Merry Christmas!!!

While we ARE missing family a lot...we have had a great Christmas! We got up around 7:30 am to open presents (Am I the only one that was up before the kids?). The kids were thrilled with all of their gifts and they got a haul! We usually go to party after party in Utah and they get gifts at most of those, so this time we just opened presents this morning, but still had most of the gifts we get throughout the season when we're in Utah. The result was 3 happy kids and 2 happy parents. We only bought them each one gift and have been able to save the needed amount to take them to DisneyWorld, thanks to some very generous donations from grandparents.

Ethan and I also got some awesome gifts, so no complaints here. We thank all of you! Here are some highlights from our day so far...

This is actually Christmas Eve, the kids got to wear their new jammies to bed.


This video was also taken Christmas Eve...we got a new camera (our old one died)and the video has sound...FINALLY!!! This was a priceless moment that wouldn't have been the same without sound.


The boys showing me what Santa put in their stockings


Levi getting the softest, cuddliest dog you could imagine. He was scared of it at first, but after I hugged it, he warmed right up.


Bryant and Jonas each got a remote control car from their cousins Porter, Paige, Eden, Lincoln, and Bella. They are very excited!


Ethan getting the gift Ali was SO excited to give him...can you see the excitement in his eye, Ali?


Grandma and Grandpa Woodbury gave each of the boys q quiet book...its almost as if they were there watching me deal with all three boys by myself during the choir program Sunday. Oh, and of course they all got a sword from Grandma and Grandpa Hoss.


Argh! Ahoy there me matey! Thanks be to Sophie for the pirate getup.


Swords, swords, and more swords! How many can you see?


This was a gift to Levi from his cousins Ethan, Spence, Skye, and Gavin, but the boys are so thrilled that we a have family pet now. His name is Joseph (as declared by Bryant) and he walks around yapping...thank goodness its the kind of pet we can turn off.



The rest of the day was pretty much spent lounging around playing with all our new stuff and sporting our new digs.


It was an excellent day! We also talked to our families and shared our exciting news. Ethan's parents called us in the morning and we sang this song to them, "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We're having another baby, we're having another baby, we're having another baby in August next year!" They were thrilled and we then sang it to Erin in Australia on her mission and to all the siblings in Utah in the afternoon. My parents got a phone call during their gift opening and I told my mom we had a surprise for her on her front porch. She was thoroughly confused and headed to the door, telling me that Dave and Adrienne had just told them they were having a baby in August...she opens the door and opens the package waiting there. Inside is a message stating, "August should be fun for you, instead of just one baby, you'll have two!" All of our families were appropriately thrilled and surprised, it was awesome!

We ended it with a simple spaghetti dinner and putting the boys down a little early. Ethan and I stayed up and watched Pirates of the Caribbean (it was on ABC) playing our new game "Smart Mouth" (Ethan whomped on me!) from Dave and Adrienne. Not our normal Christmas day by any stretch of the imagination, but a good one, nonetheless!

Book Blog

Just so you know, my book blog is now being used as more than just a monthly book club site. If you've ever been to an actual book club meeting you know that a lot gets talked about that is not the book...I have been wanting to post things lately, but just haven't felt like they were important to the family blog, so they will now be found on the book blog. It will probably be everything from things I'm working on to emotions to parenting...the list could go on and on. So check it out every now and then, I'd love to have your comments. And we will get back on track with the monthly book selection after things settle from the holidays. Anyhow, just thought you might like to know...hopefully we'll see you over there sometime! :)

Mommy Tag

Mommy Tag

1. How long have you been a Mom? Four years, 9 months

2. How many kids call you mommy? 3-although, Bryant and Jonas usually say, "mom" and Levi just yells, "Ma"

3. When you were pregnant did you know what you were having? With Bryant we had the ultrasound and were told it was probably a boy, but to have it double checked...I got checked again and they said it was probably a girl...so we waited to find out til he was born (which is what I wanted to do anyway). We found out with both Jonas and Levi.

4. How old were you when you became a mom? 21 years 10 months

5. How long were you in labor? Bryant 13 hours, Jonas 2 hours of good hard labor (I was on pitocin for about 4 hours before anything big happened...I went from 3-10 in about 90 minutes), Levi 14 hours.

6. What’s your favorite thing about being a mom? The hugs and the "I love you lots mom!"

7. What’s your least favorite thing? All the yelling and noise (from me and the kids)

8. Do you want more kids? Definitely

9. Have you ever taken your kid(s) on a trip? Yup, many trips between Utah and Oregon, Bryant went to Nauvoo and Tennessee with us when he was a babe, several camping trips, and one cross country adventure (although, it wasn't really us that took them0-Thanks mom and dad!)

10. How many times have you been peed on? Maybe once per child...just takes that one refresher to remind me to be prepared.

