100 Hours!!!

Andrew participated in the summer reading program at our local library again this year. He reached his goal of reading 100 hours and earned his gold medal! He worked extra hard this last week so that Nana could see him receive his medal before she went home. Andrew's favorite books this summer have been the Scooby-Doo and Magic Treehouse series and Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins books. It's been so exciting to see him enjoy reading and I really hope he will continue to read for fun even though the program is over.

We are so proud of you Andrew! Great job!

Rolling Ridge Ranch

Amish Country

While Nana was here visiting, we wanted to take a day trip down to Amish country in Holmes County, Ohio, about 2 hours away. We picked the perfect day for it. It was so beautiful just driving among the rolling hills and green pastures. We started our trip at Rolling Ridge Ranch where you can ride in horse-drawn wagons through 80 acres and see (and feed!) tons of animals up close and personal. Andrew and LoganSummer and Hannah How cool is this - a zebra/donkey mix! I think they called them Zonkeys.

The boys' first reaction to the animals.

Eventually they got brave enough to feed them.

Look at the antlers on this guy!
This one tried to steal Logan's bucket!

I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups. Nana and I really got a kick out of it!

This was too cute: Toward the end of the ride when the animal feed was gone, this ostrich continued to follow our wagon. I overheard Logan talking to him. "Sorry Birdie, we're all done! There's no more, Birdie. We're all done!" After the ride, we visited the petting zoo.
Hannah liked the ducklings and bunnies best.Next, we visited Heini's cheese factory. Who knew there were so many kinds of cheeses? We got to taste them all. Yummy fudge too. Sadly, we were too late for the cheese-making tour; we'll have to catch that next time.

By the time we made it to the Amish Door restaurant for lunch, Hannah was tired and very cranky. The only thing that kept her happy was building towers of creamer cups and then knocking them down. When that lost it's appeal, she had a complete, inconsolable meltdown and Nana had to take her out of the restaurant while the boys and I finished our meals. (Thanks Mom!) The food was delicious and the kids loved their free cookies at the bakery!

What a fun little trip in our own backyard! Thanks so much, Ali, for all the recommendations! We had a blast!

Girls' Night Out

...at The Melting Pot!

Happy Pioneer Day!

In celebration of Pioneer Day, Andrew and I attended a special tour of the Kirtland Temple and Historic Kirtland geared especially to the cast children of This is Kirtland. It was a great reminder of the faith and sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors long before they made the trek West to Utah.
Andrew at the Chagrin River where many of the early Saints in Kirtland were baptized. Andrew was amazed that people even got baptized in the dead of winter when the river was frozen over.

The children listen to a sister missionary at the original N. K. Whitney store.

We were reminded of the opening scene of the show when the Whitneys prayed to know the word of God. Joseph Smith then arrived at the Whitney store and uttered the famous words, "Newel K. Whitney, thou art the man. I am Joseph the Prophet. You prayed me here, now what do you want of me." It was so exciting to see "the lights come on" when the children connected the things we portrayed on stage with the actual events and places where they occurred. There were a few moments like that including an especially sweet one in the School of the Prophets when Jon and the children sang, "He Lives." We also got to sing "Coming to Kirtland" on the steps of the Store and the children sang "Education" in the old schoolhouse.

Andrew and his stage dad, brothers, and sister, "the Rigdons."

The Feast Dance

This is the dance from "The Feast" scene in This is Kirtland. Definitely my favorite part of the show! I haven't had the chance to dance much since college, so this was so fun for me. I was glad to get to dance with Chris again, who played my husband and dance partner when I was in the show two years ago. He was a great dance partner - strong, sturdy, a fast learner, good rhythm, and a sense of humor when I messed up. Plus, we were already comfortable dancing together, which made it much easier.

You can see Andrew dancing with the children on the far right wearing the blue shirt. Thanks for the video, Mom!

This Is Kirtland! 2009

Andrew and I have been pretty busy the last couple of months rehearsing for our stake musical, This Is Kirtland! This is the sixth year of the show's running, and the second time I've had the opportunity to preform in it. The show depicts the lives of early Mormon settlers in Kirtland through beautiful music, dancing, and costumes. I feel so blessed to be just a small part of this great show and feel so much love and gratitude for the early Saints who lived right here. It's been especially fun to have Andrew in the show with me this year!

Andrew with his family, the Rigdons

Jason and Summer as John and Rebecca Tanner

Heather and Rich as Thankful and Parley Pratt

Summer singing in her pregnant scene

The women - I love these ladies!

The men chasing the young women at the feast - love the expressions!

Summer and Chris dancing at The Feast Cartwheel!

Woo-Hoo! (Summer, top center and Andrew, lower right)

Andrew (front right)

Joseph and Emma singing, "Dear Emma"

Tom as Joseph Smith

Laura as Emma Smith

School of the Prophets

Singing "The Spirit of God" at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (Andrew, front left)

Happy 4th of July!

Waiting for the fireworks

Hannah and Daddy

The Fam

My Handsome Boys - Bryan, Andrew, and Logan Logan and Summer

Fireworks!

Andrew and Noah