Another Kid, Another Tooth

The toothfairy came to our house yet again. Rachel lost her first tooth just before starting the first grade, and the second tooth actually came out on her first day of school.

Vermont Day 1

We were able to get away for a few days for a family vacation to Vermont. There's really no good reason for going to Vermont, we just wanted to. On the way there, we stopped in the town of Oakland, PA, formerly known as Harmony. This was were the first modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, and his wife, Emma lived for a few short years. The girls are standing where the house once stood. Reading about the history of this landmark...
This was the grave of Joseph and Emma's first son, Alvin, who died shortly after birth. Emma's parents are buried right next to him.

Also here was this priesthood commemoration monument. Not far from Joseph's home, by the banks of the Susquehanna river, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and restored the priesthood of God on the earth again.

The first spot we visited in Vermont was Bennington. This town is fairly well know for it's revolutionary war history. I wanted to go there to see the grave of one of my ancestors, James Breckenridge. This fence surrounded the graveyard and is supposed to be one of the most photographed fences in Vermont. The grave of my 5th (?) great grandfather.
Also at this same cemetery was the grave of Robert Frost! I just thought that was really cool. He's one of my favorites.

Vermont Day 2

We toured a maple farm and were able to sample many of the cheeses they make there as well as the different grades of maple syrup. We were also able to walk around the farm to see how they tapped the trees and to play with some of the animals.

This is some of what we came home with. Store-bought brands of maple syrup actually have 0% real maple in them, and now I know why! This stuff is expensive. This bottle of syrup is only a pint, but we plan on enjoying every delicious drop!!! We got extra sharp cheddar and Jack.

After the maple farm, we drove to a cute town called Sharon. This was the birthplace of the prophet, Joseph Smith. The monument is standing not far from where the house was that he was born in. The 38 1/2 foot monument was cut out of a single piece of granite and was erected in 1905. Imagine hauling that thing by horse! It was a very beautiful place kept up really well by the church.

The last thing we did that day was to tour the Ben & Jerry's factory. You can't go to Vermont and not go to Ben & Jerry's. The tour was quick, but fun, and most importantly, we got to have a sample of the flavor of the day--mint chocolate chunk. Delicious!! Here's a picture of me and Jason posing as Ben and Jerry.

Vermont Day 3

We went canoeing in a nearby lake for three hours. We were the only ones in the lake and saw some beautiful birds, including a bald eagle! Who knew they had those out here.

It was a challenge to steer a canoe by myself while my 8 year-old was steering against me! She did well overall.
Sara had her little hand in the water the entire time. She even fell asleep for a while in that position.

The last thing we did was pony rides. They each got a turn and had a great time, but of course now they all want a pony! This farm owns over 700 horses. It was beautiful.

Garden Creatures

I know, another post already? Weird. I guess that means life is getting back to normal. As I was weeding the sadly neglected garden, I found several surprises. This is one of two toads--the much bigger one. He was very fun and the girls really wanted to keep him. I told them we'd keep him in our garden.

These, however, are NOT going to live in my garden!! This is the second time we've found a rabbit nest in our garden. In this picture, you can see the pile of grass and hair that was the covering for the nest on the right, and the tiny babies buried on the left.After uncovering the nest a little more...

Then I picked up all five babies with a shovel and moved them to their new home, the bushes in my neighbor's yard!

I'm Back!

This has been one crazy, busy summer! I thought life was going to be so easy going after the girls got out of school, then I ended up going to six days of church Girl's Camp, and pretty much as soon as my laundry was done, I packed again for a weekend trip to Palmyra, NY with the youth in our stake. During girl's camp, my kids were lucky enough to have their aunt Krystal come and take care of them. They were very spoiled and had so much fun. I was a little spoiled, too. Even after I got home, she was still doing all the work. It was great! I was the lucky one the following weekend for the youth trip to have two very good friends who took care of the girls for me. Thank you all for helping us!!!

This is an egg (unfertilized) that our parakeet decided to lay this summer. She actually laid two, but the first one was broken. Pretty fun!
And this is what I call happiness!! I took several starts of these plants out of my neighbor's yard last year (with her permission) and planted them here in my side yard. No blooms last summer, but this year they took off! My plants are even bigger and prettier than my neighbor's!

A Birthday and a Baptism

Melissa was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last Saturday!! She waited a long time for this and was very excited. It also brought a lot of family into town which made it that much more fun for her. It's a good thing we have the house we do now, because I'm pretty sure the 11 adults and 12 children would not have fit in our old place. It was wonderful to have everyone come.

Dad got to baptize her.

After, with dripping wet hair and a very happy heart.

Rachel benefited from all the family coming into town by conveniently having her sixth birthday the day before the baptism.