Friday, July 30, 2010

Grandin Press

We toured the Grandin Press when we were in Palmyra. It was very interesting and the tour was much more involved than I realized. We started in the bookshop part, then went up to the 3rd floor to the room where the Book of Mormon was printed. After that we went down to a room where they did the binding. We toured the offices, etc.

Our little friend Sarah Price helping the missionary show how the Book of Mormon was printed. All the kids got to help at one point or another during the tour. They loved it.
This is I believe the actual transcript of the Book of Mormon.

Here is a First Edition copy of the Book of Mormon. It was found in a home in Palmyra and given to the church. What I wouldn't give to hold it!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Niagara Falls

We decided to go up to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah Pagent and went day early and go to Niagara Falls. We stayed in a hotel pretty close so we wouldn't have to drive far in the morning. When we went to eat, it was nice and sunny. But the ugly gray clounds came in quick and never left. It rained all day. Would we let the rain stop us-no way. On we went.


The first place we went was the Maid of the Mist. We were all pretty excited for the boat ride. I was a bit bummed out that it was raining so hard, but ah well. We had one day to do it so we had not choice. The rain did let up a bit as we were going to the boat, but little did we know the heavens would open on us in a few minutes.

Here we are waiting in line.
A view of the falls from the boat. I was longing for some sun at this point. Shortly after this we made a mad dash to the bottom of the boat to get cover from the massive downpour.
If you look closely you can see Landon's hand-he's sucking his finger.
another shot of the falls.
I think this was before the massive downpour.

The color of the day: gray.

Here we are when we got off the Maid of the Mist. The rain had subsided, so that was nice. There are some steps you can walk up on the side of the falls. We went part way up, but then the kiddos were done. Here they are on the walk up.
Yup, looking pretty dorky. Afterward I realized I should have taken my hood off. Ah well.

When we left the Maid of the Mist we drove to another part of the park. We decided to go to The Cave of the Winds where you can walk really close to the falls. I was a bit worried about Landon and my fears came true. More on that later. We drove around for a bit just looking at the rapids leading up to the falls and then parked. The rain had subsided for a bit, but then when we were ready to get out it started pouring again. We stayed in the car for a bit to eat something, but it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, so we made a run for it. We got our tickets then got ready to go.

We had been seeing people wearing these sandals all day and wondered about them. We found out that you get them for the Cave of The Winds for very good reason!! You get soaked!!!

Maney feet:)
A view of the falls from just before the Cave of the Winds.
We really loved the Cave of the Winds. It was VERY close to the falls, and we think because of the rain it was flowing extremely hard. I was a bit nervous about the wet steps and the kids being able to go through, but they did ok. There were a couple scarry moments, like the time Landon fell. I ended up carrying him the rest of the way, which was not fun. It was cool to feel the water coming down and be right there, despite the fear of my children floating away.

A view of the top
A view from the top of the falls looking down on the Cave of the Winds trail.
This picture was before we went on the trail. Landon wasn't too happy, so maybe that's why he did not like the walk at all!!

Conversations

Starting early this morning, we have had some funny conversations in this house. I wanted to write them down to keep for posterity.

About 8:00 this morning, both Landon and Jordan come into our bed. Darin and I were both just in our garments since the top floor of the house gets the hottest. (Although I do have to interject that we had an attic fan installed a couple weeks ago and we have felt a difference:)

Here's how it went

Jordan: Daddy, why do you have pants underwear?
Darin:That's just the kind I have.
Jordan: Mommy has pants underwear, too.
Darin: yes, that's what we have.
Jordan:But Karly's mother had colorful ones. Why don't you have colorful ones?

( She has seen Karly's mom change out of her bathing suit-very discretely and respectfully- in the locker room at the pool. We have had this conversation many times. She just can't get her head wrapped around garments:) So funny.

It continues:

Jordan: Daddy, When did the world start?
Darin: When God made it and Adam and Eve lived on it.
Jordan : When did the church start?
Darin: When the world started.
Jordan: Well who were the first people to go to church?

We proceeded to have a discussion about how the gospel has been taught for a long time and that Jesus created the church when he was on the earth.

