Spring Break part III

On our return trip, we decided to stop by some of the church history sights along the way!

 Here we are at Liberty jail, where Joseph Smith and several others were held under false charges during a very difficult time for the new members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

 Despite Austin trying to climb up the jail, running around and tickling every other person on the tour, I had a very peaceful feeling.  I know this church is true and I'm grateful for the sacrifices of our leaders in making it possible for us to have the gospel of Jesus Christ back on the earth again in its original form.

 Here was how these men had to live for 5 months while they awaited trial.  They were eventually set free by the sheriff himself.

 Here is a replica of the Book of Mormon, a history of the civilization in the Americas before and after Christ's ministry in Jerusalem.  After Christ was resurrected he came and ministered to the people in America. "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." John 10:16  Because we have been reading this account as a family, it was especially cool for Tyson to be able to see what the original book looked like!

 We stopped for lunch at a cool wrap place.  I liked it, but nobody else did!

 Austin was quite grumpy all day!

 Every place we stopped by was filled with running feet, loud voices, and out of control children.  Luckily we were one of very few visitors on this day!

 Do you see this crazy face?

 Luckily, at the visitor's center in Independence, Missouri, there was a play area for the children to get their energy out!

 They could pretend they were early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints crossing the plains!

 A few hours later, we stopped by Saint Louis and walked around the "Gateway to the West"

It was pretty spectacular! 

It was really fun to break up the drive on the way back and see so many sights that were important to the early members of our church.  We rolled in around 4:00 am and were so happy to find our house in order and sleep in our own beds again!  It was the best Spring Break ever thanks to our wonderful friends and getting to spend time together as a family. I love you Babe!

On a side note, Austin started throwing up and had diarrhea two days after our return.  What a blessing from God that didn't happen on our trip!  We are so blessed!

Spring Break Part II

So Tuesday afternoon, after wreaking havoc at a downtown doughnut shop (aka me spilling water on Abigail, Abigail throwing sugar packets all over the floor and table, Austin running around screaming like a banshee, me getting up to chase him and knocking a frying pan off of the wall, Tyson knocking his chair over and crashing to the floor--the upside being we got three free doughnuts and the lady was very nice!), we headed out of town and drove to Lincoln, Nebraska to see our awesome friends the Riggs!

 When we got there it was so nice to be in a cozy home and just relax for a few days!  It was like we had never moved away from the Riggs!  While Chad was at school, we went on a few field trips!

 We went to the Wildlife reserve right behind their house and the kids LOVED it!

 Kate and Tyson hit it off immediately.  They held hands everywhere we went!

 Here's an awesome turtle skeleton to the right!  They had exhibits of all kinds of animals native to Nebraska.

 Austin could not take his eyes off the snakes!  We are thinking of having snakes going through tubes between the chairs of Christian's future practice instead of an aquarium :)

 We went to the capital building which was so cool!

 The architecture was amazing--although I was not a fan of some of the floor murals!

 It was almost like being in a castle--it was lowly lit and very hot but really amazing at the same time!

 Here's the elevator we all got to squish into to get to the look out on the top floor!

After visiting the capital, we picked up Chad from work and headed out to Valentinos, a legendary pizza buffet place in Nebraska!

 Kate and Rachel had both grown up so much in less than a year.  They are adorable!

 Here's Tyson, who was very happy to eat at a pizza buffet with all you can eat soft serve ice cream!

Overall, the trip went by way too quickly!  It was so much fun to play games, go to the park, eat sprinkle sandwiches, and just be with the Riggs again!  Lyndsay slaved away to feed us three times a day every day and I think she is officially a saint!  Hopefully they'll come to visit us and we can try and treat them half as nice as they were to us!

Thank you Riggs for the perfect, most relaxing end of our Spring break!  We can't wait to see you again soon!

Spring Break Part 1

 For Spring Break this year we got to go on the most amazing road trip ever and see our friends the Blairs!  It took us longer than we had planned to get there, but it was well worth the drive!  We left at 3:30 pm and got there at 6:00 am East coast time!

 The boys did amazingly well!  It took us three hours longer to get to Nashville than we had planned.  Traffic was horrible!  We stopped for dinner and then got on the freeway going the wrong way!  It was so disheartening seeing the standstill traffic we had just gotten through fly by our eyes just so we could do it all again!  Luckily Christian is very patient and we made it!  We had to stop at Little Rock, AK so Tyson could use the bathroom at 2:00 am.  We got off at the wrong side of town for sure!  Nothing was open and we finally saw lights for a Kroger.  There was a man standing outside smoking so we assumed it was open.  We got both kids out of the car and walked up just to be told the store had been closed since 10:00 pm and would not open until 7:00 am!  Eventually we found a gas station next to some scantily clad woman and some crazy teenagers.  You couldn't go into the store, but had to put money in a rotating window so the clerk could help you.  There were signs all over saying they could see your crimes and it was all very bizarre!  The lady kindly let us in only to have Tyson scream for 20 minutes about how cold the seat was and just general screaming.  Finally, we were able to leave.  Let's just say, we will not be moving to Little Rock!

