Indianapolis Temple Open House

We are so privileged to have a new temple in Indiana. The Indianapolis temple had its open house this summer.  We were able to attend the open house with many of Nate's family. The temple is beautiful inside. It was fun for the kids to go inside and see what it looks like in there. They particularly liked the baptismal font with the 12 oxen. We had to wear plastic disposable booties so we would not soil the new carpet with our street shoes. Dawson was very hesitant to wear them but when the volunteer boy suggested that they were space boots then he agreed to put them on. We enjoyed being together as a family at the temple. What a beautiful symbol of our testimonies.

Grandpa Hutchinson's visit

Grandpa Hutchinson had more work in Fort Wayne!  So he came out to stay with us for a whole 2 weeks!  His work was an hour commute, but for him it was worth it to stay with us, which we thoroughly enjoyed!  He got to spend time with each of the kids individually.  Dawson, he took to ice cream.  Cooper, he took hiking and on walks with Bella.  Jaxton, he took on a scouts hike and then on a trip to get "lost" and use the GPS to find their way home.  They got all the way into Ohio, which was super fun for Jax!  

We went to a Tin Caps Baseball game with Grandpa too.  That was memorable and lots of fun!  We love you grandpa and can't wait for your next "work trip!"

Summertime

Summertime is always so exciting when it comes.  School's out and all the fun begins.  We had to work in mommy's work schedule, and some minor "schoolwork" for the kids as well as chores.  But then of course there is time for play and going places.  We loved going to science central.  We also enjoyed Matea Park beach where the kids could swim  and play in the sand.  We spent time at the library, which the kids love, especially the downtown library.  We had playdates and friends over a lot.  We read books together, and watched movies together.  We went swimming a lot at the YMCA both outdoors and indoors.  We also took some fun bike rides around.  That was so much fun!  We also spent a lot of time outside at home, riding bikes on our long driveway and playing in our blow up pool.  It has been a fun fun summer!

Nauvoo Pageant

We went on a quick trip to Nauvoo with our family and Jared.  We'd never been before, so it was pretty fun.  We were late in booking a place to stay, so the only vacation rental available pretty much was a mile or so away from downtown Nauvoo right on the  Mississippi River.  When we got there, we could not believe this little gem.  It looked just like a storybook house from Snow White.  The inside had been all remodeled and was so neat.  The walls, doors, and windows inside and out looked like they were from a storybook. Even the bathroom was so quaint and fun that we couldn't help but have to try out the old fashioned bathtub.  It was too big for our group and we wished we could spend more time there.  But now we know, and next time we can book that same little house.

Before the Nauvoo pageant they had a fair.  They had all kinds of fun pioneer games for the kids and activities from the time the pioneers were in Nauvoo.  The kids enjoyed that.  Nate and I got to pull all the 4 big kids in a real handcart, just as our Martin Handcart company ancestors had done.  That was a neat experience.  

When the pageant finally began, everyone was pretty exhausted.  Jaxton was getting mosquito bites all over his body.  And the other 4 kids all fell asleep during the pageant.  Nonetheless, it was a fun experience.  I'm glad we got to go.  It would be really neat to be in the pageant someday and join the family cast.  

The next morning we visited the Nauvoo temple before heading home.  It was beautiful!

Lego Robotics Camp

Jaxton went to a Lego robotics camp at science center museum. He loved every minute of it. They got a base robot called and EV3 and they added on with Legos to make it look however they wanted. Jackson had one teammates to work with all week.  They named their robot the battle bot.

They got to program different features to their robot. The tournament ring was to have a white ring around the outside of a black circle. So Jaxton and his teammate programmed the robot two cents the color white.if it sensed the color white it would back up and turn around to go a different direction. This would avoid the robot from falling off the tournament ring. They programmed other features such as speed and pressure when it came into contact with something they programmed the amount of force it would use against the opponent.  

At the end of the week they were able to compete to robots at a time. It was a full on tournament. Jackson's robot made it through three brackets of the tournament before another robot beat him on the last two brackets. After the tournament the kids robots got to attack the teacher robot one teacher robot to eight attacking robots.  It was so much fun to watch. It was even more fun to see Jaxton so proud and totally in his element.