11. How many times have you been barfed on? Way too many to want to remember...or share.

12. Are your kids named after someone? First names are not really-though we found a common link...prophets and/or their dads. Middle names are for family

13. When is the last time you had a sitter? Dec. 10

14. When your kid gets in trouble, who is the bad guy? If Ethan is home he gets to have the honor, but generally I am.

15. What is the longest you have been away from your kid(s)? Let's see how long was our road trip? Five days I think...HEAVEN!

16. Are your toes painted? Nope

17. Last movie you saw in theater? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Last book you read? The Mormon Way of Doing Business (OK, I've read lots of kids books since I finished that one, but its the last one I finished for myself)

18. One thing you will not give up just because you’re a mom: Hopefully, my sanity :)

19. One thing you did give up now that you’re a mom? Sleeping in

20. Favorite Cartoon: Cyberchase and Arthur (its pretty sad when I sit and watch them by myself)

21. Favorite Snack: Granola bars, fruit snacks, craisins, cheese sticks

22. When the kid(s) are napping, you are: Either napping, reading, or blogging..though Bryant doesn't nap he just has quiet time.

23. Where is/are your kid(s) now? Eating breakfast

24. If I could do it over, I’d do this differently: Have more fun

25. What is a lesson you’ve learned as a parent? Patience is a virtue, pride is a vice. Love is the best medicine for everything...hurt bodies or feelings.

I tag...if you want to do it, please do...I'd love to see what you have to say!

Universal Studios-Islands of Adventures

Wow! Are we blessed or what? On Tuesday evening our Bishop's wife came over to take me to enrichment and while she was here she asked if we'd like tickets to Universal Studios...is that a silly question or what?! So she handed over 3 tickets for admission to the park before Christmas. We went on Saturday and we had a BLAST! It was awesome! It wasn't something we were really planning on spending money on, but I'm so glad we got to go. Below you'll find a detailed description of our day.

We began our adventure in Seuss Landing. There were lots of things for the kids to play on and in and it was decorated like Whoville for Christmas. They did a live show of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and everything! We didn't watch all of it, it was pretty crowded in the viewing area. Here were are just playing around in "If I Ran The Zoo."



The first ride of the day was "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." I took the older boys and then realized that Levi could ride, so we all got in line again. It was a really fun ride for the kids. Bryant got to control if we went up or down in our fish, which determined if we got wet or not. It was great. The second time through they let me through with Levi to find a fish, but they were all full, so I had to wait for the next time around. Levi was quite upset. It ended up working to our advantage though because she called her lead to get us on the next ride of our choice without waiting in line.



So we next headed to "The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride." She told me Levi was big enough to ride, but he wasn't, so we took turns and the older boys got to ride twice in a row. Since we were misinformed about the train ride, they let called the next ride of our choice to get us in without a wait in line. Off we went to "The Cat in the Hat" where we all got to sit in a "couch" and spin in circles through the crazy tale. It was a lot of fun! We totally scored big time with the lines!



After Seuss Landing, we were off to The Lost Continent. Where we entered Poisidon's Fury. It was a very cool special effects tour, but WAY too scary for the little boys. They tour guide was very nice though and it didn't last too long!

The only other thing we did on this "island" was "The Flying Unicorn" which is a roller coaster that the little guys could ride. I took Bryant and he was scared, but loved it. He yelled just like he was supposed to. I was more afraid of him getting squished by me as the ride jerked us to and fro.


Ethan then took Jonas on it and they had a great time! Both boys were stoked that they got to ride on a real life roller coaster. Here is Ethan with Jonas mid-ride...


...and at the end of the ride. It was great! I'm glad they had something like that for even the little guys.


Our next adventure stop was Jurassic Park. Where we got to explore a giant maze of nets, see through the eyes of a dinosaur, and see fossilized dinosaur skeletons.


Ethan talked me into riding the "Jurassic Park River Adventure" and, at first, Bryant was excited to go with me. Once we were in line, though he changed his mind and decided he was too scared. So we went out, a while later Ethan again talked me into going by myself on the ride.


After watching me come down the falls, Bryant again decided he wanted to try it. I said, "Are you sure this time?" To which he replied, "Well, not very sure" but he went for it anyway. I am glad that I went right before so I could tell him exactly what to be prepared for. He closed his eyes through some of it, including the T-Rex at the very end. We went down the falls he opened his eyes and said, "Where's the T-Rex?" I told him he missed it and he said, "Was it inside?" I had explained it all to him prior, but I guess his fear clouded his ability to listen to his mother. :) At the end of the day, he said this was his favorite ride. I don't know if you can see him in there, but he's crouched next to me in the second to last row.


