My Excuse

So, I'm sure all of you are just sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting for the conclusion to our trip, since I've only blogged about the first half so far. I promise, it is comming, it's just not this one. Maybe tomorrow. I do think that I have a pretty good excuse for my being such a slacker, and those of you who have been pregnant will know exactly what I'm talking about. Have you guessed it yet? Yup, I'm pregnant again! Number three will be here in May. Needless to say, I have been completely exhausted lately. Also, our neighbors moved, and they were our internet service provider, so I only have the internet when I go to my parents house (which is where I am right now). Hopefully we will get our internet up and running again soon. Jared is going crazy not being able to check ESPN.com every evening. (On second thought, maybe I'll take a little longer to get the internet going again :)
I do have plans to update the blog tomorrow, though, and finish the trip, and also tell you about the photography experience I just had with the kids. Thanks for being patient.

Road Trip! cont.

So after Nauvoo we went to Carthage jail. There was such a special spirit around the place. As soon as we stepped out of the car, this feeling came over us that we were on sacred ground. It is hard to explain the feelings as we walked around the place were the Prophet Joseph and his brother, Hyrum, were martyred.

After Carthage we went to visit our friends Steve and Kerri Madura and family in Chicago. We had such a great time. We had dinner with them and our friends Daniel and Heidi Harmon who also live in the area. Then we stayed up late talking about the good ol' days of secruity sales and cruise ship karaoke. We also watched some olympic events. The kids had a good time playing together. They started their own rockband. H even joined the fun. The oldest Madura took the cymbals while E played drums and H rocked the tambourine. I'll let you know when we release their first hit single.

Thanks Steve and Kerri for the good times and letting us crash with you!

Road Trip!

In August, we took a family trip to Ohio for Jared's brothers wedding. We decided to drive and take two weeks to do it. We drove Jared's parents Tahoe so that we could bring out some things that the bride, wasn't able to take home from college. The kids did great in the car, thanks mostly to the portable DVD player that a friend lent us for the trip.


Our first stop was Colorado Springs where we spent a few days with my sister, two brothers, and their families. We played tons of games, including Rock Band on the Wii. Jared and I discovered we are naturals on the drums. The kids enjoyed playing with cousins and toys and the giant bean bag.

We left Colorado Springs and drove to Independence, MO. There we visited the Independence Temple visitors center (the only temple visitor center that doesn't have it's temple yet), Liberty Jail, and Far West.

From there we went to Nauvoo and spent three days there. We had a great time seeing the sites there and going on the wagon and carriage rides. The Nauvoo Temple was beautiful, and we only wish that we'd had a babysitter so that we could have gone inside to do a session. We got prarie diamonds and a tiny horseshoe at the blacksmith shop, and a brick at the brick makers. It turns out that one of the senior missionaries that we met at the brick makers was a gentleman that used to live in Jared's home ward, Bro. Black. It was fun to see him again.

We stayed in a nice hotel in Nauvoo that had a swimming pool. The kids loved going swimming each evening after a long day of sightseeing. They loved the floaties we got for them, which made it nice for Jared and I, as it freed up our arms so that we could enjoy swimming as well.

One evening we went to the Cultural Hall (Which was also a Masonic Lodge) for the Nauvoo Rendezvous, a musical play put on by the senior missionaries about Nauvoo. Before it started, E got up on the stage there and would not come down. Everyone there thought he was so cute running around on the stage. We tried to get him to sing a song, but he wouldn't.







The Cultural Hall

E on the stage

I am going to have to do another post, cause I'm out of time and this isn't even the half of our trip. Check back later.

Las Vegas

Back in July, we went to Judd Kidman's wedding in Las Vegas. Here are a few pics of us outside the temple. While we were there, we took E to the M&M Store. He went crazy there with all the M&M's everywhere.

Fun Pictures

Here are a few fun pictures.

The Deck

Back in February, my dad went through the stairs on my grandma's deck. (Don't worry there were only three steps.) So he decided it was time for a new deck. Being the do-it-yourselfer that he is, he and my mom started making plans for a new deck. Mom said she wanted it a little bigger, so the new deck started taking shape. When they were done with the plans, the new deck would be 3 times the size of the old one. It is fantastic. Jared, E, H, and I helped out where we could, and had a great time. Here are a few pics of the building stage. I'll post an after picture soon. I need to take one.

We're Back!

So, I really don't have a good excuse for not blogging for these past few months, except that I am extremely lazy. During that time, I took many pictures, and I figure the best way so show them is through a slide show. I'll divide the pictures into categories, and use one category per slide show. I hope you enjoy.
This slide show is from our visit to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We went with Jared's sisters; Heather and Camille, and their families. Jared's sister Becca was there too. We had a lot of fun, and the kids especially enjoyed the erosion table.