Turkey Run

I am sorry if you were wanting to see pictures of Turkeys because there are none here (unless you count Steven or I) Turkey Run is a State Park near us. Thanks to some wonderful friends or our who watch our kids for us Steven and I were able to have a day off.(I know who gets a day off from being a parent) We are lucky and we took advantage of it. We had a great hike then we went to lunch afterward. We have been very bad about going and seeing all the fun things that are around us so we are so grateful for this opportunity to go and see it. Next time we will take the kids and see how they do at hiking:)

Ladders to get us out of the crevasse we were in, Steve thought it would have bee more fun to try and get out without them

Should I climb up on the top of the rocks or go down through the water?

PASS!!!!

Yesterday Steven had his Final Oral Exam. He has been working up to this point for months/years in his education. The past few weeks have been stressful because of his final written exam being 2 weeks ago and this oral exam yesterday. At the end of his oral exam is when they told him if he passed, or failed. If he were to fail the last 2 1/2 years would have been a waste of time (no pressure)
Thankfully, and of course I had not doubt that he would, he passed. Yeah!!!!!! Because of this great event he is now ABD(All But Dissertation) and is officially a PHD candidate. I am so proud of him for everything that he does and how hard he works for us.
There is nothing better than to have a great supportive husband, that works hard at supporting the family, being a great husband, father, and member of the church. Steven is so wonderful at juggling it all and I just want to let him know that we are happy to support him though this journey. I love you and all that you are.

Halloween FUN!!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from Halloween. We had tons of fun, did all the traditional things, and I even decided to dress up this year. Miranda was the cutest Tinkerbell (and has already told me that she wants to be Cinderella next year) and Jacob was a darling little Spider man.

Happy 1st Birthday

He was not so sure at first if he wanted to get his fingers dirty.

He quickly figured out that is was yummy cake and it didn't matter if his fingers get dirty.(or anything else)

Yum!!!

I am a little slow at getting these pictures posted but here we go. Jacob had a great first birthday. Of course we had the eating of the cake, the big mess at the end, and some fun presents. Happy Birthday Jacob we are so glad you are in our family. Jacob is an active and mischievous little boy that loves all the boys thing, balls are his favorite, followed by cars and computers. We are in big trouble but we are so excited to see him grow.

LadyBug Season

For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, let me explain. Each year around this time everything becomes infested with lady bugs. They are all over the laws, and you get attacked each time you step out of the door. Of course if you are lucky like me and you get attacked in your house as well. Our back door does not seal fully because of a slight bow in the door and the lady bugs have found a way in. I am amazed every year how many there really are. I used to catch them when they came in the house and throw them back outside (example in the picture) but it has become much to much work and so I just suck them up with a vacuum.

Miranda is afraid of bugs so it has been good to make her play with them but Jacob thinks they are so fun and yesterday there was a Lady bug crawling all over his hands. I looked over and saw it and the next instant he shoved it in his mouth and swallowed. I am sorry to say that I laughed pretty hard about it because that bug put up a good fight and tried to crawl, or fly out and Jacob was coughing and trying to grab at is for a full minute. I guess what doesn't kill them makes them stronger.

Palmyra NY

The Palmyra NY Temple. We had so much fun in Palmyra. The kids were troopers, we marched them all around Niagara the day before and they were still happy to go march around the sacred grove in Palmyra.

The colors were just beautiful while we were there and I don't think any picture will do it justice. This picture is us stand on the road in front of Joseph Smiths home and we can see the Temple through the tree on the next hill over.

Joseph smiths home he live in at the time he received the first vision. This is not the original structure but they found the original foundation so it is in the exact spot and the same size.

Daddy and Miranda walking into the entrance of the sacred grove. It is a very sacred and special place and we are so fortunate that we were able to go and see all the great sites. Inside the grove they have trails all set up the you can just meander around, it feels like you could just get lost. It was so great to walk through there and know that somewhere near God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. I am so grateful for that event and all that came from it so that I could know about His plan for me.

Niagara Falls!!!

If you have never been, it is hard to describe. Niagara is amazing to see and we had fun. Miranda loved that we were in Canada

The whole view of Horseshoe falls

The bridge between USA and Canada

American Falls

I think that Stevens favorite part of the day was on our way back to the USA. We of course had to go through customs and the agent asked Steve, "Where are you coming from" to which Steve replied "Canada" :) Steven and I laughed and thought it was pretty funny and the obvious answer to this questions but the Agent didn't even crack a smile.