Breakfast with Santa

Our ward had a Breakfast with Santa. We had yummy pancakes, sausage, doughnuts, muffins, and bagels. It was very nice. They had several teams doing a gingerbread making contest. Zowie helped of course......eating the candy. She does that very well!!!

We got to wear our jammies!!

Waiting in line to see Santa. She got impatient.

Finally!!! This year she got more into Santa.

Telling Santa that she wants a Barbie truck, one that she can drive herself. Not gonna happen, it will be much smaller....for her barbies!!

My beautiful girl!!

Halloween

We went to Trunk or Treat Saturday night this year for Halloween. We did the "Wizard of Oz" theme this year.

Dorothy and the Wicked Witch

The cutest Dorothy EVER!!!!

Toto and Dorothy

Jake wasn't able to get the Tin Man costume put together in time, so he's the "Wizard"

Zowie wasn't scared of me and she even kissed me. That was a surprise. Who would want to kiss this face?!?!

Chickens

Our chickens are getting bigger!! One of our Rhode Island Reds started laying eggs!! Jake and Zowie were taking a nap. I went outside to check on the chickens and found our first egg. I was soooo excited that I woke Jake up and showed him. When Zowie came down from her nap, I told her about the egg. She got dressed and went outside herself to go check the chickens. She came back inside excited and yelling, "Mom, I got an egg." Sure enough, there was another egg. She loves checking to see if there are eggs. We'll see how long that lasts.

This is Chicken Nugget, the one that's laying eggs

Chicken Nugget is in the back. Lady Speckles is the Gold Laced Wyndotte in front of her.

The white one is Freckles, the Delaware. We have another Rhode Island Red named Toodles.

Here's the first egg!!!

Land Owners

We bought almost 41 acres of land in St. Johns. We've never made an investment like this before and it's exciting!!! There are large Juniper trees, but no pine, bummer. Oh well. It's at 6000 feet elevation and it gets some snow in the winter. A nice place to get away in the summer.

We saw this huge hole in the ground. We think rabbit, but not sure.

There was a game trail through our land also. We saw elk/deer/cow droppings and foot prints everywhere.

There's also a ton of Indian pottery everywhere!!! I love it.

Dance Class

A gal in our church who lives close by teaches dance classes for the little ones. So we decided to put Zowie in it and see if she likes it. We want to expose her to many sports and activities including music (my husbands area) and see what she likes the most. Miss Lindsay teaches her once a week for about an hour. I love that she teaches her ballet, tumbling, cheer, and tap all in that same hour. It keeps the kiddos interested with their attention span so small. So far, Zowie seems to enjoy it.

the warm-up

ballet

uh oh, she caught me, more ballet

First Day of Preschool

Zowie goes back to school sooooo early. It's still July!!!! Oh well, next year, she'll be on the same schedule as me. My baby will be in kindergarten next year.

My nephew Grant stayed with us for a little while

Zowie with her teacher Mrs. Albert, and 2 aides Mrs. Angel and Miss Mary

Zowie and her preschool teacher, Mrs. Albert

Church History Roadtrip

Prepare for a long post.....We took a 2 week roadtrip visiting my 2 sisters and visiting our church's history sites. It was a lot of fun.

Zowie and Zoe (cousins that are a month a part) playing together during Grant's baseball game

eating pickles, Zowie didn't like them

Grant at bat

The spiral staircase at Loredo Chapel in New Mexico

MAJOR hailstorm in New Mexico, had to pull over

looks like snow

my sleeping baby

Saw many huge blades to a windmill being transported on the freeway

Winter Quarters temple in Nebraska

Winter Quarters temple

My little pioneer

Zowie holding a handcart

Kansville Tabernacle

Liberty Jail

Soooooo much corn in many, many states

Jake and Zowie in Far West, Missouri (where the four cornerstones to a temple are)

A mill stone from Hauns Mill

Adam-ondi-Ahman

Mississippi or Missouri River, I forget (we crossed both a few times)

Sears Tower in Chicago (don't want to ever go back there again, crazy traffic)

Chicago Temple

My new niece, Avery. In Michigan visiting my sister Crystal

My cute nephew Rosswell

My other cute nephew Elliott

And another cute nephew, Donovan

Having fun

We all went to one of the lakes, I think it was Lake Michigan, but not sure

Zowie the mermaid, I did each child into something different

Detroit, Michigan Temple

Kirtland, Ohio Temple (not owned by our church, The Community of Christ still owns it)

The Johnson Farm, those steps by the door are the steps where Joseph Smith preached the next day after being taken away during the night and being tarred and feathered

Avery

Avery's blessing dress, my mom made it

4th of July in the backyard

light sticks

Carthage Jail, see the bullet hole? This is where the bullet went through Hyrum Smith

The the same bedroom, this is the window that Joseph Smith fell out of after being shot, he fell to his death

standing next to Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage Jail

Outside Carthage Jail, the 2nd story window is the one Joseph fell out of

Nauvoo, Illinois Temple

In Nauvoo

Gravestones of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith

St. Louis, Missouri Temple

Dodge City (Get the heck out of Dodge!)

Albuquerque, New Mexico Temple

Albuquerque, New Mexico Temple