The only ride we really wanted to ride but didn't get to was called Pteranodon Flyers. It was one Jonas could have ridden, but the wait was 45 minutes! All our experiences up to this point had been 5 minute wait at the most, so we were not up to 45 minutes!


We walked through Toon Lagoon and didn't see anything particularly of interest and headed for Marvel Super Hero Island. Ethan took Bryant and Jonas into the Spider Man ride with the hopes that Jonas wouldn't be noticed. He was VERY close on the height limit, so we were hoping. Well, they sent him back and he was very disappointed. While Bryant and Ethan experienced "The Adventures of Spider-Man" Jonas and I explored the Super Hero Island.


Ethan was very impressed with the Spider Man ride, it had cool special effects too. He said I should go in and ride it, so I asked Bryant if he'd like to ride it again and he said, with a laugh in his voice, "No way! It was too scary!" Ethan didn't hear him, so I told him that Bryant thought it was scary and Ethan said, "I was scared!" Pretty funny! So, I didn't go in and experience the amazing adventure, but that was OK.


Ethan found the ride we thought about going on in Toon Lagoon, so we headed back so we could go on Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. Jonas tried to trick us all by standing on his toes when they were checking his height, but alas, he was once again too short. Bryant and I went on board for our last adventure of the night. We were amazed at how wet, no not wet, SOAKED, we got! It was fun though. We headed home and stopped at an all you can eat pizza place (which was WAY too air conditioned for Bryant and me) and ate to our heart's content. It was a FABULOUS day!

My Genius Husband

CONGRATULATIONS to Ethan on completing Phase II of National Boards this week! It feels so good to have a genius husband who can take such a set of tests and come home to say, "I'm surprised at how much I know now." Way to go Babe! I love ya!

The test was given at several locations, most of Ethan's class would have taken it in Oregon. However, since we are living in Florida it didn't seem practical to send him up there; Since there is an optometry school in Ft. Lauderdale, a test was offered there as well. We loaded up the kids and all drove down as a family. Ft. Lauderdale is about 3 hours from us and I thought it would be better than being stuck home by myself, with no car, overnight.

I asked a bunch of people if they'd been down there before for ideas on things to do that didn't cost a lot of money and I was amazed at all the people that have lived here for the majority of their lives and have never been there. No one could help me out, so on Wednesday we ended up watching cable (the kids were thrilled to watch some of the shows on Nick Jr. they grew to love at Grandma Jane and Grandpa Woody's house). We were going to go to the pool, but I couldn't find arm floaties at the store closest to me and then Ethan was done about an hour and half earlier than expected (he is a genius after all). That night we made dinner in our microwave and then it was pretty much time to get the kids in bed. We laid them down and then Ethan and I sat outside our room on the floor waiting for them to go to sleep it was pretty funny. We got a lot of strange looks. :) Good thing we're used to that.

Anyhow, Thursday morning Ethan left for his test and once I got all the kids and myself ready we went down to the breakfast at the hotel. It was quite the spread, best breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel. They had those great waffle makers, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal with raisins or brown sugar to add, plus all the other things you're used to seeing at continental breakfasts: bagels, cereal, milk, juice, danish, etc. Well, I set the kids at a table and said I'd be right back with some food for them. While I was getting the food, I had about 5 people come up to me and said that I had cute boys and that "they are so well behaved!" It filled my heart with pride that they were being so good. Levi was waving to people and melting hearts and Bryant and Jonas were just hanging out. It was great! They ate their food right up and kept wanting more, so I didn't get to eat for quite a while, but I'm used to that too. :)

Lest you think I have perfect children, the next part of the morning was somewhat different. I was cleaning up all the plates and trying to get Levi to hurry along with the rest of the crew...Levi and I finally make it out of the dining area and Bryant and Jonas are no where to be seen. I looked down one hall and listened, no one. The next hall, still nothing. So, I wait at the elevator thinking thats probably where I lost them. Meanwhile, I'm thinking "So much for my well behaved children!" The elevator approaches and I can hear Jonas on it, whew! That was a close one...the door opens and there is Jonas...but no Bryant! I asked Jonas where Bryant is and he says, (ever so helpful) "Not on here" Then I try to ask him if Bryant was on the elevator and then got off and finally we understand eachother enough and I realize that yes, Bryant had been on the elevator at one point, but got off at another. So we're waiting for the elevator to come back down and when the door opens, there is Bryant, safe and sound! Hooray! He told me that he didn't do it, Jonas did (classic answer) but I'm glad that they both knew to come back to where they last saw me so we could find eachother.

