School has begun

Well, I am officially of the mother of three school aged kids; a third grader, a second grader and a kindergartener. I always get a little grin when people ask how it is to have just one at home in the mornings because the house is so quiet and Megan is so much fun (Megan is enjoying it a lot too) but in all seriousness I LOVE THIS STAGE! I loved when my kids were little, watching them grow, learn knew things and surprise me every day by what they were doing.

Well, this stage is just as grand and wonderful, even if it is challenging in so many different ways. I LOVE my kids' enthusiasm for learning. I LOVE that they love school. I love how I can tell how their day went the instant I see them climb off the bus. I love that I have a daughter who faces challenges relating to her vision, but does not see them as challenges. It is part of life and she adapts without worry or complaint. I love that I have a son who is learning to feel promptings from a Father above who loves him and cares about his life (and his lunchbox). I love that I have a son who has no problem heading off to kindergarten, but loves to cuddle with me and tell me all about his day when he gets home. My children are amazing and wonderful people. They are full of wondrous thoughts and ideas. I know that none of this is really eloquent, but I have been thinking about how my kids are really great and I feel so blessed.

Our Anniversary - A Family History Adventure

So Saturday was our 9th anniversary, and we planned a day with the kids in Salt Lake. It was to follow up our Family Night about ancestors, and for this week we focused on John Taylor, my great-great-great-grandfather. We talked at family night about John Taylor being in Carthage with Joseph Smith and Hyrum. We talked about his pocket watch that save him that night and we talked about serving a mission in Europe, helping wtih the French translation of the Book of Mormon, and his line of descendants that leads to us. So Saturday we headed to the Church History museum in Salt Lake. What a great day. It took us a bit to get there because of unusal traffic, but we made it and even got to ride TRAX to Temple Square. This made everyone happy.

This picture is up in a section where each Prophet is talked about. They had a section about writings from John Taylor, talked about how he dedicated the Logan temple, and about his missions. I love this portrait.

Here is John Taylor's pocket watch and his cane (belor). There is a letter written by Willard Richards and John Taylor recording what happened at Carthage. The kids thought this was quite fascinating.

After the museum we went to the Salt Lake City cemetary and found his grave. It si hard to describe how neat this was. We felt such a connection to the site, where not only John Tylor but Sophia Whitaker was buried.

We also found the graves of John Whitaker Taylor and his wife Rhoda Welling. In a lot of ways it feels like these people lived so long before us, and yet when you think about how close we are really linked. For example, John W. Taylor was my grandfather's grandfather, or the fact that I remember some about my great Grandma Marietta Taylor (Call) who is John Whitaker Taylor's daughter. Somehow thinking of things this way makes them seem closer, and much more real.

Over the last few weeks I have felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for those who came before me. I know that in so many ways I am where I am today because of the sacrifices they made in their lifetimes. We focused this time on our Taylor line because of the many things they already know about John Taylor and the connection they already feel, but I recognize that I have many, many more ancestors who have blessed my life.

And on a completely random note: The Church History museum had this really cute area for kids to play. I have been there before but things have changed since then. WE didn't stay long, but I loved this mural painted on teh wall. We made it look like our kids were at General Conference. So fun! The kids keep asking to go back.

Boston, Lexington and Concord

We had the most wonderful trip to the east coast. Of course, the highlight of the trip was the wedding for Rich and Kim (more from that to come) but we had so many wonderful days all packed into a week. One thing I was most excited for was to venture into Boston and the surrounding areas with Dad, Brian and the kids. We went into Boston, parked at the Alewife T station and rode the train to Park Street. Needless to say, Michael was in heaven. He pointed out the tracks and watched out the window the whole time!




We headed from the train to the Public Garden, the setting for Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. It took a minute but we found the duckling statues and took some photos. Then we headed to see the real ducks in the ond and even fed them some bread. The ducks were great to watch. They dove after the bread and one even jumped out of the water to catch a piece that Mike threw. It was so fun.






We took the train back to Alewife and then headed out of the city to Lexington. The kids had watched a great movie from uncle Rich called Johnny Tremain. It is one we grew up with about the early days of the Revolutionary War. It talks a lot about Lexington and Concord. It was fun to bring this history alive in Lexington and it was a beautiful day too!





After Lexington, Brian dropped me and the girls off at Orchard house, the home of Louisa May Alcott. They have such a fun tour and so much of what is in the home actually belonged to the Alcott family. I was so excited to share this with my girls.




After dropping us off the boys headed to Concord. They went to the Minute Man Park there and saw the Minute Man bridge. What a fun time they had. Nathan and Michael were thrilled to show the cool pamphlets and maps they got there, adn Grandpa was thrilled to make it to the bridge this time.





What a great day! Thanks Grandpa Call for coming with us!