An Exciting Trip to Temple Square...

Last week Chad and I took the kids to Temple Square to the see the lights. Instead of driving all the way to Salt Lake, we decided to drive up to Sandy where we hopped on Trax for the rest of the ride. We did this because Keaton and Sam were so excited to ride a "train," but more importantly we did it for me. Those who know me really well know that I will do anything to avoid being in buses, airplanes, elevators, trains, or any other small, crowded space. I have been this way since high school. Well, as you can see by my little "ticker" above, Chad and I are going to Hawaii next month with Chad's company, which means I will be having to face these fears. (I know, I know, poor me is being dragged on a free trip to Hawaii with no kids), but seriously, going on this trip really scares me. To get myself ready, I have been trying to face the smaller ones to get my confidence up, and we thought a little ride on Trax would be perfect for that! It was FREEZING that night and to make it worse we got to the station just as the train left and had to wait out in the cold 20 min for the next one. Here is me and the kids while we wait for the next train.

The boys absolutely LOVED riding Trax. It was the highlight of the night by far! As you can see, they were mesmerized by all the lights and buildings that were flashing by as we looked out the windows. As fun as they had at Temple Square they kept saying to me, "We get to ride the train again Momma?" They couldn't wait to ride it back!

I wish I could say that I got on the train and rode it with no problems whatsoever, but that's not true. When we first got on and started to move I had a few moments of panic and my brain was asking me to run for the doors. However, I fought it and was able to have a good ride, with the way back having no panic at all! Yea Me!! I'm sure you all think I'm so silly, but it was a big accomplishment and I was very proud of myself! As a distraction, I had Chad take some pictures of us. Here is me and the "Emmster" chillin' like villains! She was such an angel, practically not a peep the whole night.

We were dropped off right across from Temple Square and were able to see the trees in all their lit-up glory! You can't tell by the picture, but for a weeknight it was SUPER busy!

The Salt Lake Temple was all lit-up as well, and looking so beautiful!

We took the boys through both visitor's centers and up to see the Christus, of course, but we spent the majority of the time at the Church History Museum, which is just across from Temple Square, on the west side (and is free admission). The museum is special to me, because I used to clean there at night to help with the income, back when Keaton was just a baby. I had met some wonderful people and had good times while working there, and it felt like home walking through the doors. We also wanted to take the boys because I knew that the Museum has a children's exhibit that changes every couple years or so, and I knew that the boys would love whatever it was. The exhibit that they have now is called "I Am a Child of God" and it is worth your time to take the kids! The favorite section for the boys ironically, was the little baby nursery where they have placed dolls, blankets, bottles, even birth certificates for the kids to take care of the little "newborns". I love this picture of Sam feeding one of the babies. He was concentrating so hard to get the bottle in her mouth and he didn't even bother to take his hat or gloves off!

Here is Keek, not ashamed at all to be having so much fun with the babies!

Keaton giving one of the babies a bath.

I was hoping to get a good picture of the boys in front of the First Presidency's portraits and this was the best that I got! Arrrggghhh!

This little window was also in the "I Am a Child of God" exhibit. Chad and the boys had so much fun putting the colored pieces up on the windows. How cute is that!?

It is such a fun idea for the kiddies to do! Here is Sam and Keek in action! Chad was showing Sam how to work the maze at one of the activity tables.
Sam is all about the tools, so naturally, he would find interest at the "Build a Temple" table. (He didn't build temples, rather, he searched the pile for a hammer and was very disappointed that it was only blocks!)
We watched the boys to see if they could follow the "iron rod" to the tree of life.

Strong work boys!
The final thing we did at the exhibit was dress the boys in the shepard's clothing for the cute nativity scene. This was the best picture we could get of Sam.
A split second later he was taking the band off! He had had enough of that!
We had to get one of them holding the cute little lambs!
Lastly, we had to see the reflection pond. It had tons of lit-up candles floating on top of the water and was very cool to see! You can see all the steam, it really was so cold that night, they had a heater in the pond to keep it from freezing.

Well, that was the end of our big outing. It was a fun night to share with the kids and to bring in the holiday with such uplifting and beautiful images.
We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Elf Yourself!

I saw this on my friend Dawn's blog and thought I had
to do it too. It takes a couple of minutes to load, but
it is really cute! Check it out!
P.S. Notice that I'm not an elf. Well, I would've done
myself, but since there was only four spots,
I was the lucky one left out.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1502723180

I had so much fun doing my family, that I decided to
do another one, this time with my mom, dad, brother
and myself. It's pretty cute too!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1504084458

A Powerful Testimony...

This little boy named Logan is so brave and has the sweetest testimony. Since my family has just lost my Grandpa, it was especially comforting to me. I think it should help us all remember our Savior this Christmas.

Painted toes and playing with friends...

A few nights ago I caught Sammers playing in the markers. He was very proud to show me his painted toenails! He took the black marker all over his toes, I guess just like Momma does with her polish. I just had to laugh.

Here is a good view of the crime. As you can see he wasn't very cooperative with me taking pictures of his feet, and kept scrunching up his toes to hide them. What a kid!

We have a really cute family just around the corner from us. Sidni, my friend, has 3 kids all the same ages as mine and they play so good with one another. At least once a week we usually get together for lunch and let the kids play. Sidni's oldest, Tanner is Keek's best friend. Here they are playing trains.

I know I have posted pictures of Maddix, Sidni's youngest and Emmi's boyfriend. Him and Emmi are just so cute together! He is a few months younger, but quite a bit bigger. What a hunk!

