Yet ANOTHER Birthday

There was another birthday in July... several actually. But this past weekend Lizzie had hers and celebrated it Provo, UT. Lizzie pretty much spent the whole day reading "The Host" by Stephanie Meyers. It was quite a gripping tale. Later on though, there was an incredible pasta dinner. Later on Missy, Miah, and Lizzie played 'A Ticket to Ride',.Pretty much the best game EVER. We all had great fun together. Missy went all out with a lovely chocolate chip cake. All in all it was a very relaxed and happy day, thanks to Miah and Missy's kindness.

Don't think me so arrogant and selfish. The real reason for this post is not to talk about the amazing birthday I had or broadcast that I'll be an adult in a year. I actually just wanted to show off the earrings I got for my birthday. So yeah... I got my ears pierced. Surprise Daddy! What do you think mom? ☺

A Grand Date

Some interesting events that occured the 22 of July:
1099 - First Crusade
1585 - re-establishment of the Roanoke Colony
1805 and 1812 - Napoleonic Wars
1933 - Wiley Posts first person to fly around the world
.........the rest are just depressing or boring

And for "famous" people born:
1863 - Alec Hearne, Former England cricketer
1882 - Edward Hopper, American painter
1893 - Jesse Haines, American baseball player
1923 - Bob Dole, American politician
- Mukesh, Indian singer
1983 - Steven Jackson, American football player
2002 - Prince Felix of Denmark

And most importantly....
Jacob Muldowney was born!!!
So the 22nd was Jacob's 20th birthday (wow he's an old man already) and we thought we would just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! even though he won't see our lovely post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISSIONARY!!!

"The hills are alive with the sound of [the BOM]"

The Valley Forge Pennsylvania Stake Youth Conference has come and gone, both happily and sadly.
This year Youth Conference was a trip up to Palmyra, NY to visit all the church history sites and to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was a three day adventure, July 17-19, filled with plenty of theatrics and lots of time of the bus. Lizzie was asked to have a leadership position in this little activity. Thankfully she was co-chair with Sam, who was incredibly calm during the whole process, calming Lizzie's easily stressed nature. The meetings started back in January and the planning for the event was both frustrating and exciting. As the day drew nearer, it was even a little nerve racking.
Abe hadn't been decided whether he actually wanted to go or not. Thanks to this connection, he was in the loop with everything that was supposed to happen. He decided he would come after he found out that there would be no dance. It turned out to be a great experience for him.
The trip's historical stops included the Priesthood Restoration site, the Peter Whitmer Farm, the Martin Harris Farm, the Grandin Print Shop, Alvin Smith's grave, the Churches at the Four Corners, the Smith Farm, Hill Cumorah, and the Sacred Grove. The also went to pick up trash at the already clean Seneca Lake State Park and stayed to play games. Both evenings they got to see the pageant and overall the trip seemed to be a success. Abe said it was awesome even though he was constantly pestered by girls. Apparently Abe was married to Paige without his consent and Sienna would have happily taken her place. Oh the woes of being quiet and charming! He was asked to share his thoughts on Youth Conference during Sacrament meeting and he did a wonderful job. Lizzie, although exhausted the entire trip (except for at 12 p.m.), had fun too. But it was a bitter sweet moment. She felt happy that it was over and her responsibilities were no more but at the same time it was sad to say goodbye to the friends she made and been reunited with through the experience. There's always next year!

The Latest Addition to the Eagle's Nest

After an incredible project and a successful board of review, Abraham Muldowney was added to the Eagle's Nest on July 11, 2008 at the age of 14. We're so proud of his amazing accomplishment! He's worked diligently to complete it. Of course Mom and Dad were a big help to and very supportive, as were his mentors. But really, this little man has put in HUGE effort. Three cheers for Abe!!!!

Even though he is officially an Eagle he continues to work on scouting and hopes to get all of his Palms.

An Explosive Evening

This 4th of July Shana returned safe and sound from her month trip in Europe. We were overjoyed to see her and even happier to partake of the delicious Belgium chocolates, Gouda from Holland, and German gummy bears she brought home with her. While she rested the rest of the family enjoyed an outdoor BBQ that soon came indoors as it began to rain. By the evening the heavy rain became drizzle and some of the family members braved the droplets in order to see the Radnor Fireworks... from a distance anyway. Isaac didn't like them very much. When we got home, the few who were left, let off our own explosives. We decided to finish them all off the next evening because of the wet weather.

It was a wonderful evening and we hope everyone was able to have a great time celebrating the birth of our nation!

GIRLS CAMP

The week of June 23rd was a very odd one for Lizzie Muldowney. After evaluations that Monday, Lizzie and her father went running errands for one of the most interesting experience of her young life. She was extremely excited although she did not know what the promising week actually held for her. On the 24th she departed for the most notorious YW activity of the year: Girls Camp. As always, the stake went to Camp Lou Henry Hoover in New Jersey. Lizzie was a 5th year AKA a YCL (Youth Camp Leader). She was thrilled to be presiding over the 2nd Years with one of her best friends ever.

The week evolved and became, as I said before, very interesting. While at the ropes course performing impressive feats for her young'uns she accidently smooshed a poisonous caterpiller against her arm. These buggers were everywhere! Well, her arm began to get lumpy and sting. She bears the scars to the present day! To make the week worse, the girls her own age begin being very dramatic (AKA immature) and she was kept up aaaallllllllll night. This lead to a brief mono relapse at the end of camp that stuck with her until the following week. Thankfully, she is better now. The last evening of camp she was also forced to walk 7 looooooong miles (or more) after walking all day. This did not aid in the recovery of her illness. She was glad to be home.

Note from Lizzie: After all the tribulations of the week in New Jersey I somehow enjoyed myself. There were a lot of other wonderful things going on. It showed to me that the Lord is truly miraculous. I had a great time with my second year girls!!

The Invalid

Poor Mr. Abraham took a little tumble of off a rock. A BIG rock. In fact it was the Big Rock.

There are some very large rock formations in the woods behind our house. For those who have never been in those woods, it is basically a large hill covered with trees and at the foot of the hill there is a lovely oil filled creak. So these rock formations jut out creating little cliffs. We've named these rocks and the largest of them all was dubbed Big Rock. Well it just so happened Abe was playing in the woods a couple weeks ago and fell of of the infamous Big Rock which has a 7 foot drop before you land on the jagged rocks below. But this didn't seem to phase Abe. It didn't occur to him to tell his parents until the next day when the pain and swelling had greatly increased. Finally, in the evening of the second day he asked his dad to take him to the ER because he thought his arm might be broken. Dad observed his arm and was shocked at its state. Mom thought perhaps that if Abe only said it might be broken that maybe they could wait until the next day. Dad summed up the sitution by saying "If Abe thinks it's broken, then it is." So they went to the ER and found out that he did indeed have a Buckle Fracture.

And this conludes another tale portraying Abraham's iron strength and unusual ability to endure things that are painful.... at least painful to normal people.