Happy Birthday Nathan

Nathan is One Year's Old.  Here are some fun things about Nathan at his 1 Year Mark:

1.  Nathan loves oatmeal mixed with bananas.  He doesn't prefer to be fed with a spoon.  Rather, he prefers to eat a bowl of oatmeal himself.  If I try to feed him, often he will shake his head and wave his arms as he hits the bowl and makes it all go flying all over the place.  Instead, if I give him the bowl and spoon on his tray, he will eat every last bite of oatmeal, some with the spoon, most without.  But that entire bowl will be eaten, minus the handfuls that land in his lap or on his belly or wiped in his hair.  After this adventure he usually has to be stripped and sprayed off in the kitchen sink before getting dressed for the day.  So cute!

2.  Nathan is a climber.  He is a risk taker.  He climbs up on the fireplaces and digs inside the fireplace.  He loves to climb the stairs.  He will look at me, knowingly that I disapprove, and up he will go as fast as he can till I catch him.  I had to lower the crib once and I need to again because he, of all the kids, might be the one to climb out.  

3.  Nathan has a funny raspy voice sometimes.  He will make these raspy sighs that are just so darn cute.  It makes me wonder if he will have a raspy voice for real someday.  He also has a grunt grumble he makes too.  He makes the funniest noises.  His screams are the most piercing loud screams you've ever heard.  The worst is when he does one of his screams in the middle of church.  That would make one turn their head.

4. Nathan has so many little protectors.  Dawson especially is out to protect his little bro.  He will alert me when Nathan is headed up the stairs or if he is climbing somewhere or headed in to play in the potty.  He's like my little Nathan Alarm.  Kaylee loves him to pieces.  She plays with him and he loves her attention.  Jaxton loves to set him up at the piano with him and they play piano together.  It is awfully sweet.  Cooper is always so helpful to him and helps to move him away from danger and set up gates for him to be safe.  

5. Nathan is crawling very fast.  He is so close to walking it will be days before he's doing it.  But for now, we can hand him a toy he is interested in and he will stand there holding the toy with both hands, not realizing he is standing and balancing.  Once he realizes he is standing, he will lose his confidence and squat down to the ground.  All he needs is a little confidence and he will be off!

6. Nathan has a sound he makes a lot. It sounds a lot like "yeahhhhh". It almost sounds like he is saying yeah to something. It is the sweetest sound.  I don't want to ever forget that cute voice. He also can say "mama" and "dada" and he says "bah!" whenever he's talking about Bella the dog.

7. When Nathan goes to sleep at night he is so sweet and usually always predictable. He drinks his milk while I rock him. Then he takes that pacifier and his blanket and he snuggles up in fetal position on his side in his crib. He just gets cozy right when I put him down. And he lets me walk on out and close the door. He is such a good sleeper. I hope he keeps it up!

8. Nathan loves pushing his bike around outside. He loves to push it across the driveway and then will get stuck at the edge and not be able to turn around. So we turn him around and off he goes until he gets stuck on the other side of the driveway.   He loves to be outside and he loves bikes.

9. Nathan loves water. He lives for bathtime! Whenever he has an opportunity to play in a faucet, a sink, a bathtub, or even the dogs water dish, he will find that water and make a splash.  He climbs up to our tub and turns the water on and gets everything wet including himself. The other day he actually climbed into the kids bathtub upstairs and managed to get the water turned on a small trickle. So of course he had to take a nice long messy drink from the water in the tub and in the process got himself soaked. He knows he is not supposed to touch the dogs water dish, so he will look at me and then bolt to the water dish. He will look at me again and put his hand in when he sees me running after him. What a little stinker.  In the pool he has no fear. He sticks his face in the water and laughs. He also makes a funny face when I bob him underwater. But he doesn't mind it at all. If he had his way he would let go of me and just go swim.

10. My Nathan loves to give hugs. Especially in the morning when he wakes up, and we get him out of bed, he just snuggles. He lays his head down on our shoulder and just gives love. It is so sweet. It melts my heart and I find so much Joy in my baby boy.

Happy Birthday Little One!

