CHERRY PICKING.

The other night Lexie taught a family home evening lesson on finding ways to achieve family unity. Nowadays families tend to do their own thing without involving each other as a family. Lack of communication becomes severe as well as bonding. I'm really glad she chose this lesson because she knows kids her age who come from broken families, and single parent families who don't get along who don't participate in family outings. Apparently even those who have two parent families sometimes don't find the time to spend time together due to busy lives. 

I believe she chose this lesson for herself because this past year she had such a busy schedule with school, even on Saturdays when she couldn't come with us to any of our family adventures. She missed out on going strawberry picking with us, and has always wanted to go to the orchards to pick some fruit. She's only done pumpkin, and christmas tree picking with us as a family, but has never done any fruit picking with us during the spring and summer months. 

Well, I took her lesson to heart, and the next morning we ventured out to Lee turkey farm again to go cherry picking this time. She was pretty thrilled, and even though she was a bit tired (darn that summer homework) she still made an effort to go. 

^^^ They were all going to town picking them cherries. I think their favorite part was picking cherries from a ladder feeling like they were in Tuscany. They had a grand time picking, and throwing the cherries in the bucket from the top. ^^^

^^^ I hadn't climbed a ladder in a long time, and it was pretty cool to pick my own cherries! ^^^

^^^ I love this picture of Noah. I captured this as he was in the moment of deciding whether or not he should pick a certain cherry! ^^^

^^^ After a while Noah wanted to walk around the orchard with his bucket. ^^^

^^^ and finding a dandelion to blow. ^^^

^^^ Kids these days can only pick for so long. It doesn't help when there is a park on the grounds. ^^^

^^^ The fruits of our labor. ^^^ 

Even though Jon wasn't with us I'm glad that I was able to get my kids out there to have fun together as a family. It is so important to make the time to spend together as a family even if it's something simple as going to the park to play frisbee, having a picnic, visiting museums, going to the beach (another favorite of ours), and of course...going to the orchard.

Eating dinner together as a family seems so rare these days, and I find that eating together is the one time where we can all catch up about our day and discuss anything that needs to be said. 

Attending church together is crucial in our life, and I'm telling you without that foundation of God in our life things in our household would be a hot mess! So thankful for the gospel that keeps us structured and growing as a family. 

I want my time spent with my children to be precious, and priceless. I want there to be more laughter, and less stress. I want smiles to be exchanged on a daily basis. It doesn't matter if my kids are five years apart there are ways to build family unity no matter the age gap, and to bond as one. 

I've also recognized that family activities don't need to be planned. We are such a spontaneous family that most of the time we do things on a whim, and the end result is a good one. We just go with the flow! 

So thankful for family home evening, and for those simple lessons that teach us about family unity. Going to the orchard has become a tradition for us, and one of my favorite things to do as a family (can you tell), and I'm so glad we make the time to do it! It was so nice to see the kids laughing, throwing rotten cherries at each other, and simply enjoying themselves. 

How about you guys?? What do y'all do as a family for fun, and to achieve family unity?

Pray tell cause I'm always looking for more fun things to do with the kids! 

Happy Wednesday!