Thomas the Train

Jacob has been our first boy that has loved trains. He has a few Thomas the Train metal trains that he plays with quite a bit. One day we were watching PBS kids and I saw that Thomas was coming to a town about an hour away from us, Boone, IA. They have a touristy railroad line that does scenic trips, dinner trips, etc. I thought it would be fun for us to go. I decided to just take Jake since the other kids have kind of outgrown that sort of thing.

It was a lovely drive up to Boone. It was not the most enjoyable thing I have ever done, but I think overall Jake enjoyed it. Of course it was set up so you had to spend more money once you got there (overpriced food and merchandise, etc.). They even wanted you to pay for a picture of Thomas (who didn't really pull the train by the way), but we took a further away picture for free. I think Jake's favorite part was playing with the trains just like he would at home. I was too cheap to buy him anything except the $6 train whistle. I was glad Jake had fun but I don't think it was worth the money at all. There won't be a next year. I think we had just as much fun stopping at a McDonald's Playplace for lunch on the way home. At least it was good one on one time for Jake and I.

Here is Jake with Thomas. Notice the other child to the left standing on the platform. That is where you were supposed to get your picture taken with Thomas, for a fee of course.

Jake playing with the trains, just like at home.

Getting ready for the ride on the train.

The $6 train whistle.

Wonderful Ben has a Birthday!

Right on the heels of my birthday is Ben's birthday. On September 18th our Ben turned 6! I can still remember when he was a baby. He was such a quiet baby. Greg would ask me all the time, "Do you think he's OK?" I even asked the doctor about it. Of course Ben was OK. Now he has grown into a delightful, pleasant, happy boy who knows what he likes. He has an innate goodness about him. He tries so hard to do what is right. He looks for ways to help and lift others. Some of the things he loves and knows he is good at are soccer, cooking, and singing. He calls them his talents. He is right! All of those things bring him a lot of joy. And that brings me a lot of joy.

A lot is going on in his six year old life. He started kindergarten this year. We felt like he was ready last year (he missed the cut off by 3 days) and the transition has been a breeze for him, much easier than for the girls. He loves his teacher, Miss Manning (and so do I; she is wonderful). He loves to write numbers. He has a goal to write all the numbers from 1-1000 before parent teacher conferences which are Nov. 22. I think he is already at 600 something. I don't think he will have any problems meeting that goal. We also just got a note that he will be pulled out of class for small group work with the ELP teacher for reading. He is reading so well. His favorite things to read are the scripture readers we have. He has been reading the Old Testament one a lot lately. When he was first starting to read, I would have him read out loud out of those for 20 minutes a day. Now they are what he reads most. That makes a mother smile:)

He has recently lost 2 teeth and is sporting a cute gap in his mouth signaling this wonderful time in his life. He did very well in soccer this year. He is awesome at defending. He excels at offense when his team is struggling. When there is someone else who will take the lead he lets them and is there to help as needed, but when no one takes the lead, he gives it his all. It is because he wants to help the team. It has been fun for him to score some goals this fall.

He also loves helping in the kitchen. Greg is the baker in the family and patiently works with Ben in the kitchen at least once a week. They love doing that together, and we all love the results ;) I recently changed how chores are done in our home and now one of the chores the kids rotate through is helping with dinner. Ben has been my most enthusiastic helper. It is wonderful to have his company in the kitchen.

His singing also brings a lot of joy to our home. I usually sing one song to him each night before bed, but lately he's been asking to sing me a song. His teacher uses a lot of music in their class so he has had an ever expanding repertoire to share. He will also often ask me to sit down and play the piano on Sundays so we can sing together. I hope he will always love music. I think it is in his soul. Most recently the other kids have had a lot of fun playing "Heart and Soul" together. I have been working with Ben at the piano for about a year but he isn't where the other kids are yet, but one of them showed him how to play the higher part and he has patiently been working on it. It is sounding pretty good now. He will also often sing along as he practices his piano pieces, as most of them have words with them.

