Amazing Gift

We were surprised on Sunday when Sister Wilson from our branch stopped by our house. She said that she had stopped by to give us something from Sister Marciniak, a former branch member who had moved a few months ago. She then she presented us with this beautiful painting of Kaitlin on her baptism day.

We couldn't believe it! Sister Marciniak had asked me for a picture of Kaitlin on her baptism day months ago, but I didn't think anything of it. I only thought that she wanted to see a picture of Kaitlin in her dress since she wasn't able to make it to the baptism. I had no idea that she was planning a gift for us. We were amazed and really touched by her thoughtfulness. Thank you Sis. Marciniak!!

Our Midwest Summer

The highlight of our summer was of course going to Utah and spending time with family and friends, but we also had some fun here in the good old midwest. Here's a sampling of some of the things that we have done in the past few weeks.

Here are some pictures of the girls out at Pittsfield lake that is about 3 miles from our house.

We went to Nauvoo to see the pageant just before it closed for the year. They had a lot of pioneer crafts and games to do before the pageant which the kids loved. Since we are in such a small branch, it was great to be with a large number of Saints. We had the chance to talk to members that were volunteering at the pageant from all over the country. The pageant was great as well. If anyone wants to see it next year, you can come stay at our house, we have plenty of room! Here's a picture of the girls in front of a statue of Joseph.

At the pageant, like at General Conference, there are people there trying to take save us from our "mistakes". Have you ever pondered this question? (Joke, don't go to this ridiculous website).

Next, it was off to Mark Twain Lake in Missouri. It is only about 40 minutes from our house. I grew up going to the lake or at the beach, so all of my family vacations involved water. Becky does not share my love for water but she came anyway. (What a wonderful wife I have). She does admit now that she had fun though. We stayed at a campground that had a waterpark, miniature golf, go carts, etc. After doing all of that, we went down to the lake and rented a Sea-Doo. It was a blast. The lake is right next to Hannibal so we went to the Mark Twain Cave. Mark Twain based some of his books on the cave.

Yesterday we went to the Illinois state fair. It was our first experience at a state fair. It was huge. It's basically like one large amusement park with animals. The kids enjoyed feeding the camels, sheep and goats.

This is the famous butter cow. The whole display was made out of butter. The longest line at the fair was to see the butter cow. Only in the midwest baby!

Kaitlin is getting big enough to enjoy some of the rides that you have to pay an arm and a leg for.

And finally, what would a midwest state fair be without milking a cow. The girls actually thought it was cool and were not grossed out by it.

It has been a good summer, too bad it has to end.

Birthdays, Baptisms and More

Yes we are slackers and have not blogged for a long time. Things have been pretty busy with work, school, birthdays, church and a baptism. Kaitlin turned 8 years old at the end of January. We can't believe how fast she is growing up. For her birthday we went down to St. Louis and spent the day. The first stop was at Build-A-Bear Workshop to get her birthday stuffed animal. Kaitlin loves monkeys so this is the one that she picked.

Later in the day we went to a restaurant called Fitz's. They bottle their own root beer and soda there and you can watch them do it. Pretty cool place. They brought out the kids' food in old Chevy classic car boxes. The girls thought they were pretty cool.

Of course turning 8 years old meant that Kaitlin could be baptized. Kaitlin was very ready and exicted to be baptized. She gave a talk in Church about baptism a few months ago and everyone was very impressed by what she said and how grown up she is. The day after her baptism she was asked to talk about her baptism. We wanted her to think about her feelings and talk about them, so we did not help her with the talk. She bore her testimony and did a wonderful job. Here she is in her beautiful baptism dress.

3 days later was Camie's 5th birthday. Since there is not much to do in the little town of Pittsfield, we again spent the day in St. Louis. The first stop again was Build-A-Bear Workshop for Camie to get her birthday bear.

That evening we ate at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. They brought out a big sundae for Camie and her eyes were huge. It was a fun day. When we got home, Camie was happy to open her presents! Camie is also growing up fast. Like Mom and Kaitlin she is in love with reading books. She is only in pre-K but is reading at a 1st grade level. She reads all day long. At school they have her go in with the 1st grade class to read. We are blessed with two girls who are very smart and sweet.

Well, it has been a busy few months. We are off to Chicago for our first experience in the "big city." We have a lot of fun stuff planned so we should have plenty to blog about towards the end of the week.