Trimming Our Tree

See? Everything always goes perfectly smoothly around here . . .

It's good we snapped this picture, because the ornaments didn't stay on the tree for long. In Alex's opinion, why have them dangling from a tree when you can be pushing them around in a doll stroller all day? C'mon, guys!

Pops & Grannie . . . and Nauvoo

My parents came to visit us last weekend, and we had a wonderful time together! It was so great to see them.

While they were here, we took a road trip to Nauvoo, IL, together (about 3.5 hours away). We've been wanting to visit Nauvoo ever since we moved here, and I'm so glad we finally did. I hadn't been there since I was 10 years-old, and Luke and the kids had never been there. What a unique place!

The Nauvoo Temple is brilliant, sitting atop a hill that overlooks a bend in the Mississippi River. It's thrilling to see it restored to its original beauty of the 1840s, when the Mormons were forced to leave it behind after their many months of painstaking labor and sacrifice to build it. Unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance, so Luke and I will definitely need to go back to visit the inside!


Here are the seven of us at Carthage Jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed in 1844. My appreciation and admiration for these brave men--and many other heroes--were renewed during our time there.


The girls and I tried to act out one of the scenes in the women's garden at the visitor's center. (Alex wasn't interested!) These life-size bronze statues depict the various stages of a woman's life and are really beautifully done.


We took a horse-drawn wagon ride through the countryside and heard stories about the pioneers who lived in Nauvoo. It was cold but beautiful in the autumn sunshine.


We were definitely touched by the special spirit that pervades the area.

Abby was thrilled when one of the characters in the "Nauvoo Rendezvous" play was named Abigail. The sister missionary who played "Abigail" shared her hat and posed for a picture with Abby.

It was awesome to have Pops and Grannie all to ourselves! We were sad to see them go . . . and can't wait for their NEXT visit!!

More Halloween-ish Happenings

October was full of this:

carving pumpkins,


Katie's preschool parade and program,


Abby's school parade . . .


. . . and her class party,


and a great Trunk-or-Treat at church (where I guess we were having too much fun to take pictures!). Katie was a ballerina for this event, which marked her 4th costume this Halloween. Luckily, we had them all on hand--no shopping required. That girl does like to keep us on our toes!

Two Years-old!

Our baby boy is two! We had fun celebrating, although Alex was quite concerned that the balls on his cake were covered in chocolate frosting.
(Katie and Abby had done a fabulous job of decorating the cake the night before!)
Saturday's festivities included visiting Eckert's Fun Farm, with rides, an underground slide, pig races, and a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. This picture could probably win an "awkward family photos" contest (everyone was a little tired and hungry), but at least it proves that Mom was there too!


Back at home, Alex loved opening his gifts, especially his basketball set from Grandma Linscott. He's insisted on sleeping with his basketball ever since! He's still warming up to his "Strider"-type bike with no pedals. I think he feels like he's going to tip over on it. He'll get the hang of it soon though.

A few of the things I love about this crazy little two-year-old are:

- when he says "jump, Mama!" and jumps into my arms for a tight snuggle

- his sheer delight over simple things: any ball, the garbage truck, pushing the garage-door button, hearing trains go by, getting a lollipop at the bank drive-thru (last time he must have said "uh-uh, Mama, lollipop" in gratitude at least 5 times!), feeding seeds to the gerbil, watching the bunny that hides under our back porch

- his love for his hand-me-down pink and purple Barbie tricycle

- his obsession with the "big no-no turkey book" (Blue Hat, Green Hat)

- the way he hums and sings to himself

- his absolute distress when he notices that someone is sad or hurt; he comes right over and gently lays his head on the person's shoulder

I'm not quite as enchanted with the toothpaste on the carpet and the crayon drawings on the walls, but I'm sure getting some great patience-building opportunities (occasionally through clenched teeth!).

I wonder if the Magic Eraser company will stay in business once Alex has grown up?

Autumn Fun!

It's been a beautiful fall here in Missouri! Here are some of the ways we've been enjoying it . . .

We attended the annual hot-air balloon festival held in Forest Park (which was cool to see but extremely crowded!).

Katie and I went on a fun apple-picking field trip with her preschool. She loved riding the big, yellow school bus (just like Abby's!) and having Mom all to herself (how often does that happen for a middle child?).

For our third time now, we went to the family picnic with Luke's department, generously hosted by one of his co-workers at her awesome farm. We had a great time riding horses, canoeing, throwing rocks (and more rocks!) in the river, roasting marshmallows, and taking a carriage ride.


Alex and Katie had a peaceful ride home:

We have lots of eager leaf-raking "helpers" . . . and plenty of leaves to keep them busy.

We've already done some early Halloween-ing with friends . . . with more to come!