One last thing. He has the most wonderful smile! We are so grateful to have Ben in our home. I often think how grateful I feel for him right now and how grateful I am that he and Jake will still be here with us after the three older ones are gone. Is that weird to think about? Ben, we love you. Happy Sixth birthday!

Baby Ben at 5 months.

Ben at 2 years old.

Here is Ben on his first day of kindergarten.

These are the yummy doughnuts Ben and Greg made for us one Saturday morning. They are seriously the best doughtnuts EVER!!

Ben after losing his very first tooth. Now the gap is even bigger after losing the second one.

Ben wanted cupcakes for his birthday instead of a cake, so cupcakes he got. Chocolate with Strawberry (yes, pink) frosting. Happy Birthday Benner!

Our wonderful boy's smile. Isn't he cute?!!

My Birthday

I haven't blogged for a while, and part of the reason is I haven't wanted to make this post. Hopefully it will be short, just to get it over with. It is much easier to blog about the kids. My birthday passed over a month and a half ago (Sept. 10). I turned 35. That doesn't seem too old to me yet, with the exception of thinking about my child-bearing years coming to an end soon. I didn't really do anything much that day. I did pick up some lunch for Jake and I. Greg took over in the evening. He cooked dinner and baked a cake for me and went crazy on buying presents. My favorite present was the SCOOBA, the robot that cleans my tile floor (you know it's sister the ROOMBA that vacuums for you). I hate mopping!! I also appreciated phone calls from my dad and my friend Leah. Happy 35th to me! That's really about it. It seems like you don't need a whole lot when you aren't a kid anymore.

Pictures of me are hard to come by these days. Who wants to point the camera at me when there are 5 cute children running around? Not to mention I am usually the one doing the camera pointing. Sooooo, I thought it might be fun to include some of me growing up.

Here I am with my brother Todd. My guess is I am about 4 years old.

Here I am on my 16th birthday. My family had just moved from Utah to Virginia.

This was not on my birthday, but here I am at 35, with my buddy Jake.

Here is the cake my wonderful husband made for me. We are going to run out of room for candles soon!

Jacob's Birthday

On August 2oth our baby turned 3! I can hardly believe it. We have never had one make it to 3 without having a new little one. It just can't be (and truth be told we would love to have another one here already, but it is not always up to us). It has been a delightful 3 years. Jacob has always had a very pleasant, happy disposition. His teacher at preschool calls him "smiley". He is quick to laugh and smile and is just enjoyable to be around. Now he can be down right funny.

He is amazing at talking and it is fun to see what comes out of his little mouth in his cute little voice. He loves planes, trains and automobiles, as well as Buzz and Woody, and all things "cowboy". He carries around a white and pink jump rope he calls his cowboy rope. He has Toy Story cowboy boots which he is extra proud of. He will wear them with church clothes or pajamas. It makes no difference to him.

He loves his brothers and sisters and has all of us wrapped around his little finger. Maybe he is a little spoiled, but I see no way around it with 4 adoring brothers and sisters. We are so grateful to have Jake in our family. He is all the wonderful things about childhood! Happy (late) Birthday Jacob.

Here is Jacob blowing out the candles. He wanted blueberry coffee cake for his birthday. Go figure. It sure was yummy though!

Here he is opening is silly squishy guy. He was so excited by such a little thing.

Smiles from the birthday boy.

Here he is with his new cowboy hat and new scooter. Both a big hit!

Other Summer fun

Our vacation wasn't the only fun we had this summer. Here are a few of the highlights.

Swimming lessons. Adam, Lizzy and Ben took lessons this summer. They all did great. Anna and Jake hung out with me on the side watching the other kids (thus the picture of Anna sticking out her tongue; don't you just love her freckles?) We also enjoyed a few evening trips to the pool with Greg. The pool we have is great with waterslides and a lazy river. The kids always love a trip to the pool.

I convinced Greg to take the day off for his birthday this year. We spent the day at Adventureland. It was a lot of fun. It is a smaller amusement park but the lines were practically non-exisitant and all the kids could go on so many rides. It was a great day, with a funnel cake serving as Greg's cake that day (I actually made him one a few days later, but the funnel cake was on his actual birthday).

