Party with games and Challenges

Tonight we were just hanging out with everyone when Aidan handed each person this invitation:



I was truly surprised because I had nothing to do with this. Everyone were really good sports and accommodated Aidan's invitation. We all gathered at the pool table where indeed there were "games and challenges". Aidan had a bottle of water for everyone with their name on it. So when we arrived he said, "You can get a refreshment." So cute huh? Aidan first had us all play pool, each taking a turn. After that he had a target set up for us to shoot his nerf gun. I must say the girls were better than the boys in this challenge. Next was a challenge to fly Aidan's helicopter from the pool table to a landing site. We had fun with that one. Strangely Derek was a better pilot than Ryan. Hmmm.

The next stage of the party was everyone played a few minutes of Scrabble. We had two boards out. After that Aidan came in with a Bingo game that was called "AIDAN" instead of Bingo. We played with M&Ms. Somehow the game was rigged for Nick to win. We ended the night with a treat.

It was so much fun and Aidan engineered it all with Grandpa's help I think. It was just so cute to see him be in charge. I wish I would have taken some pictures of the games and challenges but we were having so much fun I didn't stop to do it.

A new reason for living...

A new reason for living in Louisville that is.

This morning Ryan told me he was taking me to a special place as part of my Christmas present that was of the same caliber as the Gap Clearance Center in Cincinnati.  He said it was 45 minutes from our place.  I was highly doubtful that anything in Louisville could compare to the Gap Clearance Center and if it did I would have heard about it by now.

So we drove for 45 minutes with Ryan the whole time building up this mystery place.  I was getting nervous that it all would be a disappointment.  As we got close to the exit he made me close my eyes.  I had to keep them close until he stopped the car.  When I opened them I saw this:

 Now if you are a shoe-loving woman like I am you would instantly know that I had just pulled up to shoe heaven.  I was shocked I had never heard about his place.  Seriously who has been holding out on me? Ryan found out from some flight attendants. We walked up to the door where people were waiting in line to get in the door since it was a few minutes before opening time and then I saw this:

Yeah, I love that!

Then the doors opened and I saw this:

Rows and rows and rows of shoes.  It was well organized which makes a big difference when shopping.  My biggest mistake was wearing my boots.  I should have just worn my flip flops so I could easily trip on shoes. I tried on a gazillion shoes.  I first narrowed it down to about 12 and then to 5 and then to 4.  It was so tough.   Some shoes were up to 70% off and to sweeten the deal they also were having a sale of 20% off your total purchase.  All the shoes are name brand designer shoes that you would find at Macy's, like Michael Kors, Steve Madden, Jessica Simpson, Eccos etc.  Everyone took a turn looking at shoes.  Ryan found a pair of dress shoes and Lacey found two pair of church shoes.  We found Aidan an $80 pair of North Face snow pants for $20.  Ryan was so jealous.  But all in all everyone scored.

Here are my new beauties!

 What a great Christmas present huh?  The man knows me and he knows me well!

Gingerbread Festivity

I wasn't sure our gingerbread party was going to work out this year. Every place we looked to having it was booked and our options for days to do it were dwindling. Luckily Alexis allowed us to use her home for the party. Someday, yes, someday we will host the gingerbread party in our own home. We just wanted to invite more than one family and our house just doesn't accommodate that very well. So thank goodness for good friends with big houses.

Four families came with all their kids and tons of candy. We had so much but we used a lot of it. We helped the kids first with theirs. Once we got a structure made we let them decorate as they wanted.




Miss Cassidy just wanted to eat the frosting which really isn't that good. After the kids were done and busy watching a movie, we sat all the adults down for the real show to begin.


I had high expectations for Ryan's house. When I first did gingerbread houses with Ryan's family 10 years ago, I had no idea how serious they were. I had started making a dinky kid looking house and looked over at Ryan and saw a replica of the White House. I soon realized this was serious and not just an excuse to play with candy. So over the years I have developed my talent and I think maybe I have officially won the right to carry the Gremmert name.


Ryan in the planning stages.


I think this was the Empire State Building and it was starting to lean so we hurried and took a picture.

Yep, moments later it all crumbled and this is what is ended up looking like. On the other hand........


Mine turned out so cute. My roof was falling a little but the candy canes came as a great structural element as well as decorative. Act like I planned it right?


So here is our side by side comparison just to rub it in one last time.

