Stories

Lots of times when I tell Braxton I love him, I continue on with other people that love him, Daddy, Grandpa & Grandma Gregson/Fisher, aunts, uncles, cousins and Jesus. Well, the other night I was putting Braxton to bed. I told him that I loved him. He told me he loved me. Then I asked him who else loved him and he said, "Ummm - Daddy loves me, Grandma & Grandpa Fisher, Grandma & Grandpa Gregson, Grandpa Perry,"... on and on he went down the line but he forgot somebody we regularly mention, Jesus. So, I said, "Braxton, isn't there one other person who loves you a lot?" He put his index finger up near his lip and thought real carefully and said, "Oh yeah! And Santa loves me, too. Thanks Mommy."


Alright, so Braxton is still really into his letters and numbers. Recently I found out the correct way to sign numbers higher than 10, so I have been practicing with Braxton. I thought, just for fun and since we were on a roll, we'd write them out. We got to 100. Then, I knew this would be way out of his league, but I just said, if you were to switch the 1 to a 2, it would be 200 and so on, up to 1,000. I still had his attention, so I continued with 1,000 up to 9,000. I thought I should stop because I haven't counted that high since I graduated High School. Well, I doubt I counted that high in High School. (this can be proven looking at my math grades) Anyway, that was atleast a week ago. Tonight we were on the computer playing games and the clock said 7:00. Braxton got really excited and said, "Mom, look! It's seven hundred!!!" He was so excited and of course, I had no idea what he was talking about so he had to show me. He is so flippin' smart I can't even believe it. He also told daddy and me tonight that he loved the sun, the moon, the stars, all the planets and the "erf". Ummm, have any of you read the book Matlida? Her parents won't read to her so she goes to the library when she is like 4 and starts learning all sorts of things by herself. I feel like Braxton is her! I have no idea where he learned about all of those things. Hmmmm, he does have his own library card though!

Our ever-growing boy

Mr. Braxton got weighed and measured at an appointment on the 20th of this month. He has slowed down growing (a little bit.) From birth to six months he grew eight and one quarter inches! From the age of one year to three years, he was growing two inches every six months. This time, he just grew one inch. Maybe he is slowing down OR maybe he'll grow three inches by the time he is four to make up for it. Who knows! Anyway, so Mr. B is now 42 inches tall and 39 pounds. You would think I would have arms of steel by now from picking this kid up all the time. But for some reason, I don't. Here is a picture (of him, not my arms.)

Have a Great Day!

"I don't do anything for fun, I just have fun at what I do." -Dallin H. Oaks

Our last supper

Well, the time came for Bart and Marcie to head back to Utah. The time just flew by so quickly. It was so much fun having family around our neck of the woods. We hope some more people will come and visit us! (hint, hint)

The last day together, we drove around Toledo showing them the sights. Or .. err, I mean, the sight. And that sight would be the University.

The University of Toledo clocktower

Bart and Marcie posing under the clocktower

Arriving back home after some much needed groceries

Marcie and Braxton showing off their ages

Our last supper

Our trip to Kirtland

Friday, March 9, 2007, we ventured off to Kirtland, Ohio, with Bart and Marcie. Jeff and I have not visited there since we have lived in Ohio. It was a new experience for us all.

We hit the jackpot. It just so happened that the "Dead Sea Scrolls" were being displayed at the Visitor's Center, too. Yay!

So, first we headed over to the Visitor's Center to look at the "Dead Sea Scrolls" and start our tour of Kirtland.

ummm, pretty self explanatory

The Cragun's outside of the Visitor's Center


Inside the Visitor's Center

Bart and Marcie

The scrolls were found in vases like these that had been buried in deep caves:

The Whitney Home

Next, we headed over to look at the Whitney home:


After coming to Kirtland, Joseph and Emma were welcomed into the home of Brother and Sister Whitney. They later moved into the Whitney's storehouse. We were told that the Smith's stayed in Kirtland for over three years before they were able to get a house of their own.

