What do you do when your 2-year-old is so excited to see Jesus that she starts climbing on the statue and, while pointing at him, is saying see Jesus?
Favorite spot!
Full of smiles!

Washington DC

In front of the Washington DC temple. It was cold but it was worth it!
The Vietnam Memorial. What a powerful experience...no matter how many times we go.

Whew

Sorry about being slackers on our own blog! I just finished up the semester and what a chore that was. A few papers and two presentations later....here we are. We have had an eventful 2 or 3 weeks since we last were on here. Tennille made it back home alright. We picked her up in DC last Saturday (9 days ago) and spent the night there. We went to the monuments on Sunday and then to the temple for the evening. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and then we got to see the lights. They were beautiful. My mom then went back home on Monday. She was here for a week helping out while Tennille was out West. While she was here we al managed to get sick...except for Sequoyah and Adonyah. Even Tennille caught it when she came home. I would like to know what those girls are up to that makes them immune when then rest of us suffer. We were extremely glad to get T back. The kids had enough of just their dad! The funeral for Grandma Wilkes went well....as good as a funeral can go I guess. T said it was sad but good also. We will miss grandma very much.
Dragon managed to chew on another duck about a week ago. We caught him in time and we managed to save the duck. She basically had all of her feathers plucked from her neck and some skin was missing. Isaiah and Sequoyah held her while I bandaged her neck. She is doing great now and is with the rest of the flock. She keeps her head tucked in to keep her neck warm when the wind blows. I'll keep this posting somewhat short so as to save some adventure for later.
--Eric

Grandma Wilkes

Grandma Wilkes passed away on Monday November 24, 2008. Tennille was able to be with her for a few days prior to. We love you Grandma!

This was Sequoyah's sunflower that she planted and took care of this year. As you can see it did very well. I have never had to chop down a plant with an axe before.
Isaiah loves when we pick him up from the bus with the lawn mower. He can drive it by himself...stopping is the tricky part because it is so old. I have to do that for him.

Out WEST

Tennille is making an unexpected visit out West in Wyoming and Idaho. She is visiting her Grandma Wilkes, who is very sick and not doing well. We love you grandma and the kids pray for you every chance they get. That means that I am flying solo with three kids. It was our first full day today and all went well. We had stake conference and then we came home and did some activities. We played outside...while it was somewhat warm. Then we came inside and made a fire. We baked cookies, ate dinner and then roasted marshmallows. The kids are now in bed and it is 6:45pm. I am not too far behind them. Another full day planned for tomorrow.

Adonyah and Dragon were just laying around and watching the ducks. They usually find each other when we are outside and a wrestling match soon begins. Adonyah either falls off Dragon or he forfeits and runs away after a few minutes.
This is our tree frog Sticky. As you can tell....he was given a proper name by the kids. Sequoyah likes to let him crawl around for a while...wherever he chooses.

S....L....O....W.....L....Y

Well, for all of you people out there who have given up on us....we are still here. Our neighbor's internet went down and thus so did ours. We use a wireless router that connects through their cable for our internet. We are back in business...for now. Pictures will be arriving soon....I promise. We have to get a few things done around the house right now and then we can do it.

Rippin'

Isaiah finally decided that he wanted a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Don't be alarmed by the floss. The tooth may have eventually come out on its own in another week or so. We video-taped the entire process and I was cringing throughout...he did it slow. We asked him if it hurt and he said no. He then went and wrote the Tooth Fairy a note and out the tooth under his pillow.

Airborne and Aftermath

This picture is of Isaiah right after he kicked a soccer ball and collided with another player. He is actually still in the air if you look close (nice shot Tennille). He was hurting for a few minutes but he made a quick recovery!
Dad helped a little in the recovery process.

The kids thought that this was a little scary. Adonyah always calls me "punkinhead" so this is really her influence. Tennille did the artistry.

Alive still...

A lot has gone on over the last week...or so. We had our ultrasound on the baby and discovered that it is a GIRL! We are very excited. Isaiah has figured out that I get to take care of Tennille, Dragon (Dog) gets to take care of Sequoyah and Adonyah and Isaiah gets to take care of the baby. Now we are thinking of some names.
Halloween was a lot of fun. We went trick-or-treating on the LAWN...on campus at the student dorms. The kids had a blast. We still have a lot of candy if anyone needs any.
We finally got our heater fixed. It hasn't worked since March/April of this year. We have been using space heaters and our fireplace. They worked great for us. However, since it has been fixed, we have not needed it due to the warm temperatures. We cut our own firewood and split it last weekend. If any of you have split large cedar logs....I feel for you. I have never split any wood that has been so time consuming and difficult. It took me close to an hour to split sections of a log about 8 feet long before cutting. We have many hours of burning time ahead of us this year now.

Princess in the makings

When Sequoyah and Isaiah leave for school, Adonyah will walk the house calling their name. Just the other day went to the closet and asked for 'may-put'...because she know Koya was at school. Talk about princess heaven...she didn't know what to do with no one taking the make-up away or telling her no! She decked herself out BIG TIME...and then came into the other room and said, PREEY! (pretty!) She learns by example quicker then I would like. What a fun time we are having, just the two of us...for now!

