adventure *day 3*

We got off early Friday morning and in our close examination of the map, we realized that we were just a few miles away from Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY was just a few miles off the freeway so we decided to go and see these two significant sites of the Restoration of the Church.

We just stopped by the temple in Kirtland since it was 6 in the morning. It was pretty awe inspiring to see the first temple of the Church. It was beautiful and the history behind it is humbling. I honestly don't think that I would have made it if I was a pioneer. I don't know. The times were scary then and they are scary now. Just different kinds of scary. Being persecuted day in and day out and having to cope with the trek out west sounds so stressful to me. I am extremely grateful for their strength and in being so dedicated to bringing the Church to where it is today. Eternally grateful. We drove by the Newel K. Whitney store and the surrounding area and then went on our way.








Our next stop was Palmyra, New York. It was wonderful to see the boyhood home of Joseph Smith and where all the stories I have heard since I was little about Moroni, the golden plates, and the Sacred Grove with my own two eyes. I am so happy that we realized we were so close to these sites because I would have been severely disappointed if we would have passed them by. Who knows when we will ever be back in upstate New York.


There were three boys who slept in this bed and three that slept in one just like it in the same room. And the fact that an angel came 3 times during the night and only Joseph woke up? Amazing.



I bet that never in a million years would Joseph think that he could look outside his home and see this beautiful temple. But then, maybe he knew all along.


The frame home that the Smith family later moved into.


This is the original brick of the fireplace that Joseph Smith hid the golden plates so a mob could not find them.


My favorite part was the Sacred Grove. It was absolutely beautiful. Once you walk in, there is an intense feeling of reverence and you can feel that something special occurred here. I could have stayed in there forever.





This was totally unprompted. I walked behind these two for a few minutes snapping pictures until I got the perfect one. Justin even commented that I had enough and should stop snapping pictures already. I am glad that I took this last one.


We then went to see the Hill Cumorah. There were a million people there since they were getting ready for their annual pagent but it was neat hearing the performers go through their songs as we were walking up the path to see the monument of angel Moroni.





It was such a lovely time. I am so glad that we were able to go see these sites. I have been finishing up the Work and the Glory series, honestly just to say goodbye to those darn Steeds, but it truly has strengthened my testimony of Joseph Smith and I love the church all the more.


We piled into the car again and then headed to our final destination of this part of our trip. Cooperstown!

We dropped Nick off at his bunker and helped him get set up. This is the only time we were allowed in Baseball Village during that week. It was so weird not having Nick with us! We were one of the first ones there so he got a pretty sweet spot in the corner on the bottom bunk. His good buddy Chance got the bunk on the top. They had to bring their own sheets and just had a footlocker at the end of the bunkbeds that we put all of his stuff in and locked it up with his padlock.

We weren't there very long until players from the other teams came around wanting to trade their team pins. Nick was caught up in the fever and was soon off trading his pins off. He got 95 of the 104 teams represented and has over 100 pins total with his umpire pins and others he received while he was in Cooperstown. I'll have to take pictures of the pins he received because they are pretty impressive.

Here is what the Scrapper's pin looked like. Pretty darn sweet.



It looks like he is pretty psyched to be here.


We are too!

adventure *days 1 & 2*

We just returned from a fabulous vacation back East.

Our adventure began with Nick's coach telling us last summer that their team, the Utah Scrappers, would have the opportunity to play in Cooperstown. But not wanting the trip to just be about baseball for the other boys, we decided to travel after the week long tournament. We spent a total of 18 days on vacation and not only went to Cooperstown but to Niagara Falls, New York City, and Washington D.C.

It. was. awesome.

We crammed everything and everyone into our Suburban and trekked over 5000 miles, covered 18 states, and was able to experience first hand the amazing beauty America possesses.

The first day we drove to Omaha. It took about 15 hours to get there and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad of a drive. We watched quite a few movies, the boys found licence plates (they found all but one U.S. state (Hawaii), 4 of the Canadian Providences, and one Mexican licence plate from Chihuahua over the course of the trip), drew in notebooks, and were very well behaved. We ate at a cute restaurant called the Farmhouse and tried deep fried pickles. As bizzare as they sound, they were actually pretty tasty.

We woke up early the next morning and continued our trek east. As we were looking at the atlas, we realized that we would be pretty close to South Bend, Indiana by lunchtime, home of the famous University of Notre Dame. I think it is every college football fan's dream to see the well known icon so we pulled off the freeway and ate lunch on the campus lawn while watching a group of coeds play a game of handball.



The boys made friends with this squirrel who was super interested in our leftover food.


We decided to walk around the campus a bit. It was absolutely stunning. I loved all of the old buildings, the endless tree canopies, and the spirit of pride that everyone had on that campus was almost tangible.




This was my favorite building on campus. It is their law school. I think I may need to change my profession.


Wouldn't walking to these doors make you want to go to class everyday?


