"I Miss Jesus"

Tonight before the girls went to bed, Avery wanted to watch The Testaments movie. After it was over, she was sitting on the couch and looked really sad. I thought she was just sad because the movie was over and it was time for bed. I asked her what was wrong though and she said, with tears coming down her face, "I miss Jesus."

It kind of caught me off guard and I didn't really know what to say at first. I just gave her a big hug and kiss and told her that even though we can't see Jesus like they did on the movie, we can always pray to Heavenly Father to feel Jesus close to us. I told her that when we feel warm and happy it means that Jesus is close and helping us feel that way. I told Avery that someday she would get to see Jesus. Her response was, "I don't know which day I get to see Him."

"I don't either Avery," I said, "But someday you will get to see Him again. Do you know that Jesus loves you lots and lots and lots?"

"Yes," Avery said, "And Heavenly Father loves me too."

It is moments like these when I realize why we are told we need to become innocent like little children.

Our Vacation

Well, Brandon and I are back from our wonderful vacation. We spent the last five days in Nauvoo and driving all over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and part of Iowa. We flew in to Minneapolis on Wed. and then drove to Keokuk, Iowa where we stayed the night. Then on Thursday morning we went to this beautiful place:

The Nauvoo temple is absolutely gorgeous! The inside is even more beautiful than the outside. We did the 8:00 session and it was so peaceful and wonderful. The temple was definitely the highlight of Nauvoo. Seeing the sites is neat, but there is nothing that beats the spirit you feel inside the temple. The Joseph Smith mansion house. All of the Joseph Smith sites are owned by the Community of Christ church (a.k.a. RLDS church) so they did the tour of the mansion house, the red brick store, and the gravesites of Emma, Hyrum, and Joseph. It was neat to see these places, but unfortunate that they are not owned by the church.

In front of the first home of Emma and Joseph Smith which backs right up to the Mississippi river. It was so beautiful there.

Carthage Jail. Other than the temple, this was our favorite place we visited. There is a special spirit and reverence there that cannot be described. It's really surreal to be in the same room that Joseph and Hyrum were martyred in. My testimony of the restoration was definitely strengthened there and I knew more than ever that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

Well, after we visited Nauvoo and Carthage, we drove back up to Minneapolis, which is about a 7 hour drive. We were exhausted by the time we got to our hotel, which was about 1:30 a.m. That was a long first day! The rest of our trip was spent visiting areas where Brandon served his mission and recalling memories he had in each place.

This was in Austin, MN where Brandon was towards the end of his mission. Behind us is the apartment he stayed in while he was there. FYI - Austin is the birthplace of SPAM and they even have a SPAM museum there. We tried to go to it, but they had just closed 5 minutes before we got there. Oh well, Brandon got me a T-shirt from there while he was serving in Austin, which I still have.

We had to get a picture of Brandon next to "his" sign. I'm guessing it's a small town in MN - Brandon never actually went there though.

On Friday we went to the mission office where Brandon spent his last few months. We forgot to get a picture there, but it was nice to meet the senior missionaries serving there and some of the elders who dropped in. The picture above was taken in a city called Brooklyn Center where we ate at a 50's diner. The girls wore poodle skirts and it was all 50's music and decorations. That was a fun place and the burgers and shakes were delish!

On Saturday we drove up to Duluth, MN which I had heard of before, but pictured it to be a small rural town. It is actually a really beautiful place that overlooks Lake Superior. I had no idea how big Lake Superior is, but it looks like the ocean because it goes on forever and you can't see land on the other side. It was a little chillier there than the other cities in MN, so there weren't any swimmers in the lake. But, it was beautiful to look at.

These are some views of Lake Superior from a neighborhood up on a hill.

This was not my idea, but Brandon wanted to take some pictures of me when we got closer down to the lake. Cheesy, I know. We felt the water just to see how cold it was, and it was freezing! We heard on the radio that the low that night was supposed to be 35 degrees.

On Sunday we went to church in Red Wing, which was Brandon's favorite area. This church building was built and dedicated while he was there. We got to see a couple that he baptized and visit with the current missionaries in the ward. They were really good missionaries and they and Brandon shared a lot of stories and experiences from Red Wing and other areas that they had served in. There was also a family in the Red Wing ward who had just moved there from Gilbert, AZ in February - small world.

This is a view from a hill in Red Wing. We stopped by a city called Apple Valley and talked for a while with a family that Brandon taught. They were such a nice family and you could tell how much they loved Brandon while he served there. It was so neat to go back to Brandon's mission and see all of the places I had heard so much about. We would be driving through some streets and a memory of teaching somebody, or staying in a tiny apartment, or riding his bike in the snow would come flooding back to him. We had such a great time on our trip. I fell in love with Minnesota while I was there. It was so green and beautiful, and all of the people we met were so nice and friendly. (Except for the cop downtown who gave us a red light ticket:( Really though, the people there are so kind and down-to-earth. I love their accent too! Not everyone has it, but the further you get outside of Minneapolis, the more you hear it. I know now why Brandon loved it there so much. We don't know when we will be able to go there again, but I am already looking forward to it!

