Happy Birthday to me!

My 31st birthday came and went but not without having an excellent day! We started out the day with the idea of going to the Taste of Colorado. However, Matt didn't get home from school until 1:20 and that was too late to go eat lunch especially if we were going to have a special dinner (wink, wink). So instead we went to the zoo for the afternoon. It was quite pleasant as it wasn't too crowded. We also got to see a lot of the animals up and moving around because it was close to feeding time for them. My favorite was the Tiger. We got to see it up close and it was HUGE! (I sound like a Dora episode.) After the zoo we stopped at the store where Matt got some lobsters for dinner. The girls thought this was pretty cool as they had a couple of rare pets for a little while. I was a little concerned about how they would react when they found out that we would be eating their "pets" but they didn't seem to mind at all. However, after trying it, they did not like the texture and so in the end Matt and I had lobster and the girls had rice and vegetables. It was a great birthday as I have officially entered into my 30s.

He just keeps growing!

Thomas is so much fun! I just can't keep him to myself!

Sunbeam Spotlight

In our primary they have a spotlight for each child. Today the spotlight was for Malorie. I don't know who asked her the questions but I LOVED her answers:

1. What are your favorite colors?
Orange, Blue and Pink. (It looks like Matt has a future Bronco fan to watch the games with!)
2. What is your favorite animal?
Doggies.
3. What is your favorite number?
3.
4. Do you have siblings?
One older sister and a baby brother.
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A cat. (Can you do that?)
6. What are your talents?
Helping in the kitchen and dancing. (She is really good at doing them at the same time!)

What a spotlight! We sure love our Malorie!

More Malorie-isms

~Having two girls can be interesting at times. Both want to be in charge and try to boss each other around. I will sometimes ask them who they are in charge of to which they usually answer, "Myself". The other day Malorie was trying to make Annalie do something. I went in and asked Malorie who she was in charge of. She replied, "My kids."

~We have a baby monitor that we use when Thomas is sleeping downstairs and we are upstairs. The girls have found this to be a fun little way to communicate with us while they are playing the Wii downstairs. While playing, Malorie ran upstairs and asked if the monitor was on. I told her it was not and she clicked it on and ran back downstairs. When she got into Thomas' room she said into the monitor, "I need help."

Pioneer children sang as they walked...

This past week we were able to go to Nauvoo to visit my parents while they are serving a mission. While we were there we were able to go and visit all of the sites. It was an amazing trip. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun seeing Grandma and Grandpa in action. There were a lot of sites to see as well as plays to go to. I am amazed at what the pioneers did and the faith that they had. We took A LOT of pictures so I have tried to narrow the photos down to a few.



We were able to go to the temple grounds at sunset. It was beautiful. It is an amazing building with amazing grounds around it.

In front of the temple they have these statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith depicting their last ride to Carthage. It was a beautiful night with the sunset on the Mississippi river in the background.


We were able to go to Carthage and visit the jailhouse where Joseph and Hyrum were killed. It was a rainy day which set a somber mood. We were also fortunate to be there while a singing group from BYU was there. They were an a capella group and they sang in the jailhouse as well as in the visitor center. It was an amazing performance and really brought the spirit to the tour.


I have heard the story of the martyrdom many times but to see the rooms where these men were and to see the bullet holes and to be able to imagine what it was like was pretty emotional. It was crazy how a place where such a tragic event happened could have such a positive spirit about it.

And walked...

Grandma works in the sewing room a lot and so we were able to visit her there and even try on some of the clothing.


These are some of the bonnets and shawls that they made in the sewing room. Not only do they make the costumes there but they also store clothing there that have been used in past performances. It is quite the sewing room!


The girls in there "formal" pioneer gear.


Pioneer games...there was a "Pioneer Pastime" area that had games that they might have played in the early 1800s. It was fun for Matt to try and get the girls to walk on these stilts.


The girls were also able to play dress up.

And walked.

We were able to go to many performances while we were there. They were all very enjoyable and told different accounts of what the pioneers felt as they lived in Nauvoo and how they felt when they were told that they had to leave.


The girls loved the play "Anna Amanda" which was a performance geared towards the kids. It started with a short puppet show and then was an awesome show with a lot of dancing and singing that kept the girls entertained!


Before "Sunset on the Mississippi" they had a parade that the kids got to march and play an instrument. It got us all in the mood for the hoedown that followed!


Grandpa in full hoedown mode. It was great to see Grandma and Grandpa Clark in action!


It was a great evening and wonderful entertainment! They had a lot of fun songs and skits that were so fun to watch!


On our final night we went to "Rendezvous" where Grandpa Clark made his debut as the editor (here he is making an announcement to the relief society). He was nervous but he made it through the performance and he did a great job! This was a play about the love that everyone had for Nauvoo and the sadness that they felt when they had to leave. It was an awesome play that we all loved.

Overall Nauvoo was a wonderful expierience. We learned so much and felt such a great spirit. We are so blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Clark serving their mission there. What an awesome opportunity for them and what wonderful blessings our family recieves from their service! I am excited for the rest of my family to go and visit to be able to feel the spirit and enjoy Nauvoo!