The temple is closed during the pandemic but we still wanted to stop by to visit in preparation for Rhys being old enough to participate in temple ordinances soon. We are particularly fond of the picture where Sophie is donning a magical Moroni adorned unicorn horn. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints keeping it cool!
First time camping in AR. Some fall color emerging, hikes, swimming, s'mores, games, reading, leeches, Hot Springs National Park, wasps, deer, tarantulas.
Beautiful weather, lake, and colors. Nice hikes 3, Rhys got a leech attached to his ankle while swimming. First time we'd all seen a real leech. No tears. Too cold for adults to swim-again, wasps galore swooping around on the top deck of the tower for sight seeing--very adventurous! Three tarantulas walked through the campground, only one through our site. More daddy-long-legs than you can count on all our family's toes and fingers combined. Beautiful stars at night.
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| Staged picture |
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| Mating stick bugs are hilarious because of their lack of balance in the act |
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| Quartz was everywhere |
You know Rhys' heart belongs to Lego! He has been really branching out and creating his own builds. He has made a Lego Campground and National Park, a superhero base, and is currently working on a space base. Somewhere in the middle of that he put together his tree house set he saved up for--over 3000 pieces. He is all about the details and it is great to see what his mind comes up with and how he troubleshoots to make it all happen.
Sophie, though not completely smitten with beekeeping, loves those bees. If one gets crushed between the boxes she is upset for it. She is even learning how to smoke them better (shown is her old technique) to disrupt them less and keep them out of harms way when we put boxes back on. By the way we recently added yet another super--an 8 frame box this time (grey), to give them more room and something to do. Build comb.
I, too, have been creating something with love! It's taken a long time and a couple new skills but I have completed my sister's quilt. I cannot wait to surprise her with it when I visit. The new skills I learned were sashing and creating piecing beyond squares and rectangles.
Our leaders over the Primary children (ages 3-11) asked Rhys if he would share his take on this year given the unique circumstances of COVID-19. It will be entered into the congregations history. Below is what he shared.
I'm in sixth grade but was in 5th grade when COVID-19 started. I didn't go back to school after the Spring Break and our camping trips and road trip got cancelled. We were going to go to Yellowstone but that got pushed to next year. For my birthday, at the end of the school year, my friends surprised me with a parade in front of my house! They brought me treats and some Lego!
I have been going to school virtually because my dad is in the high risk group for COVID-19. Do you know how hard it is to learn trombone like that?! The thing I miss the most is not seeing my friends much. I see them on screen and I got to go to an outdoor Primary activity with my mom.
Once we knew what to do to stay safe, we started doing more family outings. We went out to where it was really dark to see a comet, hiked, biked, went on driving tours, and swam in Oma and Opa's pool. I helped plant some bushes and flowers for our backyard bees.
On Sundays, we dress for church and have sacrament meeting in our living room. We learned to put our curious cat out in the backyard so he wouldn't play with the white cover for the sacrament. Sometimes, I help give talks and bear my testimony. On most Sundays, we go to cemeteries to take pictures of gravestones for BillionGraves.org. Our parents take the pictures and we brush off the stones. We've finished one and a half cemeteries so far.
At home, we've been gardening, taking care of our pets, and building Lego creations. I love making videos about them and sending them to Grandma in Washington. I saved up and got a Lego tree house which has 3036 pieces and is m biggest set yet.
We also went to Virginia to visit my aunt and uncle. We got there in 16 hours without stopping at a hotel. We hiked a lot, played games, and played with their ferrets. I hiked to the very top of some falls. Only my aunt and I went all the way to the top.
We hope to go to Virginia again for Thanksgiving. Also, the state parks have opened up distanced spots so we are getting to camp again. I like to swim, hike, and eat s'mores. So even though things are different and I miss some things, it is not so terrible.
Rhys van der Upwich
Allen 3rd Ward, Allen Texas Stake
Rhys picked up a bummer of a habit during the last month or so. He pushed his bangs to the side one night at dinner and I was stunned to see that much of his hair at his part was missing. He had been pulling it to the side and tugging at it while in school, leisurely reading a book,... breathing...and removed a good portion--right before school pictures! So we worked with it and then after pictures, chopped it short so he wouldn't pull on it. Asked him a few key questions because hair pulling often being a symptom of psychological issues, and given the pandemic and the changes, we wanted to be sure but it appears to be just a bad habit picked up.