Jordan: Well, we have the truth in our church but Lizzie doesn't.
Mommy: Yes she does, she goes to our same church.
Jordan: No she doesn't, she goes to a different one.

We proceeded to have a discussion between the difference between the words "religion" and "church." That you can go to the same church, but different buildings. Very hard for little brains to understand.

Now to Spencer. This kids cracks me up.

Right before lunch, both Spencer and Jordan had to go to the bathroom-this inevitably happens right before we want to say a blessing on the food. So Jordan was on the main level, and Spencer went up stairs. When Jordan got back, she asked where Spencer was. I told her he went up to go "poop" Yeah, I know- we probably use that word too freely in our house.

Jordan:No he's not-he's probably just playing.
Me: No, I think he really had to go. Why don't you go check on him.
Jordan: I will.

So she goes up and comes back down to tell me he was going potty and playing at the same time.

Spencer comes down and hands me his pants and underwear. He cannot go potty with his pants nda underwear on!!! I don't know what he is going to do when he goes to school. We get him dressed.

He has his hands full of these styrofoam dinosaur shapes they play with in the tub. I ask him what he is doing with all those in his hands.

He says to me in a sing-song type manner "I poop and play. While I poop, I play."

Nice.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Magic House Children's Museum in St. Louis

While we were in St. Louis we went to the coolest children's museum ever! It is called the Magic House. I remember going there as a teenager with my mom and little sisters, so it brings back good memories. We went there with Jordan and Spencer the last time we went to St. Louis, but that was 4 years ago, and they added a new addition since then.

So thanks to my sweet cousin who had a punch card, we only had to pay for 2 of us. It was my sister and her kids, my kids, my niece from another sister and my cousin and her 2 kids. We missed the rest of the family, but it was still so fun. We stayed all day!!

There is so much to do at this place, so there are tons of pictures. I just couldn't narrow it down.

One of the first places we went was the water play area. There were lots of sprayers, flowing water, etc to play with .

There was an area with lots of things to crawl in and through with fun slides. We also had fun in the shadow room.
One thing the Magic House is famous for is the electromagnetic ball that makes your hair stand up on end. Here are someshots of my family when we tried it. Loved Spencer's hair !!

Spencer loved the orange cape and this hand chair. This area was about "super recyclers" etc. It was about recycling, reducing and reusing. Fun stuff.
Bubbles, bubbles and more huge bubbles!!

The new addition had a 3 story beanstalk that the kids could crawl up. Spencer did not like it at all. Jordan and Landon did about one floor and some of the cousins made it all the way up. My cousin's little boy got to the top and then realized where he was and got scared so he started crying. We had to talk him down-it was pretty funny.

Here's my niece Emiley in the beanstalk.
Here we are in the "recycling" area. It was all about being "green" There was a play thrift store, a garden area, recycling area, etc.

One section the kids loved tons was the construction area. We played out there for a while. It was a nice area, but it was partly outside so it was quite hot. The good thing was that there was some shade. But the kiddos had loads of fun.

Spencer playing dress up. Maybe he'll build me a big house someday.

and they loved the "mighty machine" as my boys called it.
So if you ever are driving through St. Louis, this place is a MUST!!!

Here are my kids with all but one of their cousins. Yeah, don't mind the gun on the wall-I didn't even realize it was there until after I took the picture. Oops.
Me and my favorite Aunt Sue and Uncle Randy. Aunt Sue is my mom's older sister. I love my Aunt Sue so much. As a kid we were always with them. I would stay over at her house on the weekends a lot. She has always been there for us and I love her tons!!
On our way out of town, we stopped in Illinois and visited my uncle Bill and two cousins Ashlee and Johnny. We had a nice visit and the kids loved playing with Johnny. My cute cousin Ashlee is quite a little photographer and we have been in touch a lot on facebook, and it has been many years since we've seen her so it was very fun to see her.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Now I understand

When I lived in Utah, one summer there was this big uproar when a lady was doing yard work in her bikini. (I am pretty sure it was her bikini-it may have been in the buff, which is understandably controversial, but I don't remember for sure.) I just remember hearing it on the news that her neighbors were all in a tizzy because they did not feel that she should be doing that. I think she was told by the police not to and she was interviewed, on the news, etc. Now that I think about it, she may have been nude and was arrested for indecent exposure. She was mad since it was her own property.....my memory is a little fuzzy....

