Berry picking, ward party, and new calling

Yesterday was an action packed day with dad home. It was just what we needed since Spencer had been out of town, working in Philadelphia the last half of the week. We went blackberry picking out at Butler's Orchard in the morning. When I got out there and saw the blackberries I realized that I'd never picked this kind of berry before. I was shocked by their enormous size- I wasn't sure whether to put a whole berry in my mouth or take it in bites! Because of their different look and feel, the girls weren't even tempted with eating the berries like they are with raspberries and blueberries. Spencer quickly showed us the trick for picking the sweetest berries and we ended up a little basket of the yummiest berries. Madi totally got into it. Elle gave up quickly and resorted to the snack bag.

When we got home, Spencer fed the girls and layed Elle down for a nap while I snuck off to spend a nice quiet hour relaxing by the pool (very needed after being a single parent for 3 days)! Then when I got back, Spencer took Madi to the pool for an hour for her daddy- daughter swim lesson.

After swimming we headed over to Bar-T (our Bishop's place) for the ward party/BBQ. My girls never eat at these kind of functions, and we can always count on having to feed them when we get home, but it sure was fun to hang out with friends and just let the girls run around.

The Bishop's got so much fun stuff out at his place that it's hard not to have a great time!

When we got into the car to head home Elle was the first one to say, "That was fun." Madi quickly chimed in about having a good time. We got home close to 8pm, fed the girls a quick dinner while we did scripture reading and stories, then put them straight to bed. While I cleaned up the kitchen Spencer made homemade blackberry ice cream . So soooooo yummy- the perfect use for our freshly picked berries!

Today should probably also be documented because today Spencer was released from his calling as Stake Young Men's secretary (that he's had for the past 2 years) and then called as the 1st counselor in the bishopric (and ordained a High Priest)! The calling was extended to him last Sunday and I think he's been in shock ever since. One of his comments last week was, "Dang, I feel like I gotta grow up now." It was crazy to have him ordained as a high priest today- knowing that he'll never have to (I mean get to:) serve in the Elder's Quorum. It was also an awakening to me, knowing that I will now be on my own for the majority of Sunday's from now on. Today was especially exhausting because being a 5th Sunday, I taught the entire 2 hours in primary. I'd planned a super fun game and everything went pretty good, but it's just tiring to not get much of a break from arriving at church, trying to keep the girls quiet during sacrament meeting, and then going right into primary and being "on" for almost 2 hours straight! Then after church Spencer had to stay after and we hadn't yet figured out our plans with to and from church yet- not knowing when his meetings would be, etc. Thankfully, the Lundell's saw the girls and I getting into our car (Spencer was just gonna get a ride home), but instead they volunteered to let us hop in with them. It was probably more work than they'd anticipated, but we somehow managed to move car seats around (in the 90+ degree weather) and squeeze everyone in. I can already tell that getting a second car will need to happen in the very near future! Big thanks Lundell's for being so accommodating!

Young Love

It's so sweet, innocent, and quite adorable when they're two, but just wondering- when do I need to lay down the law with the no kissing before 16 rule??

Youth Conference- Kirtland, Ohio

This post is dedicated to our children (even if only for a weekend). . .

Top L-R: Maggie (hiding), Tate, Paul, Eric, Luis, Wilmer, Ma, Pa

Bottom L-R: Lisee, Allie, Paola, Mayra, Chelsea, Megan

We love you guys!! Please forgive my delay in getting this typed up.

Back in December I was approached about putting together a "musical program" for the special temple devotional at our Stake's Youth Conference held in Kirtland, OH. As Chris Matthew's was explaining some of the details, I could see how excited Spencer was- he was behind me all the way. I on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. I didn't know the first thing about putting together a "musical program." I like to sing, I lead the music in primary, and that's about it. I didn't have a clue how to go about choosing music for a choir, let alone leading one! And the kicker was that all the Matthew's would tell me was, "You can do whatever you want to do." Ahhh!!! For someone as inexperienced and unknowledgeable as myself, that's not what I wanted to hear. I would much rather have someone tell me exactly what music to prepare, which youth to invite, how to do it, etc. etc.

