Musical Moments

 Just for fun, everyone pulled out their instruments and created a pretty amazing arrangement of Consider the Lillies.  Some day it will be ready to perform!

And who can resist Noah on the trumpet kazoo?!

Spring is Springing

Spring is proof of what God can do with a drab and dreary world.

The Best General Conference Ever!

General conference comes around quicker and quicker, and goes by faster and faster now that, as my kids informed me, "I'm old". But our traditions make it so fun, and this April 2024 general conference session was shaping up to be an excellent one. 

We've tried so many different traditions over the years.  The ones that have really stuck are conference cash for paying attention and taking notes that can be used to buy treats that I never buy at any other time of the year- 

Leah is the most epic notes taker- she does this for seminary every morning too!

A conference puzzle or two or three is a must!

As is a whole lot of napping from Laney- 

We went into the yard for a fire and some major log building on Saturday afternoon- it was way too windy to keep the fire going for long but it felt so good to be outside for a bit!  We all agree that we miss the seperate Priesthood and Women's Saturday night sessions of conference and the traditions that went along with them, but we're enjoying the time together too!

Of course on Sunday morning we had our treat tray ready, complete with "Our beloved prophet, Russell M. Nelson" peanut butter cups!

Our General Conference Fantasy picks all looked like this- a hope and a prayer for the announcement of a temple in Iowa!

The temple was definitely the theme of this conference.  A temple in Iowa has been our prayer and focus and work and conversation since we moved here 11 years ago.  We determined that we would frequently visit the temples in neighboring Nebraska and Illinois and Minnesota and Missouri, and we would also do our part to bring a temple to Iowa.  We have had many high hopes met with disappointment when no temple was been announced, always coupled with the reassurance that the day would come and that our prayers and work and effort mattered.  And yet, holy smokes were we still absolutely FLOORED when President Nelson announced a temple in Des Moines, Iowa. 

A TEMPLE IN IOWA!!!!!!!!  

This is a day that our family will never forget.  We gasped, cried, hugged, laughed, cried and cried some more and then we got down on our knees and thanked Heavenly Father for this amazing blessing and answer to our prayers.  All with four sweet missionaries celebrating along with us. 

Look at these huge smiles and tear-filled Iowa.  A temple in Iowa!!

And to further prove it's really happening, the church released the exciting news!

My phone has never blown up quite like it did after the annoucement. So many members in our stake and around the state have been working and praying for a temple in Iowa for so long!

We were asked for a statement for Church News.  They quickly fixed this error that gave us all a jump scare. 

We hosted a stake celebration on Monday night- hundreds of members gathered to celebrate the news!

Sister Archer has been waiting to hear the announcement longer than any of us! Her testimony has strengthened ours and we were so happy she got to hear these long-awaited words.

We have a stack of thank you letters that we will mail to President Nelson. 

This one is my favorite- 

A few days later Jason and our media specialist Susan Sims were on the news. We are going to have plenty of missionary opportunities in the coming months and years!

And a few days after that we visited what might be the land where the temple will be built.  It's a beautiful spot that is just off I-80 and is 20 minutes from our front door.  20 minutes!!  It has been 15 years since we have lived less than 2 hours from a temple, it's hard and wonderful to imagine what life could be like with a temple just 20 minutes away.  This location is just 13 minutes from our stake center and the school too.  Regular temple attendance will take on new meaning when we have a temple just minutes away. 

And now our prayers have shifted to a rapid timeline and ease of the many next steps that will happen before the temple doors are open. We are praying that the temple might be finished before Leah goes on her mission in 2026 or before Jason is released as stake president in 2027.  But no matter when the temple is completed, we will be ready for it!

A temple in Iowa!  

Is what we want to see!

A temple in Iowa!

It's happening, finally!

My Monthly Ode to Laney

 When she's not barfing in the middle of the night or charging the front door because a leaf blew across the lawn, Laney continues to be the best pup we've ever had. Especially on too-early school mornings- 

and on muddy adventures in the woods. 

She loves snuggling up in blankets on chilly mornings, 

and always appreciates a good patch of sunlight to bask in in the afternoon. 

April Fools!

 Despite threats of mid-night mustache drawings and saran wrapped toilet seats, our April Fool's morning went fairly smoothly. These rooms might look lovely, but I swapped the kids beds while they were at school.  As predicted, the girls switched back that night and the boys s;pent one night in their swapped beds before switching back. What a nice tame April Fool's trick. 

There were computer screens turned upside down, the classic full cup of water sitting on the counter, creepy fingers rising out of the stairs, 

 and then there was the appearance of Shrek. 

The pictures were everywhere, but that wasn't the worst of it. 

Aggghhhhh!!!  This creepy full-sized nightmare constructed by Emma scared every single one of us throughout the evening.  At bedtime I insisted that he be deconstructed and thrown back into the basement.  Darn Shrek, he got us all good!

Loving Where We Live

Day or night, I can never get enough of the views of home. 

A lesser seen angle of the backside of our house, through the woods and from our neighbor's side of the hill- 

One night last week I spotted this unusual red and green light on the drive home. 

I promptly scooped everyone out of their beds (which they had only jumped into because they heard me coming in) and we drove in the dark to try to get a closer look at the mystery light.  I almost convinced everyone that it was the Northern Lights, but really the clouds were low enough that it was probably just the reflection of an airport. Still pretty cool though, and I know Noah especially enjoyed driving through the dark country at night. 

Where we live, there is always magic happening right outside the window! Which is why I jumped at the chance to make birdhouses that are designed to attract Eastern bluebirds, a bird that we see regularly in our yard. 

We spotted this impressive owl at the naturescape. I love that even after 11 years, we are still discovering new pockets of Des Moines. 

Like this skyline overlook, and this cool clock at Fuzzy's Tacos, where we stopped for lunch after we made our birdhouses and went to a baptism. 

Welcome to the yard, Jonathan and The Kraken!

Where we live, it's easy to stop and smell the roses, get distracted by the bird activity, and really appreciate the beauty of life in Iowa.  It's officially been 11 years, here's to many happy more!