Our Family through Avery's Eyes

Last week was Avery's last week of preschool and it was at our house. On Tuesday our theme was "My Family" so I had all of the kids make some puppets of each member of their family. Then we had everyone sit down in the living room while each one of them held up their puppets and told us about their family members. I wrote down what each of them said and put it in their puppet bag to take home to their family. Let me just tell you, it was pretty hilarious. Some of the kids told us about their dads putting them in timeout or their little brothers getting lots of "no-no's", or how they sneak into their sister's room to wake her up sometimes. It was so cute to hear each one of them describe their families from their perspective. I am so glad I wrote them down too because you just can't remember or say things the same way that a 4 or 5-year-old can.

So here is what Avery said in her own words about our family:

Avery - This is me. I go to dinner with my family. (I think she meant "eat" dinner with my family because we very rarely go out to eat as a family.) They help me take a shower and I can do it by myself. And I can sweep the floor and rocks.

Hayden - This is my sister Hayden. She likes to not share with me with my toys. I can share her toys with her. I can help her make her bed clean.

Kiley - This is my sister Kiley. She likes to laugh at me whil I play with her. Mommy and Daddy like to throw her a lot and tickle her.

Mommy - This is my Mommy. She likes to watch me do piano and I can do it by myself. She loves me a lot and gives me hugs and kisses.

Daddy - This is my Daddy. He likes to give me tickles and spankies at night (don't worry, it's a game, not a punishment). I can be good. Daddy is the most favorite thing I ever seen. He can have a date with mommy and can tuck me in at night.

That one was my favorite "Daddy is the most favorite thing I ever seen." We both know that she won't always feel like that about her parents, but we will definitely enjoy it while we can. Despite her usual meltdowns, Avery is really sweet and has a kind heart. We love her a lot and I can't believe she will be in kindergarten in a few months. Everyone tells you they grow up fast, but I didn't believe it until all of a sudden I had a 5-year-old and two other children. It really is amazing to me.

Well, we are counting down the days until our trip! On Wed. Brandon & I are flying to Minnesota for our anniversary. He served his mission in Minneapolis and we have always wanted to go back there together. We wrote letters the whole time while he was there, so whenever he talks about certain places or areas, I feel like I know so much about it, but now it will be neat to actually see it in person and meet some of the people I've heard so much about. We are also going to Nauvoo to see all of the church history sites there. I actually went there with my Ricks volleyball team years ago. We had a tournament in Illinois and were given permission from the school to go early and spend a few days in Nauvoo. It was really cool. This time will be different though. I will be with my hubby and we get to go to the Nauvoo temple (which was still in construction when I was there.) We will get to experience everything together, which will be so fun. And this time I won't have to run 8 miles along the river like we did with our team last time :) Brandon told me just to pretend that I had never been there either so we can experience everything for the first time together. We can't wait! Two more days...

Thankful Thursday May '09

I was reading my scriptures this morning and the very last verse said: "Pray without ceasing and give thanks in all things." As soon as I read that I remembered about Thankful Thursday. In case you missed the last one, I decided to make a list of the things I am thankful for on the first Thursday of every month. Well, even though it's a day late, better late than never :)

I am thankful for...

1. Naptime
2. Fresh fruit
3. Answers to prayers
4. Good friends
5. Being raised in the church
6. A husband who grew up with women
7. Computers
8. Sunsets
9. Hayden finally pooping in the potty (hooray!)
10. Air conditioning
11. Temples
12. Yummy candles
13. Promptings from the Holy Ghost
14. Disposable diapers
15. The laughter of my children
16. Wonderful extended family members
17. Fresh flowers
18. My health
19. Good doctors and nurses
20. Eternal families
21. General Conference
22. The Atonement
23. Forgiveness
24. Visiting Teaching
25. All of the wonderful mothers out there who are my example and who teach me so much :)

I hope you all have a nice Mother's Day weekend!

Bilingual Baby

This made me laugh today so I thought I would post about it. This morning at breakfast Kiley (who is almost a year old now) was doing her normal babbling baby talk while the girls were eating their cereal.

Avery asked me, "Mom, what is Kiley saying?"

I said, "I don't know Avery."

Then Avery responded, "I think she is talking in Spanish."

I got a good laugh out of that one. Gotta love kids!

