel your daughter has such a pretty voice. You are so lucky to have her in your real forever family. I loved sharing time today it made me feel really good!" I almost started to cry! I told her it was the spirit testifying to her that the things she learned were true and that I was so glad she was there today. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. As I have thought about this all afternoon I know that he wanted that little girl to hear and feel the spirit of the temple. I know that there were others there today that needed to hear the words to that song and the one they learned in singing time "I love to see the temple". I am so lucky to have Hayden in our forever family! I am so lucky to have all my children in our forever family - I am so lucky to have the temple here on earth to bless my life!

Perfect summer day

What a perfect summer day - swimming at the pool with friends!