But (long story short) I did it! I enlisted help from my good friend (with a music/vocalist background), Karlie Ady, and with her expertise and my organization, we got things figured out. Picking the music to be sung in the Kirtland Temple was an amazing experience. I first called Brother Karl Anderson, probably the Church's foremost expert on the Kirtland Temple/era, and learned that "Now Let Us Rejoice" and "Redeemer of Israel" were two hymns sung at the dedicatory service of the Temple back in 1836. My vision was to have our youth choir sing songs that also had been sung in those very choir seats with the Prophet Joseph Smith presiding- so those 2 definitely made the list. "The Sprit of God Like a Fire is Burning" was also on the list. It was a hymn that grew out of the Pentecostal experiences in Kirtland prior to the completion and dedication of the Temple. In one particular temple meeting those attending reported "a great flow of the Holy Spirit. . . like fire in their bones, so that they could not hold their peace, but were constrained to cry hosanna to God and the Lamb. . ." I knew "The Spirit of God" needed to be the closing song in the program. We also ended up picking "Be Still My Soul" and "For I am Called By Thy Name" as choir numbers. The arrangements of all the songs were BEAUTIFUL! 2 were Mac Wilberg arrangements. Karlie also arranged and adapted some of the instrumental sections. Organizing the choir was also quite a task. In the end, we gathered nearly 50 amazing singers/instrumentalists (3 violins, 3 flutes, 1 clarinet, and 1 trumpet!) Choir practices began in March and we had practices twice a month through May and once a week for the entire month of June. One of our pre-youth conference rehearsals was on the Sunday morning session of Stake Conference! It took a great deal of work- lots of stress and anxiety (on my part), but the choir and instrumentalists performed magnificently! I have to admit that I was really stressed out through the entire process, including the actual program in the Kirtland Temple, but everyone said the music was the highlight of the program in the Temple. I definitely learned a ton and now feel much more confident with reading and leading music. Although I'm still not sure I would want to do it again, I am very appreciative of the experience and have a strong testimony of the principle outlined in Ether 12:27: "...for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

What I loved most about youth conference, however, was being a ma, with Spencer at my side as "Pa", and hanging out with the 12 amazing youth we were assigned to. It was a weekend I never want to forget (hence why I am forcing myself to finish this post before I completely forget everything)!

Some of the highlights from the weekend:

1) Old Kirtland/ LDS Visitor's Center

Newel K. Whitney Store

The bedroom above the Whitney store that Emma and Joseph stayed in and where Emma gave birth to her twins, both of whom died shortly thereafter.

Newel K. Whitney home- one of the many residences that Joseph and Emma lived at, but only for 6 weeks.

At the saw mill

Lisee and Mayra in front of the creek that runs into the East Branch of the Chagrin River- many of the early saints were baptized here. Often, they needed a saw and axe to cut through the ice in the dead of winter to perform their baptisms!

2) Kirtland temple

The 7am Saturday morning devotional was the highlight of the weekend. What an incredible experience to be standing feet away from where the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

3) Johnson Farm - apart from being in the Temple, this was our favorite spot! The Johnson Farm was home to the Prophet and Emma for a year. Bro. and Sis. Johnson gave Joseph and Emma their bedroom, the nicest room in the house, and moved upstairs into one of the smaller rooms. It was in this home, in the upstairs "Revelation Room," that Joseph and Sidney Rigdon received some of the most important revelations, including Section 76 of the Doctrine in Covenants . It was also here that Joseph was torn out of his bedroom in the middle of the night by a mob, dragged across the frozen dirt and then beaten, tarred and feathered and nearly killed by poison. The home is so beautiful and unique. Not surprisingly, the spirit in this home is incredibly strong.

