Fodder Mountain and the Ocean

Katie can't get enough of playing outside. After a stretch of rainy days we were excited to get out and dig in the dirt. Well, I was weeding and Katie was relocating everything from rocks to dirt to her toy frog.
This is Katie's beloved "fodder mountain."

This is the little parade our family makes when we have an outing. We went to a hot air balloon festival for a few hours on Saturday. My favorite part was the live music, I think Katie's was the sasparilla, Jeremy's the sky-divers, and I don't think Sydney or Cora got much more out of it than a nice long ride in the stroller.

Jeremy had three days of unused vacation we had to use before July. We spent it picking strawberries and making jam, canoeing, and going to the beach! Each trip was quite the effort. Picking strawberries with a 14lb kid strapped to your chest is quite the work-out, not to mention stopping Katie from stepping on the plants. We got rained on in the canoe, but still had so much fun. The beach was beautiful. The water was pretty intimidating to Katie and the water was too cold to really get in, so we chased seagulls and played in the sand.

There's my handsome honey with Sydney. She looks a little like a pirate to me with her eye half covered.

Life in three-kid land is crazy. Cora and Sydney can both roll over (I think they play steam-roller in their crib sometimes), and they both try to sit up now. They grab anything close to them, including my hair and earrings or any cup or utensil you are trying to use while holding them. Katie is currently buckling every buckle in the house. She puts her dolls in the twins' car seats and swings and says, "oh, thank you Katie." She had a fever out of the blue this last Thursday night through Friday. She was so sweet the whole time she had her fever and so happy - it was the most bizarre thing. But if she's happy when she's got a fever, so am I.

Strange to think that a year ago this week is when we closed on this house. I can't believe how much life has changed from just a year ago. I just got off the river from Burn Camp and flew out with Katie to Boston, then caught the shuttle to here. Jeremy drove cross-country with our dog and his dad. Since then we've been here we've had two more kids, planted a garden, met some incredible people through work, the neighborhood, and church. Jeremy's finished his first year of being an anesthesia resident. We've been through moments of feeling on top of the world and moments like we're drowning. We never could have done any of this without such amazing parents, family, friends, and the mercy of a loving Heavenly Father who is so aware of our every need and gives us chances to learn and grow. I've learned (or relearned) that always being stubborn and independent can make you isolated and miserable and that there really is joy in letting others serve you as much as in serving others. It's been hard to realize how much help I've needed with our family from pregnancy with the twins to even now. But it's been such a blessing to see the love and compassion of so many people, even total strangers. Here's to another year in New Hampshire, and another year of knowing the greatest things in life are the people you love.