Baby Shower- August 10th

Jenna really wanted to throw me a baby shower and had come up with the idea of a Mother-Daughter Shower.  Not many of her friends could come and we did invite others (even without daughters).

So with Laura's help and the other Sisters the Shower was amazing held in my parents yard.

I felt so loved and even more excited about this little girl to arrive!!!

 Laura and Megan.

Laura did so much with putting on the shower- the decorations were so pretty and the food was delicious!!

They even had GF cupcakes brought in for me!

Becky made the beautiful blessing dress for the baby!!

Absolutely stunning!!

Sister Lewis made this blanket!!

The whole group!  So much fun to be surrounded by many of my favorite people!

All the GIRLS!!!

 

Again I just feel so blessed!

A little history...

Brandt had found out that Dayton had its own pioneer early church history.  We knew the location and a year ago went looking for where the Kirtland Camp had been located.  We could not find it.  This year around pioneer day they had a celebration and unveiled the historical marker.  

We enjoyed it even through the rain, and there was a lot of rain!!!

The story of the Kirtland Camp was a group of poor saints traveling west had made it to Dayton when they ran out of food, money, and supplies.  They set up camp and had some coindences fall into place where the railroad needed workers and they were able to earn the money they needed to finish their journey.

Always neat to see the hand of the Lord in our lives and the lives of others.

He is aware of us and it is amazing to watch things fall into place and work out.

Summer Fun

We have had a fun and busy summer, even just staying around Dayton.  There is a lot to do.  For a week Laura and her kids came to visit and Becky came up with her kids so we jam packed some activities.  I also watch two boys and we have had a lot of fun together!!!

Cub Scouts- Rain Gutter Regatta.  It was so much fun and David and Megan joined us.  We made boats out of Recyclable Material.  Brandt (Poppy) and Peyton had so much fun making one together.

 There are so many parks in the Dayton area with lots of water and activities.  We went park hopping one day.  A lot of fun!!!!

And we enjoyed the Air Force Museum!! 

(Picture courtesy of Laura)

We also went to an Aquatics Center and had a blast!!!!  It was a little cold, but we still had a great time!!!

We went to Becky's one day and enjoyed the farm life.  She just got a new calf.  The kids really enjoyed playing with him, the goats, and bringing in eggs from the chicken coop!

We Love Summer and it just goes by so fast!!!!!!

July Birthdays

Brandt's birthday is July 9th and mine is 7 days later.  For Brandt's birthday we were in Palmyra- it was a nice way to celebrate.  We gave him new shorts (the ones he's wearing above) and we all went to dinner that night after a full day of touring Palmyra.  It was fun being together all day as a family and celebrating the incredible man he is!!  I am so grateful for him- he is loving, kind, FUNNY, and very good looking.  I love how playful he is and what a good step dad he is.

My birthday was great as well!  I got breakfast in bed, got to go hang out with my sis- Becky, and then as a family we went to Noodles and Company for dinner!  That evening I got a girls night out with some good friends where we ate GF brownies and lots of Ice Cream!!!

Got to Love Birthdays!!!

Palmyra

We got the opportunity to go to up-state New York and visit my sister Diane who had just moved to Elmira, NY.  She is an hour away from Palmyra so we also went there.  What a great time we had.  It was a great family trip and our last before baby comes.  I did pretty well considering I had just entered my third trimester.

The kids are at good ages and enjoyed the history.  They were so well behaved and I think learned a lot.  We also enjoyed being with Diane and her two kids.

This is a tree they claim had been planted by the Smith home to remember Alvin, after he passed away.

Our family in the Sacred Grove.

The Palmyra Temple.

We then decided to drop by Niagara Falls before going home.

It was AMAZING!  The kids loved it and we hope to go back and spend more time there!

(Gotta love my crazy hair!)

Kirtland

On Sunday July 7th we spent the day together as a family and went up to Kirtland- which is where Brandt and I had first met.  It was neat to tour the historical center with the kids and share with them not only church history, but the place where we had gotten to know each other.  We are so thankful for that first meeting and thankful that Brandt and I could be married in the Temple a year ago and we have been so blessed!!!

We were so blessed to run into a couple that Brandt knows from Monticello.  What are the chances?  They finished our tour and we had such a great time and loved feeling their sweet spirits!!

1 year Anniversary

I have not been able to decide how sentimental to make this post.  We both can not believe it has been a year- time has flown by.  We have been through a lot this year and besides the great news of a new baby and me graduating, the biggest has been the adjustments.  Brandt has adjusted to being a step dad and a husband amazingly and the kids are doing so well- that you would think we have been together longer than just a year.  It is a blessing to have one another!  We are so happy!  And having to go through hardships, obstacles and adversities it is even more a blessing to have someone you love and trust by your side.

To celebrate our 1st year Anniversary we had the kids stay in Akron at my parents and we just went to Cleveland for a night.  We drove up on Friday night and returned back on Saturday.  We stayed downtown Cleveland right by Case Western Reserve.  Beautiful area.  Our hotel is shown above and we were walking distance from the Art Museum (free) and other museums, parks, and gardens.  Many nice restaurants and lots of things to do!  We really just enjoyed being together!!

A favorite part was watching the sunset over Lake Erie on Friday Night!

And we really enjoyed the Botanical Gardens.

So many butterflies, and beautiful plants, and some interesting bugs!

Words can not express the gratitude I feel to my Heavenly Father for all my many blessings.

It has been an amazing year and we are excited for many more together!