The front of the Johnson home. Spencer is standing on the original stone steps that Joseph Smith regularly preached from.

The house itself is quite the place. It took the Johnsons, a relatively wealthy family, somewhere around 6 years to build this home. Sister Johnson was one stylish/eccentric woman-which I love! Just look at the original checkered flooring in the bedroom below! Awesome! The amazing thing is that only a few years after building their dream home, the Johnsons consecrated their home to the church to assist in paying off the church's debts for building the Kirtland Temple. Such amazing faith and sacrifice!

Above is the very room (earlier mentioned) that was given to Joseph, Emma, and the adopted Murdock twins. This is the room that the mobs stormed into and ripped Joseph from bed while he was sleeping with the twins, both of whom were sick with the measles. One of twins, named Joseph, died 4 days after the chaos of that terrible night. Joseph's faith and perseverance, in the face of such horrible persecution, is what amazes me. Writing about this night, he said: "my friends spent the night scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body; so that by morning, I was ready to be clothed again. This being the Sabbath morning, the people assembled for meeting at the usual hour of worship, and among them came also the mobbers . . . With my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals."

Learning about the home before our tour began.

Sitting in the Johnson's Kitchen

Loved Sister Johnson's pantry

4) Family Time

Prior to youth conference I spent a lot of time thinking about about our soon-to-be family and planning games I thought they would enjoy. But truthfully, I really just loved hanging out with all of them. I loved eating our sack lunches in the primary room of the Hiram Church. I loved the overwhelming feeling of unity and love that I felt for all 12 of our children.

6) Testimony meeting at Hiram Chapel

Testimony meeting is always a spiritual high for me at the end of weekends like this. Something about youth bearing their testimonies about their love for the gospel and their desire to choose the right is so refreshing to hear. One testimony that I never want to forget was shared by Allison Hurd. She wasn't in my family, but she's in my ward and played the violin in our choir. She's an incredible violinist and we really needed her help, but I knew that she wasn't too wild about joining the choir and/or going to youth conference. In her testimony she acknowledged her initial lack of enthusiasm for being in the choir but then shared of the overwhelming spirit that filled her as we arrived in the temple that morning. I don't remember exactly what she said, but basically as she played her violin she felt as if she were playing for our Heavenly Father and Christ himself. She said she'd never wanted to play better than she did at that moment and how she felt so close to the spirit. And she played flawlessly!

Other things I enjoyed:

Aside from all the spiritual and educational stuff, fun stuff had also been planned, like the dance at Hiram College. Spencer and I had an extra good time helping our boys drum up the courage to ask the pretty ladies to dance. It was fun to get out there, act silly, and feel young again! :)

And of course, the bus ride!

I seriously didn't think I'd have as much fun on the bus as I actually did. We had awesome bus captains that planned tons of fun games, activities, movies, mormon message clips, etc. And with any extra time, we always came up with other stuff to do- like writing a Rap for our family!

Jammin Jenkins Rap (sung to the tune of Ice, Ice, Baby)

Written by: Spencer Jenkins (aka: Pa)

Idea by: Chelsea Geliske

Music/beat box: Vanilla Ice/Eric Bishop

(verse 1)

Stop. Collaborate and listen.

We're the family called Jenkins so you'd better listen.

The Gospel- grabs ahold of us tightly .

We got testimonies burning brightly.

Will we ever stop? Yo, HECK NO!!

We're here in Kirtland learning about the temple.

(chorus)

To the extreme we rock the bus to the ritmo, light up the world with our hope and our mojo!

(verse 2)

Study. We Jenkins got wisdom, reading the scriptures so we don't go dum dum.

Deadly. When we Jenkins sing this melody, anything less than our best is a felony.

We love it. We live it. The gospel is sick. You'd better follow our lead so you do not miss it.

(chorus)

To the extreme we rock the bus to the ritmo, light up the world with our hope and our mojo!

Jenkins, Jenkins, Baby. . . .