The Whitney Home

The Parlor

This room was where Joseph would spend most of his time while he stayed in the Whitney home. That means that it became the Church's Headquarters. It is also said that the first healing of the sick took place in this room. Sister Johnson had an arthritic arm and couldn't lift her arm up past her shoulder. After a blessing from the Prophet Joseph, she never had problems with her arm again.

N.K. Whitney Store

Then we headed over to the N.K. Whitney Store:

The salesroom

Mr. Whitney was also the postmaster

another angle of the salesroom

The Back Room

This was the backroom where all of the items shipped to the store was sorted and put in their proper place. Later this room would become the first Bishop's Storehouse after Brother Whitney became bishop.

The Cellar

During the winters, the pioneers would go up to Lake Erie and chop up big chunks of ice. They would bring them back to their homes and pack them in straw and (I believe newspapers.) Then they would place them in their cellars where it was cool. If done properly, the ice would last until late August.

Joseph and Emma's kitchen in the store

Brother and Sister Whitney gave up part of their store in the back, so that Joseph and Emma could have their own kitchen. They then gave the Smith's rooms upstairs, too.

Joseph and Emma's bedroom on the second level of the Store

We were told that this is where Emma gave birth to their firstborn that lived longer than infancy.

Goodnight, Sleep tight, Don't let the bedbugs bite!

We were told that the saying, "goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" was because of the way their beds were made. Their boxspring (so to say) was just a bunch of ropes tied together. They needed to be tightened every night before bedtime due to the untightening of them during the night before's usage. The bedbug part of the saying was from the straw that was put inside the blankets for insulation. It was a good night if you didn't have little critters bitin' ya.

The town of Kirtland actually owns this table. It is said that they have records that indicate this table has always been in the storehouse, in this very room. This room was where Joseph would come to work on revising the Bible.

The School of the Prophets

This picture, and the next picture, is the room where Joseph held, "The School of the Prophets." This was for the uneducated men that were going out to serve missions. This is also the room where God the Father and Jesus appeared with a room full of 20 men. Coincidentally, only four men wrote about it in their journals. I was thinking it, but the tour guide said it, "I am just speculating here, but, I presume that not all 20 men saw them."

The School of the Prophets room, is also where Emma had to come in and clean up after all the men that spit tobacco out on the floor. After about a month of doing this, she told her husband that she didn't think it was fair and he then went into the room where he revised the bible and prayed about it. He had a revelation about the Word of Wisdom and D&C 89 was written.

The Kirtland Temple

The last part of our trip was going over to tour the Kirtland Temple. I was anxiously awaiting to see the inside. This might be very rude to say, but our tour guide didn't seem to know too much, so I was a little disappointed.

So, even though a lot of my questions went unanswered, it was amazing to think of how the pioneers built this beautiful structure. So much time and effort was put into building a "House of The Lord" and then to just turn and leave it behind. What faith they must have had. I take way too many things for granted. I am so grateful for all that they did for us.


D&C 38:32
Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with the power from on high;

Holy Toledo

Jeff's younger brother, Bart, and his girlfriend, Marcie, came to visit us. Marcie's brother works at the airport, so they used buddy passes to get here. They flew out on March 7th. They were up by 3:00 am on the 7th to make their flight. They were supposed to arrive in Detroit at 5:04 pm. Jeff and I were so excited!

See, the 7th was also Bart's birthday. Marcie and I had been talking in emails and we were going to have a little bit of a party once they got here. The house was going to be decorated, we were going to eat Italian food, and I was also going to make his favorite cake. It was going to be great!

Jeff and I woke up early and started running errands. We had to get our oil changed, tires rotated -- and of course, start getting ready for the party!

So, of course, something needs to go wrong, right? Bart and Marcie flew from Salt Lake to Denver. As they were getting ready to land, Marcie felt sick. Yep! Guess what? Somebody couldn't hold her biscuits, and got sick on the plane! So, during their three hour layover, Marcie was running to the bathroom to throw up. She was finally able to rest and felt a little better.