We also had box seats at an Iowa Cubs game thanks to John Deere. We all enjoyed that way more than we thought we would. We did feel rather out of place in the box seats, but it was still awesome. Too bad the game went on into th 14th inning. We left after about the 11th or 12th and caught the rest of the game on the radio.

The Omaha Zoo was a fun trip too. We are not very smart though and went the same weekend as the NCAA world series for baseball so traffic and parking was insane (the zoo is right next to Rosenblatt stadium), hotels were overpriced and the heat was oppressive. Oh well, we bought a season pass and will be going back.

Another fun event was the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, IA. We have never been to see any hot air balloon stuff so it was great fun for all of us. If you live in Iowa this is a must do one summer. It is really cheap to get in too. It was a lot of fun.

The Iowa State Fair kept us busy one day. Again thanks to John Deere for footing the bill and even giving us meal tickets and ride tickets. I don't think we would have gone if they hadn't paid for all of us. We are glad we got to go, but I don't think this is going to be a yearly tradition. We would much rather go to Adventureland:) for the money. But, everyone must see a butter sculpture at least once in their life right? That is not be outdone by the snake house that had some really cool (but creepy snakes). Greg insisted we pay to have our family picture taken with a 13 foot burmese python. I said I would do it as long as he held the head. How's that for a memory?! Another crazy thing was feeding the camel at the petting zoo. Can you say slimy and GROSS?!

How was your summer? I hope it was as filled with fun as ours was. Here's to a fun fall!

Vacation Days 8, 9, and 10

Day 8 is easy. We just drove from Palmyra, New York to Port Clinton, OH. We stayed in Port Clinton in preparation for our last hurrah, Day 9.

ALL of Day 9 was spent at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. I do mean all day. We arrived at the park even before it opened and were there until the Park closed at 10 PM. We spent a lot of the day split in two different groups, with the makeup of the groups changing throughout the day. Adam was tall enough to go on all the rides, Lizzy and Anna could go on most of the rides, then Ben could go on a few less, and Jacob even fewer, but Jake was tall enough to go on most anything for little guys.

Both Adam and Lizzy are roller coaster hounds and that is how they wanted to spend all of their time. Adam may have only been on one ride that wasn't a roller coaster and it was a water ride to cool off a little. (It was crazy hot so I totally understand that!) Cedar Point has more roller coasters than any other park in the world. That was a big draw for the kids.

Favorites at Cedar Point:

Anna and Lizzy: The Millenium Force; From the Cedar point website:

It's a coaster so big and tall, we had to coin a new name for this type of steel scream machine - the Giga Coaster.

Millennium Force is the park's star attraction, standing 310 feet above the Earth. It broke 10 world records when it opened in 2000 and continues to deliver ultimate thrills to those who challenge it.

Dive to the ground at an 80-degree angle and reach speeds of 93 mph during your two-minute journey.

If you want to see a video of this ride go here and click on the video tab

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/millennium_force/index.cfm

That first hill is so steep and so high you feel like you might fall out!

Adam and Greg: Their favorite was this amazing, like no other, roller coaster called the Top Thrill Dragster. Earlier in the day they waited in line almost 2 hours only to have it break down when they were the next in line to get on. They closed down the ride and devastated Adam. We tried again as it was quickly approaching closing. They got on at 9:57 or something insane like that. Adam said it was totally worth it and it is his favorite of any coasters he has ever been on. Greg loved this one too, but says the superman ride at Six Flags in Chicago where you are like strapped in like you are laying on your belly and "fly" under the track is close with this one for his all time favorite.

