Catching up--Trip to Idaho

We made sort of a last minute trip to Idaho over Labor Day weekend to see family (During the first week of Justin's semester--not the best idea). While we were there we took a trip up to Rexburg to see the temple. It was being built while we were there but we moved before it was finished and missed the open house. The photo above is a favorite picture of Benjamin with the tower of the temple in the background.

This is Benjamin getting to drive Grandpa Jorgensen's backhoe. He LOVED it!!

We NEVER want to make that drive again though (we drove straight through on the way there--ouch!). Benjamin cried for the last two or three hours because his legs hurt from sitting in his carseat--I felt so badly for him. But it was nice to be able to visit with family and show off Seth.

Family Vacation Photos

Here are some photos of our vacation.
Benjamin at a cheese store in Wisconsin

Benjamin at the zoo in Madison.

Benjamin at the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Benjamin and Justin in front of the Senate in the Wisconsin Capitol.

Justin and Benjamin at the Field of Dreams.

Catching up--Wisconsin!

With some of the next few posts, I will be playing catch-up with what our family has been doing this summer. We took a family vacation to Madison, Wisconsin in August. On the way, we stopped at the Field of Dreams. We walked into the corn field, and Benjamin got to run the bases. It was beautiful and very well kept. In Madison, we went to the zoo and the capitol building. The capitol was absolutely gorgeous! Justin tells me that the dome is the largest in volume in the whole United States--even bigger than the U.S. Capitol. Benjamin got to sit in a desk, and we all enjoyed walking around admiring the beautiful murals and woodwork. At the zoo Benjamin decided not even halfway through that he was done, so we had to leave without seeing most of the animals. Even with all the little things that went on just because we were a family on vacation, we had a great time and loved Wisconsin. It was so beautiful. We drove home through Minnesota (also gorgeous) and stopped at the Mall of America. Aside from the fact that it was incredibly huge in and of itself with an amusement park inside the middle of the building, they had to have two separate seven level parking garages that each had a bigger footprint than many regular malls do.
Okay, so I just tried to get the pictures from our vacation uploaded, but our computer isn't registering the drive that I put the card in so.... enjoy this picture of Seth taken just after his blessing on the blanket Justin crocheted for him.

It's here!

Okay. Justin and everyone have wanted me to start a family blog for a LONG time, and I finally made the time. We just enjoyed a visit from Marianne and Eric (their blog was the final nudge in getting me to create a blog). We had so much fun with them: playing Settlers of Catan, going shopping, and just hanging out. We are looking forward to a visit from Grandma Clendening in about a week and a half. Benjamin and Seth are both going to be pumpkins for Halloween this year. I will post pictures after our ward's Halloween party. We started attending the Iowa City 4th ward in September because Benjamin is three and will be starting Primary in January (our previous ward didn't have a primary). Well, I'm excited about this blog--we'll see how well I keep it up.