Happy Weekend

This weekend was a great weekend filled with a mini vacation of seeing the Palmyra, New York Pagaent and then heading over to Niagra Falls. Although several factors worked against us overall it was a blast. First off early Friday morning Bella fell from the ceiling of the doorway, long story, and hurt/sprained her foot. It was black and blue and swollen. This is her foot this morning getting much better. In the middle of the bottom was the worst but it was the whole way to her next to last toe bruised. You can still see a little purple there.

Then the black and blue went the whole way through her foot to the top all around her toes. Ouch, it was the first time to date I considered X-rays, but you know me so I didn't in the end bother.

First we got to Palmyra at 9:30 in the morning. We went to see the temple quickly.

Then we headed over to the Smith Farm to view the homes and walk to the sacred grove. There were so many cool little facts but you have to visit to hear them for yourself.

Travis and I waiting to enter the next home. The kids wait too. What cuties! While there we ran into my brother Joseph and his family unexpectedly.

This was an out building on the property that once had the plates buried below the floor boards. Joseph Smith was impressed to move them for their safety and did to the hay in the rafters. Later in the day mobs came and tore up the floorboards and ramsacked the place and came up empty.

Our friend Brittni came along. She was a great help with the kids and carried Bella some of the time and any one of our other children almost all of the time.

Then it decided to have a torrential down pour midday. We took a break for lunch to wait out the thunderstorms. No luck. So we headed over to more buildings we wanted to see.

Wet but happy kids. Even waiting was fun when they were being cute.

This was the Grandin Printing press. My favorite tour location. Several times tears came to my eyes and the spirit was very strong there for me.

The front store room. I wish I had a room like that. I think this place touched my heart because of my love of books and strong feelings about words and their power to change lives and this was just a testament to that.

An original copy of the Book of Mormon. A copy like this was $1.50. The equivalent of two day's pay. I thought of our family and how much money our two day's pay was and would I be willing to pay that much for a copy of the Book of Mormon. It really shows the Lords' hand and power in the lives of every living person.

Later in the evening we headed over to the pagaent. We met up with my other brother Peter and his wife Ashley and family and brother Benj and Mindee and their family.

Benj and his youngest son Zach had just kissed. I love how excited he is post kiss from Dad.

Travis got a little bored waiting. Not really. He ran around with the kids -the two oldest girls actually- getting autographs from the actors before the show. He is such a rockstar.

Mindee very sexily waits for the performance to start. Seriously I have so much fun with these guys and the cousins entertain themselves for hours on end. Seriously from six to 9:30.

Sadly in the middle of the pagaent another thunderstorm blew in. They called the rest of the pagaent and the blankets I was going to use to sleep with that night ended up soaking wet.

That night I ended up sleeping in the car to keep warm. Seriously I had no blanket. Every hour or two I would wake up and turn the heat on full blast for ten minutes. Then I'd fall back asleep till it got cold enough to wake me up again.

The next morning we headed to Niagra Falls. This place is amazing. Spectacular, words cannot describe. We went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour which was great. You get soaked but the boat goes right into the falls.

All that I could think of was that for every foot of falls above the water there is an equal foot below water that is how much pressure there is. So the falls have about a 180 foot drop, and so they continue to push downward under the water for 180 feet before the water turns normal. I loved this place. Sometimes I think I should be pagaen for all my love and awe for nature.

Last we drove home. Everyone was pretty tired, somewhat restless, and cranky. But after only an hour of being home I was back to my happy self. I love my home. I love my family. I love seeing new things. This was such a good weekend. Can't wait to go back next year.

Beach Bum

I'm a bit of a self proclaimed beach bum. Last year my favorite family activity was our beach trip. So I thought we'd do a repeat performance this year. But...until that trip in August comes I guess I'll have to settle for the pool. It's not so bad really it has been the best investment ever. The kids love it and I adore the sun, the water, and the smell of suntan lotion. After a long day it's nice to go home and take naps, but it's even nicer to see that my kids are all best friends.

Burn Anyone?

Perhaps it doesn't look like Issac is too sun burnt.That's only because I fried blisters and all.

Blasted Irish skin.

Self Taught

What's not to love about a man who takes initiative?

A little curiosity turned into a man teaching himself to play the piano.

And I am there to answer any little questions he has along the way. Already he can play a few little songs some even use both hands.

Sometimes

It's true that this weekend was fourth of July and our family celebrated in true fashion with BBQ's, picnics, friends, fireworks, etc...The whole works. We hit up a couple different fireworks shows and I got pictures and of course they'll be blogged, but this entry is about so much more than the standard holiday fare pictures.

Last night as we were coming home from the Longs Park fireworks it was absolute gridlock. Over 30,000 people attending will do that and add to that an already subpar highway system and you have mass congestion. Travis had stayed home because he was tired, didn't want to deal with the crowds, and thought keeping Kody home would be a big help. It was. So last night as I sat waiting in the car with the kids we finally started to move just after 11.

I was feeling really calm despite these extreme conditions because I had decided that my attitude towards this all was a state of mind and what was I in such a hurry for anyway. So as I peacefully crept along, kids asleep, I rolled down the windows to feel the occasional warm summer breeze. I turned on the radio to listen to a little NPR with some great Sunday evening classical music. I was feeling rather contented, but it wasn't until I got out of the city and started heading to Manheim that the traffic cleared out, it got very very quiet, and as I listened to my children slumber - the quietness broken only by the genius of the some of the world's best known artists, I realized that I was breathing in harmony with the Earth. Call me a hippy or cheesy or anything else you want but I felt grounded and centered, calm and clear, and perfectly content.

Best Ever

Friends+Golf+Jam Making+BBQing=The Best July 3rd Ever

Yummy flag jello.

Lots of food. Alan tries to wrap his mouth around a huge burger.

Seriously they were big burgers. And then homemade ice cream.

Going all day, playing with friends, and no naps makes for tired little babies.
Nothing a car ride can't fix.

Take Me Out

It had been a while since Travis and I had gone on a date night. I asked him have you gotten any tickets yet to baseball games. One of the best perks of Travis's job in my opinion is the baseball tickets we tend to procure each season. He said he hadn't but the next day he shot me an email saying cha ching - we scored tickets today. So last night we headed to the Barnstormers game. We had four tickets and so we decided to take Bella and Wyatt. Date night was a success because not only did I get some alone time with Travis, the kids felt super excited and special to be a part of this night, and the stadium was partially empty and so the kids ran around when they got a little bored.

The kids' favorite part was being attacked by the smooch machine. And yes Bella does have ketchup all over her white shirt. It isn't a baseball game without a huge tub of french fries. Yum.