Cornelius Chronicles

 We finally made the plunge and purchased a car large enough to fit our whole family in at once.  It was getting a bit inconvenient to have to take two cars everywhere with our new family of 8 so we decided to by a Ford E-series.  It seats 12 so that gives us plenty of room for all of the kids, the gerbils, and even a friend or two.  :)  Dustin had to fly out to Utah to find and buy our new set of wheels and got to spend a fun couple of weeks with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips.  They had such fun they decided to drive back with Dustin for a fun road trip and to spend the last week of Summer with us before school began again.  It was such a fun summer treat to have Grandma and Grandpa Phillips come to work and play with us.  They helped us clean out our old cars, paint all of our brand new detached garage, share their yummy garden produce from Utah, and of course do a few small fixer-upper decor projects around the house.  Showing off ou...

It looks like Baby John might be a blankie boy!  At last to have a child who truly understands the undeniable superiority of one blankie above all others and the magical powers it has to always be the perfect warmth, be the most comforting object in the house, and be necessary for all important moments of life, like making nap time easier.  Sleep well my blankie boy.  Mommy loves you.  :) Two of the keys on our electronic piano were mysteriously sunken, never to pop up to their proper place.  So, after an entire evening of watching YouTube do-it-yourself piano repair tutorials and taking out way more screws than one would think it would take to hold the piano together, Dustin finally discovered the culprit behind the key problem.  It was a thin, round magnet that Owen had slipped between the keys.  It was holding the key hammers together and pulling them to the bottom of the keyboard.  Dustin successfully fished the offending magnet out, rep...

  This year Rebekah turned 12.  This has lots of fun growing-up moments and first in the Church this year.  For example, this year Rebekah first joined Young Women's, enjoyed her first year of intermediate school, baby-sat the little kids for the first time on her own, and got her first phone.  It also ushered in a very special and important life event for her this weekend.  This week Rebekah got her first limited use Temple recommend and went on her first temple trip to perform baptisms for the dead in the Houston, TX temple with our South Shore Ward youth group on Saturday.  It was such a special experience to be together with our oldest daughter in the beauty and the peace of the Temple baptistry and perform the saving ordinances of baptism and confirmation for the gift of the Holy Ghost for the sweet sisters in our family of generations past.  Thanks to Grandma Phillips and Dustin we had plenty of sweet women for whom we could begin the work of S...

 On Sunday, June 24th we were able to give John a name and a blessing in our home.  We invited family to join us via Skype on the internet and friends to join us in our home as Dustin and our dear friends who hold the holy Priesthood of God joined together to give this sweet baby boy a name for official LDS Church records and a blessing unto the Lord.  It was a special experience to see little John surrounded by good, righteous men and then blessed with the power of God to bless him in his life's journey that has only just begun.  After the beauty of the blessing we all enjoyed some great visiting time and a yummy waffle bar to soak in the joyous occasion.  How grateful I am for the Gospel and the Priesthood restored on earth today to bless my children and help them on their mortal journey's back to our loving Heavenly Father. 

Summer is in full swing and we're doing our best to enjoy every precious moment.  Here's a snapshot of some of the fun things we've been squeezing in between cartoon watching, mess making, fort building, Wii playing, summer day camps, and tablet time: Front yard water fun day with friends.  Yea for water slides and water balloons to help keep us happy and cool on those hot summer afternoons. And an even bigger YEA for good friends to spend the day playing with.  Just chillin' with our favorite baby bro   4th of July food fun at League City's Citizens Appreciate Party.   A little afternoon rain can't ruin our Independence Day party!    Beach days are a must  As is posing your unsuspecting baby brother with your favorite flamingo blanket and puppy toy (Thanks Maeve).  Sneaking car selfies with Mom's phone when she isn't paying attention Earning awesome Library summer reading prog...

Maeve practicing her reading skills The Baby John song written and performed by Maeve

After another great academic year with wonderful, kind, knowledgeable teachers, good friends, and lots of progress we have found ourselves at the beginning of summer break once more.  Let the summer extravaganza begin! Maeve and Rebekah are enjoying art classes for the month of June at the University of Clear Lake's Art for Children program.   We are having sewing lessons once a week in the mornings with our friends, keeping up on our piano lessons, going to the library and tracking way too many summer reading logs, playing at the pool, and going to camps, and of course hitting the BEACH!!!  Boom!  Beach Day! We'll keep you updated on all our summer fun/business!  Yea summer!