Well, I can now understand....a bit, anyhow. NO, I did NOT do my yard work in a bikini-that would be downright gross, but I do have to confess that when I had been outside for about an hour in 95 degrees and sweat was dripping down my face and my shirt was sweat soaked, I took it off and continued my work in my sports bra and shorts. I felt so much better and worked for almost 2 more hours.

Now you may wonder why I make a point to blog about this. Because it is totally out of the norm for me. I was so worried about the neighbors looking out the window and seeing this fat lady doing work in her bra. I finally decided that I didn't care what anyone thought, and figured that my neighbors on one side are still out of town, and the old guy on the other side probably isn't in the habit of looking out the window to see if I am in my yard.

As for the other neighbors across the way who could maybe see my yard from their upstairs window, I decided WHO CARES?

It was LIBERATING. Not to worry what people thought, I mean. And the bonus was that I felt so much better since I was so freaking hot.

On a side note, I went to WW this morning and have really slid back a lot. I did not want to go, but I need to get back on track. So we are going to do it!! If I seem grumpy to you in the next couple weeks, it will be because I'm hungry. After a few weeks, I'll be ok.

After the enrichment we had this past week, which could be a post on it's own, I realized that I need to take care of myself more-to put more effort into becoming my best. I spend too much time wishing for things that may not be right for me, too much time wishing things were better and not doing anything about it. NOW I need to take control of the things I can. I lost 100 lbs before I got married, so there is NO reason I can't do it again. I will keep telling myself that and get rid of all the excuses.

Wow-nice rant, huh?

Monday, July 12, 2010

It has to be her idea

Jordan, I mean.

Jordan has always been a bit stubborn, but lately she shows how she will not do anything unless it is clearly her idea. Every since she was potty trained, she has had issues at night. She has not been dry at night, basically. We have tried a few different things to help her-just wearing undies and hoping she doesn't like to be wet, prizes, charts, etc. Nothing worked.

Until....peer pressure kicked in!!!

About a month and a half ago we went on a camp out with brownies. When it got close to bedtime, I pulled her aside and said we had to go put her pull up on. She said no, that we could go later. She finally refused to put it on and made me bury it in the bottom of the bag. See, she had a matching sleeping bag with a friend in her class who happens to be in her brownie troop, so they were all busy getting their stuff set up.

She's been dry ever since!

Amazing!

Such a relief!!!

So last week we went to a water park with our great friends the Price's. Jordan loves Sarah who is about 18 months older. She is a good little swimmer and showed Jordan how she could go off the diving board.

A little history is that last year Jordan refused to go off the diving board in her swim lessons-both sessions. She had a hard time even "diving" off the side of the pool. Just refused. Once she stood on the board, but that was it.

So we are all just hanging out in the water and out of the clear blue she says to me "mommy, I want to go off the diving board."

Off we went. I kept quiet and let her take the lead. Sarah went first, then Jordan did it!!!! She came up all happy and was quite proud of herself. And confident enough that she did it a few more times.

We celebrated by stopping at Dairy Queen on the way home. Woo Hoo Jordan!!


So you see, it has to be her idea.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fun in Nauvoo

Behind the Nauvoo Visitors Center is a beautiful garden area with beautiful sculptures paying tribute to women are on display. It was fun to walk through and see them all. There was also a narration you could play as well.
Nauvoo is truly a swamp. We learned on the wagon ride about how the people were given a plot then had to irrigate it and fill it in. It rained while we were there and I saw this view on the wagon ride. Yup, still a swamp.


