Carter Visit

My sister and her family moved from New York to Idaho this summer. I was so grateful that they drove through Kansas City on their trip. They only stayed two nights but it was fun to see Daniel and Anna and play some games of Settlers in the evenings. Anna gave me a smile when they first arrived.

Daniel and I went to a park and wading pool on Monday while Katrina and Neal did their laundry.

Later in the day we went to the Indepedence Visitor Center and drove past the Kansas City Temple which is under construction.

We loved that Daniel slept on his knees with his rear in the air.

Good luck in Rexburg. Hopefully we can see you again soon.

Mid-July Vacation with Parents

My parents came for a visit this last weekend. We were so lucky they had time off their mission to come see us.  We also needed a vacation from day to day life.  Brandon was able to take a few days off to chauffeur us around. 

On Thursday we went to the Steamboat of Arabia, the Toy and Miniature Museum, Independence Visitor Center, and to see the Kansas City temple.

Friday we made a quick trip to Liberty Jail and then drove to the St. Louis Temple.  We spent that evening enjoying the Gateway Arch, the Westward Expansion Museum, and the huge Mississippi River.

Saturday we walked and sweated through the St. Louis Zoo.  I love going there.  This visit along with seeing all our favorite animals we got to pet the stingrays and watch the sea lion show.  It was a hot day and we only lasted until noon.

Thanks for visiting us, Mom and Dad.

♫ 'Cause it's Christmas in Kansas City... ♪

I realized after talking to a co-worker that my Christmas tree is actually a Hanukkah Bush because it is decorated in blue and silver. We had lots of conversations at work on why Christmas colors are red and green and Hanukkah colors are blue and silver. Maybe next year I'll add some red to the tree or maybe just the wrapping paper.

Brandon's favorite gift this year was a remote control helicopter. You can just see the happiness in his face. After crashing the helicopter into every surface in our living room he is getting really good at controlling it.

To entertain myself this Christmas, I made doughnuts from scratch. It was actually pretty fun and they turned out really tasty.

Holidays at Full Speed

Let's see. Where did we leave off? Oh yes, October. It doesn't seem long ago, really.  Let's hit the major holidays, I guess.

Halloween

Mark and Kristilyn bought us a pumpkin while they were visiting us. Here's what we did with it.

And thank you to the Hoopes for loaning us some costumes for the ward Halloween party. Brandon's got his glare on.

Thanksgiving

Melody cooked her first turkey.  We didn't get food poisoning or anything. It actually turned out to be quite a success.  So much so that we were too busy eating to take any more pictures than just this one.

Christmas

While Christmas technically is not here yet, we are enjoying the season. Here's a picture of our tree. Melody says that it looks the same as last year, but Brandon says that we need a picture because, hey, it's in a new place.