Brian and Kelsey!

My little brother is getting married! I can't believe it...to me, he is stil 12 years old:) I still remember when my mom brought him home from the hospital...we would set the timer and each take turns holding him throughout the day because we all wanted to hold him:) I am 11 years older than Brian so I spent alot of time actually taking care of him:)...and now he's old enough to get married!

I am so excited to fly out for the wedding...it's exactly two weeks away (October 8th). Brian is marrying Kelsey Hansen. He met her here in Michigan before he went on his mission and then they have dated the past year in Utah where they are both going to school. They are getting married in the Salt Lake Temple. I've never been inside the Salt Lake Temple, so I am excited about that too! I'm also looking forward to seeing alot of my family again. So stay tuned for two weeks from now for wedding photos:)....

oops!

Oops! My previous post was totally out of order...the text and pictures don't line up...I think it reversed everything somehow. One of these days I'll figure out this blogging thing:)

Julie

Relief Society Women's Retreat in Kirtland

This last weekend our Relief Society had a wonderful retreat to Kirtland! It was such a wonderful weekend. It was so nice to be able to spend time bonding with other sisters, having fun together, touring Kirtland, and having a wonderful spiritual experience.

We started out by meeting up and getting into our assigned cars. I really enjoyed getting to know the sisters in my car that sometimes I don't always get a chance to get to know that well. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive until we got to Kirtland. We were delighted to arrive at the place we stayed. It was a sprawling, beautiful home that belongs to friends of our retreat organizer, Lavon Maiersperger. Our hosts opened their home generously to about 40 women...and we had a blast. We started the night with hot-tubbing, eating junkfood:), making smores outside at the bonfire, talking, laughing, playing games, and just generally having fun. Here are a few pictures of the night...







The next day we got up early, got ready, enjoyed a yummy breakfast, and headed out to tour Kirtland. We visited the school house, the visitors center, the ashery, the Morley Farm, school of the Prophets, Newell K. Whitney store, etc. and heard misisonary speakers and things. It was neat to learn more about the early saints of the church and all their sacrifice.







After touring Kirtland, we returned to have a yummy gourmet lunch. Then we finished the retreat by going to the Kirtland Temple grounds for a wonderful talk by our stake president and a spiritual testimony meeting. It was a really great weekend! I came away feeling uplifted, rejuvinated, and connected.

Henry Ford Museum

On Monday, for Labor Day, our family went to the Henry Ford Museum. We had a great time. I love learning about history, and Logan and Tanner just soak it up whenever I explain anything to them about history. We enjoyed seeing so many things there. Here are just a few pictures...I took way too many....as usual:)

Logan and Tanner's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the long awaited day!....Tanner and Logan's first day of kindergarten! We went yesterday to the orientation where Scott and I went with them to see their classroom, meet their teacher and get all the needed info. Then today the boys got on the bus for the first time...which they have been sooooo excited about. They were prepared with flowers in hand. Having been a teacher myself, I believe in kissing up right from the start:) It was kind of funny...this morning Scott went in late to work so he could video tape the boys getting on the bus. Well, after they got on and rode away, he looked down and realized the video camera was on pause the whole time....bummer!

I've had such mixed emotions. All week I've been a little bit sentimental about them going off to kindergarten...while at the same time rejoicing in the new found "freedom" of the prospect of only having two kids each morning. Today I went to Target and it was like a dream! For those moms of one or two kids...they may take this for granted, but after having to pack up and take four kids with me to every store all over town and just trying to manage getting things done while meeting the needs of four little kids...I am so excited about this prospect of not feeling quite so "stretched". Am I a selfish mom for not crying as they rode away today?? haha

When they came home, they were so excited to tell me about every part of their day. Anyways, here are some pics of them waiting for and getting on the bus. Sorry they are turned...I keep forgetting to turn them before I upload them and am too lazy to fix them right now:)

Our Nation's Capitol

We recently went to Virginia to visit Scott's family. While we were there, the weather was gorgeous, so we took advantage of it and headed into Washington DC to see the mall and the patriotic sites. We saw the national monument and went all the way to the top of it. The boys liked that the best:) We also saw the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the new World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the reflecting pool. We did ALOT of walking that day. The boys were good sports and didn't complain at all about having to walk so much...

There is so much to see and do in DC. We try to take one day each time we go to VA to do something in DC (about 1 1/2 hours from Scott's parents). Next time we are planning to tour the White HOuse and the Capitol Builing....and go back to the temple we were married in at in DC to show our kids where we were married:)

Time to Make the Zucchini Bread

It's harvest time and we have been pulling things out of the garden to use. These pictures are from a couple weeks ago...Logan and Tanner helped me shred all the zucchini so we could make six loaves of zucchini bread. We decided to do "doorbell ditches" or "ring-n-run's"...and this has become one of the boys favorite Family Home Evenings:) We dropped zucchini bread at various ward member's houses and then rang the doorbell and ran and tried to get away without them seeing us. The boys loved the excitement of trying not to get caught (although three of the families "caught" us:). Oh, and I think I put on a pic of our beans and chives....anyways...

Greenfield Village

Yesterday we went with our friends, the Aeschliman's, to Greendfield Village. I hadn't been there since I was about ten years old...and really enjoyed going there again. Our kids get along so great and a wonderful time was had by all! Some of the highlights included: riding the old fashion bus around the village, riding the carousel, making hand-dipped candles, visiting the old fashion candy store, seeing how they blow glass, make pottery, make yarn, weave on looms, print newspapers, etc. We also took the train around the village, a horse-drawn wagon ride, and a model-T car ride tour around the village. I loved seeing the different people dressed up in time period clothing. So much more to tell...but in a nutshell, we had a fabulous time!

Beating the Heat at Indian Springs Splash Park