Three hours later, this is what met our eyes!  It was the most magical place!

Jeff's uncle and aunt kindly let us stay with them in their home which was like a child's wonderland!

Uncle Doug build all of this by hand!  It was amazing!  There was a teeter totter, tire swings, a swing set and slide, a hand made merry-go-round, a swimming pool, a boat, a rusted out car, a crashed airplane, a fire pit, a garage filled with supped up cars, a fish pond, a real pond, and everything you could possibly imagine.  It was awesome!

 The best part of all, though, was seeing the Blairs!  They are the best friends!

 There was a permanent ladder ball court set up!  The Blairs took us to town, but we'll get them back next time :)

Uncle Doug took Nichole and the boys on a ride to pick up firewood for the bonfire.  They LOVED it!

Tyson and Austin were both a little scared of this awesome tire swing at first, but eventually with some coaxing they gave it a try!

And Tyson loved it!!

Here we are getting ready to roast our mini marshmallows!  We had brought some to fill the Easter eggs with  and was all we had to work with!

Nichole is the best mom ever.  She was so prepared with chalk and bubbles and little things for the kids to do while outside.  Watching how excited they get over bubbles was a good reminder to me to enjoy every part of life.

I just love this picture!

On Sunday, Jeff's cousin and his family came over to do a mondo Easter egg hunt.  There were over 150 eggs hidden all over the yard for the 6 kids to find!  Austin would find them and put them in other people's baskets.  Even after seeing what was inside, he would only allow one pink hard boiled egg in his basket.  What a goof!

Tyson on the other hand, filled his so full he eventually was putting them in his pockets!  When the other kids wanted to re-hide the eggs, there was no way he was going to allow this to happen! (See the crashed airplane in the background?)

They call this red-neck yard art :)

I love how happy he is with his lone pink egg!

It was a beautiful Easter day! We went to church that morning and came home to an Easter dinner of Ham, potato salad, and baked beans.  Then we had the Easter egg hunt and just talked together.  It was wonderful!

Uncle Doug built this bench. It was reversible and there was even a ledge to put your water on in the summer.  In the summer it faced the pool, in the winter it faced the creek.  It was really amazing!

The boys got to open their Easter packages from Grandma and Grandpa!  Tyson unwrapped the paper and said in complete bliss, "It's soap!"  He was even more pleased when it turned out to be chalk, crafts, and a swimsuit!  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Christian's mom sent a home-made Sugar egg with a bunny inside.  It was covered in bubble wrap which was just as much fun!  Tyson started to eat the egg and we had to stop him by saying it was decoration and there was glue on it.  Boy was he mad when Abi and Austin started eating it later on!  It was probably the most enjoyed sugar egg ever!  Thank you Grandma!

On Monday, we went to the National forest just behind their house.  It was beautiful!

We went on a little hike and we were reminded again just how much kids need the outdoors!  Austin was in heaven!

The Blairs!

Just as we were finishing the hike, Christian tried to catch a lizard.  It wisely stopped on a snake's back.  Luckily for us, it was quite lethargic still due to the recent cold weather.

Tyson caught a mayfly on his shirt!  He was fine until it flew onto his face and into his eye--then he started to panic!

We walked along some train tracks and climbed aboard this sweet engine that was just sitting there.  The boys loved it!

Back at the house, Doug and Rhonda let us use their four wheelers!  It was a little scary, but so much fun!  Look at Christian go in the background!

Tyson enjoyed it immensely but Christian forgot to go slow with Austin and probably scarred him for life!  He eventually agreed to get on with me--who proceeded to go at a snail's pace.  He liked that much better!

I think I could have ridden all day!

It really was like a wonderland--for us and the kids!  We played basketball, the limbo, and every night once the kids went down we got to play real games with the Blairs.  It was awesome!

Austin liked to dunk it--with a little help!

Before we left town we were able to see the shop Doug and Rhonda built from scratch.  They refurbish airplanes, inside and out and do an amazing job.  It was a dream come true for Tyson and Austin to get to climb inside real airplanes and see how they were painted and made beautiful.  Thank you so much Doug and Rhonda for welcoming us like family!

Thank you Blairs for the most amazing first half of our Spring Break ever!  We miss you guys so much and wish we lived close again!  Thank you!!