We got VISITORS!

Okay, that needs to happen way more often. That was so fun! Erik's parents and brother Ivan came for Easter weekend. We loved having them here and showing off our turf - because we are SUCH midwesterners now. Most the day Saturday and Monday we visited LDS church history sites. We saw Liberty, Independence, Far West, Adam-ondi-ahman, and even Haun's Mill. President Truman's house is also in Independence, FYI. Pretty cool.
(Yep, all that is within 30 min to 2 hours of here. The rest of you need to start planning your trip here this summer. No, I'm serious.)

We of course had BBQ and it was amazing.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Crown Center so the kids could get a break from boring visitor's centers. The girl's favorite part was the "Under the Sea" exhibit.

Anyone know the mystery behind these fountains? Usually they are calm and spray to the music, then when an unsuspecting father brings his innocent daughter in to pose for a picture . . .

. . it suddenly goes beserk and drenches said daddy and child. Does that seem odd to anyone else? Like is someone operating the fountain from the adjacent high-rise building? I'm just sayin'...

Here is the Kansas City Missouri temple! It is right there next to the stake center Erik is working on. Isn't it pretty?

We had so much fun! Thanks for the memories!

I remember when Allison was little how remarkably observant she was. If there was ever anything out of place she immediately noticed.
If mom was trying to sneak some candy, no matter how quiet, she could always tell and came in to get her share. Hidden presents, always discovered and opened ahead of time. I remember I told Erik's dad about her and he just said it was because I was too much of a neat freak. I couldn't see it then but now I totally get it. Ever since we doubled the number of kids in our family (ya know, from 1 to 2) I see it will never be the same again. I guess 2 is my limit (teasing). Now everything is out of place all the time. There are piles of whatever all around the house which never go away, just get shifted from place to place to place. Sticky spots on the carpet that I hope one day to clean up - but then again, why bother? Now it's no problem hiding something from the girls (and from myself too, incidentally). But I love it. It's awesome to be a mom. And other days I don't love it. But then later I do again. I wouldn't trade the whole wide world for it that's for dang sure.


Quick house update. (We bought it end of December last year. It's in Saratoga Springs, needs a lot of work but it's ours!) Here's what's been done so far. Erik's dad is helping us with minor remodeling.

Before

After

Opened up wall separating kitchen and living room, can lighting, and moved garage door for additional kitchen wall.

Mom and Hannah painted. And as you can see it's a good thing they did!

Before

After

This red room has been claimed by Allison. At least two of the main walls were painted this blood red color. Only adding to the illusion of blood were the many splatters of red all over the carpet. (Come to find out, parents let the kids paint their own rooms) That one was the first to go! Poor Allison was devastated when I told her it was no longer red.

Last bit of news. Allison turned the big F-O-U-R! We had a Strawberry Shortcake friend party which I liked much better than Disney Princess theme. Fun birthday, happy day for her just like she deserves. We love you Allison! We love having you in our family!!!!!!!!

Bytheway - Turn your volume up there's a song playing. It's called I Can Only Imagine. If you haven't sat and listened to it before you should. It is so so pretty and I could listen to it on repeat all day long. (And maybe I have.) I'll add more songs later.