Nauvoo

Nauvoo, the city of Joseph

We had an amazing visit to Nauvoo.  My parents are serving as missionaries there and we loved our week spent with them.
We were able to see so many historic sites and spend a lot of time with family but most important we strengthened our testimonies of this amazing gospel with the spirit that is felt in Nauvoo.  

Liam racing Daddy in the potato sack race

Grandma helping Caitlyn make a pioneer doll

Caitlyn loved dressing up in the pioneer clothes

She played house and school at the pioneer park

Also at pioneer park Liam played the pioneer games

The kids loved watching Grandma and Grandpa in the plays

Grandma played a crazy woman and really dramatized her part

Caitlyn wearing Grandma's costume

Liam wearing Grandpa's hat

The young performing missionaries really brought the spirit with their music and performances

Liam and Caitlyn in the children's parade

We went on a wagon ride and carriage ride, the kids loved it

Grandpa gave us the tour of his favorite historic home, the kids liked the brick shop and blacksmith also

We were able to visit with some cousins for a little while also

Grandma and Grandpa babysat so we could attend the temple

The statue of Joseph and Hyrum as they were riding out of town to Carthage

On the way out of town we stopped at Carthage. 

 When we reluctantly packed up to leave I could not help but think of the Trail of Hope and of my own ancestors that packed up all of their belongings to leave their homes, the Temple and this beautiful city they had built.  They left with hope and faith and they took that spirit with them to establish new cities where they could raise their families in peace, not the violence they experienced in Nauvoo and Missouri.  While I can't even imagine how difficult that had to be they did leave with hope because they had their family with them and they knew the family bond was an eternal bond.  Craig and I were able to leave with our own family and while we did leave my parents behind to continue their mission I left with the same hope and faith knowing that I am also bound to my family with an eternal bond, that knowledge was strengthened by my time I spent in Nauvoo.
The memories and souvenirs brought home with us will be a reminder of the precious time we were able to spend there.   

Ladybug Caitlyn

 We put Caitlyn in Ballet this year and she loved it.  She was the most excited about her costume and being able to be a ladybug in her recital.  Plus she was able to wear a little makeup, one of her favorite things.   

 We practiced a few times before the recital and she remembered her dance moves pretty well. 

 Her pouty face because I kept taking pictures and she wanted to play with her butterfly. 

 My cute little ladybug.

Seriously, how can I say no to those eyes and pouty cheeks??

Annapolis and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

 Wow!  Summer just flew right by.  Early in the summer we took a little mini vacation to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.  A very cute and quaint city, at least what we saw of it, filled with a lot of history.  This is the building where George Washington resigned his commission before the continental Congress. 

 This is the view from the Maryland State house down to the Chesapeake Bay. 

 We took a little boat tour around the bay.  A lot of sailing in the Chesapeake. 

 One of the many bridges across the bay.  This particular one went from Maryland to Delaware.  Later we drove across it on our way to the beach.

United States Naval Academy.  We walked around and went to the Visitor center.  

                              My kiddies love these.

 After Annapolis we drove over to Delaware and hit Rehoboth Beach.  Caitlyn prefers the sand over the water.

 Liam loves the waves, so even though the weather was still pretty cold he was brave enough to get his feet in and convinced Daddy to do the same thing. 

Then they raced along the beach.

 Liam was so excited to win this race. 

After a lot of coaxing, we convinced Caitlyn to get her feet wet also.  

    

 Running from the waves. 

Then we walked along the boardwalk and enjoyed a little lunch and shopping before heading home.  

T-BALL

 One of my favorite things this spring has been watching Liam play T-ball.  He loves playing and watching these young kids playing ball is very amusing.  I am sure it will not be a shock but I take plenty of pictures and love getting some action shots.  Instead of posting them all one by one I made collages to show the action of the play and still be able to post all my favorite shots.

This shot pretty much explains why he is still having a harder time catching the ball - I love it!!

First base - I love his "Michael Jordan" with his tongue sticking out and the concentration on his face. 

This play he was running to third and the ball was hit to the short stop who was having a hard time stopping it - Liam stopped running and tried to get the ball himself.  After a lot of coaxing (yelling) from Craig he finally continued his run to third. 

Here he was playing short stop, picked up a grounder and ran to third base to get the player out - He was so proud to get an out!  Some of the kids forget to touch the base to get the out so I love the shot of him actually touching the base.  He probably should have thrown it to the third baseman but since none of them can catch they tend to run to the base themselves.  

His swing - all of the bats are still pretty heavy for him, I need to bulk up his muscles a little.  Maybe some spinach and start lifting some weights. 

Stopped the grounder and threw the ball home instead of first base but I love his foot preparing for the plant to throw the ball.  He looks more like a pitcher. 

Sometimes it is so hard to see my little baby boy growing up but also exciting to enter a new phase with baseball, school, glasses, etc.  My dad used to be teased that he had to take a lot of pictures while he was hiking because he walked so fast it was the only way for him to remember what he had seen.  I am discovering that kids grow up so fast that taking a lot of pictures will be the way that I really remember all the memories I have of them as children.  These pictures will bring me right back to the days of watching him play baseball for the first time.

HDR photography

I had the opportunity to attend a webinar on HDR photography last night and am so excited to play around with this technique.  I even woke up at 2:00 in the morning thinking about taking pictures and then even using some of my favorite pictures to make them a little better.  When I woke up this morning I went to the computer and played around with some of my images. 

I finally feel like my pictures can reflect a little more the true image that you can see with your eyes.  This technique works wonders when you have a dark area with a light background and you want to be able to see the detail in both the light and dark areas. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I just did not feel like I was getting all the details in until now - I know I will be playing around with this technique a lot more soon.  I would love any feedback or if any of you have played around with HDR photography and any tips that would be great.  I can also maybe answer any questions you may have if you would like to learn more about this technique or at least where to find some of the information at. 

Easter egg hunt

All ready to go

With Easter being a week away we couldn't resist an Easter egg hunt while we were camping, it's a family tradition. 

we let the little girls go first and I think they missed about 5 eggs hidden in plain sight

Liam went next and picked up what the two little girls missed

I like how it looks like he is using his compass here to find eggs, future boy scout

Alex came running down the hill next, he had been patiently waiting

Following Uncle Dan, he led them to some eggs hidden in the dirt

Finally it was Megan's turn, she was in charge of finding the really hard ones Kayci had hid

Very happy about the stash of candy she had in front of her

The sunset at the end of the Easter egg hunt

 We had a wonderful weekend with the cousins and I will admit I still have not unpacked everything from the car yet.