My October Babies

1 Year Old!!!

I have wanted to buy a tutu for the longest time!  Finally I had a reason.

She loved her birthday cake

A lot!!

Two days after Lizzie's b-day is Ben's Birthday. I can't believe he is 3. 

He wanted to have a mohawk for his party.

On the menu: Noodles with homemade pesto, blue jello, deviled eggs and roasted potatoes

Ten days later my dear Erica turned 11.

She was born on 10/15 at 10:15 am so we had to take a picture by the clock at 10:15 on her birthday

We had a pajama and cereal party for her.

I LOVE MY OCTOBER BABIES!!!

Vacation June 2011

Well, it’s about time I posted our one big vacation for the summer of 2011.

We got to fly on an airplane to St. Louis Missouri!!  Sounds pretty darn exciting, huh?  It was the closest airport to our final destination: Jeff’s brother’s (Rob) house in Burlington, Iowa.  They moved there last summer and they only live about 40 minutes from Nauvoo, Illinois. 

In St. Louis we visited the Gateway Arch……

We took the cramped tram ride up to the top.  630 feet. Here we all are in the top to peek out the windows. 

Jeff can’t live a moment without his cell phone. Just kidding. Someone happened to call when we were up there and he got reception.

I made our family take a swimsuit family picture before we swam in the hotel pool.  Aren’t we hot? ;)

We went to the Ulysses S. Grant Farm outside of St. Louis and fed some really hungry goats.

We went to Carthage, Illinois and visited the Carthage jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered.

We took a tour of the building but in the middle of the tour Ben and Lizzie couldn’t stand it anymore and both started crying during the sister missionary’s testimony before we got to the final room.  So we had to leave but we were told we could come back up to the room where Joseph was when he died with a tour guide in a little while after the tour group left.  So later we got to be in that special room with just our family and a missionary. 

We went to Nauvoo with my sister-in-law Diana and her three children for part of one day while we were there.  We didn’t get to do a whole lot because let’s face it…..Nauvoo isn’t a place to take little kids and spend the whole day.  So we saw the temple.   Ben and Beckham

Erica loves here cousins, Arianna and Rachel.

We went and saw the oxen.

Touched the Mississippi River where the saints had to cross the river to start their journey to the West.

Went to the place where they showed us how the pioneers made bread, candles and other things.  The girls had fun playing with dolls.

Visited Joseph, Emma and Hyrum Smith’s graves.

 

One day we got to go to a really fun zoo.  The kids got to feed birds.

Lizzie loving the lions.

 

We love you Rob and Diana!  Thanks for playing with us!

We went to the John Deere headquarters in Moline, Illinois.

Once we stopped at a buffet place and both of the kids were asleep when we got there.  So we thought they would wake up when we got them out of the car but they kept sleeping for a while.  We watched Erica eat her food for a while until they woke up.

This is what Erica got at the buffet.  She is such a simple girl.

Teeth, Yogurt, Ducks and My Sister’s Move

 

These are a few things we have been up to lately:

Growing teeth.  She even has more teeth than this now….seven actually.  This was taken at the beginning of June.

We love this yogurt.  It is super healthy for you and we add it to so many things now.  Like smoothies, home-made salad dressings, baked potatoes, taco salad.  The honey one is to die for!

Feeding the ducks

 

Loving our nephew, Ian. 

Saying good-bye to my sister and her family.  Leah moved to Layton about three  and a half years ago and I was so excited to have her close.  In those three and half years we gave birth to these four children.

Now she is on her way to live in South Carolina for six months and then they are going to live in the Chicago area after that for another three to five years.   Oh, I am going to miss her and her family. 

This is my last sighting of her as I looked out my car window to drive away from her house a few days before she moved. Except I forgot my purse at her house so I had to go back and get it.  Love you Leah!

April 30th Snowman

There was snow on the ground when we woke up on Saturday.  So a snowman was made. 

There hasn’t been the perfect time to make one this winter season.  It always seemed too cold to send my kids out there.  Or it snowed when daddy has to go to work and mommy doesn’t want to build one.  So when they woke up on Saturday morning, they knew it had to be done.  

But a few hours later in the afternoon it looked like this.  I love seeing the green grass and the tulips in the background.

Then Sunday afternoon, it looked very freaky.  The kids weren’t happy that I was making them take a picture with it.