Palmyra, New York

After Niagara Falls, we traveled to Palmyra, New York, to see some church history sites. First we went to the Visitor's Center at the base of the Hill Cumorah. This is where Joseph Smith found the gold plates (later to be translated into the Book of Mormon), by the direction of the Angel Moroni. The Visitor's Center was really neat; there were a lot of different stations with multi-media presentations and videos to watch. 

We then walked up the Hill Cumorah to the top. I was surprised by how steep it was. 

At the top of the hill there was a monument depicting the Angel Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith.  On top of the monument there was a statue of the Angel Moroni. It was so neat to be there. All the events that transpired here felt very real as we were standing in the place where they happened. 

Here we are at the printing shop where the Book of Mormon was published. 

When we walked into the log home where Joseph Smith grew up, Benjamin immediately ran over to the fireplace, got on all hands and knees, and began prying at the bricks in the hearth. He excitedly repeated, "This is where they hid the gold plates!"  At first I was really confused as to how he knew that, but then I realized that at the visitor's center we watched a movie about how Joseph Smith protected the plates from being stolen, and in the movie it showed him hiding them under the bricks in the hearth. Benny immediately recognized the place and was SO EXCITED, as if he was going to uncover them himself!  

Lastly, we went to the Sacred Grove.  I felt awed that God the Eternal Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, actually condescended to appear to a young boy, in an obscure wooded area on this land. It seems unfathomable and yet I know that it happened. I am thankful for the gospel and how it affects my life and my family. Happiness really does come from following God's plan for us.  Our trip was great and I'm glad we were able to be at these holy places.

Niagara Falls

I have actually seen Niagara Falls with my own eyes.  And I have to say it is incredible. The Horseshoe Falls are amazing. You can't even see where the waterfall lands because there is so much water spraying up from the impact. It was so neat!  These pictures were all taken on Jed's birthday, which was a cool way to spend his 30th.  :)

In case you need a closeup on Benjamin's goofy face...

Below is a picture of Eliza and I in front of the horseshow falls. There is so much water going over those falls; it is incredible! Benjamin wasn't that impressed. He just kept asking when we could go back to the waterpark...

Our favorite thing about our trip to Niagara was the FUN indoor waterpark we spent all our free time at. It was SO FUN! fun fun fun!  There was a big playscape for children with lots of paths and slides and water toys every direction. Benjamin had a BLAST. and that's an understatement. 

There was a little baby area too, with heated water where we played with Eliza. She liked to just sit in the water and slap the water around her. It was fun to watch the simple pleasures of a baby.  :)

Let's see... there were also a ton of tube and non-tube slides for adults that Jed and I went on, while Gage and Christina watched all our kids. Jed succeeded in sneaking Benjamin on the tube slides a few times before getting caught and turned away.  :)  And lastly, there was a big wave pool that we hung out in. It was so much fun. I can't wait to go back. 

At the end of the day we went out to the Rainforest Cafe. It is a restaurant with animated animals in the jungle all around the tables. It was a fun atmosphere, and the kids loved it! (which made up for the food I guess! :P) 

The restaurant was located on the coolest tourist strip. We stayed on the Canada side of the Falls, and there is a street going down to the water that is completely touristy, with flashing lights and wax museums, Ripley's believe-it-or-not museum, moving theaters, multiple haunted houses (for some reason - must be a popular past time year round?), Guiness Book of World Records museum.... It was so fun to walk around! 

flashback to Easter

Here we are showing off our loot at the Marshmallow Drop this Easter.  Luckily it wasn't freezing cold this year like it was last Easter. Instead of trudging across frozen tundra, we sludged through mud to get to the Marshmallow Drop this year. Of course it was worth it! We saw the big helicopter drop loadfuls of marshmallows. After we went last year, when Ben was 2 1/2, he thought helicopters dropped marshmallows all the time - like it was just what all helicopters do. He eventually outgrew thinking that. But it was pretty cute. 