Ethan came back late that morning and we had lunch and took him back to the test so that we could have the car. I was thinking we'd go to the beach or something fun like that. I drove to the beach and was flabbergasted to see that it cost $10 to park! TEN DOLLARS!!! Needless to say, we didn't go to that beach. It was right in downtown, though, so I decided to try the beach east of our hotel. It was not that much but Ethan had used our parking money earlier to park for his test. Then I went to a state park thinking perhaps they would take a debit card, no dice! Great! So as I'm driving back to the test to find a store where I can park for free and walk with the kids to the beach I see a big sign for a city park. I turn around and decide to try it out. Well, as I'm driving in to this city park I see that on weekends and holidays it costs money too...so I rack my befuddled brain to remember if it happens to be either of those things, its not, we're safe. We drive up and there is a huge play structure that is shaped like a pirate ship and right next to it is a water sprayer. PERFECT! I got the kids in their swimsuits and we spent the next 2 hours playing the hot afternoon away! It was great!







After we picked Ethan up again we just headed home and got stuck in horrible traffic, so the 3 hour drive was more like 4 1/2. But we made it and it was a successful trip! Again, congrats to Ethan! He said that he was so glad that he went to the Eye Institute before boards, his experience there helped on SO many questions! We're thankful for his good education so he can be an awesome optometrist (so soon!) and we're thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who answers our prayers! Thanks to everyone out there who was praying for Ethan, they were very much felt and appreciated!

Kids say the darndest things...

Jonas put his finger in his ear and said, "I'm checking my ear mail."

A couple hours later I was scratching my ear and he asked, "Why are you checking your ear mail?"

Today in the car Jonas asked me if I want to smell his thumb. I said, "What does it smell like?" He said, "POISON!" So I told him no, I didn't want to smell it. Then Bryant went on to explain to us that poison kills things and that Jonas' thumb probably smelled like poo and then Jonas explained that "poo kills mermaids."

Maybe you had to be there, but both occasions I found myself laughing out loud! Those are great moments. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

And don't we have a lot to be thankful for...We had a wonderful turkey day and hope you all did too! Ethan's cousin Devin (and his wife Amanda) invited us to Amanda's parent's house in Daytona Beach. We also got to see Ethan's cousin Shannon and meet her husband Tom. We haven't seen Shannon for about 3 1/2 years, so it was a real treat. Emily, Jay, and Dana (Amanda's family) were very kind and welcoming, special thanks to them!

Bryant claimed it was "the best Thanksgiving ever!" Now before any of you that we've had Thanksgiving with get too offended, just realize that he has been asking to go fishing for about 6 months and he finally got to on Thanksgiving. Amanda's parents live on a golf course with a bunch of ponds around, we bought him a little fishing pole at Goodwill last week (its a Barbie pole, but he doesn't care, its his very own fishing pole!) for $3 and ever since he's been adding to his prayers, "thank thee that we get to go fishing on Thanksgiving." He was more excited for Thanksgiving than he will be for Christmas is my guess.

I got to make rolls, pie, and sweet potatoes. I tried a couple new recipes and the sweet potatoes were DELICIOUS!! I got the recipe from my sis-in-law, Brindy-what a treat! Last night we were eating leftovers for dinner and Levi ate all of his, then he moved to Jonas' place and ate all of his, then he moved to Bryant's place and ate all of his. He was hilarious! His mouth was so stuffed full and he just couldn't get enough. Here he is on plate number 3, he was so busy posing for the camera, that his mouth was no longer full. Oh well, he's still cute!



I also tried a Pumpkin Chiffon Pie recipe I got from my sis-in-law Adrienne. I got it all made on Wednesday night and I realized a couple hours later, that I forgot to add 1/2 cup of sugar! I was so distraught! However, it turned out OK-I guess the 2/3cup of brown sugar and the gingersnap crust came to the rescue!

Jonas was, of course, the life of the party. Everyone loved him! I think most of them would have taken him home with them, if we'd given them the chance. :)

We unfortunately forgot to bring the camera with us, so you'll just have to picture Bryant's excitement as he cast his line into the water; Jonas' antics; and Levi's mess.

For an activity earlier in the week we built a model of the first Thanksgiving. It was pretty fun to talk about the Pilgrims and Native Americans. We made a little Pilgrim house and a teepee and a couple tables, then we added the food, turkeys, corn, and apples. It was kind of silly, but the kids had a lot of fun and then eating it was a great treat!



Also for another activity early in the week we did alphabet thankfulness-something we did last year with our great friends the Schneiders. So, if you're interested, here is the list from A-Z of what the boys and I are thankful for. It was surprising to hear all that they came up with, I would generally get them started on a letter and then they'd take it from there. By the very end of the alphabet they were pretty distracted so the list dwindled, oh well!

