Nauvoo Again

There are so many great plays to see during the summer in Nauvoo.  They have students from BYU come and stay the summer and do some great plays for kids and the whole family.  My kids loved sitting on the front row during the puppet show and "Just Plain Anna Amanda."

Here we are in front of the Beautiful Nauvoo Temple on Sunday morning after church.  It was such a beautiful spring day.  Perfect weather!!

Here is Jason throwing rocks into the Mississippi River.  There is a memorial at the end of Parley street to all those faithful saints who died in the journey from Nauvoo to Utah.  Jason is standing right where the wagons were put on rafts to cross the river in February 1846.

Seth was a trooper on this trip.  We brought our bikes and rode all over town.  He towed the bike trailer with a three year old and a 4 month old in a car seat.  That thing was heavy!!  It got even worse when the kids were having a rough time going back up the hill to the hotel after a day of sight seeing and play watching.  Most of them had to get off their bikes and walk them up the hill.  Seth ended up using the rope they made at the pioneer family center to pull Jason on his bike up the hill.  So at one point Seth was riding his bike that had the trailer attached and pulling Jason up with rope all at the same time.  It was a pretty funny sight.  I would have taken a picture, but the camera was in the bike trailer as well.  Two thumbs up babe for a job well done, the bikes were a great idea and we all had fun riding everywhere. 

I can't imagine packing our things up in this little wagon and walking to Utah!!  I don't even like to drive it in an air conditioned car!!  My respect and admiration for the early saints of the church increases each time we visit Nauvoo.  We love that place and would be happy to give personal tours to whoever would like to come with us!!  You can fly to Chicago and we will pick you up from the airport and let you stay at our house and then drive down to Nauvoo!!  It is quite a charming place and it's fun for kids and adults.  We love it more and more every time we go.

Lydia's 3rd Birthday 6-1-09

Ponies, Ponies and more Ponies!

This little girl loves horses and ponies.  For the last month that is all she has been playing with.  Needless to say, I made her a pony cake for her birthday and all she got for presents was ponies.  Even our sweet neighbor gave her horses.

Lydia is full of spunk, fun, playfulness, and spice.  She does a great job of being in charge of just about everything we do.  She keeps us on our toes and she always knows exactly what she wants.  This is the baby that I warmed up bottles for until she was 2 years old.  SHE ONLY TOOK THEM WARM!!  This is also the sweetie that potty trained herself as soon as Mitchell was born.  She knew she wanted to be "big" when the new baby was born.  Happy Birthday my sweet little girl, we're so lucky to have you in our family!!

Mandy's 10th Birthday, 5-26-09

This year Mandy had a Birthday party with quite a few friends from school, church and the neighborhood about two weeks before her real birthday.  She had a flower party.  They painted flower pots, planted flowers in the pots and made a few paper flowers.  And what party would be complete without a PINATA!!  When you come to a birthday party at the Marks home a pinata is ready and waiting.  We even have a pinata hook under the ceiling panels in the basement!!  They all had a great time!  I'll post a few of those pictures later.

Mandy is growing so fast.  She is so responsible and always willing to help out with Mitchell.  She really knows how to care for him and he always gives her a loving smile when she comes home from school.  She loves to sing in the school choir, play piano, read, and swim.  She can't wait to visit Utah this year to see her cousins and play in Grandma Marks pool.  We love our Mandy!!  It seems like yesterday we got on a plane with our one year old Mandy and moved to Chicago!!

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Mom's out there!

I am blessed with 5 wonderful kids and they gave me the royal treatment today. Mandy and Ashley created the "Best Spa Ever." That was the name of the spa on the Brochure they handed me when I came downstairs after a very nice afternoon nap. The brochure contained a list of beverages and services the spa offered. I chose the pedicure, manicure, shoulder massage, baby lotion facial (which included cucumbers on my eyes and application of bright red lipstick), new hair do (which included about 5 braids, 2 pony tails, and of course a CROWN), and a smoothie prepared by Seth. I thought they were so creative!! The only scary thing was. . . . WHERE DID THEY LEARN ALL THIS????

The girls told me they would do the spa every weekend and I thought that was a great idea!  They're actually really good at the nail painting and the back massage!!

Girls Room is Finished!

We have been working on updating Mandy and Ashley's room since the baby was born and we finally finished it this weekend!! Seth has been building Shelves and Magazine Racks and toy boxes and head boards. I have been designing, painting, shopping at stores and craigslist for months.

Props to my AWESOME Husband for working so hard and custom making all kinds of shelves that I "order." I'm sure it takes quite a bit of patients to deal with me and all my decorating demands. But it all turned out great!!

Here is the headboard I copied off of "Divine Design." It took longer than I thought to thread all of the buttons for the tufting.

I love this desk!! I got it on craigslist, which I am addicted to. It's solid oak, not a scratch and I got the desk and chair for $100, that may seem like a lot, but I talked her down from $200. This is a solid piece of furniture that we'll have forever, I was very surprised that it was this nice when Seth brought it home after work!! I love to feel like I got a great deal!

The whole room from the door! I love my paint job! I stole most ideas for this room from Pottery Barn. I still have some throw quilts to make that will match the curtains.

I thought I'd throw in a picture of Jason and Lydia's room and their new wall of shelves and maps! Now they can see all their books!

Mandy's Poem for School

Mandy wrote this about herself, I thought it was so truthful and cute, I had to post it:

Mandy

Shy, nice, truthful, trustworthy

Sibling of Ashley, Jason, Lydia, Mitchell

Lover of D.S. games, reading, and webkins

Who feels sad when the girls go against the boys

Who fears sharks, whales, and dogs

Who needs a family, friends, and love

Who gives the truth, hugs, and kisses

Who would like to see Florida, California, and New York

Resident of 333 Talismon Dr., Crystal Lake, Illinois 60012

Marks

Mitchell at 3 months!

This is our little Mitch at 3 months!  We have been giving him tummy time work outs and he seems to be getting the hang of it.  In not too long, he'll be crawling all over the place.  This little guy has been such a pleasure!  He is just fun to have around always smiling and cooing.  He really likes music and will "sing" in church as soon as the organ starts to play.