Miss K's 2nd birthday

April 23 was miss ks birthday. 2!! wow. already??

yep!

that morning we woke up and went out to the fields. Daddy had planned a soccer practice type thingy for us and his friends. K has a mini soccer ball of her own and loves to 1. be out side 2. go play soccer 3. run around.

So we had lots of fun. I, course, forgot my camera and can't show you pics. But we were right next to the temple. It was a gorgeous day and we ran around, then walked around all the fields. K wanted to go to the temple, but I had to inform her about being dressed nicely and we weren't. But we would go and walk around there another time.

she was a bit disappointed.

She loves the temple....Always points it out, sometimes claps whenever we get close. She says mommy goes to the temple and daddy goes to the temple (usually now all she says is that daddy is at work or school)

she is trying to sneak a cupcake here...she was so excited!

I made some big and mini cupcakes during her nap.

Orange.

seriously, I've been on this orange cream kick ever since Jess made them for my bridal shower.

So, I tried them out. I used a recipe from here. I thought the icing would look more like the fluffy type....i dunno, maybe I didn't whip my cream enough. I was not happy for a bit that they weren't perfect. but oh well.

i love this picture. She was in such a good mood after her nap.

It was GREAT!

we were worried, because people were coming over for chili dogs and cupcakes and she's alot more fun when she's in a good mood.

cupcakes help :)

funny story....We put on the dress that she is wearing (she got from masani to wear for today) right after she woke up and we did her hair. The first thing she says: dressed pretty. temple?

determined.

atta girl!

Yes, she was dressed pretty enough to go to the temple. I hope she always has that desire to go!

After eating we sang Happy Birthday and got to have cupcakes.

They were kept refrigerated, so they were cold....like an creamsicle.

They were pretty dang good.

The frosting wasn't perfect. But they sure tasted yummy!

Andrew enjoying some!
such a big girl. growing up so fast. Miss sassy already.

first she had to try the icing. very little at a time.

she approved.
some of the girls who made it out!

(ignore the bookcases in the back, they were moved right after this event. that was where they had been placed when we moved in--like earlier in the week)

yummers!!
After we bathed k and she ran around the house like crazy, having fun, trying to play the kinect....but just getting in Lloyds way all the time...it was bedtime! FUN!

So we hung out and played some kinect, then played some loaded questions with the remaining people.
we had a lot of fun.....as you can see from As face! lol!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Jane

Once we got to Amber's house it was nice to just relax and hang out with the family. Miss K was happy to see us. she got all excited and you could tell she missed us.

She was enjoying her time with Grandma, Amber, Jared and CJ though. I am so thankful for Jane and her being willing and able to fly out to provo with K so we didn't have to drive with her.

That next day was Grandma's birthday!! hooray!

We went out for some really good mexcian food. Then we had some ice cream cake!

it was a bit hard to cut into at first.

Miss k kept her eye on exactly which piece she wanted.

she kept saying chocolate, chocolate, then picking off the pieces of chocolate from her piece.

this was the cake before K started eating the toppings.

good pic of the two, but too bad k ruins it. lol. she's focused!

tried to get a good pic....k just wants more chocolate.

she is telling uncle cj not to take her piece here.
i love this pic. she was all excited to have chocolate. a true girl. she doesn't like ice cream much, but chocolate. she will give an arm for. lol..

I love how Jane's face is....she is like, man she is a wild child. lol.

it was lots of fun watching her.

yummy!!

this is all K did the entire time. picked off all the chocolate pieces off of one section.

just the one.

that was funny....it had candy covering the whole thing, but she kept to the straight chocolate pieces. lol

If you can see, on the left there behind k was Emily. She is out at BYU and we were so lucky to have her come by for some cake also. I miss her! She is such a sweet, funny, awesome girl and I love her to death!!! I wish we could've hung out more. We were busy. She was about to start finals also and we didn't want to disturb any studying. lol!

Nauvoo and Carthage Jail

Pictures from our drive across the country.....

there are lots.

tons.

sorry, but I like to take pictures and cant seen to decide which to put on the blog.

so i add them all.

These are are mostly from our intentional stop at the Nauvoo temple and carthage jail.

I wanted to go more places but the hubs just wanted to get the drive over and done with....So I got to go to one place. I was very happy with my choice.

the nauvoo temple

I didn't adjust my settings completely before taking this picture so it was totally blown out...this was my attempt at saving it.

you can see on the clock, it's 5:00

we weren't dressed for a session. I was sad. I wanted to throw something on and just run inside for a quick self tour. The hubs laughed and said no. Oh well. Next time, when we have more time.

it was a gorgeous clear day. very mild and nice.

the tulips were out and looking lovely.

i love this photo

(click on the picture to make it larger)

I love this plaque.

Reading it, I feel closer to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I can see him doing this. See his love of the gospel and love for the people in Nauvoo. The temple was only half completed by the time he was killed at carthage jail.

trying to get all artsy.

he didn't like this photo because he hadn't shaved. lol.

(can you see us in the glass?? lol)

this is one of the original sunstones that was on the original temple, before it got destroyed by fire and then a tornado. It was in use for less than 3 months. There is also another one on display in the Smithsonian in DC.

I wish I knew that.....I was just in MD. I never saw this there.

love this! I wish we could have went inside....everything, the visitor's center, all the sites were closed at 5... just missed it.

A wanted this picture to remember how the saints saw the temple in their time.

Carthage Jail-the place where Joseph and his brother Hyram were martyred.

(click on photos to make them bigger, so you can read them)

there are about 12 of these plaques on the grounds. i only got to see these two.

The Prophet and his brother, Hyram.

i just love this picture.

i am so glad we were there while no one else was. it was so quiet. so reverent.

the two of us... <3 him!

This is the place....Joseph Smith fell out of that window there after being shot numerous times.

to learn more visit here. Or go there and visit it for yourself....when it's open, of course. ;) we have to go back for that too! lol.
this tree is huge!
this was where we stopped for a late meal, at ihop. lol. his favorite. plus, he won some bet or something and we had to go. I guess because we went to white castle for me :)
You can't see it but that sign says welcome to Utah :)
the mountains in utah