A- alligators, apples, airplanes, air, animals, arms
B- Bryant, bones, brothers, balls, bikes, beach, books, bed
C- cats, crocodiles, cars, chocolate, cookies, clothes
D- Daddy, dog, dolphins, diapers,
E- eggs, energy, egrets, eyes, exercise
F- friends, family, food, fishing
G- gospel, grapes, green, geckos, grandparents, guitar
H- Holy Ghost, Heavenly Father, hugs, hats, holidays, Hollidays
I- ice cream, igloos
J- Jonas, juice
K- kangaroos, kites, koalas
L- Levi, love, Lego, lizards
M- mom, music
N- naptime, nests, night, NASA
O- Spaghetti O's, oranges, orangutans
P- petunias, pineapple, parents, pirates, prophet
Q- quiet, quilts
R- running, reading
S- sun, superheroes, surfing, scriptures, Scripture Scouts
T- teeth, turtles, Teen Titans, toys
U- umbrellas
V- vanilla
W- water, waves, Woodburys
X- x-rays, xylophones
Y- yellow
Z- zoo

One of the Many Perks to Living in Florida...

I guess the Woodburys fell in love with this stuff while living in San Antonio, it was a definite treat. I almost feel jealous that my husband is looking so longingly at something other than me ;)

Pelican Island

We are having a great time in Florida (other than the computer problems-see below). Today we drove down to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) which is just the sort of thing we enjoy. It was the country's first NWR beign designated as such in 1907 by Theodore Roosevelt. The drive there was gorgeous, we saw a few beaches we will definitely be trying out in the future! It was really pretty there nestled between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean. We walked to a lookout point and once there we saw about 5 dolphins swimming about 20 yards away! It was spectacular! Unfortunately our camera doesn't have great power in the zoom department, so we didn't waste our time trying to take pictures. The memory is grand enough to last a lifetime! :) There is something about watching a dolphin roll with the waves that is so tranquil, they are truly beautiful creatures.

Sitting in the Library

Today I write to you all from the Eau Gaille Brevard County Library. Our computer has been attacked by a terrible virus and/or spyware and I don't dare brave the internet on it! Why do people do such terrible things?! I am so frustrated and wish it was an easy fix, so far 3 scans have been unsuccessful. Until we get it fixed I don't know how much I'll be able to post-wish us luck!

ROAD TRIP!!!

We had so much fun on our road trip across the country. HUGE THANKS go to Scott and Jane, Jeni, Adrienne, and Dennis and Colleen for allowing us to do this without the kids. It would have been unbearable for them and thereby us if they'd been stuck in the car for as long as we were. As it was, we had a fabulous time and so you're stuck with hearing all the details. I kept my journal along side me and wrote down cool things we saw and/or did along the way. The length of this post is sure to give you an idea of the length of our trip. I hope its as fun a ride for you all as it was for us!

Friday November 2, 2007
South Weber, UT to Laramie, WY
We begin our tale with a lone woman on a mission...to successfully pack all the belongings necessary for a 3 month adventure in Florida in one mini-van. Seriously, Ethan was gone so much in Utah (riding the bus from South Weber and back made each day at least 12 hours that he was gone) that he basically pulled the clothes he wanted packed for our road trip off the hanger and piled them on the floor for me to pack. I, with some help from a wonderful new sister-in-law-to-be-Sara- and Scott and Jane, did the rest. Here is how it looked for our journey across the country. Jane kept telling me she was amazed I could get it all in and dubbed me "Wonder Woman" (she also laughed at me as I stole the good stuff out of the kids Halloween buckets). I didn't think it was that bad but I'm glad that I didn't have to fit more in.




I then drove down to The Eye Institute of Utah to pick up Ethan. We said goodbye to everyone there, they were so great to work with. Ethan had nothing but good to say of them all, particularly Dr. Carter. Ethan was very impressed with his knowledge of so many diseases especially. It was a great rotation site!

Then we set out on the road much later than I had hoped, 4:45 pm. We stopped for dinner at Little America, WY. I can't say that I recommend it, Ethan's Turkey Bacon Club sandwich was terrible (dry, dry, dry) and the second fry he ate tasted like urine-GROSS! I got the French Dip and it was pretty good, but not fabulous. Luckily I didn't get any of the pee flavored fries.

Along the way we read aloud from The Princess Bride (our current Book Club book-please join us!). Once it was too dark to read we watched part of Season 1 of The Office-there can't be a more enjoyable time passer. We stopped around midnight in Laramie, WY and stayed at the Howard Johnson. It wasn't bad, though I think they charge too much.

Saturday November 3, 2007
Laramie, WY to Kansas City, MO
This was perhaps my favorite part of the trip-we actually got to be lazy in the morning. No kids to get out of bed, change diapers, get breakfast for...it was awesome! We took out time getting ready and finally got on the road, stopping at Wal-Mart for some breakfast (pumpkin muffins, bananas, juice, and chocolate milk).

Now anyone who has made the trek across Wyoming and Nebraska knows that there is not much to look at. We read more of The Princess Bride and Ethan was impressed that it was better than the movie (did I mention that it was our Book Club book?).

