Thursday, April 14, 2011

Jeron's Sweet Spirit

I was teasing Jeron last night saying I really wanted another girl and asked if if he would be my little girl. He said, "No, I am a boy." So I asked him, "why are you a boy?" He said, "Because Jesus builded me that way!"

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spring Break 2011

I can not believe how hard it is to keep up with our blog.
Shawn had a Behavioral Economics conference this year in Chicago during spring break. We decided to go with him and make a detour and visit Nauvoo and Carthage. These are church historical sites. In 1839, the early members of the church established this area (Nauvoo) on a great bend in the Mississippi. When they originally got there it was just swamp area and they transformed into a productive and beautiful city. After 6 years or so they were forced to leave for safety reasons. To say our experience was amazing would be an understatement. The only disappointment I had was that we did not have more time to be there. This was my first time seeing a church history site (depending if Temple Square counts). There was such a special spirit there. I felt so touched by the example, the sacrifice, and love for the gospel the Pioneers had. The kids loved to be able to see how they made things during that time (e.g., rope, bread). They absolutely loved the play Rendevous at Nauvoo. I have always told Shawn I didn't want to serve a mission and then we went to Nauvoo. I said I would serve in Nauvoo until he said we would be required to do the play....back to No again I can not sing to save my life. We went to Carthage Friday morning before we finished our journey to Chicago. Carthage is aobut20 miles from Nauvoo and is the site of the Old Jail where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob. That was quite an experience as well. Ashlin came home on Monday after spring break and said, "Mom I took a step closer to Christ!" I asked, "How did you do that?" She replied, "I went to School and I told my class about the Prophet Joseph Smith. I was in the room where Joseph Smith the Prophet was." So obviously it was a faith promoting trip for all.
In Chicago while Shawn was at the conference the kids and I went to the Children's museum. The kids loved every minute and would have loved to stay even longer. There were so many things to do. Jaxon made Shawn's day when we met up with him and he said he wanted to be a scientist. Jaxon loved the musuem that he has been praying for us to move to Chicago where he can go to the Children's museum all of the time.
Just a warning loads of pictures following.Ashlin pointing to Charles C. Rich.....her great great great great great Grandfather. She was so excited to see this. She drew a picture later of her her and Charles C. Rich holding hands.







Nauvoo Temple
Making Rope

Petting the Horses
One of my favorite parts the carriage ride..... a scenic tour takes you through a wooded area to Inspiration Point, where you can overlook the “Mighty Mississippi” at one of its widest points. There was also many stories about the pioneers who lived in Nauvoo.
Carthage Jail

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Rain Forest Cafe.
An expedition truck.
Ashlin's fort she built.
Building area.
Play it safe....fire truck area.



Art area with a variety of supplies you can make anything you want. Ashlin would have stayed her forever if I would have let her.


The kids loved the dinosaur exhibit. They were able to dig for bones to find a dinosaur. This was one of their favorite places at the museum.


Moments Almost Missed in the Blog

We have been incredibly busy! I wanted to make sure to capture of few of the highlights of the past few months.
A picture of Jaxon while he is getting his hearing checked. We have to go twice a year for hearing test to make sure there is no further progression. He continues to stay in the mild to moderate range. After many phone calls, frustation, and tears we were able to get a FM system for him. FM systems work like small radio stations. There is a small radio transmitter attached to a microphone and a small radio receiver. A parent or teacher wears the FM transmitter and microphone while the child wears the FM receiver. This should help him during kindergarten where there will be more distractions and background noises. We think he would be fine without it but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Show me a Scotsman,
Who doesn't love the thistle.
Show me an English man,
Who doesn't love the rose.
Show me a true blooded
Aggie from Utah,
Who doesn't love the spot . . .
Where the sagebrush grows!
In March, we made a trip to Ruston LA to watch our Aggies play. I called and ordered our tickets. I then called Shawn and told him, "Honey, I am sorry I could not get very good seats. I did the best I can. He was very sweet and said thats alright. I replied, "yeah we only got courtside seats. Needless to say he was surprised and very excited. We had a great time cheering on the Aggies and we enjoyed being so close to the action. They had a great season this year and definitely made us proud to be Utah State Alumni!



In March they had a book character parade. This year she chose to be Junie B. Jones from the Book "Almost a Flower Girl. She was very excited to get all dressed up with her flower basket. Here favorite part was sharing her flower petals with her friends throughout the day.

In February Ashlin had a school music program "Getting Down with Mother Goose." Ashlin dressed up like Little Miss Muffet and we we tied a spider to her shoulder. She did a great job. Our only disappointment was there was a tall boy in front of her. So, we did not get to see as much of her as we would like to!


In January the boys had a school fieldtrip to an ice skating rink. They had a wonderful time. They would skate around holding on to a chair. Shawn did not brave the ice he just sat back and enjoyed watchig the boys!