Southern Lights

A pilot friend of Ryan's invited us to join his family to Southern Lights in Lexington at the Horse Park. It was a little drive but it was worth it. Southern lights is a drive thru Christmas light display. If you tuned to a certain radio station Christmas music accompanied the whole adventure. The lights were so fun. They had some lights that went off in sequence so it looked like the figures were moving. They had Churchill downs, horses racing, marching toy soldiers, the 12 days of Christmas and a lot more.

After the lights we went to the main building to see a bunch more fun things. We rode on a cute little train that was all lit up.

That is Ryan's friend and not just some strange guy with our kids. He opted to ride in the caboose with all the kids while Ryan and I snuggled in our own car. Sounds cool but I really felt silly riding the train with no kids in our car.

Next they had a whole display of electric trains of all sizes. The kids loved watching them go through such intricate villages.

And the part the kids were most excited for was the HUGE bag of kettle corn to end the night. Must admit I make it better. The kids loved it though! Anything seems cool when it comes in bulk!

We had such a fun night. All the kids were demanded we go next year. So I think we found a new Kentucky Christmas tradition!

Hill Cumorah

We experienced the Hill Cumorah in two parts.   Once we arrived in Palmyra we stopped first at the Hill Cumorah and hiked to the monument they have there of Moroni.  It was late in the afternoon and we were expecting it to rain soon so we seized the opportunity. 

The views from the top of the hill were gorgeous. 

 I truly couldn't believe I was on top of the Hill Cumorah. My whole life I had been taught the story of Moroni delivering the plates to Joseph Smith on a hillside and here I stood.  The reality never sunk in. 

 My kids of course took full advantage of rolling down the big hill. 

On our way down we went a different way than we had gone up.  The way up was paved and a large path.  The way down was not paved and was literally through the woods.  It gave such a better depiction of what it would have been like for Joseph Smith.  You could feel the reverence of the area.  I was telling Cassidy why a statue of Moroni was at the top of this hill.  After I finished the story, she said, "This is a special, special, special place."  We really tried to emphasize to the kids being calm in these places and thinking about how they were feeling there so they could recognize the sacredness of the places they were.

We went through the Visitor Center the next morning.  It was so pretty.  We watched a great video about Joseph Smith receiving the plates.  The videos really helped the kids to visually understand what happened there.  They also had many interactive displays for the kids that helped them as well.

Lunch with the Missionaries

Next on our list was lunch in Rochester with two sets of missionaries.  Strangely enough I am related to two missionaries serving in the Rochester Mission.  Sister Stone is my cousin's daughter and Elder Gremmert is Ryan's cousin.  We made arrangements to have lunch at Dibellas (so good by the way).  My parents sat with Sister Stone and her companion, who was ironically Sister Carter, no relation.  Ryan and I and the kids sat with Elder Gremmert and his companion.  Elder Gremmert is a ASL missionary.  It was really cool to see him signing as we talked to keep his companion, who is deaf, in the loop.  It was great to see them.  They seemed like good hard working missionaries.

First site: John Johnson Home

In Hiram, OH is the John Johnson farm where Joseph Smith lived from 1831 to 1832.  The Johnson home served as headquarters of the Church.

When we first walked into the home we entered the summer kitchen.  These are some of the things in the kitchen. 

The sister missionary asked the kids if they noticed anything different than what they had in their kitchen at home.  Lacey immediately said, "The exit sign".  Out of all the different utensils and pots and bowls, she picked the exit sign.  Too funny.

In March 1832, Joseph was attacked by a mob in the middle of the night and was tarred and feathered near the home. The next day, despite his injuries, Joseph preached as he often did to a large congregation gathered in front of the home and baptized three persons. This is the room he was pulled from in the middle of the night.

 

 The kids were so saddened by this story.  Joseph's little baby boy had been sick and ended up dying from exposure to the cold. 

 Joseph received an outpouring of revelation within these walls, including a magnificent vision of the Father and the Son and the three degrees of glory. This was the room the revelation was received in.  This was Aidan's favorite place out of the whole trip.  He said it was such a "spiritual place"  He said he felt like he could review the past and that he could image Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon in this room. 

Here are just some pretty shots of the area.

 Our goal for the trip was to stop at as many roadside apple cider places as we could.  We found one as we were leaving the Johnson home area.  The apple cider was awesome and gone in minutes.  Mom bought some good cashew brittle as well. It was a good stop.