We sang a bunch of songs, our soundtrack for the day included:
"Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked"
"Sing a Song About the Heartland,"
"Omaha"
"Low Rider"
"Shenandoah" Across the wide Missouri River

Why are there so many songs written about such a boring place? I think the people that wrote them, must have been crossing them at the time and needed something to pass the time so they didn't go crazy! So you'll understand why when we saw something of even a little interest we were thrilled...here is a list of some of things that thrilled us:
*as we were leaving Laramie we saw a giant monument-a carving of Abraham Lincoln(if anyone knows what this is, or why they have it there-I'm dying to know its significance);
*a "point of interest" (that's what the sign said)-a tree growing out of a rock in between north and southbound interstate outside Laramie;
*as we entered Nebraska we saw what appeared to be a huge statue of Jesus;
*a military helicopter perched directly off the interstate (I think it was advertising a military museum down the road);
*a HUGE herd of llamas
*Great Platte River Road Archway Monument

As we were driving through Nebraska an Office Max truck drove past us and it was carrying The World's Largest Rubber Band Ball!!! How cool is that!?! I realize it may not be that cool to all of you, but to us at that moment it was awesome! I made Ethan chase it down so I could get a good picture.



For dinner we ate at Arby's, I got the Turkey Bacon Club and it was WAY better than Little America's. Then we drove the rest of the way to Kansas City, MO to stay with Ali and Josh. It was so great to see them, we stayed up talking and lounging...happy to be out of the car for a time. They were excellent hosts! Thanks for everything guys!

Sunday November 4, 2007
Spent the day with Ali, Josh and Conrad
We got up and drove to Independence and went to their Sacrament Meeting. The ward there had a lot of members that were Samoan, three brethren left a big impact on us. The first was the chorister, he was so into it. His movements were HUGE, he was so involved with feeling the music and trying to get us all to sing he didn't have the words half the time. He had a great smile and you could tell he loved music and he loved his calling. The next guy was the first person to bear his testimony. He started out by talking about Everybody Loves Raymond of all things and then as if that weren't scandalous enough, he talked about an episode where Ray's daughter asks where babies come from. I wasn't sure where he was headed with it, but it came around in the end that we need to be sure of ourselves so we can always have the answers for our kids. We totally expected him to sound like he was from Samoa, but he was more likely from Utah. The third man also bore his testimony, but I have no idea what he said. His accent was so thick! However, I could feel his love for the gospel and our Savior. He was this short, BIG guy and as we were leaving his shook Ethan's hand, for the rest of the day Ethan smelled like Victoria Secret's Lovespell lotion-pretty funny! There were also a TON of missionaries in the ward, I'm really glad we went, we had a nice time.

The next thing we did in Independence was the LDS Visitor's Center. Sister Miller was our tour guide. She told us a little about Missouri history. They have a play area for kids and as you can see, we enjoyed it



Then we did a tour of the Dead Sea Scrolls wherein we learned about Qumran and the Light Seekers (Assines). They lived an extremely strict Jewish law. They also wrote a ton, I had no idea there were so many scrolls. The longest scroll was over 24 feet long, it is the Temple Scroll or the Isaiah Scroll. The tour was audiotape guided with Lloyd Newell (Music and the Spoken Word guy) as the narrator, Ethan's batteries were running low and so Bro. Newell's voice kept getting lower and deeper, he thought that was pretty funny! As we were leaving, Sister Miller told us "good luck in Florida" and the couple missionaries perked right up, asking us if we lived in Florida and where. We explained our situation and they asked if we would be near Satellite Beach, we told them yes and they said their daughter lives there. Their son-in-law is the Elder's Quorum president. So we took their information and a picture to share with their kids. What a small world we live in...

The next thing we did was tour the Community of Christ Temple. Its strange to think they believe they have the truth and that we started with the same root. Their video didn't explain the first vision at all, it was merely mentioned in passing and the Book of Mormon is not part of their doctrine. It is suggested that they study it at home, but it is never preached from at church. Actually I don't know if they have regular meetings, they didn't mention that either. What they did mention, a lot, was how worldwide their church is. Everything inside the Temple is from some foreign country. I got the impression that he was trying to play up the similarities between our churches on the good points and definitely define our differences on things that might be hard to deal with in our church. Such as, the reason they say they didn't follow Brigham Young was because of polygamy and women hold the priesthood in their church. Yet they have some of the same ordinances like baptism, ordination, baby blessings, etc. It was really interesting. They have some beautiful things in their temple, here are some pictures of it.



This is a gorgeous glass etching of the First Vision. It was my favorite thing there.




