Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Visiting Kirtland...

One of the really cool things about living where we do is we are able to go visit so many of the Church History sights. While my parents were here we went to Kirtland, OH. (about an hour and a half from here) It was so fun to see the buildings and walk were those first members walked. The temple was beautiful, too.



The Newell K Whitney General Store

inside the store

2nd floor of the General Store. This is where Joseph Smith and Emma lived for a year or two. This is their living room area and the place where many revelations were received and recorded.


This is what the scriptures (the bible) looked like from that time.

This is a green area that is down the way from the store. It is on the path to the Saw Mill and the Ashery and next to the river where many of the early members were baptized.


The saw Mill





Inside the saw Mill was a carpentry area where many of the fixtures for the temple were assembled and carved.

 This is the Ashery. The Saints used to bring all the ashes from their home fireplaces. This is the last known remaining ashery in North America

They would gather all the ashes in the barrels and then slowly drip water over them over the course of several days. They would recollect the water, which was now lye water and make soap to use and sell to fund the temple.




 They would also take the ashes and continue to refine it using stove like pots and ovens. Eventually they would get potash which they could sell for about $200 a barrell which is then used to make things like porcelain. The ashery helped fund the massive expense of building the temple.






They had an actual chemist lab in the ashery to check the lye water and ashes to make sure they were ready to use.



This is the Inn.










Poppa and Grandma J come to visit...

It was so nice having my parents come visit. We had a fun week while they were here. 







Thursday, June 9, 2016

8th Grade Graduation

Today was Aaron's 8th Grade Graduation. All I can say it "Hallelujah, we're done!"
I am still processing the fact that we are now starting the High School years. I'm sure it will sink in eventually. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Aaron turned to me and said, "8th grade was so 10 minutes ago..." and then bust into laughter. I sure love this kid.
He makes me want to laugh, cry and scream (all in the same day sometimes!) but I love him and am so proud of all the hard work he's had to put in to get him this far. 
On to High School!



(This picture might be my favorite today!)


Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Aaron's Last Middle School Concert

Last night was Aaron's last Middle School concert. They did great! In a band of 90 kids, Aaron was the only french horn player. He did great! Their last song was the epic Star Wars finale! (Perfect!)

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Zoo Parade






Today was Aaron's first parade with the marching band. It was the Erie Zoo Parade and it was a lot of fun. The band did great! It was a WILD time!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Talkin' to Grandma J

Micah loves talking to his Grandma. 

Friday, May 13, 2016

Friday Night at the Lake



Matt and Micah watching the sunset...



Playing on the beach,,,




Levi was trying to throw the sand back in the Lake. He kept yelling, "Take your sand, back, Lake!" but as soon as I got the camera out to record it he stopped talking. Typical. Anyway, it was awesome, just like him. He LOVES Lake Erie.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Caleb's 5th Grade 80's Concert


The 5th graders at Caleb's school had an 80's concert. It was awesome!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Activity Day Girls Mother's Day Activity


It was so fun to attend the Mother's Day dinner that the Activity Day girls had for us. I love my Kellie!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Our New Fence

One of the concerns about the house we chose in PA was that there wasn't a fence. With our dog and a lot of kids, we knew this was going to be a problem. Since we moved in the middle of Winter, we decided to make do until Spring. Well, Spring has sprung and we finally got our fence installed! 
Sally, our dog, is so happy. She tends to be really nervous and didn't like having undefined boundaries. As for the kids, well, they loved the freedom of undefined boundaries, but I did not. I am much happier having them corralled. 
Here's the pictures:



Saturday, April 16, 2016

Matt's Birthday

This year Matt's Birthday was brought to you by the letter "B" and the number 39!
Matt got a BIG BOX with a BBQ grill inside!
The kids played with the BOX and BUBBLES while he put it together.

The BOYS also played BALL in the BACKYARD.

There's BURGERS on that grill! It was a BEAUTIFUL day, too!

The cupcake BEFORE picture...

It's a BIRTHDAY "BONFIRE"!

BURNT candles.

Happy 39th BIRTHDAY, Matt! We love you!



Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The Bayfront




We had some time to spare while the older kids were in Scouts tonight, so the younger 4 and I decided a trip to the bayfront was in order. That sunset was spectacular! It's so nice living 15 minutes from the Lake...