Trip to Reno in August

Bright-eyed and ready to go...this was our first leg of the flight. Charlotte to Atlanta. We had to wait for a while on the run-way, but no big deal:)

Turns out...it was a big deal. We missed our connecting flight to Salt Lake and had to take a shuttle to a hotel for the night. Delta gave us a night stay at some "Value-Inn" kind of place, and a couple meal vouchers, but somehow that didn't quite compensate for the hardship.

Night at the hotel...

4 am flight the next morning to Salt Lake. Finally on our way... Only 2 more flights to go!

I'm a big girl now...

If Becca were my only child...I would be thinking that potty training is the easiest thing in the world to do! Don't they just kind of figure it out on their own? It's as easy as 1-2-3!

Homemade Princesses

All you need is paper and a stapler.

Daddy's Pride and Joy

When Rog proposed to me he had to sell his truck...for reasons that are neither here nor there. He's felt like a piece of him has been missing ever since. He needs a truck. He enjoys being needed, and people need people with trucks.

Lincolnton

After most of our summer travels were over...we started our settling down process by looking for a second car. A truck really. We searched high and low for a Ford Ranger for Rog, and landed here...in Lincolnton, NC. While Rog was signing papers I took the kids across the dirt road for some food at the local diner. We're all about authentic experiences. I sat down with the kids on the porch because the restaurant was packed with regulars. I was a little ragged from the heat and trying to keep the kids happy, and I think the customers at the table next to us noticed. Sitting next to us were two older, retired couples who were just finishing up. When our waitress came to give us the check...she told me that the couple next to us had covered my bill! I couldn't believe it. You hear stories all the time, but I never thought it would happen to me! People are so good. I compare this to my horror story in Wyoming...Logan you know what I'm talking about. Maybe people in North Carolina are just nicer:) I'd like to think so.

Family Times

Caleb, Courtney, and Becca were laying together playing on the floor...so I said, "Okay, guys, now pretend that you're all sleeping!" Becca's still working on that one. She does the snoring sound though.

Uninvited Company

Eating dinner in our apartment...we saw this "little" guy run out from under our table. (Who knows where it had been before that.) Rog took care of it because it's a little past my capabilities, but then two days later there was another one just like it in the middle of our floor. Rog got it once again, only for that same experience to happen yet a third time. I was starting to wonder if it was the same spider coming back from the dead to haunt us or something. You never know:)

Wasted

After a LONG day at Palmyra and Niagara.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist right up to the bottom of the falls. The kids had the time of their lives! Amazing!

Courtney after a time out...

Fort McHenry...my favorite part of our whole trip! We sat in a small room while a video played showing the history of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, and the National Anthem. When the video ended the curtains covering the large windows to our right opened and the American flag over Fort McHenry comes into view. What a powerful experience. I thought it a little sad that my kids and I were the only ones that stood with our hands over our hearts while the Anthem played. We LOVE America!

Palmyra...Grandin's Printing Press, The Prophet Joseph Smith's Home, The Sacred Grove, The Hill Cumorah, and anti-Mormon advertisements? What would you expect?!!

We had such a great time.

Storytime

Rog telling very creative stories to the kids at bedtime!

A Day at the Zoo...

On our way out of DC and Baltimore, we took a detour through New York City to visit Rebecca McConkie...it was crazy! I can't tell you how awkward and almost embarrassing it was to maneuver my minivan through the streets of Manhattan! I wish I had gotten more pictures because it was so awesome to be there again. Rog and I stayed once on our way to the Dominican Republic a couple years ago, but I didn't have my kids with me. This was a whole different thing:) Rebecca is amazing...her neighborhood (Harlem)...definitely an experience...taking the kids to Central Park...a good break from all the driving. I loved being there with Rebecca, and it was so fun for the kids to see such a big, busy city. They were amazed. When I was driving back out to get to Syracuse, we actually witnessed a mugging and the cops were running by my van chasing the offender. I told the kids, "Guys, look! There are the good policemen taking care of the streets for us:)!" They really got a kick out of it:)

I left my camera in the car on accident, so we didn't get any pictures until Syracuse. This is when I took the kids to the zoo. We were in a tiny hotel room for 3 days, so a day out was definitely exciting for them. I couldn't believe how close that lion got to us! Beautiful!

More of Beautiful DC

We soaked our feet in the fountain and made a point to stop at the temple on our way back to Baltimore. (I wish I had taken a picture with Marley and Carlos...they let us stay at their house and we had a ton of fun with them.) My parents were married in the Washington DC temple, which at the time was the closest one to where they lived in Missouri. Amazing. It was absolutely stunning!

Caleb

We had fun at the dinosaur museum in DC. This was now after we moved to North Carolina, and then experienced some of the northeast for Roger's business trip. Rog told Caleb to pretend to be scared that a dinosaur was going to eat him. He doesn't look too convincing:) And we didn't get the dinosaur even in the picture:)

I think I posted some pictures from this trip already, but it was our last time at temple square before we left Utah. Nothing could be better!

My Hero...Grandpa Nielsen

I LOVE these pictures! How many people can say they wrestled with their Great Great Grandpa this morning? How blessed are we to be able to talk, play, run, and laugh with Grandpa Nielsen! He just turned 101 this October and we were able to spend some time with him at the Duffin's before we left Utah. Grandpa likes to spoil the kids...and gave Caleb, Courtney, and Becca each 2 dollars. It happened to be Caleb's birthday that week, and he had gotten ten dollars combined the day before from Mamalaw, Papalaw, and Grandma. When Grandpa handed him the two dollars he was so excited and said, "Mom...now I have ten dollars for my birthday!" Kelsie (who overheard) said, "No, Caleb, you got ten yesterday and now two more...so that equals 12!" Caleb looked at her and said, "Actually, Kels, I spent two on the arcade games at the restaurant...so I really have ten." What a little mathematician! He got my dad's genes for sure! So cute!