HS Football

Lucy went to her first high school football game and loved it. She would stand, scream, and clap her hands like crazy. In fact one time when the away team was going to kick a field goal, Lucy screamed really loud just when the kick happened and the guy messed up and missed! I don't know if it was because of her, but everyone around us told her good job! We are going to try and go to as many football games as we can. The high school we support is Wakeland. It is the one that Lucy will one day go to. I am also proud to say they have an excellent color guard. (Kathy!) They have won all sorts of competitions. The football team is actually 5-0 this year too, despite hearing reports they were terrible last season. Go Wakeland!

Sickness

Dave and I were sick this past month. Blah! I am not sure if Dave actually had the flu or not, he did sleep one night for 16 hours though, and then most of the next day! I think it was Heavenly Father letting Dave know what I was going through. September was especially hard for me because I was sick the whole month. I am still sick now. However it is not the flu or a cold or anything even spreadable. I am sick with MORNING SICKNESS! Yuk and Yeah! It is a blessing because that means our little family is going to grow but man do I feel like the pits. Last time with Lucy I lost almost 10 pounds from being sick. I have already lost 10 pounds and I have a feeling it is not over yet!

In August I felt weird, not sick, just weird like something was off. I took a pregnancy test just to see if it were possible. It came back negative so I thought, whatever maybe I am getting sick. September hits and I am totally sick. At first I was in denial because my body has not been functioning properly for me to get pregnant. After a week of being sick and just before going on our road trip, I thought, why not take another test. So I went to the dollar store (because there is no way I was paying extra for something I thought was going to be a negative) and got the test took it and thought no way! I am pregnant, no way! I took this picture (see below) and emailed Dave. He replied wanting to know if I wanted to celebrate, I thought yeah, when the morning sickness is over and I can actually enjoy however we celebrate!

I am due April 27th so do the math if you want to know how far along I am. I can never remember because I am trying to keep up with Lucy!

Lucy Goofyness

Lucy is a ball to have around. One day she got into the office and found the post-its. She got very upset when I finally took them away.




Lucy also has a tendency to get thrown off when we go to the fair so somedays she is really tired.

State Fair

So if you don't know already Dave and I love the state fair. We got season passes this year to be able to go multiple times. It has been so much fun. Lucy loves the fair. She petted some animals, won a prize, and ate so tasty food. We have of course also looked at all the cars and art projects people have done. We have been going after work for only a couple of hours so that we don't get overly tired plus during the week is way less crowded.

Salt Lake

Dave and I took a trip to Salt Lake to see Charlene and Aaron get sealed. It was such a great experience. I went out with Lucy a day before Dave did to be able to see Charlene take her endowments out. It is was such a wonderful experience. It was a quick trip but it was worth it. I love it when people are married or sealed in the temple. To me its like, YES! One more for the home team! It was also fun just to hangout and visit with everyone.

Lucy loved the Sperry's dogs. I don't know if they liked her as much but she could not get enough of them. She would just wander around following them. Patsy was also nice enough to watch her for us twice so Dave and I went on two double dates with our friends! IHOP the first night, and movie and slurpees the second. Brought back such good memories of our Utah days. It was amazing. Dave also got to see his mission president, which he always enjoys a lot. We also got to see Dave's sister, Katy, who lives in Provo.

BBQ

We had a birthday party/BBQ/housewarming party the weekend we got back. It was so much fun. We invited the neighbors, people from downtown and people from the new ward. It was a great chance to get to know everyone a little better. Lucy also got to finally have her birthday cake. My friend Carly did an amazing job. She made two cakes and you will see why from the video. Lucy loved it. She was a pink mess! I can't believe Lucy has gotten so big. She really enjoyed her toys too. Now that she can walk she is just getting into all sorts of trouble.

Road Trip Last Day

Last stop Carthage. Carthage was I think the most spiritual stop. Seeing where the prophet died, the bullet hole in the door, etc. really touched me.

We had originally planned to then visit my aunts in Springfield, but because I was still feeling really really really sick, we just headed straight home. We stopped just at some hotel and got up early to make it home the next day. It was a great trip, but I was glad to be home.

Road Trip Last Day

Liz and Ethan came with us to Nauvoo to see some of the sites. We first stopped at this German Breakfast place in Amana, Iowa. It was excellent. We stuffed ourselves. I stuffed myself a little too much! We were originally going to do a session but that became out of the question because I got sick in the car. So instead we walked around the grounds, slowly. The Nauvoo temple is beautiful. We got lots of great pictures.

We then continued down the hill to all of the historic sites. We first went to the gunsmith, at Ethan's request. It was fun, I never knew so much about guns and sad to say, I did not retain the information, hopefully the others did.

We then went to the school. It was a tiny building. The strollers barely fit. The missionary doing the tour was nice. She talked about how back then the school taught phonetic spelling. I was terrible at sounding out the words that were spelled phonetically.

Next stop, the brick maker. That was great because we got a free brick that says Nauvoo. I put it on the mantel when we got home. The kids were breaking down though so we had to quickly move on.

