Happy Thanksgiving Birthday to Caitlyn!

Caitlyn's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year.  

 Dex loved opening Caitlyn's birthday presents. 

 Amanda was on bed rest, but was cleared to stay at our house since we are 1/2 mile from the Riverton hospital, and that's where Amanda is going to deliver the twins, so we get them here 'till the babies decide to come out. 

We were so happy everyone in our family was here for Thanksgiving.  Braden and Hanna arrived at about 3:30 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.  We were wishing we could see the babies, but they still are better off the longer they can stay in "the oven".

Dex, Caitlyn, Hanna, Braden, Dean, Erika, Mike and Amanda.

Dex and I made these Thanksgiving favors for everyone.  When Dex was filling them with Runts, somehow a couple of the waffle cones ended up with bites taken out of them.

We had a great time hanging out with our family. 

 Dex takes his video games rather seriously....just like his dad!

Epic Mickey was hooked up to the little TV, while Portal was going on the projector.

 Yes, this is Mike playing Epic Mickey!

...and yes, this is Dex playing Portal, or the Robot Game as he calls it.

 Lots of puzzles got done this weekend.

 This was an awesome Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful for my family! 

Happy Birthday Caitlyn.  Thanks for spending the whole day with us!

At the time of this post, Amanda is no longer on bed rest, she has stopped taking the meds that make her not have contractions....still no babies.  Dr. has no idea how those babies are staying in there, we are thankful they have....but now we want them to come out and play!

Just for the record...

Manda hasn't taken any belly pictures this pregnancy, but we decided we needed to have some evidence of this twins tummy before its gone forever!

It's a heavy tummy!

Dex loves the babies!

Let it Snow!

Dex loves the snow!  Last night he could not get enough of it!

 He and Grandpa Deaner built snowmen, but then it got too cold, so Grandpa came in....

...not Dex, he stayed outside working on his masterpiece!

 Then he went over to work on Grandpa's snowman.

 He pushed his first snowman over, and built another one....in the dark!

Dean and I were freezing, Dex was still going strong, so we let him play on the back deck so we could watch him while we sat in the nice warm house.  He never tired of it!

Finally we talked him into coming in, and told him when the sun came up he could go back outside and play in the snow again.  First words out of his mouth when he woke up...."can I go outside now?"

 This morning's projects included a Christmas tree.  Dex was really good at spraying it green.

 Next, a snow chair for Dex.  I guess it was a little slippery...or Dex is a little dramatic!  

 The last thing they build was "Robot Dex".  This was the funniest thing ever.  I think Dex really thought he  was getting a little buddy.  He kind of just hung out with Robot Dex while Grandpa worked on him.

New York Trip, Oct 16-23, 2012

Chicago airport

Buffalo airport

This boat ride to the very base of the falls gets everybody wet.

The birth place of Jell-O, Leroy, New York

 Mendon, New York at the home where Brigham Young lived.

Graveyard in Mendon, NY

Grandpa came here with his scout troop and dug to find this grave site back in 1943 or so.

Now there's a nice newer headstone.

The next day we went to Palmyra, New York

E. B. Grandin Print Shop

Palmyra Temple

From the temple you can see the sacred grove (just over Erika's shoulder)

On the Smith Farm looking back to the temple

This is the home Grandpa lived in but it has been restored to the condition as when the Smiths lived there.

Path from the house to the sacred grove

On the top of the Hill Cumorah

On to Fayette, New York where the church was organized

The next morning, we drove to Susquehanna, Pennsylvania (formerly Harmony).

The white poles in the grass behind me mark the foundation of the Joseph and Emma Smith home where most of the translation of the Book of Mormon took place.  The church is about to begin a big project to moved the highway and restore the home and build a visitor center here.

Grave of Joseph and Emma's first child

We found our way down to banks of the Susquehanna River adjacent to the Smith home site.

The river was considerably deeper right here so it seemed obvious that this is where Joseph and Oliver were baptized.

This is the quaint little town of Susquehanna very near the priesthood restoration site.

Next day, we went to Albany and saw the New York State Capitol Building.

This beautiful place is called the Corning Preserve.  It's at the site where the Erie Canal emptied into the Hudson River.

On our way to Sharon, we saw this totally awesome, obviously haunted building in Bennington, Vermont

Across the street was a pretty cemetery (and Amy can never pass up a chance to walk through a cemetery). 

 

Turns out, it's were Robert Frost is buried.

Birthplace of Brigham Young (in Whitingham, Vermont) is marked by this monument with a very interesting inscription.

Had to stop to see this covered bridge.

Then we even got to drive across one!

Our Bed and Breakfast in Chelsea, Vermont

We went to the monument at the Sharon, Vermont birthplace of Joseph Smith on Sunday and went to church there.

This is Hampton Beach near Exeter, New Hampshire

We drove across the bridge to Portsmouth, Maine for Lobsters.

On our way back to Syracuse, we drove through Massachussetts and then Connecticut

On our last day we went to the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, New York


Great trip!  Glad we got out of there just before Hurricane Sandy hit!