They were about to get on the airplane headed for Detroit, in fact, Marcie's ticket was printed out, when -- people rushed up to the counter asking if they could still get on. After getting them boarded, there was only one seat left on the plane. They called to tell us that they didn't make that flight, and the next one didn't leave until 6pm. We felt so bad. They had already waited long enough.

So after many phone calls (during those six hours) they had decided to try and make that later flight, but if they couldn't, they would be flying back to Salt Lake an hour after that. We wanted them to come, but how much fun is celebrating your birthday and also being sick at the airport?

Well, around 8pm (our time) they called and told us they were on the plane and it was about ready to take off. They would be landing in Detroit at 11:09 pm. Yay!

Finally after, a very long day (for them, not us), they were in Detroit! I doubt they were quite as excited as we were.

Finally!

Bart posing with Marcie and the piggybank she gave him

Bart and his cake

You can see how excited he is to get his cake on the 8th of March

We didn't make it home until 12:30 am

(by the way, he works for frito-lay)

singing happy birthday to Bart

make a wish!

More comfy ways to sleep

You might remember when I posted pictures in September or October of Braxton sleeping in all sorts of awkward positions. Well, a few weeks ago we were getting ready for bed and Braxton wanted to watch his "animusic" dvd. We put it in for him and I got side-tracked doing something. When I went in to check on him, he had fallen asleep and was yet again in another really comfortable looking position:

Pool Party!

Our nephew had his fifth birthday party while we were home for Christmas Break. Braxton hasn't had an opportunity to go swimming much, so when we found out it was a pool party we were way excited.


At first Braxton was a little reserved and was being very cautious. Pretty soon he was running all around the kiddie-pool area and I was so nervous. At one time he slipped and his head went under and I nonetheless, flipped out. I grabbed his arm and yanked him up. He was trying to wipe the water out of his eyes and catch his breath. When he saw me, his first word was, "refreshing!" I was so worried, but I couldn't help but laugh. He watches a show called, The Doodlebops, and one guy always gets water dumped on his head and afterward he always says, "refreshing!"


So, then Mom and Braxton ventured off toward the slide. I have never considered myself a great swimmer, so I was really nervous. The water wasn't deep but still. What if I dropped him? So, I put a life-jacket on him and when we got in line I heard the news. Kids weren't allowed to wear them down the slide. The thought did cross my mind, "well, can the parents?" but I decided not to ask. So, down the slide we went. (It was a fast slide, too) After that, we never went back over to the kiddie-pool. We had to do the slide the rest of the time. He had so much fun. Now whenever he sees the number 5, he reminds me that his cousin just turned 5 and that we need to make a trip to the pool!


The other great thing that came out of it was he finally got potty trained!!! He has kept asking/begging me to go to the pool since we have gotten back home. Finally it hit me and I said, "Brax, you know how much you love to go swimming?" he shook his head. I then said, "Well guess what else likes to go swimming?" Yep, you guessed it - but it worked. That night he woke up in the middle of the night saying he needed to go to the bathroom and we have been pull-up/diaper free ever since. Thank goodness!

"hi daddy!"

Standing in line for the slide

cheeeeez.

Christmas Day 2006

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Jeff's family. Braxton was so excited. He finally knew that Santa was coming and that he was going to get presents. He could hardly wait!

Posing on the stairs Christmas Morning

Daddy helping me open a present

All my new gifts!

Where did the cookies, milk and carrots go?

(and note from Santa)

Christmas Eve 2006

Alright, I admit, I haven't been on top of things lately. I am just getting Christmas pictures posted - Christmas was only two months ago. I do have an excuse, though. I did try to post a blog shortly after I got back from Utah (Jan. 16th) and the website was having problems. I lost my patience after the sixth try and gave up. I guess you can see that I wasn't too terribly excited to try again. Anyway - so here are just a few pictures of our trip to Utah for our Christmas break.

The important hanging of the Christmas Stockings!

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa and carrot sticks for the reindeer!