Dear friend,
My parents were kind enough to come out one weekend so Elias and I could slip away for a night. The kids loved their time with them as they did projects around the house and went to the school carnival. 
Meanwhile, I took Elias to "A Tiny House in the Woods" where we ate delicious food, slept in until noon and hiked all afternoon. The stillness and quiet of it all was so moving I found tears in my eyes. Thanks Mom and Dad!
They were able to stay an extra day so my Mom and I could enjoy a Mother's Day breakfast and church together.
We've enjoyed some amazing dinner parties with friends. I went to to a gorgeous Mother's Day brunch and our friend Jennifer Wilcox invited the entire family over for a wonderful evening.
I threw a baby shower for a friend in the ward and when I realized that 30% of the attendees only spoke Spanish, and 30% only spoke English, with the rest bilingual, I decided our activity would be to have everyone make bracelets and infuse them with a wish or hope for Carolina. It was a great thing for people to do while they may not understand everything that was being said.
Summer had her choir concert and school share. She is a such a great singer.
We got a pizza oven so we have had a lot of pizza this month.
I got to chaperone my first field trip and it was a blast to spend that time with Smith and his class.
I love him.
The boys' church activity leader is amazing and they each were called to serve a mission for a night.
Smith had an accident in the basement and when it happened he said it hurt too much to talk so he drew us a picture of what happened. I'm relieved he didn't break his neck.
I continue to teach Summer and her friends yoga once a month. This month's mantra was, "I am patient".
We did a search to see whose eyes matched Mom's and Dad's. Boyd and Joy were a close match.
We had a lot of laughs at home.
A major highlight of the month was going to DC for the temple open house. It is such a holy place. The artwork was amazing and it was a special experience for our family.
There was Spartan race that same weekend at the Nationals Stadium. Since Elias is still out of commission, I decided to run the sprint and I talked Corie into doing it with me. Rose and Joy also ran their first half mile race. The big kids ran the mile race with their cousins and we all had a blast.
A friend of mine led up the effort of a family heritage night for the school. I felt strongly about it so I helped where I could. I created a worksheet for all the students to fill out and try to better understand their own heritage. I also created a passport for the students to take from booth to booth as they learned about different heritages. We had twenty different heritages represented. They were all different countries except for Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Jewish, and we hosted a Christian heritage table.
It was a pleasure to share our heritage with the school. As students approached our table I explained that all of our ancestors were different but that they all had a strong faith in our savior Jesus Christ and that as they practiced that faith, they were led to sweet gospel truths. I then invited them to take a sweet (one of the cookies with a truth written on it) and I would share a story of that truth.
I love talking about my grandparents but the real joy came from hearing my children share the stories. (All of the other kids were also there but they were exploring the other booths.)
The event was a hit. The Spirit was there. The room had such a good energy and everyone recognized it for its beauty; a space where everyone could show up and feel seen and appreciated.
In preparation for Joy's birthday next month, we held our family's first "friends birthday party". Joy had seven little friends over and easily filled two hours with games and crafts.
May concluded with the most delightful Memorial Day weekend. The weather was gorgeous and due to our busy schedule lately I promised Elias not to put anything on the calendar for the entire three-day weekend. We enjoyed our town's parade and carnival, learned how to play chess, watched a family movie, played games, went to the park, took long walks and enjoyed some more homemade pizza!
There are a lot of heartbreaking things going on in the world. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be able to live in a peaceful community with a supportive family I love so fiercely. I pray for this world and for each of us in this family to do our part to make it a better place.
Love,
Brittany et al.
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