We did Easter baskets on Saturday morning, which is our tradition. Benjamin was so excited to discover his Easter basket, I couldn't get ONE focused picture of him.  :)  

MOVIE!  Clip of hanging out on Easter Saturday morning...

I gave Jed a kid's toy in his basket, knowing that he would have a blast playing with it that day. Sure enough, he enjoyed his ball popper and quickly set up a competition of who could get the most balls in the basket at the end of the hall. It was actually pretty fun!

He's concentrating... giving it just the right angle and amount of pressure...



This year I hosted my traditional Easter Egg dying party, and had a whole bunch of friends and kids over to dye Easter eggs, a few days before Easter. I think there were 8 women over here and 14 kids or something like that. It was a blast. A little crazy, but a blast. 

We still dyed Easter eggs as a family, though. We couldn't let Jed miss out on the fun! Before dumping out the dyes, Jed showed Benjamin how colors are made... Here he is showing him how yellow and blue make green...

Later in the day I put on Benjamin's new Bob the Builder movie from his Easter basket. I came back in the living room to see Benjamin about two inches away from the TV screen.  What a silly kid! (As you can see, he's sucking his thumb while rubbing his belly button, which he has done since he was a baby.)

Happy Easter!

Toledo Zoo

We went to the Toledo Zoo this week with some friends, Jen & Ben, who just moved to Michigan. It was such a fun and summery day! Benjamin and his little friend Daxton had a great time running around together. The highlight was the monkey exhibit. The boys laughed and laughed at theorangutans and Eliza actually started to cry when Jed carried her away from the glass. Too funny! 

Instead of pictures, I have a video of a bunch of tiny little clips from the adventure. I lost my camera this week (I know it must be somewhere in this house...) so I used the video camera in its place and, as it turns out, all the little 'picture' clips made a fun video. 

We are going to Niagara Falls and the Sacred Grove tomorrow morning with friends. We're pretty excited.  :)

Eliza's first steps!

Museum of Natural History

In March we went to the Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor. We went with a few girlfriends and kids, and it was a fun adventure. The dinosaur exhibit was pretty cool.  

Ben wasn't thrilled with the idea of pretending to be eaten by the T Rex. :)

Benjamin must have been listening...

General Conference today was great. Of course with kids I think I actually comprehended and internalized about 25% of what was said. Nevertheless, it was really neat to listen to our prophet, apostles, and church leaders and feel the Spirit as they testified of Christ and motivated me to 'stand a little taller and be a little better'. 

I think Benjamin internalized some of it too (thankfully, since part of me missing what was said was because I was helping him with General Conference related activities).  I came to that conclusion after his bedtime prayers, which started thus:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Please bless that President Monson can be blessed for his faith. 

Please bless that we can go to bed and be inspired. 

He comes up with the funniest things. Have I ever mentioned before how he describes the feelings of the Holy Ghost? When he feels happy as he listens to his Scripture stories, or articles from his Friend magazine, or when he feels extra loving towards me or Jed, he says, 

"Mom, I'm sad for joy!"

It's so cute. He picked it up probably about a year ago when we read about how Jesus in the scriptures wept. He was concerned, so we explained to him that Jesus cried because he was full of joy - because he was so happy. From then on whenever we read about people crying in the scriptures, (or if I get choked up reading something from his Friend magazine - which happened a lot when I was pregnant with Eliza!) he will say, "They are sad for JOY!" or "Mom, are you sad for joy?" It's one of those funny Benjamin-isms that I just love.  He will often get this sweet smile on his face, cock his head a little, and say, "I love you, Mom. I'm sad for joy." It's so cute. 

Anyway, a few things stood out to me today during General Conference, that I'll briefly share. Firstly, how blessed I am that I have Jed, Benny, and Eliza. Trials may come, but I can never complain because I still have my incredible husband and my sweet sweet children with me. (That was from Elder Scott's talk - when he talked about the deaths of his children I thought 'how can I ever complain?') Secondly, I realized the importance of "hallowed be thy name" in the Lord's example of prayer. It's respectful, and it reminds me of WHO I am talking to. I mean, with that in mind, how can I honestly let my mind wander when I am praying to and addressing the Eternal God of heaven and earth? (I'm embarrassed to admit how often that happens to me... Jed teases me about my 'long prayers' because he knows how I daydream... yikes.) (Elder Nelson's talk.)