Target vs. Walmart

I know that hate is a strong word, and I don't use it much, but if there is a word that describes my feelings about Walmart, it is pretty close to those four letters. In contrast, I absolutely LOVE Target. I went to Target earlier this week to get a few things, as I do almost on a weekly basis. I found a parking spot right next to the curb, and close to the entrance. I walked in and smelled the distinct aroma of popcorn (all Targets smell like popcorn when you walk in) and see red everywhere, which made me happy. I put Hayden and Kiley in a shopping cart, printed a gift registry for an upcoming baby shower, and proceeded down the aisles. I picked up some of the usual essential items like: deodorant, paper towels, dish soap, etc. Then I stopped by the snack aisle and got a box of fruit snacks because I forgot to bring some and Hayden cannot go anywhere without eating fruit snacks. We made our way to the baby section and picked out a few things from the registry. Then I just "happened" to walk by the Clearance rack in the clothing section and came across an adorable tan trench coat that was not only the last one, but the only item on the whole rack that was 75% off. I tried it on, and with a trip to Minnesota coming up soon, I could not resist the $10 pricetag. So, into my red cart it went. At the end of the shopping trip, we made our way to the front. One person in line. No waiting. Everyone's happy.


Now, let me tell you about my trip to Walmart. I really avoid going there if at all possible, but there were just some things that I had to get there. I drove around the parking lot a few times looking for something not a mile away from the entrance. I settled with a a parking spot, and of course there were 5 carts lined up along the curb right next to my car. I pick Kiley up out of the car and went to grab one of the carts to put her in. The first one had a half-drinken soda in it. The second one had nasty brown crusty stuff all over it. And the third one I tried had a plastic bag in it, which (no joke) had a dirty diaper inside. This is starting off well. So, we made the trek to the entrance of the store (I had all three girls with me this time too) and there is one (uno) cart to choose from in the whole entrance. Thankfully, there was no mystery junk on it (not anything visible at least), or any leftover cups or diapers, so I wiped it down the best that I could and put my kids in it. Of course, the "safety" strap is missing on one side, so I couldn't buckle Kiley in, but that's the best Walmart could do for me. We walked in and the first thing we got were two frozen pizzas, which were one of the main reasons why we went to Walmart in the first place. They have these huge pizzas that you can bake at home and they are surprisingly delicious and only cost $8. Well, because they are so huge, they could barely fit in the cart with Hayden sitting in it. So, I tried to stand them up on the side of the cart, but when I did that all the cheese and toppings started sliding off the pizza. So, I had to lay them down flat, which left Hayden about 5 inches to sit/stand. It was not until after I put the pizzas in the cart that I realized how incredibly crowded it was in that store. There were people everywhere!! (No wonder why all the carts were gone!) It is not only hard to walk through a place that's very crowded, but it is even more difficult to push a cart through a crowded store while everyone else is stopping to put things in their cart, looking at the billions of items on every aisle and corner, and of course not watching where they are going. I tried to go down the aisle with the cleaning supplies, but there was a huge pole in the middle of the aisle, and I wouldn't have been able to even make it past the crowd of people to squeeze around the pole. So, I decided to get diapers first and then come back. Well, there were three Walmart associates pricing all of these clearance items, and they were blocking most of the aisle with the diapers. Plus, there were 4 or 5 other people trying to find diapers as well. Ahhh! I finally just squeezed my way through, grabbed the size I needed and got out of there. On my way back to the cleaning aisle, I picked up some milk, cheese, and eggs, tried to strategically place them around Hayden and Kiley in the cart, and tried to maneuver around the neverending crowd of people on every aisle and corner. I finally picked up the cleaner that I needed, then I noticed that Kiley was sucking on the lid of the gallon of milk that was sitting next to her. I just hoped that whoever stocked the milk that day didn't have the swine flu :) (Speaking of the swine flu, I sanitized all of our hands about 5 times while we were at Walmart that day - that place scares me!) When we were finally done, we got to the front and noticed the sea of people on every checkout line. Why do we do this to ourselves? I settled on one of the lines with only 5 people ahead of me, but I think they were the 5 slowest people in the world. By the time we made it to the front, the kids were starting to melt down. Kiley's face was covered in crackers, which were all gone by then and she was crying. Hayden started screaming because she wanted to get out of the cart, and Avery kept asking me what we were going to have for lunch. The lady scanned all of my items, I strategically piled them back in the cart again, and then paid for the stuff. I saw the question: "Did your cashier greet you today?" No, she didn't. In fact, she didn't even look up once, smile or say anything except, "Here" when she handed me my milk. Not that I can blame her really. If I had to be a cashier at Walmart, it would probably be hard for me to be friendly and greet people hour after hour too. I think the neverending "beep", "beep", "beep", "beep" of the items being scanned would alone drive me crazy.

Anyway, we made our way back to the car, crying, starving children and crazy mother, but we survived another trip to Walmart. After one more hand sanitation and moving another cart out of the way so we could back up the car, we were finally done. It was not the worst trip to Walmart I have had, but just another reminder to me of why I hate going there.

I apologize for the long, and probably boring post. And I also apologize to any Walmart lovers (or cashiers) out there. I just very much prefer going to the Red T Store (which is what Avery calls it) with the smell of popcorn, the red plastic carts that generally glide smoothly, the clearance racks which every now and then have an item that I just can't pass up, and the short and relaxing lines at the checkout. Just thinking about Target and all of the red there makes me happy :) I know I will be back there soon...