Something else I found very interesting is that the Community of Christ doesn't own the Temple Plot. There is another church there is is called the "Church of Christ (Temple Lot)" and they are protecting the land. Our tour guide kind of dismissed the "Church of Christ (Temple Lot)" but mentioned that there were 9 split off churches after Joseph died. I don't know of 9, do you?


The next stop was the Liberty Jail. This was by far my favorite thing of the trip. We had a very informative guide. He told us a lot of stories and one of my favorites was about two men whose names have left me, sorry. Joseph Knight might be the Mormon's name. Anyhow, a "friend" bombarded him with a mob and Joseph got shot. Well the "friend" felt bad about it so he brought a doctor to him. The doctor said that surgery would only make things worse and left. At that point an elder came in and as he laid his hands onto his head-before he even touched him-Joseph felt the power and once the blessing had been given he jumped right up, the bullet and a bunch of blood gushed out of him and he was healed. What a visual, it reminds me of Heroes. After his stories we went into the room with the jail, for those of you who don't know, the church bought the property and had to rebuild the jail using many of the same stones, but with new wood. The walls were 4 feet thick, with a layer of wood on the inside, a stone wall on the outside, and loose rocks filling the gap. They then built a visitor's center around the jail, its pretty cool. The jail has wax figures of 5 men and a very neat presentation. When it was over we could take pictures then everyone left. I had to make a pit stop and as I came through the room again, all by myself, I felt very surely the presence of the Lord had been there and I was walking in a Holy place. It was very special.



The width of the walls...


Isn't he cute?


Ali and me-she is so great!


After this we went home and ate a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken and potatoes, thanks Ali and Josh! We spent the evening visiting some more, giving Conrad his birthday presents, eating ice cream and talking even more. It was great and before we went to bed Ali and Josh gave us a traveling kit. It was filled with goodies for us to snack on for the remainder of our trip. Since the kids' candy was all but gone, it was not only super awesome and nice, but quite practical! Thanks again you guys! You totally rock! We love ya!

Monday November 5, 2007
Kansas City, MO to Nashville, TN
If Wyoming and Nebraska were boring to sit through the beauty of the remainder of our trip made up for it. We saw the St. Louis Arch in Historic Riverfront in Old St. Louis. We crossed the Mississippi River on the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge.



We went through Metropolis, IL and tried to find a giant Superman statue. I say try because they made it sound as if it were close by, but then we never got there. I gave up because I didn't want to take more time out driving, though it would have been so cool-the kids would have loved to seen that picture! As we crossed the Ohio River we entered Kentucky: Unbridled Spirit and the Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln (thats what the sign says). Ethan almost immediately turned the radio on to find some Bluegrass tunes. On only the second try he found it, so we can now say we've listened to Bluegrass in the Bluegrass State.

When we were driving through Nashville it started a downpour. I was driving and I don't drive well at night anyway, but throw wet roads into the mix and I was a wreck! Every muscle in my body ached I was so stiff. We finally found the Super 8 just outside of Nashville and I was able to relax. The Super 8 in Murfreesboro was very nice! I was totally surprised, it felt like a luxury place so if you're every in need of a place to stay near Nashville, I can highly recommend it. It was also cheaper (by about $20) than the Howard Johnson in Laramie. Go figure! We got there in time to catch most of Heroes which we were happy about, we like that show!

Tuesday November 6, 2007
Nashville, TN to Jacksonville, FL
When I was in Tennessee a few years ago, I was not impressed. This time between Nashville and Chattanooga all I can say is WOW! It was stunning, the hills were covered in fall colors and the lake we could see, beautiful. Of course we sang the "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo" all day. I didn't want Tennessee to end but then we got to Atlanta, Georgia I was equally impressed for different reasons. I had no idea it was such a gigantic city. Major businesses are set up there, Turner Broadcasting, Ford, AT&T, and more. We saw the Olympic torch just off I-75, signs for Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Underground Atlanta (again not sure about this one, anybody clue me in?), a building with a dome roof (like a capitol) with a gold statue of a person holding a torch on top, and TONS of planes coming in for landing-3 all next to each other-very cool! It was such a huge city, yet so covered with trees and green that I didn't see all the dirt and grime. It was very impressive. The picture I took isn't quite as impressive, but you can at least see that its big.



By the time we got to Jacksonville it was dark and the bridges were all lit up. It was another beautiful site. There were 2 that stood out, one big blue one and another big one with white lights that reminded me of Christmas. On the modis building about halfway up was written in lights "GO JAGUARS!" and just off the interstate was a giant 7-Up can. It was fun to see the biggest city in Florida (according to Rand McNally) at night.

Once in Jacksonville, we went to Ethan's cousin, Devin's, house. We had a nice little visit with him and then we stayed up and watch The Prestige. It was a good way to end our day.