Can't wait for General Conference tomorrow.  :) 

Benjamin videos

Last Sunday Benjamin was sitting next to Jed on the couch and suddenly said, "Dad, I'm going to teach you about the gospel." I grabbed the video camera and recorded while Benjamin told Jed all about Amulek & Alma the Younger. He began when they were tied up in prison, but quickly realized that he needed to give the background details, so he flashbacked to describe how Alma repented. He forgot to mention that Alma repented when he woke up after seeing the angel, so at the end of his prison-crumbling story, he added that on. I can totally read where his little mind is going, and it was so cute to watch him work through how to relate the story to his Daddy. Jed's favorite part is when Benjamin says, "the whole prison BAMMED on their heads." I laughed in the video when Benjamin described the picture of the armor as a "transformer body." :)

This is a video of Benjamin feeding the ducks in our yard. There are lots of ducks in Michigan during this time of year. They are our little friends, and Eliza loves watching them through the window. Jed and I were cracking up how Benjamin was eating their bread every now and then. He stayed out there for a long time feeding them. And it was also so funny how he hucked the pieces of bread at them - at first they were scared of him, but then I guess they got used to it. :) When he came inside he ran up to me saying, "Mom! Mom! I felt good serving the duckies!" Jed said, "Were you feeding the ducks?" and he answered, "Yeah, and I didn't even squish them. They are nice and healthy. Do you see how big their tummy is?"

I caught a flasher on camera...

It's March, and it feels like spring!

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone! We had a fun party with some friends at our home. All the kids were decked out in green, and we ate lots of green food! I have to admit the bright green muffins (and the green pancakes we had for breakfast as well) looked, perhaps, a little unappetizing, but I can't pass up the green food coloring on St. Patty's day! ;) It was beautful weather outside, so the kids all got to run around the yard. It was a fun day. 

It's been such great weather lately. We played outside the other night when Jed came home early. Notice Eliza's scrunched up nose in this picture - she is making that face all the time lately and it's so funny! 

Eliza loved the riding toy, and Jed (being the entertaining Daddy he is) tied her to it and then pulled her around with a rope. Hilarious!

The other day I took Benjamin and Eliza to the pet store to look at the animals. Ben had gone there for preschool the other day and had really enjoyed it, so I wanted to go there with the kids too. 

Here's Eliza checking out the guinea pigs. She loved standing up by the glass and looking in at the animals all by herself. 

As you can see, she was NOT happy to have to go back in her stroller when it was time to go. 

Benjamin is such a sweetie. The other morning I wanted to get in the shower before Eliza woke up, so Benjamin got all situated in my bed with some toys and books to wait for me. He was so cute, reading his scripture stories while I got ready for the day. :)

Of course Eliza has an appreciation for cool car toys because she's got a big brother. She plays with trains, cars, dinosaurs, and blocks more than any other girl, I'm sure. :)