Of course we had to stop by the football stadium. It was locked up for the season but the boys, all 5 of them, had to take a peek inside.


However, that little peek was not enough for Justin. As I was taking this picture, he asked one of the administrators walking by the stadium if we would be able to get inside. He told her that we were driving from Utah to New York and that we would only be there for an hour and he would love his boys to see the inside of the stadium. Isn't having kids awesome? Don't you love how if you really, really want something you will usually get it if you say your kids want it? After a little persuasion, you know what? She got on her little walkie talkie to Dan, the head groundskeeper, and he let us in.



You could tell Dan loved his job. He told us all about the stadium, how he cares for the grass, everything you would ever want to know. He was such a nice guy. He took our picture, let the boys run around the bleachers, and let Justin and the boys go out onto the field and touch the grass. I don't think Justin has washed his hands since. He said if the locker room wasn't in the process of getting recarpeted, he would let us go in and look around. Justin actually swooned.







There is a beautiful cemetery just as you enter the campus and I had to stop to take some pictures as we were leaving. I don't know why I am intrigued with cemeteries but they are so reverent and peaceful and you wonder what the life stories are of the people who are buried there. I am particularly drawn to those with old, big, romantic headstones with full grown trees and beautiful surroundings because I think that it is a tribute to those who are laid to rest. This one fit the bill perfectly.




We made it to Willoughby, OH that night which is a little suburb outside of Cleveland. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and went to bed to get rested up for our final leg of the trip to Cooperstown, New York.

last days

Surrounding the last days of school before summer was a whirlwind of activity. There were so many things to do between the three elementary boys that I was at their school almost everyday for 2 weeks. It was super fun and this year for some reason went by really fast for me.

We were blessed with amazing teachers. All different but all perfect for the individual boy. Nick's was fun and outgoing but firm and able to keep Nick on track. She was able to keep his goofy and fun side while cultivating his side that was becoming a more mature young man. Andrew's teacher was sweet and caring and made Andrew realize that if he does his best work he will more often than not be done the first time. Luke's teacher seemed to go with the flow with Luke. I don't know if it was because Luke is getting more focused at school or if his teacher let the small things slide but Luke loved going to school. I think he had a bit of a crush on his teacher which probably helped a little.

Some of the fun activities we were able to attend were Nick's wax museum and the end of school carnival.

Nick chose to be Titus. He chose Titus because he was a very important emporer in ancient Rome. He helped finish the colluseum and he helped with the people of Pompeii after the volcano erupted.He was around in a bad time. There were two natural disasters during his rule. One of them was the fire of Rome and the second was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Nick and Dylan.


Nick and April.


Madison, Cassidy, and Nick.


The end of school carnival was a blast. There were bounce houses, treats, a dunking booth, face painting, tattoos, and a slew of other activities.

Here is Luke and his teacher, Mrs. Hale. Sad that the other teachers weren't there.



Here are Luke and Liam getting their airbrush tatoos. They felt pretty darn awesome.

The boys had a great school year and I am excited to see what the upcoming year brings. Nick goes into Junior High which excites me and scares me at the same time. All of my kids will be going to school every day. It is crazy. I am glad though that their time away from home is with teachers who care about them and they are with good friends. It is really all that I could ask for.

liam's last day

We just returned from a fantastic vacation that I need to start posting about but before I begin there are a couple events that cannot be forgotten.

One is Liam's graduation from preschool.

It was freaking adorable. My emotions were a bit close to the surface going to the program because this is my baby all grown up. He is so ready though to move on to Kindergarten and I am glad that he passed all his requirements from Early Intervention and did not have to go last year. He would not have been ready socially or academically but I have to admit, this last year he has grown leaps and bounds and is all grown up.

I mean, just look at how excited he is.



These poor kids were the center of attention about halfway through the program. I noticed the little girl first bobbing her head since she was sitting next to Liam and then after I pointed her out to Justin, he said he was laughing at the little boy next to her. The girl would wake up periodically and try to sing and do the actions but the boy was out for the count. I would not be surprised if he has some whiplash injury.


I made it through the program just fine and then they started the darned slideshow. I think they should be banned.

I cried through the entire thing. Just seeing him and all his friends doing their little preschool projects was so endearing and it will be the last time I will have to endure it. The boys would look and me and laugh and I warned Nick that this was nothing...wait a few years when he graduates from high school. I may have to be escorted out by security since my tears will flood the venue.

Still a few more years. Whew.

Then Pomp and Circumstance was played and the students walked out on stage in their itty bitty graduation hats and received their diplomas and a lei.


So happy and such a big boy!


Liam and his cute friend Clara.





His proud brothers.


Liam and Lea.


The proud parents.


Thank you Miss Amber for all your love and patience and for all you taught Liam! He loves school and had so much fun in your class.


Watch out Kindergarten. Liam is ready.