Quote

I just opened some emails. One quote was worth passing on:

"God gives every bird its food,

but He does not throw it into its nest."

Also, one of our family members put a link on facebook that is fantastic!

http://www.mormonsmadesimple.com/

I miss my grandkids and want new blogs. HINT!

Our 3 boys

Before the surprise trip to WI, the kids visited from FL. I always take tons of pictures and a few turn out well enough to post.

Michael is now in the "I don't want you to take my pictuah stage.'

Isaac is in the 'Of course I'll pose for a picture stage,' but silently. He just poses.


And Levi is in the 'And what's that thing you are pointing at me?' stage. You have to surprise him to catch his gorgeous smile.

All charming!

6 boys total!! As Michael says, "The boyth aw winning!!!"

[For recent pics of our other 3 boys, see http://dandafamily.blogspot.com/ and sorry, but I can't post the new baby yet - no links work. (We need more pictures!!!!)]

On the way home

On the way home I emptied the car of Sarah's attic storage. It was so happy. And I was happy to see my 2 girls and kids!

We painted the garage floor and played.
And went for a walk.

Wednesday we went to Nauvoo. I babysitted while the parents went to the Temple.
I'm finding that it's really fun to take grandchildren around Nauvoo!!
We went to see the oxen.
And yes, she did comment on the size of the posteriors of the animals.

Then we ate by the river, which got Miriam's clothes very dirty.

So we went to Pioneer Pastimes.

They spent about an hour housekeeping.

And feeding the animals.

Then we all went to the Blacksmith Shop for rings.

Then we ate uptown, shopped, and went to see Sunset by the Mississippi -

- on our old City of Joseph stage!! I commented several times that that grass was made green by our very own sweat!

The show was incredible. The highlight was this senior missionary (Elder Moffitt) singing Old Man River. Perfect for the setting. (Hope it uploads!)

After that show we saw BYU's Vocal Point perform. That was just as awesome!!! There are great perks to travelling.

Trip to Wisconsin

I drove all the way from home to WI and stayed the night with my cousin Beverly!
The next day I made it to Reedsburg. This is their new home.
This is one view behind thier house. Really nice!

This was the view from the back patio during the full moon.

Solei is taking violin lessons from her mother. Here she is learning to hold the instrument with her chin.

Pepperoni Pizza bowing.

Trying the strings!

The end of the lesson.

We visited the hospital and learned about having a sibling.

They only have a few stores, which tend to sell EVERYTHING. The grocery store has a toy department with a 10 cent ride.

They are prepared for winter!

We went out and had fun too. One day we visited Circus World!!! We saw tigers and elephants and trapeeze artists.

Solei got to try a bit of balancing herself.
Saturday I went back to Baraboo to shop and visit and art fair. Sunday we went back again for church. What a great view from the church front lawn!

All dressed up.

With Mom and Dad.

With Nana.

We tried a new hairdo. She looks different!

Monday we went with the summer camp kids to the Wisconsin Dells. That is the very most touristy trap looking place I've ever seen - maybe right next to the LasVegas strip at night. But, behind one of the rinky tinky fronts was this wonderful place with storybook characters and lots of unusual animals. (Apparently WI is a big animal refuge area.)

Here is Humpty Dumpty.

And Cinderella.

The Little Red Schoolhouse.

And our own Goldilocks!!! Couldn't get Goldilocks to leave...

The class took a train ride.

I touched a real tiger (no photo).
And Solei got licked by a giraffe!

Conclusion: I liked it there and want to go back!!!

This is for Michael.

Michael, you are just about to start school!!!!!!!!!!!! You are our oldest grandson. Wow! You are the first to really start school. How does it feel? Are you excited?

I used to get butterflies in my stomach the first day of school every year!

Here is a picture of your daddy when he first started Kindergarten:

How do you think he felt?

He was wearing his favorite shirt that he earned by graduating from Safety Town that summer.

Safety Town helped kids learn to be safe. This is one of the things they did to learn about traffic.

Doesn't that look like fun?

Here is your dad in his Kindergarten class. He had a fun teacher. They had a pet rabbit in the class and one time they hatched eggs. Sometimes she would dress silly like this.

One thing I remember about your daddy was that he always wanted to be a good boy. Some of the boys in the class were very naughty and had to be punished often. Your daddy tried very hard not to be one of those boys. Sometimes that was hard to do, but he was brave.

I hope you will choose the right too.

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Learn a lot and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nana and Papa