This is the beginning of the Trail of Hope. It is Parley Street where the saints made the trek down to the river to board the raft to cross the river. It happened to be flooded that day and there were lots of missionaries putting in drainage pipes and filling the trail in so people could actually walk down the street and read the plaques if they wanted. I would loved to have done that, but don't think the kiddos would have been keen on that
More of the trail later in the day after we saw the missionaries filling it in. I couldn't help but wonder what the saints were thinking and feeling when they had to leave the place they built and loved so much. How could they know what would lye in store for them. My gratitude for the saints just grew in leaps and bounds as we drove down this road. Mothers carrying tiny babies, kids in tow, leaving everything they loved behind. Could we do that now days?
Here is a reproduction of the rafts that were used to get the wagons and saints across the river. A little daunting if you ask me!!
Here is the Mississippi River at the end of the Trail Of Hope. I would be pretty nervous with the idea of crossing that huge river with my wagon on a raft!n The teamster on the wagon ride did say that the river is very far over it's banks at the current time, so maybe when the pioneers crossed it, it was much smaller. Nonetheless, a huge undertaking any way you look at it!!


We really loved the Family Living Center. There were different stations you went to that did demonstrations of daily how they did things in daily life during the 1840's. Jordan was VERY into it and talked a lot to the senior missionaries as they would do the demos. So cute. Spencer and Landon wanted to play with the old fashioned toys more than listen. But they did like the rope making. Some of the stations were: sheering sheep and making yarn, brick oven bread making, candle making, rug making, the loom, rope making, pottery, barrel making, and there were buggies on display. We had to keep Landon from climbing under the ropes-he desperately wanted to get in one of the buggies.

We got to keep the rope we made, tasted the bread, and got a little tiny candle, so the kids were thrilled with the freebies. Reminds me of their daddy and getting free stuff. Oh, we also went to a bakery next door to the Cultural Hall and got a free cookie.

They had a super fun musical called "Simply Anna Amanda" in the "Cultural Hall" The kids loved it and the performers were excellent. A must see if you go there.
We stopped at a play area after looking around a bit. Landon had fallen asleep, so Jordan and Spencer and I played a while and Darin looked around the Post Office building as well as the John Taylor House. Lanny finally woke up so he did get a bit of a chance to play.

We had such fun here-stilts, climbing teddy bears, a wooden horse and sheep to sit on, a table "bowling" type game, tops to spin, little pioneer houses to play in, old fashioned hand games, "roll" the wheel game, pull the stick,and much more. It was a blast.
Spencer didn't want to dress up, but he did wear a hat for a minute:)



The play area was so fun. We probably would have stayed a lot longer if we weren't super hungry and sweating buckets. It was so stinking hot and humid. They had a dress up area where you could put on pioneer clothing, but the Maney kiddos weren't down with that-I didn't blame them-it was soooo hot and we were already so sweaty.

Overall, if you can do it, I highly suggest a trip to Nauvoo!! There's a lot of fun things to do, but even more importantly, you can feel the Spirit of the Prophet Joseph Smith so strongly. It was a boost to my testimony and I feel it is a huge gift that I was able to receive!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Joseph Smith Historical Site

Unfortunately all the buildings previously owned by Joseph Smith are now owned by the reorganized Church which is now called the Community of Christ. You can walk around, but don't get a tour unless you go to their visitors center. I wanted to do it, but it was over an hour and a half and there was no way the kids would have sat for that. But we did wander around and saw some things on our own.

We saw the Red Brick Store where the Relief Society was organized. It was actually a reconstruction, but was exactly like the first one. I chatted a bit with worker and found a couple things out about the reorganized church. Very interesting.

We went to the Smith Family Cemetery. We saw the graves of Joseph, Lucy and Hyrum. We learned that they Joseph and Hyrum were burried somewhere the mob wouldn't find them, then they moved them to the foundation of a little shed like structure on the property-the pic is under the following 2 pics. I don't remember when the finally made the permanent grave site where the bodies are now.

The bodies were once in the foundation of this building.
A few more pics. The one in the bottom right corner is inside the Homestead.

The Mansion house.

When I walked past the house, it was open. I saw some other people walk in, so I did too!! I was so excited-Joseph Smith's home...well, I know that the furnishings are probably not original, but the building is, so I was in a building where the Prophet once lived-where he ate, prayed, read scriptures, spent time with his family...where he lived. It was so amazing.


I think it's amazing that the stone is still there. And everytime I get lost in DC, I wish that they would have laid DC out like Nauvoo!! Well, what Darin and I really wish was that they had Brigham Young plan DC and the area. I wouldn't get lost as much.