Winter Quarters Part 1

While in Omaha we visited Winter Quarters, located in the city of Florence, about 20 minutes away.  I don't know if anyone wants to know, but I thought I would give a brief synopsis of the importance of this sacred place. In 1846 the Mormon pioneers were residents of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, where persecution escalated until in February they were forced out of the city.  Many were collecting supplies and preparing for a springtime exodus to the Great Salt Lake Valley but were forced to leave without enough supplies for the expected four-to-five month journey.  The first big group, led by Brigham Young, left in February, when the weather was so extremely cold that the Mississippi River actually froze three feet thick; the horrible temperatures were actually a blessing because wagons could then drive over the ice so no one had to wait for a turn on the ferry.  The pioneers began the miserable trek through Iowa.  Spring quickly came and the prairie began thawing, causing the three- or four-week walk to take months.  Brigham Young could see that the pioneers would never make it to the Salt Lake Valley before winter came and eventually the city of Winter Quarters was formed on the eastern edge of Nebraska.  The winter of 1846-1847 was a terrible tragedy, with as many as one in three people dying from various diseases, but mostly cholera and scurvy, a vitamin-C deficiency from lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.  What a sad place, but the special feeling you can feel there is amazing.  These pioneers were so strong, following the prophet's counsel, trying their hardest to be free to live and worship freely.  I am amazed especially by the pioneer women.  Could I do that?  I don't know.  As I was reading the names of the pioneers buried in that beautiful cemetery, I saw many young women, specifically two 27-year-old women who were buried with their children, one a five-month-old and one a seven-month-old.  It made me so sad to see those ages, thinking specifically about my sweet little Ryan.  How truly blessed our family is, and I hope we always can remember it.

On a lighter note, Ryan loves to dress like a pioneer

I cannot stop laughing every time I see this picture and the poor little boy dressed in so many layers because of the cold weather and then the gigantic hat and vest on top of that!

Jason happily and easily pulling the 400 pounds in the handcart

This was moments before the sister missionary in the background placed a rock in front of the wheel -- not so much smiling then!

Sitting on a replica of a sleeping bunk from the ships on which European Mormons sailed to America

Chelsey was very excited to hear that three or four people shared these bunks every night, saying, "I'll put my head here, and your head here, and our feet here, and you can lay in the middle!"  Oh, the enthusiasm of the young...

Winter Quarters Part 2 and Kanesville Tabernacle

Our family picture in front of the famous statue of the grieving pioneer couple burying their baby in a shallow grave

In front of the handcart pioneer statue

Standing by the Winter Quarters Temple

This picture in the Kanesville Tabernacle commemorates when Brigham Young was sustained by other leaders of our church in 1847 to be the next prophet

Chelsey pretending to take a bath like the pioneer girls did

Fun with the Morrisons

One of the best parts of our family traveling with Jason was that we got to see our good friends Paul and Kim and Adam.  We were friends in Milwaukee, and they had the nerve to move away and start Pediatric Residency in Omaha!  Jason had his interview on Thursday, and then we spent the weekend having fun with them.  Highlights (and one lowlight) of the weekend: Kim shooting the moon during our bi-yearly pinochle card game, eating the onion stacker tower appetizer at Red Robin, the girl's first "sleep-over," which consisted of sleeping in Adam's room for three hours while we played games, and Emily causing Paul to trip down the stairs and really hurt his....well, we'll say lower back.  We had fun, guys!  Now it's your turn to come visit us!

Playing pinochle - timer shots are never very flattering, are they!

This looks like these guys don't even like each other

Chelsey and Emily with Adam excited for their first "sleep-over!"

Chelsey thinks a sleep-over is when the kids go to bed while the adults play games, and then everyone goes home (or to the hotel) really late for the rest of the night.  The first sleepover was Friday night, and we tried for another fun night of games Saturday night, but a series of events led us to give up.  First, we had dinner a little late, and the kids were having so much fun watching a movie, so it was almost 10:00 pm before we began to put the kids to bed.  We were just finishing cleaning up the toys when the next thing happened: Paul was climbing over the baby gate to go downstairs when Emily tried to grab the slinky out of his hands, which he thought was falling, so he grabbed for it, lost his balance, and fell down the stairs, really hurting himself.  So Emily was crying because the Slinky broke, Ryan was crying because he was so tired, Paul was crying because he.....oh, wait, actually he wasn't crying. Hee, hee!  So we decided to bag it, call it a night, and make it to church on time the next day.  Then Chelsey started crying, too.  It was a crazy night!  So after dinner on Sunday we put the kids to bed by 8:00 and had a few fun hours of pinochle and Wizard.  Thanks for such a fun weekend, friends!

Ohama Children's Museum Part 1

The day after Jason had his interview was spent at the Omaha Children's Museum.  I loved this place, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  I think that my favorite part was seeing Jason have so much fun with his kids.  He has had such a hard few months, with studying for his boards and preparing for interviews.  I loved seeing him get down with the kids and really get them giggling.  We love our daddy!