the beginning of the end

Benjamin has discovered that the computer is the best toy EVER. Suddenly my little 3 1/2 year old is a computer game junkie. He just loves playing games on the computer. It started with The Friend magazine online. They have the BEST website.  We sat down to look at it one day and the first thing we clicked on was a huge selection of church pictures turned into jigsaw puzzles. BINGO! If you know anything about Benjamin, you know that BENNY = PUZZLE. He was in HEAVEN! He quickly made the rounds and did all 16 puzzles. Then he stopped using the puzzle shapes' outlines hints, and within the day he was doing the puzzles at turbo pace.  It was so funny - he was seriously GLUED to the computer. It reminded me of MYSELF when I'm reading a book.... can't tear myself away. Anyway, he was addicted to the Friend website and it was actually a cool thing because they play primary music to go along with the puzzles, so I would sing along to it as I did chores, and he would show me his finished puzzles and ask lots of questions which gave me an opportunity to teach him more about the scriptures. Soon he was navigating the entire website and eventually he discovered the Scripture Readers. We read from the Book of Mormon Stories reader every night, but the one of the computer is special. It has someone reading the words while the pictures are displayed on a slideshow, in a movie format. Wow! Now, as you know, Benny also equals MOVIES, so this was really exciting for him. He listened to and attentively watched chapter after chapter in the New Testament reader, Book of Mormon reader... I was laughing to myself thinking if this was what he wanted to watch, then I'd let him watch 'movies' all day! :)  Anyway, a week or so later Jed introduced him to an online preschooler game and that was the beginning of the end. Now he has his own little website icons just for him that he begs me to play on ALL DAY. I mean, he begs me ALL DAY and he wishes he could play on them ALL DAY.  Believe me, it starts BEFORE breakfast. :) Oh, that kid is hilarious. I'm wondering what Jed and I have done to our child...

Well, in case you are interested, here are our favorites. And if you have any favorites, go ahead and share! 

Online Childrens Games

The Friend - http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ae20e975d2a2b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0 - This is such a fun website for kids! Benjamin absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED their jigsaw puzzles. There's also online coloring, slideshows, Matt & Mandy stories, etc etc.

Building Blocks for a Better Future - http://bblocks.samhsa.gov/children/games/ - they have a fun memory game.

Kaboose Fun School - http://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/index.html - "Fishin' Mission" is a super fun game that works with addition skills. "Stack it or Build it" is super fun too - one of the games is a crane that puts numbered blocks in order. I was pleasantly surprised when Benjamin immediatley put blocks numbered with 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 in the right order. It's great practice! And the "Color and Play" is like the Friends website where you can color online. 

parties parties

It must be the season for parties because all our friends in this ward have been getting together a lot! Tonight we had a big Bunko party - we had probably 15 girls there, and it was a blast. We all brought our wedding albums and looked at pictures, played Bunko, and chatted. It was pretty fun. Last weekend we had a baby shower for Angie at Tasha's house. Kacey was deemed the official photographer, and by virtue of sitting by her I was her assistant, so we took a self portrait. :)  I brought edible chocolate bowls filled with chocolate cake with a white chocolate & almond mousse and a white chocolate drizzle. 

It was fun to make, and I'll post the recipe soon on The Sisters Cafe. :) The week before was Anona's baby shower. It was super fun to hang out with all our friends at Janese's house, while a blizzard raged outside. I made chocolate covered cheesecake pops for that party. Yes, I love making party food!  Aren't those pink pom-pom balls that Melody made the cutest baby girl decorations?

I just love my ward. There are so many fun girls who live here. We're all friends and there's the coolest feeling of unity and love here. It's so neat. For someone like me who lives far away from family, this is such a great blessing. I'm super glad that we got accepted here for residency. I get to enjoy this great place and all my friends for four more years! 

a new look

So, the women in this family are looking a little different. I've got a new haircut and Eliza has lost some of her baby-chub.

About the haircut - the first day it felt, and looked, so different that I kept feeling like I was wearing a wig. :) I'm used to it now so my reflection no longer surprises me when I pass the mirror. :) Benjamin is so cute - every morning since I got it cut he says to me, "Mom, I love your hair!" It's pretty sweet.

And as for Eliza, she was really sick for two full weeks at the beginning of February. She had a fever that kept coming back, she slept ALL DAY, and she ate next to nothing. For two weeks. She lost almost a full pound, and on her little body, that's a lot! Her rolly-polly baby legs are not so rolly-polly anymore, and her face is a lot thinner. It makes me sad! I miss her big chubby legs!! But I guess losing the baby fat is inevitable. (But it's supposed to happen slowly, not because of being sick! The poor little sweetie!) But atleast she is all better now. Oh, and at the end of the two weeks I got a glimpse of two big molars poking out of her lower gums! So she was sick and teething. Poor little thing! Anyway, we are so happy to have our baby back to her smiley self. Honestly, she was really not herself for two weeks - no smiles, and her eyelids were always droopy. Now it makes me so glad that she is totally interactive and wide-eyed and happy!