The Dragster stands at a whopping 420 feet tall and goes from 0 to 120 MPH in less than 4 seconds. The actual ride only lasts about 17 seconds. It was amazing. You can watch a video here: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm

This ride is all about speed. It is just crazy! You should try it some time (even though I didn't :))

Ben: Ben enjoyed going on some of the younger rides. He and Liz are almost exactly the same height but he does not share her thirst for adventure and thrills. He enjoyed the Iron Dragon, a much smaller, more tame roller coaster. His favorite though was the Scrambler. We went on that several times. Since Greg does not tolerate spinning rides well, every time one of the kids went on this ride I went with them. It has several different arms with a car attached at the end of each arm and it spins around and you get squished against the people you are with. Let me rephrase that, I got squished! Jake was tall enough that he could come on it as long as he had an adult with him so the three of us rode this ride several times. The girls also really liked this ride.

Tammy: I loved spending time with all the different kids during the day. Our family is really at this great stage right now. There was something that made everyone really enjoy the day. I didn't see a lot of Greg as we were usually split, but that's OK. If I had to pick a favorite ride it would probably be the Raptor, a roller coaster that rides under the track and your feet hang down. I love those. The Millenium Force was a bit intense for me. I know, I am not the girl I once was.

Jacob: Jake was pretty much happy with any ride, but he loves the Frog Hopper rides that just go up and down. He was delightful to spend time with and the kids rides you didn't even have to wait so he was able to go on ride after ride. He even loved the two kid coasters and would always be the littlest guy on there. He is going to be a thrill seeker like Adam and Lizzy.

Here are some of the very few pics we took at Cedar Point:

One last thing that is cool about Cedar Point is that it is on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. On many of the rides that are high you can see the Lake and the Beaches. The kids and I even saw some people Parasailing when we went on the Ferris Wheel. It really is an awesome place. We totally loved it. The kids are still talking about when we can go back. You should go there too!

Day 10 was the long drive back home. We were all exhausted from the day before so in some ways we were happy to sit in the car and do nothing, but we were all happy when we got home. We hope you had as wonderful a vacation as we did. I can't wait for next summer!

P.S. If you haven't watched the video of Jacob bowling on Day 7 you must go back and watch it. It is so fun.

Vacation Day 7-- The Hill Cumorah, the Grandin Building, and the Pageant

The weather had been so hot we decided to get up early again the next morning to hike the short distance up the Hill Cumorah before we roasted. The Hill Cumorah is where an ancient prophet (Moroni) from the Americas buried an ancient record which had been written on golden plates. This record would later be given to Joseph Smith, which the Lord helped him translate into the Book of Mormon, which stands as another witness and testament of Jesus Christ, along with the Bible.

It was a lovely, short hike through the woods and up a hill. What was so enjoyable about this was that the cast for the Hill Cumorah Pagaent, a pagaent all about the Book of Mormon, were practicing that morning. Although we were not allowed to go past a certain point down the other side of the hill, from the top we could see quite well and were very close to some of the actors. I was once again moved by the sacrifices people make to contribute to the building up of the kingdom. These actors are all volunteers who give 3 weeks of their summer to learn the show and perform it for a week. They are families of all shapes and sizes, including little children. This is what they are doing for their summer vacation. Why you ask? It is because they believe in it. They love the Book of Mormon. They want to share it with others so they give of their time and talents. Seeing them there in their normal clothes practicing already that morning was just so moving to me. What a lesson for the children and teenagers in the show; some things are worth sacrificing a lot for. I think I enjoyed this moment on the hill even more than the pagaent itself.

Next we went on to the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first published. This was one of our favorite places. Surprisingly we were the only ones in our group on the tour. The Sister Missionary quickly learned all of the kids names and would ask them questions by name. she also geared her remarks toward how the Book of Mormon helps families. She was awesome! She helped us feel the Spirit and once again our hearts swelled with gratitude that we have this book, that we can find answers in this book to life's toughest questions, that we can come to know Jesus Christ better by reading this book, that we can strengthen our families through reading this book. So many miracles happened for it to be published. The Lord wanted this book published!

