OUR SUMMER 2011

I'm back and i am planning to catch you all up on the goings on in the Boot house. I will start with our summer and go from there....

we visited the Gwinnett Braves and LOVED the game!!! it is an awesome stadium and the kids came home with TWO foul balls.


We had a very fun family home evening at the skating rink. the kids loved trying something new and spending time with the family.

back to school pictures...

Summer went by in a flash..... we had lots of fun exploring whether or not we liked swim team. some kids loved it (Annelies, Sofia, Oliver and even Jakob) and some hated it (Nico). We had lots of fun celebrating Nico's 12th birthday where he decided it would be a swell idea to spray paint the words WATER STATION on our brick house for his water gun war party. UGH! needless to say Nico did not have much of a summer after that (until he scrubbed the paint off of the wall, anyways). We spent lots of time at the pool and saw the summer FLY by and before we knew it, we were on the school bus.

COMING SOON.....

i was reviewing my pictures and realized that i have not updated since APRIL!!! give me some time and i will be updating my post with our summer adventures. stay tuned!

NIE NIE RECOVERY

i have watched this amazing story from the beginning and am so inspired by them! what an amazing and strong testimony! i love the gospel!!

MY NEWEST ORGANIZATION ATTEMPT

I found this board idea HERE! i found a blog friend who could make it for me and i hung it on the wall. it has a section for each of the kids and a hook underneath with their initial to hang up their book bags. i LOVE it!!! it is a magnet board and a chalk board so i can write messages if i need to and i can keep up with each of the kids papers that come home from school. so far, it is successful! this summer i will incorporate their chores on the board.

CARTHAGE JAIL

in front of the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith

reflecting on the Well that Joseph fell onto outside of

the window he jumped out of the to escape the mob

this is the hole from the bullet that shot Hyrum

Carthage jail deserves a post all its own. i was so moved by the spirit that resides here and especially impressed by the preservation of it all. we were so fortunate to be able to tour the jail with just our family. it's an amazing experience to walk through the cooking area and the dining area and know and be able to envision the stories that we have heard about Joseph Smith's experience there at Carthage. Joseph and Hyrum often shared a meal with the family who owned the home that the prison was in and were well respected by them. it was an amazing experience to walk up the exact stairs that Joseph and the others must have done every day (they still have the original stair rail). i was especially moved by the spirit in the "dungeon room" where Joseph and Hyrum were held at the beginning of their imprisonment. they were later transferred to a bedroom where they would be more comfortable and eventually meet their fate. as we walked into this room, we noticed the hole in the door that has been preserved from when Hyrum was shot. we were able to hear wonderful stories of the Prophet and some of the experiences he had there. it was a very humbling experience and one of the most spiritual ones we had on our entire vacation. it was the perfect ending to a perfect family vacation.

ADVENTURES IN NAUVOO

before the carriage ride

in front of the temple at night!

the old school house.... this was a REALLY interesting site.

at the visitors center

We made the most of our stay in Nauvoo. we visited ALL of the cute little historical homes, took the carriage ride, the wagon ride, watched the AMAZING movie in the visitors center, we spent some time in the family living center where the kids learned how to make home made bread in a brick oven, make rugs from scraps of fabric, make a rope and a barrel and candles and see how they made pottery. we also visited the brick house and the kids got a Nauvoo brick to bring home. when we visited the black smith each of us got a "prairie diamond" which ollie thought was the coolest thing ever. the prairie diamond is a ring made from an old nail. i think the kids favorite activity was the Rendezvous in old Nauvoo. this is the cutest little "play" put on by all of the senior missionaries, the kids loved it so much that we saw it twice! we had an amazing time and i can't wait to go back soon.

ALMOST TO NAUVOO

the kids were intrigued by all of the amazing bridges that we got to cross, but when they saw the big Arch in St. Louis we had to get out and do some site seeing! they thought it was beautiful and again it was another chance to get out and stretch our legs.