Isaiah's day with GULLIVER

This is GULLIVER....Isaiah's class mascot. Every child gets to take Gulliver home for an evening of fun and adventure! He comes with a black bag to keep him clean, pj's for bed time, a tooth brush, and a blanket! It was so fun to see how much Isaiah took such care of him....and the adventures he had. Most important, Gulliver had a journal that we had to record about our day...Isaiah did it all by himself!



First we went on a little adventurous walk when they got off of the buss and found mushrooms. Then he was introduced to Dragon...and he did approve of Gilliver, as a chewing toy!





















Next was the most important event...the daily ride on the motorcycle! And last, the ride around the yard with Isaiah on his bike. We sure had a fun day with our friend Gulliver!

black walnuts...ANYONE?

We had 3 garbage cans full of black walnuts that we gave away this year! The kids also had a grand time cracking them with the hammer and eating the nuts....great entertainment.


Here is a our hermit crab 'rainbow'. He was actually named 'eagle' because of the cool shell he had, and then he grew out of it.


Happy Halloween! (Fun idea with popcorn, candy corn, & glove.)

Colorful

Then & Now

This is our dog Dragon now at 9 months old....October 2008. Yes Adonyah does try to to ride him every single day!This is our dog Dragon when he was just 8 weeks old.....back in March of 2008!

Hurt or Not

This may be a gross story for some of you so I apologize in advance if that is the case. Since we have a rather large dog, we find the necessity to make sure the poop is scooped off the lawn for obvious purposes. Last night I was performing this blessed task and Sequoyah saw me throw the poop off the end of the shovel. She said," That's ok Dad. It didn't hurt the poop. It doesn't have a face." So I guess only things with faces get injured. Let's just say we stopped scooping and had a good laugh for a few minutes. Never a dull moment!
--Eric

The BEE Dance

Bring It On!

Well we are almost officially ready for the Fall. The rain gutters are cleaned out (much easier with a leaf blower)...it only took two minutes instead of 30+. The chimney is swept....the chimney might need some attention in the Spring. Some of the bricks were crumbling. On top of that, a bee tried to attack me while I was up there, trying to watch 3 kids and hold a 25 foot chimney sweep broom. Too bad Tennille didn't have the camera handy.
Tennille is working hard getting everything ready for her enrichment "Super Saturday" that is coming up in November. Talk about a lot of work. I don't know how she does it.
Isaiah continues to love Kindergarten. He is doing great with his reading and other "homework" type of activities. Soccer is his favorite sport right now. He loves being on the defense. He runs straight at the oncoming kids and goes for the ball without any thought of the aftermath. He has been kicked a few times but he still goes in without hesitation.
Sequoyah is still trying to figure out if she likes preschool. She has started her reading lessons with us and is on lesson 32/100. At the end of the lessons she will get a surprise. She is doing gymnastics every week and has finally found her "element." We catch her swinging upside down on the swing set outside...dangling by her legs.
Adonyah is our early to rise and late to bed child. She gets to wake me up in the morning between 6 and 7, then we dine in for breakfast. The other members of the family eventually wake up and join us before the sun comes up. She stays up late with me while I do some "exercising." She keeps me on track...and she even sits on me while I am doing sit-ups and push-ups. Try doing those while laughing and it adds on a whole new meaning to the word WORK.
I am pluggin' along in school with mid-terms approaching this week. Two papers and some other minute details to knock out.
We are going to the doctor in another week for an ultrasound. That is when we "should" find out what the baby will be. The kids are all excited. Isaiah has a name if it is a girl. I can't even remember the name. Whatever it is it is going to be dressed up, painted and loved more than anything else in this house. (The girls now do their own nail polish and make-up. They manage to keep MOST of it out of their hair). They go through at least a bottle each time they embark on that adventure.
Adios....................Eric

Getting ready for fall

under the stars

It has been such beautiful weather that we put our tent out in the front yard to have a family sleep over in! It was so much fun, but a little tiring for the next day.
One of our favorite treats to make...pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips!
Another one of our favorites....just a little softer on the caramel next time!

Little Ducklings

Sequoyah is great at letting everyone having a chance to hold the ducks. I was busy and just put the duck on my lap as I was working on something and she was not satisfied! The ducklings were cold, and she wanted ME to warm them up. Yes, I have two inside my shirt.

HAPPY OCTOBER

The kids...including Eric, LOVE to decorate for HALLOWEEN!!! We have carved pumpkins twice this year, and have one more round to go...we hope our pumpkins will hold out! It was FUN growing your own pumpkins, and reaping the reward.
This baby duck just hatched about an hour ago while we were at church...he is till wet.

This is Isaiah's favorite way to hold the ducks. Most of the time they will fall right to sleep!

Sequoyah is 4 years old!!!!

I love the way kids react to trick candles....they never loose the excitement of the light returning.