Saturday, December 22, 2007

Nauvoo in December




We (Matt, Dena and John) went to Nauvoo Dec 11th for our Sis-in-Law's baptism (Mark, Matt's twin brother and his wife Mavis live in Nauvoo). I can't believe we didn't get a picture of them on their special day!!


We landed in St. Louis and white-knuckle drove to Nauvoo waiting for the much publicized ice storm to hit. It was raining and about 29 degrees, but the roads didn't freeze until later, so we were fine. For the next few days though, EVERYTHING was iced over! This is John snowboarding on ICE!

Our handsome 8 year old boy!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Our Revolutionary Thanksgiving


Fri, Sat, Sun morning
We had a great Thanksgiving ('07) this year. We started in New York City so that we could eat our at our favorite restaurant "Katsu-Hama" on 47th St. and 5th Ave. We love their chicken katsu curry.. we eat there every day for lunch when we're in NYC. One of these days we'll get a picture of the curry so you can imagine the love!
The above picture is right around ground zero with a FDNY Ladder 6 fire truck.
Sun afternoon, Monday morning
Then we made our way down to Valley Forge, PA and had a great time feeling the spirit of the Revolution. We arrived there at about 4pm - just in time to have the fog set in and the cold humid air remind us of the type of winters the Revolutionary soldiers must have endured. We saw the cabins they built and lived in - the beautiful rolling hills - and even walked through George Washington's headquarters. It was a great stop!

Monday afternoon

Our next stop was in Philadelphia, PA. We had a great look at the Liberty Bell (John reached in and put his finger inside the crack of the bell! - the security guard decided to look the other way). We also toured Independence Hall - we stood in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Wow! It was a great experience for us all.

Tuesday, Wednesday
After Philadelphia we went to Washington DC. We stayed at a great hotel on Pennsylvania Ave about a block away from the White House. We toured the Air and Space Museum and Arlington Cemetery (where we paid Matt's dad a visit..) , and of course saw the White House and all the other great sites. We've been to DC with the kids several times before but still didn't have time to make it to Mount Vernon. Jacob & Aaron were there as babies but of course they don't remember it. We also toured the National Portrait Museum and saw many amazing original portraits, including original paintings of Benjamin Franklin, George & Martha Washington, and many many others. It was a great stop in trying to learn more about the early days of America and all the efforts those strong people made in earning and fighting for the liberty we enjoy today.

I'm glad we didn't see everything we wanted to see~ it makes us want to go back. The kids loved it and asked to go back again soon.

Wednesday, Thursday (Thanksgiving), Friday

Our last stop was in beautiful Colonial Williamsburg, VA. What a great place! If you haven't been there, it should be on your "must see" list during your life. Matt even said that he's not willing to be friends with people who won't go to Colonial Williamsburg~ !!

A quick intro: In about 1915 someone convinced John D. Rockefeller to spend part of his fortune buying the old home sites of the early pilgrims (1600's) and restore them. He and his wife commited to it and over time, they've restored hundreds of homes, shops, taverns, and hotels. They've blocked all of Colonial Williamsburg from vehicle traffic. (It's about 5 blocks by 10 blocks) - if you want to get around, you either walk, ride a bike, or take a horse carriage!! We wish Nauvoo could accomplish what Colonial Williamsburg has now become. It's an amazing place.

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at Christina Campbell's Tavern (supposedly George Washington's favorite tavern to eat at). All of the people in Colonial W. dress up in that period. So all of the tavern workers, cooks, servers talked with accents and dressed like they lived in the 1600-1700's. It was so cool. We've been there once before with the kids and were so glad to go back.

We were well protected with our little Patriot always by our side! (see the picture).

- We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and we're thankful for our good brother Brad who inspired us last year to do something different for Thanksgiving. We plan on doing something away from home each Thanksgiving! (Last year's Thanksgiving at the Grand Canyon with a Japanese cowboy who sang Bob Dylan & the Beatles while unable to pronounce L's and R's is something we'll never forget!)

Friday, November 2, 2007

Go Mitt Go!

By: Des Moines Register
Jane Norman
Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007

"Among Republicans, the Hawkeye Poll found presidential candidate Mitt Romney far ahead of the rest of the pack and showed Mike Huckabee making gains, particularly among evangelical Christians.

"Romney had 36.2 percent in the poll, compared with 27.8 percent in August. Huckabee, still benefiting from his success at the GOP straw poll, surged from 1.8 percent in August to 12.8 percent.
---

We believe in Mitt!!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Our New Favorite Thing...


Matt is thrilled with his new love in Nauvoo.. the Historic Willard Richards Inn. Matt's twin brother Mark and his beautiful wife Mavis are the inn-keepers there. They're doing a great job and are really happy. We are so glad to have them there!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Jacob's Team Finishes Undefeated!


Jacob's Canyon View Jr. High team finished their season with an undefeated record! They won all 7 games of the season.

Jacob played offensive and defensive block and had a great time. He learned a lot about hard work and endurance.

Now... off to the playoffs! We'll keep you posted~
* UPDATE* -- Nov 2 '07--
Canyon View Jr. High won the first 2 championship games! We have 1 more to go to win the Championship. GO CANYON VIEW! GO JACOB!!
* UPDATE* -- Nov 7 '07 --
THEY WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!! (7th grade middle-weight division)

Go-Karting in Nauvoo


One of our favorite things to do while spending endless days and nights in Nauvoo this summer was go-karting!


Go-karting is either the area's "newest" thing, or it's their preferred sport.. we haven't figured out which. There are several great go-kart tracks in and around Nauvoo. It kept us occupied during the extreme humidity~