November 2012

We went to Illinois for Thanksgiving to visit Aaron's sister Emily and her family.  On our way we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska for a tour of Winter Quarters.  We were dressed up in pioneer clothes, the kids got to try and pull a handcart over a small rock, there was lots to see and read and we felt a warm spirit there.  We are so grateful for our pioneer ancestors who sacrificed so much and were a great example for us to follow.  Any time I think we have it hard I think about them and it encourages me to keep going and never give up.  It was a long trip there and back but worth every minute to be visit Winter Quarters and get some precious time in with family who live so far from us.

pioneer cemetery

We spent a few days in Illinois before going up to The Dells, Wisconsin to stay at the Kalahari.  The next couple days were spent playing in the water and having a blast.  The water park was indoor and was huge with plenty to keep kids of all ages entertained for hours.

Yes, he screamed the whole way down!

Waiting for some poor unsuspecting person to walk under the bucket so they could dump water on them.  The actually surprised a few kids and some adults as well.

Back to Illinois to spend a couple more days with the Stahmanns.  We had a fun family game of kick ball before eating Thanksgiving dinner!

Anna and her cousin Hailey in their matching Kalahari sweatshirts

At the end of November the girls and I went to Disney on Ice with Brooke and her girls.  It was a fantastic even and everyone seemed to love it, especially Lizzy.  The performance was shortened stories  of Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and my favorite Tangled.  At the end they did a musical number and had all the princes and princesses come out with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisey, etc.  This was Lizzy's favorite part of the performance since Ariel was one of them and she is her favorite princess.

Macie and Lizzy

Tessa and Brooke