When Will I Change?

Lincoln asked us a very interesting question. "When will I change?" Unsure what exactly he meant, we asked.

His reply was, "Well, there are kids in my class who are 5 and their skin is darker. When will my skin change to darker?" I am fascinated with how he learns and puts things together. I stopped saying, "when I was a little girl" a long time ago because it confused him into thinking that we can change from being a girl to a boy or vice versa. Now I am in the habit of saying, "when I was little," or "while I was growing up."

I love the innocence of questions from my kids.

Oatmeal Sandbox

Perhaps we need to clarify with our children a better place for a sandbox. Perhaps with sand instead of oats. Jeff found this fun mess, an entire, previously unopened box of oats spread out all over the toyroom! He was making breakfast while I was at seminary. Poor dad.

The Fall

I've been so blessed to see the fall colors in three different parts of the country this year! Who doesn't love fall?

Lincoln experienced another kind of fall that has left it's mark on his forehead. He was riding on a unique piece of playground equipment where there are two poles angled down like a slide. You can put them under your arms and slide right down. The kids were doing pretty well with it and having a blast. This time in particular though, Lincoln didn't put his feet down to stop himself. He went straight into the rocks face first. When I went over to console him I asked, "did you forget to stop?" His reply was, "I stopped with my head."

Invading Kansas!

All of this crazy group invaded Kansas this weekend to meet our new little niece and see her proud mommy and daddy.

The four of us stayed with Jeff's friend Dalton and his dad Charlie. They were super good to us and so much fun to be around. Dalton had to work on Saturday, but Charlie took us to Independence to see a few of the church history sites there. We spent some time in the visitor's center where they had lots of things to see and do for the whole family. The boys had plenty of energy and were not wanting to stay in one place very long.

They had a fun time pretending to drive a wagon then Charlie had them racing each other back and forth on the sidewalk.

We went next to Liberty Jail. We walked into the lobby of the building and were greeted by a sweet and kind senior missionary couple. As we were talking with them about whether or not this would be something to bring the kids to Jackson ran from across the room and swatted the sweet sister right in the backside! We were all in shock, but the look on HER face was just priceless. After my abundant apologies on his behalf and all of us trying not to laugh, but gain composure... we decided that the kids would not do well there. Charlie graciously offered to take the kids to a nearby park so that Jeff and I could go on inside.

Another senior missionary elder led us into a room where he told us all about the history of the area and what led to the imprisonment of Joseph Smith. It was fascinating and I could have listened to him all day... but it also took a lot of time, so by the time we walked into the actual jail area we had to excuse ourselves and get back to the boys. Hopefully we'll have another opportunity one day to have the full experience! I'm still so grateful for the things I learned and the Spirit that I felt in both of the visitor's centers.

That evening we found a delicious little Thai restaurant highly recommended by Dalton's GPS. We ate quickly because we were late for our own party! We had a family gathering back at the house in celebration of Jeff's 30th birthday (Sunday). We watched the slide show I've been working on for Jeff entitled "30 things we love about Jeff" We had a delicious 4 layer dessert per Jeff's request... I have a feeling I'm going to have more requests for that one! We enjoyed being with family and watching football and had a great evening.

The following morning we were able to attend baby Addy's beautiful blessing and then had a lovely picnic in a nearby park. The leaves were so gorgeous and we had beautiful weather. Perfect!

We had a lovely, fun and Spirit filled weekend!