Emily having fun in the water works

Emily loving her fruits and veggies

Chelsey was a little hungry!  At least she also chose mostly healthy foods

"Mom, take my picture by this red thing!"

That air current is quite strong, as you can see in the picture and also on the video

Chelsey is Amazed!

Omaha Children's Museum Part 2

Playing dress-up in the little theater

Paul always knew that Kim was a princess, but did Kim know that Paul was a wizard?

Jason and Ryan seem unconcerned about the hungry T-Rex six feet away

We had fun building this tower together - this is Chelsey's "Wow!" face

Sitting with Adam on the musical "O" in front of the museum

Omaha Zoo Part 1

While Jason interviewed in Omaha, Kim and I took our kids to the zoo.  It was such a nice zoo!  We visited a butterfly exhibit with the free-roaming butterflies (which, if you know me very well you would know that it really freaks me out when bugs or birds or anything of that nature fly near me), which the girls loved.  Then we went through the insect hut, which was cool and a little icky, but quickly became a LOT icky when we looked up and realized the scary poisonous-looking spiders were free-roaming as well!  We high-tailed it out of there and moved on to more traditional animals like the giraffes and elephants and monkeys.  Also at the zoo were a desert habitat, a rainforest, and an exhibit called "Kingdom of the Night," which was my personal favorite.

Chelsey sitting on the butterfly bench outside the butterfly exhibit

Riding the baby giraffe

Sitting in the penguin bubble with Adam

"Mom, take my picture with this huge starfish!"

What are these four monkeys looking at?

Omaha Zoo Part 2

This is kind of a funny story about gorillas, and helps explain the first picture.  Recently my parents were visiting us from Idaho and I had taken them to our zoo in Milwaukee.  We were looking at the gorillas and my mom told Chelsey the story of when my sister Lindsay was five and ended up a little too close to the gorilla glass and a man said to her, "A gorilla's favorite food is five-year-old girls!"  Chels was a little scared, but we reassured her that it was not true.  So all is well, until we visit the Aquarium, where there are huge fish slowly swimming in the tank.  Chelsey leans over to Emily and says, "Hey, Emily, do you know what that fish's favorite food is?  Three-year-old girls!  *hee hee*"  Yep, she's smarter than the average five-year old!

To explain the orangutan pictures, the trainers have taught them to kiss through the glass.  So we were trying our best to get some affection from those apes!

This picture is for Lindsay

Kim got the best picture

Pucker up!

This was cool - I had never seen a white tiger before

We came around the corner in the desert dome and Chelsey stopped short and said, "Look, one of them got out!"  I tell you, that thing was so realistic I actually had to carefully touch it to make sure it was a statue!

On the Road = Eating Out!

Indianapolis Children's Museum Part 1

While Jason interviewed in Indianapolis, I took the kids to the Children's Museum and it was wonderful!  I seriously loved this museum and could go time after time (and maybe we'll end up doing that -- who knows?).  The first exhibit we visited was a glass sculpture area the kids could play with.  The girls loved it, but Ryan, not so much (aka screaming and crying, but that's okay!).

Emily: "It's your favorite, Mom!" (referring to the color)

Think giant Lite-Brite

Ryan unimpressed by the hadrosaur nest

The ancient Egypt exhibit was incredibly cool, and this activity was perfect for a five-year-old

"Mom, take my picture in this big big big tree!"

Indianapolis Children's Museum Part 2

The Anne Frank exhibit was really cool...for adults...definitely not for little kids...especially kids who are extremely hungry.  I have never seen sweet little Chelsey throw such a horrible tantrum in my life.  I calmed her down with my new trick of letting her take pictures, so I have an "awesome" picture of me in front of Anne Frank's diary (which I would have posted, but it wasn't exactly the most flattering angle of me)!

Can we say "cheesy!" 

We spent probably two of the hours we were there playing in the littlest kid section.  The girls loved the huge sandbox and the even bigger water works.  They played long enough that we actually took three bathroom breaks!  (Given, one was a Ry-ry diaper change, and the other two were newly-potty-trained Emily potty runs, but still!)  Ryan loved the infant soft area and tried his mightiest to pull up to standing, but still couldn't quite do it!

Playing in the sandbox

Happy Emily playing in the water works

Chelsey fished for seriously 20 minutes - she loved it!

Finally - a place where I can move around and have fun without being trampled by 200 other kids!

Indianapolis Children's Museum Part 3

Chelsey the gardener

The kids keeping busy shoveling and dumping the foam rocks (I need some of these at home!)

One of my absolute favorite pictures of Em - she had this look on her face during the entire carousel ride

Chelsey enjoying the carousel

Our little paleontologists, digging in the dinosaur exhibit