Then, once again we found ourselves looking for something to do. This time we decided to go bowling. Oh man, it was so fun! I think Anna was the only one who had ever been bowling (she had chosen to do that on of here dates with us) so it was a new experience for the kids. Fortunately for all of us they had gutter blockers so none of us could get a gutter ball. It was so funny to watch the kids different approaches. Jacob was the most enjoyable to watch because he was so little. Adam would put the ball in his hands, then he would just run right up and throw it down the lane. I told Greg he is going to be the kind of kid who just takes life by the horns.

There is nothing like watching a spunky two year old bowl to make you smile. It was so much fun!

Finally we are to the event which caused us to plan this trip at this particular time, The Hill Cumorah Pagaent. I am the only one in the family who had seen the pagaent before so everyone was really anticipating it. We were sad when it had started raining in the afternoon, but it did clear up and even cooled things down a bit (even if it was muddy) by the time the pagaent started. It was also our good fortune to get front row seats. Earlier that morning when we were at the hill we noticed some people had already started saving seats so we thought it was worth a try, so we took our swimming towels out of the car and draped across 7 seats in the front row. They were still there when we arrived so front row seats we had!

We arrived an hour or so before the show started, so the kids had some time to run around and meet some of the actors. They especially liked chatting with the "bad guys". Here's one with the kids and "King Noah".

But they also would talk to some of the good guys - Moroni and Joseph Smith

And, gratefully, they would even talk to each other. Our "twins" Lizzy & Ben. (They are almost exactly the same height now and people often think they're twins).

The show was impressive - especially the special effects. The stage is enormous and complete with large waterfalls, ancient temples, fire, lightning storms (with very realistic lightning and rain), earthquakes, and so on. Many of the significant stories from the Book of Mormon are retold in the pageant through a cast of several hundred actors. The story moves pretty fast - we wondered if it would be confusing for someone if they weren't familiar with the Book of Mormon -but since the stories were familiar to us we were able to follow the action fairly well. The kids really enjoyed it a lot. It was a fun evening and we're grateful to the many people that worked to put that on for us. We did miss the intimacy of the Nauvoo Pagaent. The Hill Cumorah pagaent was much more fast paced and doesn't follow one or two characters throughout (which helps you feel attached to them). It is definitely a big and bold and flashy, which was surprising to me. Things had changed a lot since I had last seen it. We are glad we went though.

House before and after

Well our house is done. It has been done almost two weeks now. We love it. We really liked the company who did it. It makes our house seem more modern. What do you think?

Here is the Before:

And the After:

Vacation Day 6-- Sacred Grove and Smith Farm

You can probably see all the sites in Palmyra in just a day, but we chose to spread it out over a few days so the kids wouldn't get tired of sitting and listening and trying to be reverent. The problem we didn't realize is that there is not much else to do there in Palmyra :)

One of the places that we most wanted to be special to the kids was the Sacred Grove. We came during the time of the Hill Cumorah Pagaent so we knew there were tons of people in the area wanting to do all of the same things we wanted to do, so we decided to get up early and go to the Sacred Grove before tours even started anywhere. We hoped it would be quiet and peaceful, and it was. I think we saw only 3 or 4 other people there. This wonderful place is where Joseph Smith humbly came to pray, hoping to receive an answer to his question, which church he should attend. There was a lot of religious fervor at the time and everybody believed and interpreted things so differently. This fourteen year old boy really, truly wanted to know what to do. He wanted to do what was right. After pondering James 1:5 he decided he must ask God what we should do. It was in this quiet wooded area near his home that he went to pray. The heavens were opened and God the Father and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. They told him to join none of the churches, none of them were the church that Jesus had established on the earth.

This is a story we have told to our children. It is a story that both Greg and I believe literally happened. You can feel the reverence of this place even though it has been nearly 200 years. I was amazed at how peaceful and reverent the kids were. We were there over an hour and enjoyed feeling knit together as we thought about and talked about the things that had happened here. I will be forever grateful for that earnest prayer offered by a young boy.

We were also able to visit the two Smith homes as well. I was once again reminded of all that was required of these earliest of Saints. They sacrificed so much. What they established then is such a blessing to me and my family now. It makes me want to more fully devote my life to the Lord and His work here on the earth.

