Grandma, Grandpa, Traci, Troy, Chad and a Road Trip

We thoroughly enjoyed having all of the visitors last week. Our house was full of lots of people and lots of fun, too. Grandma, Traci, Troy, and Chad all got here on Sunday, August 19th and then Grandpa joined us on Wednesday of that week. Brendan really bonded with Chad and it was fun to see their excitement with each other.

Early Thursday morning we all got in our cars and headed out on a road trip. Brendan rode in Grandma and Grandpa's car the whole time. Grandma says that he was really good. First we decided to stop at Kirtland, Ohio. Here we were able to visit some of the historical sites for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a picture of Chad and Brendan just in between the saw mill and the ashery which were both owned and run by Newel K. Whitney in Kirtland. Newel K. Whitney also owned the general store. I was really impressed with the Whitneys and their story. They played a huge role in the early years of the Church in Kirtland. They left Kirtland with the Saints when persecution got to be too much. They emigrated to Utah with the Saints and remained faithful throughout their lives despite the hardships that were placed in their paths.
This is a picture of the temple that the early Saints built in Kirtland. It is owned by the Community of Christ Church right now and doesn't operate like the other temples, but oh what a building. It was built in 1833 but the Saints only used it for 3 years before they had to desert it. Persecution would not allow them to stay in Kirtland any longer and they had to move. We then got back in the car and traveled to Palmyra, New York where Joseph Smith was living in 1820 when he went to the grove of trees on his family's property to pray to know which church to join. On Friday we visited all of the Church history sites in Palmyra. We got to walk through that same grove of trees where Joseph Smith received an answer that he should not join any church but that the Lord had a work for him to do. These pictures are taken inside the grove. It is not known exactly where the vision occurred, only that it was within this grove of trees. We also got to visit the Smith farm, the frame home, the Hill Cummorah where the Book of Mormon was buried, the Grandin Press where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed, and the Whitmer Farm in Fayette, New York where the Church was organized in 1830. There was such a peaceful feeling at all of the sites and I loved going.

On Saturday morning, on our way home, we decided to stop at Niagra Falls. It was so windy there. I don't think that the kids enjoyed the wind at all. But the falls were a sight to behold! It is just amazing the amount of water that is dumped over the falls and the power at which it runs over the edge.
Brendan sure thought that it was pretty exciting...he fell asleep!
They both slept through the ride on Maid of the Mist where a boat takes you out to see the falls. We got soaked, but good thing we had our ponchos on. The thought just kept on coming to me that we are supposed to keep plastic away from children...but for this ride we wrapped them in it! I'm just glad they didn't suffocate when they fell asleep!
All in all, we had a great time! It was a quick trip but we enjoyed ourselves. Brendan woke up the day after everyone left and went through withdrawls! We need to move closer to family!

smiling all the while

I love that Eliza is such a happy baby. I am reminded of a song that I learned as a young girl that has a line that goes "Make the world a better place by smiling all the while." Whenever I see my kids smiling, it really makes my world a better place.

Daddy has been working a lot lately so we have been trying to go and see him more when he is gone. We appreciate him working so much so that I can stay home with the kids. We know that he works hard and helps a lot of people. Thanks Dad!Last week for Family Home Evening we went bowling. During the summer they have $.99 bowling games so we thought that we would go and check it out. Our neighbors and friends went often during the summer and we thought that we might have seen them there, but we didn't. We will have to go sometime with them though. It was Brendan's first time going bowling and he was really excited at first to be able to watch the ball go all the way down the lane and knock the pins down, but we are sorry to say that he lost interest about half-way through the first game. But we had fun. They have this ramp to help the little kids get the ball all the way down the lane. Brendan really liked pushing the ball down. We invited our friends the Personetts to go with us and they have small children, too. I think that everyone had fun...and for Grandma Bedke's sake we even struck out a few times! (it helped me that we had bumpers for Brendan) :)I'm not sure if Brendan was helping me or I was helping Brendan in this picture... Eliza even had a pretty good time at the bowling alley. She bowled a couple of times with Dad.
Back at home Brendan has been busy teaching piano lessons to Eliza. He makes sure that she practices daily almost. He is getting pretty good, too. It has helped that he can climb up on the piano bench by himself now. He gets up there quite frequently, but he usually has to clear all of his cars off first because the piano bench has become the makeshift parking garage for all of his toy cars.
Eliza is growing up so fast. I think it is because she is always so active...I think that she sees Brendan moving around so much and that has inspired her to do the same. I don't remember Brendan moving around as much as she does. Anyway, here she is showing off all of her strong muscles that she is developing. Way to strike a pose Eliza!We are so excited to have visitors at our house tomorrow. Grandma Erickson, Traci, Troy and Chad are coming and then Grandpa Erickson will join us on Wednesday.

We are excited to share our smiles with them...as I am sure that the kids will smile all the while that they are here.