Party at the Pond

A family in our ward owns their own pond. They bought some land that had a big hole in the ground so they filled it up, built a little cabin, and invite all to come and enjoy. The Elders Quorum in our ward decided to have a gathering at the pond yesterday, then an investigator decided to get baptized as well. It was a wonderful afternoon. We were running late, but so were they so we actually made it to the pond for the baptism. Grandma Nichols (Sister Nichols to everyone else) gave the talk on baptism. She had a container of water that she added food coloring to representing sin. She then put a hard boiled egg - us - into the water. Then she peeled the shell off and washed the egg in clear water - us after baptism. It was neat and all the kids were paying attention. After the baptism we had hamburgers, hot dogs, fruits, etc, and the kids enjoyed swimming. A couple of my kids enjoyed fishing - Xiomara and Ben each caught a fish! They also enjoyed the paddle boat, swimming, fighting, canoeing, eating; and I enjoyed watching, photographing, talking, and sitting! It was a wonderful afternoon - all the way to 6:15 when we finally left.

He went all over the pond by himself, just like this.
I told him he needed to remember what he did so if his arms hurt the next day he would know why.

Proud fisherman. He used his hand for a comparison so he could measure to know how big the fish was later on. It was quite exciting. (Xiomara's fish was released before I could get a picture of it but I'm thinking it looked a lot like the one below.)

Ben also enjoyed watching his erosion demonstration.

He watched the water cut away at the sides, digging deeper trenches.
He explained how the sediment was increasing other end.
He was so excited about it - I loved watching him!

Here fishy, fishy! Here's a nice worm for you!

She loves to get her toes, and it shows!

Domonique stayed out of the water up until the very end.

Then she realized it was lots of fun!

As they were trying to dry off, and drink some juice, they played in the pile of ice that was left behind from the activity. They counted to see who could stand on it the longest.

It was a really fun activity and we totally stayed the longest.