We then made our way to the blacksmith. Because the kids were not at their best we caught the tail end of the tour. We each got to pick a prairie diamond, which is a nail bent around a pole to make a ring. They were supposedly what engagement rings the Saints could afford back then. Lucy loved the black smith because of the noises and banging. She would bang her sippy cup every time the blacksmith did and not get yelled at.

The day was not over yet though. We then headed to the bakery. Great cookies! I got the recipe for the ginger bread cookies.

Next door to the bakery was a big building that was completely open inside. In there, there were stations ranging from bread making, candle making, looms, etc. The kids liked this place because they got to just run around.

We then went to the visit center - my favorite. The inside was great and full of information, but the garden was the best. There were sculptures everywhere. I loved the sculptures and thought they were all beautiful. Lucy seemed to enjoy her self.

We said our goodbyes to the the Zmoos family and we hit the road for home.

Road Trip (Iowa)

We got into Liz and Ethan's probably about 10 or 11 at night. We were tired, but of course Lucy slept in the car and then wanted to be up when we got there. She loved Lola, Liz and Ethan's dog. That first night all she wanted to do was play with her/attack her. For Lucy's birthday, Liz and Ethan got her a stroller and a baby doll, so cute. At first she didn't understand what it was and wouldn't push the stroller, but the next day when she saw how her cousin Maddy pushed the stroller and played with the baby, she caught on pretty quick.

Iowa was so much fun! I had no idea what we were going to do there other than just hangout, but they kept us pretty well entertained. Thanks Liz and Ethan! We went to the farmers market and Lucy loved it. She enjoyed the music and strolling along in the red wagon, and playing with her balloon. The train that went by really scared her though, it was like an attraction for some older kids, but the horn freaked her out.

We then stopped by Ethan's chiropratic office. He adjusted Dave and I and it felt fantastic!! Liz is a lucky women!

We spent Saturday night watching the BYU vs. Oklahoma game. Kudos to Ethan and Liz for watching with us, they aren't the biggest sports fans. I think they enjoyed it though as it was one of the greatest games of all time. Dave kids that we left Dallas on the trip so he wouldn't get emotionaly attached to BYU this season (the game being in Dallas), well... that lasted about two minutes into the first quarter. He spent the other three hours of the watching the game standing because he was so excited and couldn't sit down.

For the most part cousins Maddy and Lucy got along, sort of. Maddy is louder and bigger than Lucy, plus she could walk which at the time Lucy was still coming to grips with. Needless to say there were some tears and screaming and stealing of toys going on. Turns out Lucy was somewhat of a pushover, whereas at home with her little friends who are mostly boys, she is quite the little boss! Good thing toddlers forgive and forget every 10 seconds. They eventually worked it out so that things were civil by the time we left.

Road Trip Day 2

We slept in at the hotel and it felt great! That day was Lucy's first birthday, so we brought some of Lucy's presents along so she could open a few things on her actual birthday. We planned a party for the following weekend. She opened the presents and just loved them.

After presents it was time to go to the LDS Visitor Center at Independence. It was great being there and seeing the exhibits they had. The displays all revolved around pioneer life on the frontier. We really enjoyed hearing the missionary talk about the different things that had happened there, like temple lot being dedicated and the conflicts with their neighbors and what not. We learned a great deal and really tested the missionaries knowledge of the events of the second coming and what will take place at and around Independence. We also drove across the street to see the dedicated temple lot (currently owned by a church whose sole purpose is to guard the lot from the LDS Church).



We then headed over to Liberty Jail. It was only about 30 minutes away from Independence. Lucy fell asleep in the car so we had to take turns going into the visitor center there. We got to see the enormous, indoor replica they have of the Liberty Jail. The spirit was very strong there but you could feel how poor the conditions were. Joseph Smith received one of the most important revelations in the Liberty Jail, D&C 121, and while seeing the exhibit you couldn't help but feel grateful for the Prophet's perseverance and dedication to the Lord to have received the revelation while in such a horrible place.





The next stop was Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This was a great stop! We loved looking out over the valley. It was beautiful. I also had no idea what it was going to look like so I really enjoyed our quick stop there. It was a very serene environment. It is well off the beaten path, but a must see on the church history road trip.





We made one quick stop for dinner at an all-you-can-eat, family restaurant that served pure Iowan food. If you aren't familiar, that would be lots of corn and pork and butter in almost everything. It was actually pretty good, but it wouldn't be a place you could eat at every year. We then high-tailed it to Liz and Ethan's in Iowa!

Road Trip Day 1

Over labor day weekend Dave and I planned a road trip to see some church history sites and my sister Liz in Iowa. It was a blast. Day 1 was pretty much all driving after Dave got off work. We did the first leg to Independence, Missouri. It took 8-9 hours to get there. Lucy kind-of lasted. I had the DVD player going with Baby Einstein to try and keep her occupied until she fell asleep. She woke up just in time for the hotel room. She had a ball in the bathroom and we let her have at it (she wouldn't get away with this at home)!

Where to begin?

So the month of September was a crazy month. We went on two trips the both of us got sick, Lucy had a birthday and a doctors appointment. It was crazy. Because of all this there is so much to blog that I don't even know where to begin. So look forward to lots of blogs over the next couple of weeks!