After a lovely morning we had to step back into our normal life a little bit. I had to do laundry! I hadn't been to a laundromat since the beginning of our marriage. Liz and Jake stayed with me (what was I thinking?!) at their insistence. Greg took the others on a walk to a nearby cemetary where Alvin Smith, Joseph's brother, was buried.

We still had plenty of time to spare so we found a movie theater and all went to see Toy Story 3. It was nice to be in an air conditioned building doing something we don't do too often. It ended up being a really nice day (except for the laundry). How blessed we are to live in this day and age when we know so much about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and know that Christ's church is once again on the earth.

I know that this is a terrible picture (remember this is Greg's phone since our camera was giving us fits), but it is all we have.

This is Adam. Greg is going for some kind of effect here.

Ben at the Sacred Grove.

This is between the two Smith homes. Can't you tell how reverent they were :) They were great, actually, but here they are having a little fun. I don't know if you can tell how sweaty and hot they are and it was only 9 or 10 in the morning.

Vacation Day 5--- Church and the Whitmer Farm

NO, I will not give up. I will make it through our vacation. I struggle with brevity so these posts take a while to write.

The first thing we did on day 5 of our vacation was wake up and get ready for church. Our church is unique in that we are all connected. We were able to easily look up on the lds.org website the location of the nearest church building and what time their meetings started. We knew what we could expect: a meeting the same as we would attend in Iowa. It is always such an amazing thing to attend another ward (or congregation) in our church. It is a reminder of how amazing the organization of the church is and how connected we really are. We are learning the same things out of the same manuals. The people there and where ever you come from are all trying to change and make their lives more in line with the teachings of the Lord. There is an automatic kinship you feel just from knowing they too love the Savior and want to follow his teachings. The kids even feel somewhat comfortable because they know what to expect. It is nice to slow down a little from the vacation pace as well.

Next we drove the short distance to Palymyra, NY. This tiny New York town has great significance for members of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe that it was in this small town in the year 1820 an unassuming 14 year old boy seeking anwsers went into the woods to pray. Our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to this young boy. This was the beginning of the restoration of Christ's church on the earth once again. For us it is a sacred place.

We first stopped at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's center where you can get an overview of some the significant events that happened in the area. It also has several interactive exhibits. We enjoyed visiting with a Sister missionary who was from Samoa. Greg and I visited Samoa for 2 weeks when we were newlyweds. We were visiting my grandparents who were serving a mission there. It is one of those experiences and places that are near and dear to our hearts.

Next we took the family to the Peter Whitmer farm in Fayette, NY (actually I don't think it is actually in Fayette anymore, but it was in 1830). This was the place where the church was officially organized in April of 1830. It is a beautiful rural setting with a unique chapel that is used by a ward there. My favorite part was the tiny home that the Whitmers so graciously allowed to be used for church meetings. I felt so grateful to live in this day and age where the church has grown to millions of members. I felt grateful for the sacrifice and devotion that was shown by those early members. They gave so much of their time, talents and resources to build the kingdom. It was such a peaceful place. I think we all felt the specialness of the place and felt so grateful to be there together. How grateful we are for our membership in the Church of Jesus Christ in these Latter-days!

Here are the kids at the Whitmer farm. We were having camera troubles so there aren't as many pictures here on out and most of what we have were taken with Greg's iphone.

What a lovely Sunday this was.

Help us paint our house!

Calling all painters! We're getting ready to paint the outside of our house and need some help!

Here's what our house looks like now:



Here are a few options for the future:

A)


B)


C)


D)


E)


What's your vote? Use the poll in the sidebar.

If you'd like to suggest your own color scheme, we'd love it! It's easy to do.
Go to https://www.sherwin-williams.com/visualizer/
Login as gregandtammy@gmail.com with password birdnest1.
Under "My Uploaded Exteriors" you'll find our house ... just drag 'n drop colors. Email us any that you like.

Thanks! We'll get back to our vacation reports next post.