Hope to see you again soon.

Thanks so much for visiting! We already miss you.

Hugs

&

Jumps

Carson turns 3!!

Carson turned 3 while the Days were here. We decided to do presents in the morning since we had lots of plans to keep everyone entertained for the rest of the day.

Special Agent Oso: currently missing. As well as our camera. Hmmm...
Tangled!! Love this movie!
Books from Nana (Adam's Grandma).
We took Carson to the mall so he could do his two favorite things: ride the train and the merry-go-round. We also got him a giant balloon and took him to see puppies. So simple and he was sooo happy!
Later that night, we took Carson to his first baseball game. He LOVED it! He was screaming at the players almost the whole time encouraging them with, "You can do it!" "Hit it!"and "Awww..." He had no idea what was going on, but he went with it. He is so cool.
Everyone made it on the jumbotron except for Joelle and I, but we didn't catch a picture so Adam snuck behind some guy who was getting interviewed. Haha I love him.

Oh happy Days!

Our dear friends, the Days, came to visit us. It had been a little over 3 years since we had seen each other and it was time. We had so much fun reminiscing old memories and making new ones. Joelle was my very first roommate at BYU-I and we have been best friends since. It was so fun meeting each other's kids.

Me, Savannah, and Allie.
Our first full day together we went to The Plaza in Kansas City. It has lots of fun/fancy places to shop and eat. We can't really afford most of the shops, but they sure are fun to look in.
The kids played in the fountain while Joelle and I browsed a store.
It ended with Carson splashing Savannah and getting her soaking wet. Sorry, my girl.
Our second day together we toured the church history sites. It was a little crazy with all the kids, but we are glad we did that before we leave Missouri. Our first stop was the Independence visiting center where we got to tour replica living cabins. We were told up to 10 families would live in tiny huts that were about the size of my small family room. Crazy! It must have taken a lot of faith for these Saints to know they were doing the right thing for their families.

They had a cabin at the end of the tour for the kids to play in. It was pretty cute.
Across the street from the Independence visiting center is the slightly creepy Community Of Christ temple. It is open to the public so we decided to take a tour.

It was actually quite beautiful inside. They had tons of amazing displays of art from all over the world. Also, they had awesome artifacts from the Joseph Smith's time. We didn't get to take pictures in their museum, but it was really neat to see the Liberty Jail door and other amazing pieces of our church's history.

We then took the long trip to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It wasn't exactly how I imagined. It was mostly just fields, but still beautiful. I tried to imagine how it might have looked while Adam and Eve lived there. It was kind of difficult. I am glad we went though, the land definitely did feel special.
Family shot. Allie is under her hat:)
The men.
Besties reunited.
Our last stop for the day was Liberty Jail. The replica was built in the exact spot the original used to be. They even had some of the original stones that were incorporated into the replica. It was very heartbreaking to listen to the conditions of Liberty Jail. I was mostly bothered by the ceiling height. It wasn't tall enough for Joseph Smith. One of the men Joseph was imprisoned with never stood straight again.

We believe.

If there is anything good out there, we believe.

If there is hope in the heat of despair, we believe.

If there is innocence undefiled, we believe.
Is there a chance to retreat from the wild? We believe.

-EFY 2002 "We Believe"

My heart is heavy this Easter Sunday. Maybe I am just overwhelmed with packing and cleaning, but I have had a lot on my mind. Adam and I have had many conversations about the world in the past couple of weeks. We have seen so many friends, family members, and people that we care about lose their light.

I am not just speaking of our loved ones that have stepped away from our religion. I am talking about goodness, respect, faith...in anything, ambition to live a wholesome life. More and more people are living for the moment and forgetting their purpose. What is the point of living if we don't have a purpose? What will our future hold? What will the world's future hold? This is our children's future and their children's future we are creating. What are we creating? It scares me. It really does. The world is continually becoming more evil. Or at least, that is how it seems to me.

Last week, my dad informed me a young man, whose family was baptized into the church, thrived, spoke of a mission, and later fell away, had killed his girlfriend's two year old son. He beat him to death. I hardly knew this young man at all. However, this news has made me so sick. He used to seem kind, he never striked me as evil and now I know he is. Did he give up on being human or did humanity give up on him?

This is an extreme example, but it has shaken me. I want to reach out to those who have lost hope and inspiration to be good, but I am not quite sure how. I am, by no means, the best example, but I do know that I need to have faith in my life to be happy and to feel like I have a purpose. I have struggled several times with depression and these times have always been when I have become consumed with myself and desires of the world. While I would not push religion on anyone, I would like to say that my greatest happiness is found in my beautiful family and a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son to live and die and live again for us. There is peace in knowing who you are and that you are loved. I think there is peace in helping others discover this also. I need to help others.

Who is with me?