Illinois to Vermont

We had quite an amazing trip on our way from Illinois to Vermont a couple of weeks ago. We really took our time and got to stop at a lot of Church history (and other) sites!!

Our first stop was Hiram, Ohio where we saw the John Johnson Farm.



Then we went to Kirtland and took a tour of the Kirtland Temple,



the Newel K. Whitney store (and home,)



the sawmill (and ashery.)



We saw where the Isaac Morley farm and log schoolhouse were,



and went to the spot where they quarried stone to build the temple.





Niagra Falls was amazing!! We went to the Canada side and had a great view of the falls. We also went behind the falls and got soaking wet--it was really exciting!










Then we went to Palmyra, NY. We went to the Hill Cumorah



and the Joseph Smith Sr. farm where the log home, frame home and Sacred Grove are.







We went to the Peter Whitmer, Sr. home in Waterloo, NY, where the church was organized.



And finally we went to Harmony, Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna River where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored. Then we finished our trek to Vermont.



That was a very quick summary of all that we saw on our trek, but it was a wonderful experience and there was a special spirit at the places that we visited. The Spirit testified to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I have increased appreciation for all the faithful saints from the early days of the church.

Easter

We had a super fun Easter this year! Jessica had a friend over to make rice crispy birds nests. I guess I wasn't watching for quite a while (because things were so peaceful and quiet) but once I looked over and half the nests had no candy and there was a pile of tinfoil wrappers in front of Jessica!!


The girls were really excited about their Easter baskets. Jessica was looking all around on the table, couch, etc. when Emily toddled in and immediately raced for them near the fireplace!! At first Emily was content just holding an egg, trying to open it, putting the candy in and out...but once she figured out that it was candy she filled her mouth with jelly beans!



We didn't get pictures, but we had a breakfast and egg hunt at church which was a lot of fun.
Jessi got into the egg dying more this year. The funny part was that Nate was so worried that Jessica would spill the egg dye, that he jumped up to help her and rocked the whole table spilling almost every cup!! Luckily we were in the kitchen and the card table bowed in the middle, so it all stayed on the table.






In the afternoon we had a picnic with our friends Blake and Laurissa Jones.



I finally finished making dresses for the girls, so they got to wear them Easter Sunday.

Twins?

So, some people say our girls look just alike-could've been twins. Other people say they look very different. Let me know what you think...

I must admit, I've always thought they look quite a bit alike. They do have a lot of similarities. No hair for a long time-both starting getting teeth around 9 months-started crawling/walking about the same time...

But, Jessi's eyes are dark and Emmy's are light.

Anyway, maybe I'm crazy???

Newborn




2 months ish




Blessing Day




7 months ish




9 months ish




1st Birthday

Nate's helicopter

This is my first ever posting on the blog, and I saved this moment for something very important. I want to show you all the helicopter that KayLyn gave me for Christmas this year.

It goes forward, backward, up, down, left, right, and everywhere in between! Landing on the oatmeal container has taken weeks of practice to learn; it's harder than it looks.

If electrical engineering doesn't pan out for me, maybe I'll become a pilot.


Thanks for the copter, KayLyn!

Happy Birthday Emily

I can hardly believe that Emily is already 1 year old-she is growing up so fast! She didn't quite get some of the birthday traditions (opening presents and blowing out the candle)but Jessica was very glad to help her out!! She understood about the cake though! I left her in her high chair to check on Jessica in the other room and when I came back she had pulled one of the cupcakes off the pan and there was chocolate all over her, the counter, and the high chair, and she was really enjoying it!

Happy Birthday Jessica

Jessica is 3 years old now!! Janelle and McKay were visiting during New Years and her birthday, so that was a lot of fun. Janelle helped me make a cake for Jessi.






Jessica really enjoyed her birthday, and said to me for days afterward, "Thank you for telling me happy birthday, mom, thank you!"

Yay Nate!

Nate has had a really exciting semester, and I must admit I am pretty proud of him!!

First off, he won "Best Overall Poster Award at the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium" (I copied that from the article about it-so I didn't just have to say "he won best poster at a conference he went to in May").

http://www.ece.illinois.edu/mediacenter/article.asp?id=1139

He also received a patent on the "sprinkler project" (I call it) that he worked on as an undergraduate at Utah State. Here's what the article calls it: patent for “Methods and Systems for Wireless Communication by Magnetic Induction.”

http://tco.usu.edu/htm/in-the-news/articleID=10996

He also won best paper at the conference he went to in October (no article to quote from-yet.)

And he recently won an award from the school for excellence in research. He gets to have his name on a plaque in one of the buildings at school.

Most of all he is a wonderful husband and Dad, and takes good care of his girls.



I love you Nate!!!!