Here's some pictures of her when she was sick. During the small periods of being awake, all she did was cuddle. It was actually kind of fun to cuddle her so much, but we missed her usual energetic self.

This picture was taken just before she got sick. She is so funny! She loves playing Ben's flute, and she is pretty good at it too! It cracks us all up.

She has learned the word "Mama" and it's so fun to hear her calling me. Now we just have to work on "Dada" and "Benny." Today when Jed came outside to help us in the house with the groceries, Eliza was so excited to see him, and the only thing she could say to express her excitement was "mama!" That's the first time she has called Jed "mama" and it was so cute!

Valentines

Happy Valentines! Valentines has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up I remember spending HOURS creating each individual valentine for my family members. When it was finally Valentines Day we would deliver our valentines to each other by doorbell ditching the front door and leaving the valentine on the step. We would try to sneak in the back door and look innocent while the door was answered. What fun! How in the world did this tradition start, I wonder? Anyway, with five kids in the family, and each one of us delivering six valentines, you can imagine our doorbell was going off ALL day! :)

Now I have to settle for sending all my valentines to my family in addressed envelopes, but that's okay. I still love making and sending valentines. Jed's parents sent us a Valentines package, which we opened on Friday and then immediately changed the kids into the cute Valentines clothes their Grandma Walker sent them. :) My mom sent us a pink Valentines package which we opened on Saturday morning (pictured). It was full of fun Valentines things and the kids had a blast looking at everything!

On Friday night we had a fun family night of decorating cookies. I made a few different colors of frosting and we used different piping tips and had a creative time with our sugar cookies. Then we took a plate to each of our neighbors. Benjamin ended up just wanting to squeeze as much frosting as he could on to his cookies. He would end up with a mountain of frosting at which point he would proclaim his masterpiece complete and commence to lick it all off. Gross! :)

This picture was too funny to not include! Ben has a pained expression and Jed looks threatening!! Maybe he thought I was going to make fun of the poo-brown color of frosting he mixed by himself and then decorated his cookie with... :)

to my mom...

I wanted to particulary say I LOVE YOU to my mom this Valentines Day. She is the greatest woman I know and I love her so much. She finally completed all of her radiation treatments, and I'm so proud of her for how strong she was through the entire ordeal. More than ever I recognize what an amazing person she is. I've learned so much from her, and now that I'm an adult I can truly appreciate everything she taught me....
She had a fun spin on 'work and then play'. She would encourage us to do our chores on Saturday morning instead of letting them drag on us all day. I remember many Saturdays of everyone busy cleaning and and helping, and there was a happy feeling of working together. It actually felt good. Only my mom could pull that off, I'm sure!
She's the queen of Lifelong Learning. Growing up she was always the top source of information on any subject. And if she didn't know how to help me on one particular alegebra or trig question, she would read the chapter intro and learn the information and then help me out with that particular problem. I remember one particular time being impatient that she had to read the chapter explanation - I just wanted her to help me figure out that problem right away! I was such a turkey for not recognizing what a sweet and smart mom I had!
She encouraged me to run for student government every year, and as a result she spent MANY a late evening creating posters and banners with me. (And she was the brain behind all of the ideas.) She did that with all of us - I remember many occasions of all the girls gathered around butcher paper and creating student government banners for one of the sisters. Fun memories. :)
My mom loves beautiful art, poetry, and literature. Each of my siblings and I love reading, and we all have a special place in our heart for 'Casey at the Bat', 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere', and 'Daffodils'... among many many others. I particularly remember the day that Jed and I graduated from BYU and my siblings and parents were over at our 1-bedroom apartment, all squished in our front room. Somehow the topic of poetry came up and we all started remembering and reciting favorite poems from growing up that Mom taught us. I have to say that is one of my favorite memories! It was really fun, and I felt so close to my family members! I think Mindy was the winner when it came to remembering the words to most of them. :)
My mom is my example as I raise my own little children. She is exceptionally patient and loving, and I think of her when I need inspiration to be patient!
I could go on and on, but lastly I will say that I know that she loves me too. I've always always known that, but she is constantly reminding me of it with the little things she will do for me. Even though I live far away from her she shows me how much she cares about me. Last fall I called her crying and extremely upset because I had just discovered that my treasured basil plants died from an early frost before I was able to use their leaves. I told her how disappointed I was, and then I proceeded to cry about how busy I felt as a mother and with my calling at church, etc etc... and it all came pouring out. And she was absolutely so understanding and genuinely concerned about me. It makes me get a lump in my throat just thinking about how kind she was to me, and how she comforted me. Looking back it seems silly that I was crying to her about my basil, but she didn't think so and she recognized that the basil was just the straw that broke the camel's back. :) That's just one example of many. -- many loving phone calls, I mean - I usually don't call my mom bawling. :) Anyway, she is a sweetheart and I love her dearly. Happy Valentines Mom!