What an incredible weekend Spencer and I had!! And it wouldn't have been the same without our amazing children!!

Maggie & Allie

Chelsea & Luis

Mayra whipping out one of her many friendship bracelets- a favorite activity on the ride home!

Chelsea, Paul, Megan

Eric & Tate

Paola & Wilmer (and Matt Helton in the back- always trying to join our family:)

Lisee & Kayla (who wasn't in our family- but she's one of Madi's favorite baby-sitters- love her!!)

Heat Wave

This past week some records were set-

#1 It was the hottest it's ever been since we moved here 4 years ago (but we were gone for 2 of those summers)! Monday morning I got up extra early to get a good run in, but when I opened the door and felt the wave of humidity at 5:30am I knew it wasn't gonna be the greatest run. Each day it got hotter and hotter- reaching a heat index of 111 degrees. One day it was 90 degrees by 9am and of course the nights don't cool off either. Thursday night I checked the temp before hitting the sack at 10pm and it was 91 degrees! I took the girls to the pool only twice this past week, hoping to get some relief, but even the pool was too warm for my liking. On Friday the girls and I hit up the splash park at 10am. I was beyond excited to get out, hang out with friends, and have a "cool" outing for the week! Madi had a complete blast for about 30 minutes while Elle was a little unsure about all the water shooting up everywhere. They lasted until 11:30 and then were begging to go home. What a bummer! Which leads me to the next record set . . .

#2 Number of time-outs in one day.

This record was set on Friday by Madi. Something about the heat and being inside has made my girls absolutely crazy! Or maybe it's just the age- but everything on Friday was a battle. Manners were thrown out the window and I was getting a lot of "NO" and "I don't want to!" Instead of completely loosing my patience, I'd just pick Madi up and go put her in time-out. . . over and over and over again. Elle had her own share of time-outs too, mostly cause she'd fight back with Madi.

I've decided to implement a new chart/reward system. I've been telling Madi about it, but still have to make it and come up with the point system. We'll be introducing it for FHE this Monday night. Big thanks to Becky for the fabulous idea!

#3 Since we were stuck inside, surviving the heat, I tried extra hard to make it a fun week for the girls (and myself). This past week we set a record for the number of crafts made at our house in just one week (5 days). We made turtles, kites, puppets, foam necklaces, storyboards, modeling clay figures, mosaics, and thank you cards, as well as buying new coloring books and checking out 2 dozen new books from the library. But the hardest thing about it was that even though I had all these fun things planned, my girls didn't seem to appreciate it. They'd fight over the supplies, scream that the other was touching their stuff, tease, pester, pull hair and even hit each other. By the end of the week I was completely at my wits' end!

Needless to say, it was a rough week for me. I'm just hoping this new reward system gets things changed around (charts like this usually do wonders for Madi- we'll see how Elle responds to it). Crossing my fingers that this week is a little easier than last!

Happy Birthday Elle!!

Weight: 27 1/2 lbs. (62%)

Height: 35 in. (81%)

My baby girl turned TWO today!! And oh how I wish I could just freeze time and enjoy this stage with Elle for so much longer. Maybe it's cause I know all about the drama and sassiness that age 3 and 4 hold, but from my experience, two has always been such an incredibly sweet age. Elle is a complete doll and so much fun to be around. I love her tight squeezes, her big huge grins, how well she plays by herself, listening to her read stories, watching her take care of her babies, and hearing her tell me "I love you". Her voice is so cute and sweet. I find myself following her around with our video camera just so I can have it saved forever.

We had an action packed birthday weekend for Elle. Friday afternoon I took her and Madi to a tea party at Potty Barn Kids. They got to enjoy cookies and juice during story time, then a butterfly craft followed by another story. I love Pottery Barn- it's such a magical place. I hope to someday have my kids bedrooms look just like rooms out of their catalogs (sadly, I'm sure my girls will be all grown by the time I agree to pay the prices from the catalogs :)!

