Outings and Such

I haven't much been in the mood for blogging about anything besides Anneca.  Now I have some catch-up to do.  Despite the sadness of her passing, we have had some fun memory-making times as well.

In September, on a beautiful Saturday morning, we set out to explore Spokane's Riverfront Park.  It is a beautiful downtown park, with trails and bridges over Spokane Falls.  They also have the world's largest Radio Flyer red wagon which doubles as a huge slide.  The kids had fun playing on it.  We enjoyed the scenery, the squirrels, the leaves, the hike, the clock tower, and playing briefly in the fountain.

 

Last weekend we set out to explore the Nine Mile Falls area, the Spokane River, Lake Spokane, and a couple of dams along the river.  Very rural area.  It was a cold but pretty day.  At one point, Kyle pulled off on the side of the road and we went on an "explore".  We hiked back in to a mountain and Kyle and the older kids climbed up a ways.  They loved it.  Andon found the perfect walking stick for himself and carried it most of the way.

The two dams we saw were really pretty, in particular the one at the lower end of Lake Spokane. ("Lake Spokane" is really just part of the river but because of the dam, it has essentially become a reservoir/lake.  It really doesn't look at all like a river.)

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We enjoyed our Halloween festivities.  (Mom enjoyed them, too, except the candy aspect.)
Skyler was Batman for our ward Halloween festival then switched to Robin for trick-or-treating.  Andon was a lion that wouldn't keep his mane on for the ward party, so we tried out the giraffe costume for Halloween.  He kept that on for a few minutes, but really didn't want to be outside in the cold.  Even the candy didn't tempt him.  He only went to a few houses and his candy was gone before the other kids got home:).  Kylene was a fairy and Spencer was Annakin again.  I love reusing costumes!

 

Anneca's Grave Marker

Anneca's Grave Marker was placed in the cemetary this week.  It is beautiful to me.
 

 

She is buried between Mason, who lived about five months, and Autumn, a stillborn like Anneca.

The leaves had blown on top of all the headstones in the infant section.  My sweet children spent at least 20 minutes removing them from the markers.  They are learning a special reverence and respect for this sacred ground.  They love reading about the different children and seeing the pictures on the markers or the mementos that are brought to remember these precious spirits.

 

  

 

Photos With Anneca

That might seem like an unusual title, but since we have no pictures of Anneca, any photos I have with Anneca in them are very precious to me.

This is the family picture my brother-in-law, Scott, took at our Barney family reunion this summer.  I am about 13 weeks pregnant, so it will be a rare family picture with her in it, so to speak.


My dad took these next couple of pictures when they came to visit the beginning of September.  The purses Kylene and I are holding were made by a sister in my parent's mission, and were one of the gifts they brought home for us.  He took them to send to her.  After Anneca died, my dad found these on his phone and showed them to me because I am "showing."

 

 

A few weeks earlier, on August 23rd, Kyle took this "pregnancy" picture of me.  Earlier this same day I had an OB appointment; it was the last time I heard her heartbeat.

The Kids' Art

I have been so touched by how the children have embraced Anneca as a part of our family.  She is our angel watching over us.  We now all work to be worthy to be with her forever.

During General Conference, Spencer and Kylene created these two pictures.

Spencer's:

Kylene's now hangs on her bedroom wall:

 

Anneca's Graveside Memorial--September 28, 2013