Despicable Me

Nathan and I saw this movie a couple times this summer.  We were really looking forward to it because we loved the first Despicable Me movie.  We love the second one too.  Emily went with us when we saw it yesterday.  Nathan's been trying to collect the toys from McDonald's.  He has three of them so far. 

 

We've had such a busy summer so far.  It's been really fun, but I don't feel like I'm getting much done as far as projects go.  We are making lots of good memories, though!  Last weekend we went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which was so awesome!  We drove down on Friday, which took almost the whole day, and checked into our hotel.  Then we drove over to the Pageant, saved some seats, and then went into the visitor's center for a while. We saw the Christus and watched a movie about the restoration.  We also saw Books of Mormon in lots of different languages, which was really cool.  We told them about Zihan coming and they gave us a free Chinese Book of Mormon.  It looks so neat.  That evening we were waiting for the pageant to start, and the skies darkened and it got really windy.  When the actors came out we went on a search for Nephi.  We found him and got a really cool picture of him with Nathan.  Eventually it started raining and then lightning.  They ended up canceling the play, which was a bummer.  It was definitely the right thing to do, though, because there was some serious lightning.  The next day we went to see the sights, like the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first published, the LDS bookstore next to it (where Nathan bought a Moroni action figure and Megan got a book), and then we had lunch at a good Chinese place right there on Main street.  Then we went to the Joseph Smith log house, frame house, barn, and the Sacred Grove.  Unfortunately, it was raining off and on all morning and by the time we got to the Sacred Grove it started pouring.    We went over to the Pageant and luckily it started clearing  up.  We saved our seats and then Nathan and Dan climbed up to the top of Hill Cumorah while Megan and I read in the car.  When they got back, Nathan and I went back to the visitor's center and did everything again.  One of the neatest things about this trip was seeing how much Nathan was interested in everything.  He has really matured.  I was so happy to see how interested he was in everything.  We went back to our seats and we ended up talking to a couple for about an hour!  They were so nice, and we were all just killing time, so we talked and talked.  By the time we left, we practically knew their whole life story:-)  We bought some really good chicken dinners right next door to the pageant.  When the actors came out Nathan and I walked around getting autographs.  He really wanted to find Nephi so he could get his autograph.  The pageant started around 9:15.  It was great!  The kids were both entranced the whole time.  They loved it!  At the end, they both said it was the best play they have ever seen.  The next morning we headed for home and stopped at Olive Garden for lunch.  It was such a great weekend!  I'm so glad we made the trip.

 

We got Zihan's flight itinerary yesterday.  She is coming on August 20th.  We are so excited!  I hope she likes it here and we get along really well.          



Vacation

We had a nice, relaxing vacation last week.  We went to Ashland, New Hampshire, which was only about 2 1/2 hours away, but we liked the resort and we were able to do some fun things.  We went to see the Budweiser Clydesdales, Clark's Trading Post (where we saw a bear show and Chinese Acrobats and Nathan rode the bumper boats), Canobie Lake Park (which was a lot of fun), and Whale's Tale ( a water park with a wave pool and a lazy river).  We also just hung out at the resort a lot, where we watched movies, played games, and went swimming (they had indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs).  Dan and I played horseshoes and shuffleboard.  I lost at both, but it was still fun.  We went to church on Sunday (I love going to new wards).  the girls went out a couple of times to do stuff, just the two of them, like a movie and shopping.  It was a nice vacation.  Dan always does all the cooking and laundry when we are on vacation, so it makes it really relaxing for me.  He's so sweet!

I hurt my back somehow on Saturday, and I had a rough couple of days on Sunday and Monday. I was in so much pain.  I couldn't even get out of bed for a while.  Tuesday and today were better, luckily.  I hope it heals quickly because I have so much I want to get done this summer!

My mom is coming home tomorrow morning from her trip to Utah.  She went out with Marge to do some Glenn Beck stuff and to visit people they knew, like the Blakes and our friend Keyth.  I'm excited to see Mom again.  I've missed her!  You're never to old to want your mom!  Hahaha!

Felicia and her boyfriend Mike moved into Mike's old trailer across from Kelly and Erland.  Mike's already built a new front porch.  I'm so excited that they are so nearby.  I love it. 

Mike and Hilda brought Elin over to meet Ashley and Megan.  She was so cute.  She makes the cutest expressions.  It just cracks me up.  She wasn't very impressed with the guinea pig, and she scowled and imitated him chewing.  It was so funny.  I already love her to pieces.

I've been reading a lot lately, especially since I hurt my back.  I've been reading  a lot of Casey Watson books on my Kindle.  She and her husband do therapeutic foster care, and the stories she has to tell are so interesting.  It makes me want to do foster care again. 

I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with a way to make money without having to go back to teaching in the fall.  I really don't want to go back!  I'm afraid I might not have a choice, though.  I keep going back and forth between trying to find something and just sucking it up and deciding to just teach again for another year.  I just don't know.  There are options I've come up with, but I need to know for sure that I'm going to make enough money, especially with Nathan going to Boxberry next year.  I just don't know what to do.  I love the idea of making and selling mini scrapbooks because I would be really good at that, and it would be low stress, but it wouldn't guarantee enough money.  Plus, it would only be a part-time thing anyway.  I would still need something else part-time. 

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I love this quote!