On to Kirtland, OH from Michigan

We went to Kirtland, OH on our way home from Michigan. That has been on our "to do list" since we moved to Kentucky 5 years ago and we wanted to make sure we got there since we are so close!
We had a great visit. The Church has a beautiful visitors center there and we saw the N.K. Whitney store and home, the Kirtland Temple, the Isaac Morley farm (who is my 3rd great grandfather), and the John Johnson farm. Every site was really special. We stayed in a hotel--the kids love that. My sister Aleta and some of her family came with us from Michigan--which made it all the better!!


Our family at the Kirtland Visitors Center

Sitting in the room where the "School of the Prophets" was held.

In front of the Newell K. Whitney store

At the Isaac Morley farm. Notice how much "fun" Ellie is having--this documents the mood
she was in for the majority of our time in Kirtland.


In front of the Kirtland Temple.

Summer Vacation To Michigan

We headed back up to Michigan this last week to visit the Michigan Moffitt's (Jaimee's sister and her family). We went up for several reasons:

1. Our brother-in-law Mike has recently acquired a sweet 1971 Stingray Corvette and a 1996 C-4 Corvette that he had in a big classic car show. We wanted to see the cars be in the show and the show itself (called the "Dream Cruise") is really fun to go to. Cars are big time in Michigan. Mike was nice enough to let Blaine take the Corvettes for a test drive--now he thinks that he too must have one. They were really fun to ride in!


Mike and his 1971 Stingray


It started to rain while we were at the car show--the kids had a ball playing in the rain.

2. Our great nephew, Dylan, turned 16 at the beginning of the month and was ordained a priest on Sunday, so we were happy to be there to see that. Dylan--you're awesome! Love ya lots!


Jaimee, Dylan, and Blaine

3. It's just fun to visit the Moffitt's. Thanks for a fun time.

Going to Court with Dad

Today was Blaine's last day of work at Yunker & Associates!! Blaine had to go to court today, and thought it would be great chance for Cameron to go with him and hang out for a bit at his office. Cameron said it was fun. He looked great in his suit. (I told Cam I hoped it was the ONLY time we would take him to court in his lifetime :) Cam sure loves to be with his dad.

Dad and Cam at his office and in front of the courthouse in Lexington.

Out pickin' berries in Kentucky!

Kentucky is known for its delicious berries. The kids and I headed to an orchard in Paris, KY to pick some incredible blackberries. It was great! The kids could do it all on their own--even Ellie. She knew that she was only supposed to pick the black ones that were ripe and ready, and she did great. We came home a made some blackberry jam, and a blackberry cobbler is on the menu for dessert! We are going to miss being able to do "country" stuff like this when we move (which is just two weeks away!)


Here are the berry pickers!

Can you believe we've been so lucky to live in such a beautiful place for the last 5 years?

This was taken from our car window on the drive home---that's a beautiful tobacco field in the distance. (They really are pretty. )

Feeding the Ducks!

I used to love going to feed the ducks when I was a kid! My Mom would take me to Weber State University once in awhile to feed the ducks so I decided my kids would love to do this--especially Ellie--she loves ducks right now. So--these were pretty smart ducks. We pulled up next to the pond where the ducks live, and before we even got out of the car, all of the ducks (probably at least 40) had surrounded our car waiting for us to get out.

We walked down the sidewalk to a little gazebo so we could maybe keep a little distance between us and the ducks. The ducks formed a line and followed us very closely down to the gazebo.



We threw our bread out to the ducks from the gazebo, but then a few ducks figured out they could walk around and come into the gazebo themselves. Before long we were surrounded in the gazebo.


Our bread didn't last long, the ducks were well fed, and the kids had fun. The ducks figured out we were out of bread, and they headed back to the water.



Successful trip to feed the ducks, but Kelsey has told me several times since, "Lets not go feed the ducks today." I think the brave ducks were a little much for her.