Saturday morning we hit up the pool. While Spencer did a "swim lesson" with Madi, I got to enjoy an hour of one-on-one with my Elle! There's never a dull moment with Elle!!

Saturday afternoon Spencer took the girls on a daddy-daughter date to see the new "Winnie the Pooh" movie. It was Elle's first theater experience and I hear she loved every second of it!

This morning Elle was awake at 6:15am. I usually don't get her out of bed until 6:45am, but today I wanted to get as much time with the birthday girl! I got her dressed, did her hair, fed her some breakfast, and headed outside by 6:45 to take a few pictures while the light was still good.

Elle loves walks, so once Madi woke up I took the girls on a walk while Spencer had his weekly conference call for Stake YM's. As soon as Spencer was done, Elle opened her presents.

She got her very own tea set from Grampa Al and Boppi with a Fancy Nancy book about Tea Parties. Since the girls had just been to a tea party, they were both super excited about the gift!

We got Elle the bathroom furniture for her new dollhouse- which was a joint gift for her and Madi from Gram, Papa, and Gram Rox (and a big thanks to Aunt Lindsay for leaving a comment on our blog with the great idea- that's why they decided to get it :). The dollhouse was actually opened on Madi's birthday and has been a huge hit ever since!! The pic below was taken on Madi's birthday right after it was opened. Elle immediately fell in love!

Since Elle was up so early this morning, we put her down for an early nap and after that off to church. I sent snacks in for Elle's birthday today and due to so many allergies in her nursery class, I did a super safe route and just sent bags of fruit snacks with some bananas and tangelos.

Then tonight before dinner, Elle said the prayer and my favorite part was:

Mom: We're thankful we got to go to church today.

Elle: "Go to church...... an eat fruit snack... and nanas."

I was glad to hear that she was grateful for the snack I sent!!

For Elle's birthday dinner I made enchiladas which is usually a favorite, but Elle only had about 8 bites before she was done.

As for birthday dessert- Elle wanted cupcakes, and since "Pinkalicious" is one of her favorite books I decided to go with an actual Pinkalicious cupcake recipe. She was so excited about her cupcakes that she could barely wait for me to finish decorating. Elle and Madi stood on chairs next to the counter while I finished the decorating and when I held one out to Elle just to see what I'd done, she grabbed it and immediately took a bite! I was dying! We did a quick finish, threw in two candles, and sang to the birthday girl!

I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Elle was a complete angel tonight and even though Madi went to bed with a screaming fit at 7pm (this whole birthday thing for someone else has been a little hard on her), Elle got to stay up an additional hour after bedtime. Some of my favorite times of the day are in the early mornings and evenings when I get to have alone time with Elle. She's always the first one awake and I usually always put her to bed right after Madi.

Other things about Elle:

* She's constantly wanting to "go potty" and has actually gone several times (even poop a couple times), so I don't want to deny her requests, but I'd rather just potty train her in a day like I did Madi. I think she just loves to feel like a big girl like her big sister. Most of the time she just sits there for a few seconds and then yells (even though I'm sitting right next to her), "DONE!!"

*After dealing with daily, constant, annoying whining for her "binky.... blankie.... Raffie", we (ok, mostly Spencer) finally cracked down and completely enforced the "binkies are for bedtime" rule. And it's actually going surprisingly well. Every morning Elle now takes out her binky and tells me, "I leave my binky right dare. . . on my bed" At first she'd be hesitant about leaving it and/or getting out of her bed, but now she's doing so much better. I'll let her have it in bed only for another 6 months before we break her from it completely.

Pre-enforcement of binky rule

* We moved Elle into the toddler bed the day before she turned 23 months and she never looked back- she's never gotten out once! Even though Elle can totally get in and out by herself, in the mornings she'll wait there (sometimes it's a long time- cause I'll be on a run or something) until I come and get her. It was pretty incredible to see what an easy transition going to the "big girl bed" was for Elle, especially since it was a little bit harder to train Madi not to get out of bed and bring toys and books into bed with her. Elle jumps into her bed at night, lays right down, and is asleep within minutes usually. She may only sleep 11 hours at night, but she's a fabulous sleeper. Also, since moving to the toddler bed, Elle now naps longer- usually 2 1/2 to 3 hours every afternoon.