We also finished reading The Princes Bride and loved it! And we watched The Office Seasons 1 and 2 (not all of Season 2, though we would have loved to get through it all).

Wednesday November 7, 2007
Jacksonville, FL to Melbourne, FL
We were again lazy in the morning, not needing to get on the road early. Amanda, our cousin-in-law got home from work and we visited with her. She told us the shuttle was landing that afternoon, so we headed outside to see if we could see it. We didn't see it, but we did get our first taste of Florida's space connection as we heard the sonic boom when the shuttle entered the Earth's atmosphere.

As we left we saw Sawgrass on PGA Tour Blvd. Devin said we should tell anyone who knows about golf about that and they would think it was cool, so if you're out there and you think its cool, there you go! I guess its a big PGA Tour Course.

On our way down the I-95 we saw a ton of billboards for RonJon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach (which is just up the road from us) and the World's Biggest Harley Davidson Shop in Daytona Beach. My dad really wanted to make it up there, but didn't get to this time, maybe next time, dad!

We got to our new home and met the Tolands, our new friends and landlords. I'll post pictures of the inside soon, but for now, here is the exterior. I wish I wasn't in the picture I look like I've been on the road for 5 days. It seems weird to have so many pictures in a post that have me in them, they are usually filled with the kids.



We are happy to be here and hope you enjoyed the journey with us. We went through 10 states (at least partially) including: Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. I'm sure it felt like it took 5 days for you to get through it all, but hey, this if for posterity, right? It was a great trip and we look forward to doing it all again in February!

Catch Up...

In an effort to get caught up before I get more behind I give you a super-post!
These are a few of the things we did in Utah that I didn't get a chance to post.

Hill Aerospace Museum

We have been saying since we got married and lived down the road from this place that we wanted to go there together. Ethan's grandpa Fred Call used to volunteer here since he was a pilot in WWII (Ethan here: he was a B-17 pilot), so it has family history not to mention that my husband LOVES planes. He can always tell me what kind of planes we see in the sky around Hill Air Force Base, its amazing that he can see a difference up close, let alone when they are flying. The boys had a lot of fun too (Levi stayed home with Grandma Jane, so he could take his nap).




In their learning center they had all sorts of cool interactive activities. The boys really enjoyed it, they got to dress up and put puzzles together and pretend to fly. There is a flight simulator for 2 different kind of planes, but you have to 8 years old to play. It was a fun afternoon, if you're in the area, you should check it out.






Halloween

I got more into Halloween this year than I have any year since I was in elementary school. I made 2 costumes (I would've made 3, but we got a really cute one given to us and so I figured there was no point). Bryant was a Cheetah...he LOVES his costume. He wore it everyday before we moved and since we moved, he has asked me several times where his superhero costume is, his Cheetah Boy costume. Jonas was a dog...this is the one I didn't make. For some reason the 2 year olds we know were very resistant to dressing up this year, our own included. We had to bribe him with the candy to get him to put it on him, "You don't get candy if you don't wear a costume." Levi was a monkey...though most people didn't see that. Everyone went through a couple guesses before they got it. Teddy Bear was one guess, though when they saw the tail it really confused them. Mouse was another. I think he looked more like a mouse than anything, but oh well! He was adorable either way.

We went to a Halloween party at my sister-in-law's mom's house a couple days before Halloween. The kids had a blast as they had a treasure hunt that ended with a pinata.

Monday before Halloween we hosted a haunted house. Bryant was so excited, he helped me set up and he was a vampire. I was the guide through the haunted house, we went through bats first and then Bryant came out and scared everyone. He did such a great job and had so much fun. The last time I brought people through, he forgot what he was supposed to do, so I had to prompt him, it was pretty funny. Next we went upstairs and there was a mummy on the pool table (Ethan). He was by far the scariest thing, we should have saved it for last. Next they had to eat an "eyeball" (a peeled grape), touch the skin of the dead (apple peels) and eat ghost bones (apples). While they were grabbing those things, Jane (my mother-in-law) was hiding under the table and her hand would emerge and grab them. It got them pretty good! Next we walked through the haunted graveyard and were chased back inside by the howling ghosts. A lot of Bryant's cousins came including: Ethan, Spencer, Dalton, Nola, Lucy, Cade, Ari and Sophie. It was so much fun, thanks to everyone who came. It was a great FHE!


On Halloween day we went to my mom's work and showed off the kids and got a bit of candy, next we went to Ethan's uncles' house and they were so kind and liked seeing the kids, then we got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic on the way to Ogden. By the time we got there we only had a little time to trick or treat, so we went to Ethan's sister, Jeni's, house and also up and down our road. It was a lot of fun. Then we came home and had Taco Soup and played with the Woodbury cousins. Scott gave me pictures from that evening, but I can't find them after the move, so this one will have to do, sorry.