Historic John Johnson Farm

While we were in Cleveland, we took a day to go and visit the John Johnson Farm. This is a very historic place for our church. This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith spent a year of his life in the service of the Lord. Quite a few of the revelations received in the Doctrine and Covenants were given here at this location. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the prophet here as well. It is a very sacred and special place. You can just feel the spirit when you open your car door to get out.

We were all quietly waiting for the sister missionaries to come lead us on the tour.

One of the awesome things about going to a historic site is getting to see things like they might have been back then. Gabbie and her cousin got to come up to the stove to see where the song "I'm a Little Tea Pot" came from. Gabs wasn't too interested in going up until her cousin decided to come up with her.

She followed Mills around the whole time. I think she got a little tired of Gabs but she was really nice to her and let her tag along.

All the kids thought this was a pretty cool 'quilting' machine like Grandma's.

Most of the guys who went...

One very special story about this home involves a tar and feathering. One night Joseph Smith was pulled out of his bed in the middle of night by a mob. They took him over into the forest and proceeded to tar and feather him. His wife and mother spent the rest of the night into morning trying to clean it all off. Because of these events, one of the Smith's twin children, that was already sick, died.

The next morning was the Sabbath. Joseph Smith stood on these very steps we took pictures on and preached to the people. There is more to the story that I encourage you to search out if you are interested.

We were really grateful to be able to take pictures of most of our family on those steps. It was a real testimony booster.

The steps were super HOT and we were all jumping up from them as soon as we could.

Thanks again Wilde family for letting us come visit.

Going Swimming

While in Ohio, we had a day at the beach. The kids loved it.

First we had a wonderful picnic lunch provided and prepared by all the mommies.

These were all the cousins with Grandpa, and an aunt and uncle thrown in...

While we all played out in the water, Grandma and Aunt Chelle helped us take some pictures.

Noah is totally going to be our child that wants to try every sport imaginable. He picked up this bat and was banging it up and down.

The little girls playing in the sand together...

And those of our party who didn't want to swim.

What a fun little beach. I loved that there were no waves in the water because Gabs and Noah were more outgoing and excited to be swimming.

Road Trip

Kyle's Grandpa passed away a couple weeks ago. While this was a sad time for the family, it was also a very happy time. We were surprised with a phone call from Grandma asking us to come to Cleveland where the rest of the family was going to be and spend some time together. This was on a Saturday morning so we packed up all our stuff and hopped in the car to head out for the two day drive.

We stocked up the car with the kids' toys from church, packed a cooler, and took off. They were both pretty excited to go see their cousins...

Gabbie decided to investigate the purpose of the shower cap when we stopped at a hotel for the night.

The next day of driving was a hard one. We were pretty tightly packed into the car and the kids were getting bored. Gabs asked for some snacks and the next time I turned around to see what she was doing, I saw this...

She had lined her teddy grahams up in a row, was making a merry-go-round, and having a family of a mommy, daddy, baby, brother and sister talk to each other.

Noah had a hard time taking naps during our trip in the car but whenever he did fall asleep he sure looked cute.

Daddy driving...

And this is what happens when an 11 month old gets bored in the car.

Here's the merry-go-round...

And this is what I looked like on the second day of our drive. I woke up that morning with terrible allergies and even after 2 different allergy pills and some other medicine, I still didn't feel better. Needless to say, I was not very happy about the picture.

More pictures from our trip to follow.

Running/Walking

A few weeks ago we finally went to one of the running trails near our house. We thought it would be a good habit to form and do some type of exercise every day. Gabbie thought it was awesome too because there was a playground along the trail that we promised the kids we would stop at if the kids behaved.

Gabs asked if she could get down and run with Daddy.

She didn't last very long but it was fun for us to hear her ask to run.

We stopped to play at the playground and I had to relive some of my childhood by jumping on the tire swing. Didn't work out as well as it did when I was eight years old.

And Noah playing on the ground. Of course he had to pick up the rocks and some sticks to taste.

We've been gone for a week and now I'm babysitting so I'm not sure how often we will be able to make it to the trail but I hope we can get there again soon.

Hurricane Preparedness Convention

Every year right before hurricane season, the city of Houston puts on this emergency preparedness fair. We went this year to see what advice they could give us on how to stay safe.

There were a lot of giveaways and free stuff, but not a whole lot of information or advice on how to take care of your house during hurricane season.

They had these awesome mascots come that we were able to take pictures with. Here is Gabbie with the Reliant Energy bug...

and the Energizer Bunny...

This was her first time getting her face painted. She chose a kitty cat.

These awesome guys sang songs and told us stories about how to prepare ourselves for hurricanes. Gabbie was a little scared of them but went up to get their trading cards anyway.

By this point, we were all so ready to go home and didn't even want to take the picture so that's why Gabbie is no where to be seen.

It's great that the city is trying to make sure we have the know-how to stay safe.

First Steps

From June 2010

What Happens When Daddy Gets a Squirt Bottle and Brush...?

This....

Beware!!