* Just like her older sister, Elle's got amazing self control with treats and desserts. They both totally know when to stop themselves. Many a time I've been handed a sucker, cookie, or other treat and told "all done". Even tonight, on her own birthday, the pinkalicious cupcake was too much for Elle and she left her dessert unfinished.

* Elle still insists on wearing a dress every single day. And skirts just won't do- it has to be a dress. It's something about those"pretty dresses" that Elle's absolutely in love with. Then she likes to go show her dad and get compliments about how beautiful she looks- it's hilarious! I'm dying to put her in other clothes though- even with the 15 dresses she has, I feel like she's always wearing the same thing.

* Elle's a total mama's girl. . . and I LOVE it!!!

There's just so much I love about this little girl! One thing she's been doing lately is coming up and saying, "I gotta tell you a secret mom." Then she'll come close, cup my face into her hands and whisper something into my ear. Since she usually never has a real secret, most of the time she just whispers, "I love you." Oh how I love it!!

We love you little Miss Elle!! Thanks for bringing so much happiness into our home these past two years!

Visit from Mom, North Carolina and new baby Ezra

It was so wonderful having my mom here- Spencer and I are extremely grateful for her help and willingness to come out and stay with the girls while we went to Youth Conference. It was fun having her here for Madi's birthday. I also loved team teaching with her in primary. And I will forever cherish all the primary posters she made for me to help make music time that much more exciting for the kids! Thanks so much mom!

We had a little belated birthday party for mom the Sunday after she arrived- this was the dessert mom requested I make! Delicious!

We knew the fun with Gram had to end eventually- exactly one week after mom flew into DC, we packed up and headed off to North Carolina. We got to the Calhoun's just in time for dinner on Wednesday, June 29th. We brought the rest of Madi's rainbow cake with us to share in honor of Madi's birthday and her cousins surprised her with a late birthday gift- a "Tangled"/ Rapunzel barbie doll (the one thing Madi had been asking for and didn't get- thanks Calhouns:). She was ecstatic!

The next two days were spent playing with Gram, cousins, and loving new baby Ezra (born June 14th).

I was able to take a bunch of pictures of Tisha's kids while I was there- this is one of my favorite's of Ezra.

Madi was not angry here- she was checking to see what type of "tough" face to make before their water fight!

Elle joining in on the action!

More outdoor fun with Gram!

Their neighborhood pool was awesome! We went for a couple hours on Thursday.

I love this pic of Madi and Ani mostly cause I have one just like it of me (around the same age) reading with my favorite cousin Eliza.

But the video of them reading together is even better!

Picnic lunch followed by rainbow cake= all smiles (well, mostly all smiles)

4th of July art work

The Calhoun's playroom is always a favorite for my girls. They spent hours and hours playing dress-up!

Elle just recently started smiling (and even semi "posing") in pictures. I love how she jumped in on this one!

This one totally cracks me up because after Elle got dressed I told her to smile so I could take a picture. She walks over to the kitchen, leans up against it (as shown) and then smiles! Perfect!

But this next one is my all time favorite . . .

What an absolute doll! I am so in love with this little girl!

Not the best picture of Ezra, but I had to document how wonderfully sweet Elle was with Ezra.

We LOVE our Calhoun cousins!!!

It was a fast trip, but as always- tons of fun! The girls and I left bright and early Saturday morning to head back to DC. We hate to be away from Spencer especially on the weekends, plus Adam was in town and I wanted to make sure that we all got to hang out together. We're just glad our Calhoun cousins live only a short 5 hour drive away- we're looking forward to seeing them again in November!