Kirtland, Ohio

This weekend we took a road trip with the Peerys to Historic Kirtland, Ohio.  It was a whirlwind trip: leaving Friday after work and getting back Saturday night.  But it was a blast!  Especially since the girls were able to spend the 3 hour drive watching DVDs while the parent's got to chat (boys in the front, mommies in the 2nd row).  How did people survive without car DVD players?

Our hotel rooms were supposed to be non-smoking, but they both stank of tobacco (the rooms across the hall were smoking... not a clever floor plan).  They moved us to better rooms and we were all able to relax.  Scarlett even got to watch some WordWorld on my phone.  She decided all on her own that this was the best place to watch it! ;-) 

In the morning we headed out to see the Kirtland Temple.  We were able to take a tour lead by the Community of Christ.  It was interesting how their church history and our history intertwine... yet some things are VERY different.  They kept calling us members of the "LDS Tradition Faith".  And they never testified of Christ or bore testimony.  But they were very friendly and we learned a lot on our tour (we weren't able to take pictures inside... we thought maybe cause it was a sacred place to them, but it's because the inside is copyrighted).

We headed over to the church's visitor center and took a tour led by 2 sister missionaries (and yes, Jace, they were both really pretty).  We learned about the Whitney family and their great charity.  They were blessed with many monetary blessings but they willingly gave all they had to others.  

We drove down to the John Johnson Home on our way out.  They were another wealthy family that opened their home to the saints.  The Prophet Joseph Smith and his family lived here for awhile.  They even used one of their rooms as the first MTC!  Sister Johnson was a very fashionable lady.  As they were restoring this house they were able to find original paint and floor samples to replicate her interior decorations.  She had the wood painted awesome designs, used TONS of bright colors and even had a checkerboard floor!  What a fun lady! 

Yay for the early Saints!  Whoo Hoo!!!

Scarlett loves loves loves rocks.  Loves them.  She screams bloody murder when I make her put them back (in my defense, she puts them in her mouth and I'm afraid she'll choke).  So I wasn't surprised when I found these two in a pile of rocks.  Poor Jake looks a little distressed.

Car ride home.  Scarlett loved sitting with the big girls in the back!  Look at how sweet Hannah is!

Toledo Skyway Bridge.

And yes... I ate Burger King 3 times on this trip.  Gross.

102 degrees

Yes, yesterday it was a record breaking 102 degrees with 74% humidity.  I call that an "inside day".


But... some of my new ward friends invited Scarlett over to play in the water.  And since Scarlett had cabin fever, we jumped at the opportunity!  Even with the water we only lasted maybe 15 min before seeking refuge in the AC.

Animal Cracker Massacre and Other Fun Things

Scarlett and I went back to Kensington Metropark with some ladies from church.  My friend and her darling little boys rode with us (in this picture).  The next day their mom told me she heard them talking:

5yr old: "I'm going to need another one"
3yr old: "Why?"
5yr old: "For my girlfriend"
Mom: "Who's your girlfriend?"
5yr old: "Jenni"

Apparently I made a big impression on him!  Jake informed me that he is no longer comfortable with me hanging out with him anymore :-)


In other news... I'm completely done nursing!  I was hardly nursing toward the end of 15 months but there were a few random days here and there.  But not anymore!!!  AND she's been much better at sleeping (I'm much better about her routine).  In fact, many nights I lay her down and her eyes are still open but she falls asleep without any crying!  Woot woot!

Here are some random pictures....

I know this looks awkward, but this is how Scarlett likes to walk around the house.

Sometimes you've just got to get that itch!

Dancin on her tippy toes and playing with her belly button - a new-found treasure!

 

I pulled out my camera and said "Smile!", this is what I got:

I just love this little lady!!!

The climber (seriously, she tries to get up everything!)

A favorite game...

Animal Cracker Massacre

New Calling

I got a new calling.  I'll be teaching the 16-17yr Sunday school class!  :-)  I'm super excited!  We're in the Book of Mormon right now which is AWESOME!  I hope that I can plan creative/interesting lessons like my  friend (and inspiration) Luis.  


They're still figuring out what to do with Jake.  ;-)  in the meantime he'll be wandering the halls with Scarlett.

House is a No-Go

The appraisal came back from our house much lower than we or the seller expected.  The school district boundaries just changed and it's no longer in the ritzy district... I suspect that has something to do with it.

Anyways, the seller wasn't willing to come down as far as we wanted, so we walked away.  Minus appraisal and inspection fees (ouch!).

We walked through another beautiful house today - with a finished basement!  So I'm not worried.  Just frustrated at having to start over again.  And annoyed at the other sellers.  And a little hungry.