Sidni and I have big plans for our kids. If Emmi and Maddix don't get married, than we are counting on Sam and Eden. Sam has adored "Edie" now for over a year. I don't think she talks about him or likes him as much as he does her, but we hope that will change one day (ha ha). One my boys' favorite things to do is sit in the empty toy tupperware. "Edie" got in too, and it would've made such a cute picture if they would've held still. Oh well!

A "berry" cute hat...

Emmi has the cutest new hat. It is crocheted and makes her look like a little raspberry! It was home made by a family friend and given to Emmi by my grandmother. I was excited when it started to get chilly so I could it out and use it. I took these pictures the first time I put it on her head. I couldn't stop giggling over how cute it is!!

Oh, what a cute berry she makes!

This is a top view, so you can see the little stem.

Sam saw me taking pictures and I guess didn't want to get left out. He is so funny- his mouth is open in almost every picture I take of him because in order for him to sit still and look at me I have to get him to say "cheese". Here is one where he is obviously still saying "cheese" as I took the picture.

And, oh yes, a funny face. I didn't ask for it, but he must have felt it necessary. Poor little Emmi, the spotlight has been taken, yet again!

Grandpa Hess

Some of you knew that my Grandpa Hess wasn't doing well. Well, sadly we lost him this last week. Grandpa Horton D. Hess Jr., was only 77 years old, but he had been struggling with bone cancer for almost 3 years. His funeral was yesterday, and it was amazing to see how many people came to honor this great man. It is so hard to lose him; he left a big hole in the family that is for sure, but I think we all are so happy that he is in a better place and free from the pain. To honor him I thought I would share some pictures. I didn't think that I had very many, but when it came down to it, having to chose just 10 for 2 posts was very difficult. I have tried to start with the most recent and worked backwards, but it got confusing, so bear with me! This first picture of Grandpa with my boys is too priceless for words. Grandma and Grandpa Hess came over to visit at my Mom's house this last July while the boys and I were staying over. My Mom bought these glasses for the boys just for fun and they had been showing them to Grandma and Grandpa. All of a sudden, Grandpa grabbed the other pair and put them on. Keaton and Sam got a kick out of it and I knew that I just had to get a picture. What a good sport!

That day was the first time Grandpa held Emmi. I love his little smile. Emmi is their 9th great-grandchild. Keaton was their 1st, and Sam, their 5th. As you will see by my pictures, Grandpa loved kids, especially babies. He looked at them with such love, and held them so sweetly.

Grandma and Grandpa were able to make it all the way down to our house for Emmi's blessing day. I was so scared that it would be too far for Grandpa to travel, but they said they would be there "with bells on". Here is our 4 generational pose- Grandma and Grandpa, my cute mom and dad, me and little Emmi of course.

A couple years earlier, this is one of Grandpa holding baby Sam. Sam's full name is Samuel Hess Hunsaker, the "Hess" we used to honor Grandpa. He would joke every time I got pregnant that I should name the baby "Horton", (his first name) if it was a boy and "Hortensia" if it was a girl. Both Chad and I really wanted to name one of our boys after Grandpa, and we wanted it to be Sam, but we thought "Hess" would be better than "Horton" for a middle name, (sorry Grandpa!) Grandpa was just in the middle of his chemo and had lost his hair. That night Grandpa wanted to hold Sam and held him like this for quite awhile. It was the sweetest thing!

This one is of Sam too, now about 6 months old. You can see that Grandpa still looks really good, and is starting to get some hair back.

You can probably tell by my chubby chipmunk cheeks and tummy that I am pregnant with Sam in this picture. Keek just turned 2 when this was taken. This is about the time that Grandpa started his chemo and as you can see, is sporting a new hairstyle.

The day that this picture was taken, Grandma and Grandpa got home from serving a temple mission in Nauvoo. Up until that time Grandma and Grandpa let Chad, Keek and I live in their condo rent free. It was so nice to live 6 months without paying rent!! (They did serve longer than that of course, my cousin and his wife lived there before we did). I remember that they came over to my Mom's house to say hi before they even went home. It was so good to have them home, even though we were out of a home! Keaton is about 8 months old here.

So, I took this one out of my scrapbook, because this is one of my favorites. Most of you know that Grandpa was ordained a sealer for the LDS church when I was in high school. Grandpa and Grandma were on currently serving their second temple mission in Washington D.C., but they got special permission to fly home to marry Chad and I in the Bountiful Temple. I don't need to tell you how much having him perfom the ceremony meant to both of us- I couldn't put it into words. But, I am so grateful that he was able and more than willing. I will never forget that day!!

I'm sorry about the qualilty of the next couple ones, but they were older, so I had to scan them in. This one was taken when I was in high school, during my tanning days as you can tell. You are probably asking why Grandpa is holding his eye. Well, it isn't because he is hiding his fake eye. (Yes, Grandpa's right eye is actually a glass eye. He lost it from an injury that he got serving in the Korean War, but you really couldn't tell if you met him. Chad actually just was aware of this a few months ago. Boy, was he surprised!!) My mom is taking the picture and at the time was having problems taking good ones. She kept cutting heads off. So, I guess she started holding the other eye shut, while looking through the camera and it seemed to work for her. Weird, I know! Well, Grandpa was making fun of how silly she looked and held his eye shut too! The funniest part, is that Grandpa is holding down his good eye, and opening his fake eye!
Grandma and Grandpa were always very supportive of all of their grandchildren. They came to many of my dance recitals and performances. Here is one I found of my high school graduation. We were limited on tickets, but I was so proud to have them there with my parents to see me get my diploma. Go Braves!!

I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane of me and my Grandpa Hess. You can see what a great man he was. I know that he does live on the other side of the veil and is finally free of his pain and suffering. I know I will see him again. I love you Grandpa!