BYU Flashback

My friend just sent me these pictures, and I HAD to post them, so we are doing a flashback to last November. :) Every week last Fall revolved around BYU Football. All the BYU fans in our ward here in Michigan congregated at a friends house to watch each game. We had lots of kids, lots of food, and lots of BYU BLUE all in one house! It was super fun. I seriously LOVE watching BYU games - I look forward to football season all year. When I was younger I couldn't care less about football, but once I attended & graduated from BYU and once I got married to a huge BYU football fan, I love rooting for my alma mater! And it's a fun thing to do with Jed that we both get excited about. :)

This was the best game of the year - BYU vs UCLA. It was such a fun game to watch, and Benjamin and I enjoyed this video of highlights for months afterward. When I turn it on for him, I can't help but get sucked into watching it as well. :)

like father, like son

We start the medical training early in this house. :) In preschool yesterday we learned about taking care of our bodies and going to the doctor. They LOVED pretending to be doctors. :)

Funny little conversation I jotted down a while ago:


11-11-08 (For some reason, we were pretending that I was a snail.)
Ben: "There’s no such thing as a scary monster, snail. There’s not a scary monster in our house. You don’t need to be scared, snail. Are you scared?"
Me: "No, I’m not scared."
Ben: "You’re not scared? Well, there’s a scary monster coming, snail. Are you scared?"
Me: "No."
Ben: "A scary monster is coming to kill you, snail. Are you scared?"
Me: *laughing*

The snow doesn't lie.

We woke up Sunday morning to this gory sight. This was no accident.
Two sets of footsteps leading up to our beloved snowman, two sets of footsteps running away. And left behind them, the mutilated remains of our innocent snowman. It's like the scene of a homicide. His life was tragically cut short. No longer will we enjoy his happy welcoming smile, no longer will we see him standing post in our cheery front yard. Instead we are reminded of his violent demise every time we look outside. We really ought to scatter his remains...

Wicked people have Belly Buttons.

One evening last week I tucked Benjamin in for bed and we had a little conversation that I found amusing. A condensed form goes like this:

Benjamin said, “I’m scared.”
I replied, “Let’s ask Heavenly Father to help you not be scared.”
*bedtime prayer*
“Is He helping me?”
“Yes, because you are a child of God and He loves you.”
“Does He love me when I’m bad?”
“Yes, but He wants you to be good.”
“But does He love me when I’m bad and when I repent?”
“Yes, He loves you even when you’re bad. He always loves you.”
“Does He love wicked people too?”
“Yes, because they are His children too.”
“Some of His children are wicked?”
“Yes, we are all children of God, wicked people and righteous people. He loves all of His children, even the wicked people. It makes Him happy when we are good, but when His children are wicked it makes Him sad.”
“Why?”
“Because He wants us all to be good.”
“Mom, do wicked people have belly buttons?”
“Yes, even wicked people have belly buttons.”