Detroit Tigers

Sat July 7th we were able to go to a Detroit Tiger's game with the Peerys.  

I think we sat in our seats for all of 15 minutes before the heat drove out.  It was 100degrees!!!  Look at the rosy baby cheeks in this picture.  When we were walking out we heard someone say "oh, look at those poor kids."

Luckily we found refuge at a shady picnic table next to this fountain.  We spent most of the game hanging out here.

We rode the official Tiger Carousel before we left.  I think Krista enjoyed it more than Scarlett hee hee ;-)

On the way home Jake, Scarlett and I were in the back of the Peery's van.  Jake and I were tickling Scarlett's chubby legs.  She then started saying "tica-tica-tica" and tickling our arms!  So cute!  

4th of July

To celebrate our nation's birthday, last Sunday we all wore red, white and blue.  But since Scarlett was completely spent after church, we didn't get a good picture... or even a half way decent picture.  But I'm still posting this so you can see her darling outfit and pig tails!  I love holidays!

On July 4th we headed to Kensington Metropark for some fun in the sun!  We were able to celebrate with the Peerys and the Sawayas (from our ward).  I realized once we were all there, that each of our families had a graduate from Mountain View High School in Orem - small world!

Relaxing in the shade

Look at those stellar dads!

The beach wasn't too crowded in the morning, but it started to fill up as we were leaving.

Scarlett really enjoyed herself!  And none of us got sunburned!  Success!

The wind kept blowing our umbrellas over.  But as Miss Prepared I actually had some ribbon in my bag, so I was able to engineer a sturdy solution.

That evening Jake and I heard people setting off fireworks outside.  So we took our lawn chairs and sat on our back grass.  We were able to see 14 independent aerial firework shows!  Most were within walking distance.  Man, some of these people must have spent some major $$$$ - but we got to watch the shows for free.  Well, not entirely for free... it cost me 2 Benadryl and 4 puffs on my inhaler.  I'm so weak sauce when it comes to air quality... at least there aren't any forest fires around here!

Peeryng Into Our Summer

Jake and I have LOVED having the Peerys here this summer.  We are soooooo sad that they're leaving in a few weeks... but until then we'll have to keep doing fun stuff.  Here's a snapshot at some of the activities we've been up to...

Babysitting

Since Jake was working nights the past few weeks I offered to babysit the Peery's girls so they could have a date night.  I used to detest babysitting, but I've found that it's become much easier now that I have my own child.  I still have a hard time watching older kids or even little boys... but maybe in the future that won't be such a big deal.  

Sadie and Hannah as super sweet.  They love to give Scarlett hugs and kisses.  They're all becoming best friends!  For whatever reason, these little chairs are the hot item when they come over to play.  Whenever one girl gets up, another will swoop in and steal that chair.  It was basically 3 hours of musical chairs (mixed with lots of snacks and Bubble Guppies).

The girls were getting restless and wanted to walk outside, but I didn't think I could handle 2 toddlers on my own.  So I engineered a solution: I tied Hannah and Scarlett together by the belt loops with some ribbon!  Don't judge.

 

Jake had this entire past week off of work.  So one afternoon we left Scarlett with her BFFs and went to see the new Spiderman movie.  I don't think she missed us at all!

Detroit

One evening we headed down to Detroit's Riverfront to check out the city.

The city on the other side of the Detroit river is Windsor CANADA!  Yes, we're just a stone's throw from the Canadian border, aye! 

The traffic downtown is awful!  It's seriously every man for themselves.  When we were getting on the freeway, a lady in front of us decided that she didn't want to go that way... so she slowed down, stopped, put her car in reverse, and backed out of the freeway on-ramp!  Forcing all of us behind her to stop or back up to get out of her way.  Some of the people in front of us must have panicked, thinking she saw traffic ahead, because they flipped a u-ey and followed her out!  And the freeway was just fine.  Crazy Detroiters.

The Boys

Jake and Eric have had lots of fun.  Eric got a sweet RC car at a yard sale that they've taken all over the neighborhood.  They even met a Muslim lady and had a missionary moment! 

Splash Park

Near our home there are 3 free splash parks.  We've only been to the Heritage Park Splash Playground so far, but it was really sweet.  I wasn't sure what Scarlett would think of it... but after a few minutes she was running around like the big kids.

   

Drive In

One evening we were all able to see Brave at the Ford Drive In movie.

Greenfield Village

Krista took me to Ford's Greenfield Village.  There's tons to do, but since it was so hot we just hit a few key things: the carousel and the train ride.

One the way home all 3 girls fell asleep and stayed asleep for 2 hours!  Mommy Heaven!