Nathan's First Birthday

Nathan is One!  I can hardly believe it!!  Our little guy is growing up way too fast.  We celebrated with Melissa and John and Nate's mom & dad in Noblesville at Melissa & John's house.  Madison used her cake decorating skills to make a cake for Nathan that resembled Bella.  He loves Bella and all dogs.  We sang to him and he got to dig into that cake.  He wasn't sure what to do with it.  He dug his fingers into the sticky frosting and the crumbly cake and just started shaking his hands in the air to shake off all the goo.  So it went flying everywhere!  Some did get into his mouth, but more than eating it, he was interested in the texture, the feel, and they way he could shake it all over the place.  Cute boy!  He got a little kiddie pool from us and some new shoes to start walking around in.  Grandma got him a standing toy with gears that spin.  He will love it.  Happy Birthday Little Nathan!

Cousin Jared

Our nephew Jared just returned from his mission in Russia at the end of June.  He decided he wanted to come work for Simplx.  So he has been staying with us and will stay till he leaves for BYU at the end of August.  It has been so much fun having him.  He still characterizes so many attributes of a missionary, that it is so much like having a missionary in our home!  He is on fire spiritually.  He is so mature, responsible, and determined and goal oriented.  It is such a great example for my kids to watch.  The kids have all loved having him in our house.  They ask for him when he is not home, and they are playing with him every moment they can when he is home.  He is a hard worker at work and willing to work hard.  He is willing to serve others and wants to spend time with the missionaries a lot.  We have really enjoyed having him in our home.  

Mesa, Arizona

We drove about 11 hours to stay with Nick and Carissa in Arizona.  The kids got to know their Arizona cousins , Kipton and Aria and they had a lot of fun.  The boys would ride each other around in these toy tractors all around the house, and Kaylee enjoyed Arias little girl toys and her barbies.  We went to Organ Stop Pizza for dinner, where an amazing organist played songs which resonated with drums and whistles through the whole building.  She would take requests and could pull off any song!  It was amazing talent and so fun for the kids to watch.  

The next morning we went to Carissa's parents house to swim in the Arizona heat.  That was tons of fun.  All the kids enjoyed swimming.  The kids spent the afternoon napping and playing together.  We went to dinner that night and Nate & Nick went to the movies.  The kids slept in Kipton's room and on the couches.  The two little boys slept in our room downstairs.  We have done FaceTime with Kipton and Aria since, and the kids hopefully will be able to remember each other and continue their bond as cousins being long distance.  The next morning we got up before the rest of the house was awake and set off to the airport to head home.  Home sweet home.  What a wonderful fun filled trip.  But we are just a little impartial to our own home in good old Indiana.  

Good Old Provo

Provo holds a very dear spot in Nate & my hearts.  This is where we met, this is where we dated, this is where our lives began.  This is where I moved away from home for the first time to.  This is where I really grew up into the person I decided to be.  Provo means so much to me and to Nate.  We went to Provo several times because we just couldn't stay away.  

We took Jaxton & Cooper to hike the Y on the mountain.  They were very excited about this.  It's been years since Nate and I had done it.  Jaxton purposefully packed his hiking backpack to take up the Y mountain.  It was a steep trail, and the kids got tired, but they kept going.  We totally missed the trail going to the bottom of the Y, and we went all the way up to the tip top of the Y.  We sat up there for a few minutes looking out at the valley.  It was beautiful.  We got up there before the sun came shining over the mountain, so we hiked in the shade all the way up and most of the way down.  What an accomplishment.  

We also took the kids to the CougarEat of course just for memories sake and to show the kids where they would be eating lunch someday when they came here for college.  We got everyone some BYU shirts and a sticker for our car to sport our favorite college.  

Nate and I drove around provo on memory lane, showing the kids were we used to live, we took them around campus showing them the business building, the math building, the english building, and the library where he and I had our first class together.  Nate and I also stopped at Mama Chu's Mexican restaurant, our own favorite place in Orem to eat.  The same owner and the same waitresses were still there serving us.  The owner even remembered us!  That was pretty awesome!  

Cassidy, our niece was moving into her apartment in Provo, so we stopped to see her new place and spent some time with her as she was getting accustomed to her new surroundings.  We love Provo.  Such a fun place!