Joseph Smith Birthplace

We went to Sharon, Vermont last weekend and saw the birthplace of and memorial to Joseph Smith. There was a very special feeling there. I really liked what the missionary who was showing us the visitors center said--that the monument doesn't just represent the testimony of those who built it, but the testimonies of millions that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God!



I was hoping to get better pictures of the hot air balloons we saw on the freeway, but this was all I could get. There was a hot air balloon festival near Quechee Gorge.



Here's Quechee Gorge. The picture doesn't do it justice, but we got pretty dizzy looking down at it from the bridge!



Once again we found covered bridges to look at (there are over 100 in Vermont.)

Fun in Vermont

We went on a beautiful little trip last weekend. We drove through the green forests and mountains of Vermont near Burlington. We saw a few covered bridges, hiked in the rain to a stunning waterfall, drove up and saw the lodge and land of the von Trapp Family, and ate ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's factory!!












Emily was pretty worn out by the end. She would open her mouth so I could give her some ice cream, but she wouldn't lift her head up--poor girl. (Very unlike our baby who loves sugar!)

So Much Fun

We left most the girls toys in Illinois, and they are anxious for anything they can play with. It was a wonderful day when the diapers I ordered arrived in a very large box!! All weekend the girls have been playing in it.




Jessi with her "party hat" and "balloon".

Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a super fun Memorial Day weekend! We went down to New York City (about a 6 hour drive.) We met up with our friends, Bruce and Brittney Richards, in New Jersey across from NYC. We stayed there Friday night and Saturday we spent the day in New York City. It was pretty crazy, and fun, although we spent a lot of time on the subway trying to figure out how to get where we wanted to go. We went the wrong way once, and accidentally got on the express track once, plus there was subway construction which added confusion, but we made it and enjoyed most of the things we wanted to see: Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Chinatown, Central Park--it was great. One day was enough for us for a long, long time!

We spent Sunday in Pennsylvania at the Richards' house, saw Valley Forge and the house that George Washington actually stayed in there, went to church with them and saw Delaware Valley College, where Bruce works. We even got to go out and see the cows--which the girls loved!! (Bruce is a dairy science professor.) We stayed up way to late playing games and had a great time!

We spent most the day Monday traveling home and got to drive our car (well Nate did the driving and I went along for the ride) onto a ferry for the first time to cross Lake Champlaign--it was pretty exciting!

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