What happens when you mix rain, the bible, a civil engineer and a 2 year old?

Tonight for family home evening we learned about building our lives on the foundation of Christ's gospel.  This theme was inspired by Matt 7:24-27 and the rainstorm occurring outside this afternoon. So, we decided to read the scripture ourselves and discuss how building on the foundation of Christ gives us a strong foundation just like the man who build his house on a foundation of rock.  Alyssa was very cute.  She was very involved in building the two structures, and quickly learned the difference between the strong house and the weak house.  When we said 'strong' she would put her arms up as if to flex her muscles.  By the time the houses were ready, it was done being really windy and rainy and it was actually nice warm sunny weather, but there was still a lot of runoff we could use.  So we put the houses to the test.  ...In the first test, both actually floated away.  After a little more engineering work on the foundation, the strong foundation-ed house easily became the champion.  Alyssa loved watching the houses and if the current wasn't strong enough to knock over the weak one, she would knock it over and then chase the blocks as they floated away.

More About Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend also included

:: A fierce round of Bocce Ball. The biggest challenge was not hitting the two children two and under running around us while we played.

:: A revisit to charades with the LeMontes. (Note for the future: words like syncotron, transformer, filament, and any other small electronic part are not really fair game for charades.)

:: A canoeing trip on Lum's pond/paddle boat trip with the Kelley's. I do believe we did a pretty great job staying afloat with our collective two children. The only near tipping incident was when Alyssa decided being on the paddle boat with us was not as cool as being on the canoe with the Kelley's. Good thing Tyler caught her coming over. And the most impressive moment? Tyler doing a head stand on the canoe seat. I can't even do a head stand on the ground! Also, a special thanks to Erik for doing most of the paddling. I am kind of a wimp.

:: A delicious cookout with stellar foods + a rousing game of "what if" and Dominion.

:: A fire and camp out courtesy of the LeMontes. It was Alyssa's first camp out and aside from going to bed near to 10:30 PM and sleeping on our mattress with us, she did great! She was pretty psyched about the whole having a fire in your backyard type thing and sleeping outside! Now we know what to expect when we go camping :)

:: And don't forget

patriotic breakfast foods...

in this case 

waffles!

It was a fun weekend! The best Memorial Day we've had in awhile. Every other previous Memorial Day in our marriage has been spent in an unknown land. It usually meant a trip to the beach or some state park, which I can't complain about, but it was really nice to be with friends.

I am grateful for all of those who fought for my freedoms as well as the wonderful people in my life who have passed on.