Spring Break in North Carolina

A few months ago we coordinated with Hannah and Matt to watch Jared and Lydia while Mark and I went over to Raleigh North Carolina for 2 nights of Spring break.  We thought a little trip away would be fun and Jared and Lydia would have a blast with Hannah and Matt.  Raleigh NC was not a top destination for us but it was less than 4 hours away and Lynchburg was right on the way so we could easily drop off Jared and Lydia.  Sadly Hannah and Matt got stuck out in CA and did not make it back in time to watch Jared and Lydia so we changed our plans and made it a family trip instead.  While it would have been nice to have a little trip together we had a lovely time with Jared and Lydia too. I asked the kids to pack for themselves and while they did a decent job the best part was Jared choosing on his own to pack his scriptures to bring with him. Love.

We spent the first day in Durham visiting Duke campus and eating delicious chicken and waffles.  This was an especially nice time to visit Duke's awesome gardens as everything was in full bloom. It was so colorful and beautiful. We stopped first at Dames Chicken and Waffles and had the most amazing lunch.  I have wanted to try chicken and waffles for quite some time. I never knew it was a "thing" until last summer.  But it is a thing and I love it. I would go again in a heartbeat! After lunch we explored the gardens and then made our way over to Duke's Chapel. We had to wait a long time to go into the chapel as there was a funeral that day but Jared and Lydia had a lovely time running around the grass. After Duke we drove over to Raleigh where our Air BNB was.  Mark picked a great spot.  We had never done Air BNB before and had a really positive experience. We would totally do it again. Lydia and Jared both took forever to fall asleep but they often do when they are in a hotel. Its just too much excitement to be out of their own bed. We tried to watch part of the NCAA championship game but it was just too late.  When Jared woke up the next morning (way earlier than we would have woken up had they been in Lynchburg...) he was thrilled to learn that UNC had won. He picked them to win it all in his bracket.  It was fun to be there when they won! It added a fun element to the trip.

With your order of chicken and waffles you get to pick a "schmear". I picked an orange flavored one and it was awesome.  Mark got the chocolate one. Writing about it makes me want more of it! There was vanilla almond, chocolate hazelnut and strawberry cream.

These were my favorites. Such pretty spring colors. 

They could have stayed by these ducks all day! 

This chapel seats up to 1800 people but is not that old.  It was constructed from 1930-1932, which seems pretty quick.

Day 2 was spent mostly in Raleigh.  We started at Yates Historic Mill.  It was once an important grist mill and I didn't know very much about mills and its a really nice little sight.  We took a walk around the pond which was so peaceful.  The weather was beautiful and so spring like.  They have great diplsay's inside. They were interesting and hands on and you could go at your own pace.  It was fun to do something historic and central to Raleigh.  Next we headed downtown to the Museum of Natural History. They have a great display of whale skeletons which Jared loved.  They also have a butterfly garden inside.  It seems like many museums make you pay extra to go into a room like this but this one did not which was fun.  After that museum we went out to lunch. Mark felt we needed to have BBQ while in NC and picked a place for us to eat.  It was great but was no chicken and waffles! Across the street there happened to be a cute really expensive chocolate factory so we took a little self guided touring enjoyed some frozen hot chocolate. Jared was not super impressed but the rest of us enjoyed it. After eating we went over to Marbles a really awesome, I mean awesome children's museum. Admission was only 5$ and totally worth it. It is huge inside and one of the best children's museums I have ever been to.  Jared and Lydia were so happy.  They had awesome displays the favorite being the "exercise" area.  They had equipment for gymnastics, basketball, hockey, dance, and general exercise.  Jared has been big into basketball and loved it.  There were 5 hoops of varying heights and he was so impressed that he could dunk.  Lydia played in the gymnastics area for a really long time. I had to force them to check out the other rooms which were also really fun.  Its really well done and well priced. We were there around 2:00 which was awesome because it had really thinned out. The school groups and younger kids had gone home so Jared and Lydia didn't have to wait at all. It was really fun for them.

They provided scavenger hunts for kids to do on the trail. So smart. 

Downtown Raleigh. 

Museum of Natural History

Lunch at The Pit.

Super fun staircase. 

So proud of his dunks. 

Due to UNC winning the night before we made a pit stop at Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up a national championship shirt for Jared.  Mark had texted a former teacher he taught with in Co Springs who's daughter attended UNC (graduated last year) and had settled in Chapel Hills and she mentioned that her daughter was going to Dicks at 4:00 because they were getting a shipment of shirts. We decided it would be fun to get Jared one and see if we could meet up with Nikki.  We found Nikki which was fun then waited around for a good hour to get Jared a shirt which he loves even if it is too big.  Nikki told us about the victory celebration taking place at the UNC stadium that night and we thought "when are we going to be in the town of the brand new national champions, when Jared picked them to win it all again" and decided to go check it out. We didn't have much time for dinner since we spent so much time at Dicks. We had planned to stop for burgers at a pharmacy that has a counter for eating but they were open all night for the game and ran out of food at 2:00! So we picked  another burger spot, ordered it ahead of time and then ate it in the car as we drove to the stadium.  It was great to be on campus and feel the excitement but the celebration itself was not that exciting.  Mostly since we have no real ties to UNC. I had hoped for a confetti cannon but no such luck. It was a fun unique thing to do though.  I am glad we took Jared who was just beaming the whole time.

Linda's daughter Nikki. Such a pleasant surprise to meet up with her.  

UNC Campus

We drove home the next morning.  It's a pretty easy drive and we did have a great trip.  It was fun (and random) to go over there but it was nice to go somewhere new.  That's the beauty of living over here.  So many new different places just 5-6 hours away!  I love that about the East Coast.

General Conference and family pictures

One of my goals for this year was to get official family pictures done. We got them done by the amazing Chelsea Ellingson before we moved from Colorado in 2014 so I felt it was time to get them updated. I have a hard time with family pictures and I loved Chelsea's so much I didn't really want to switch them out.  I feel like pictures are really expensive and it's really stressful to plan outfits and choose locations but this was the year.  Ever since we have lived here I have wanted to get pictures with the Spring blossoms.  The flowering trees here are amazing. I look forward to them all year. Not as much as the Fall but its surprisingly close. The problem is that professional photographers typically need to be booked for specific days and trees do not blossom on specific days or even the same week as previous years. So trying to find outfits, a photographer as good as Chelsea, blossoming trees and good weather was really overwhelming.  I noticed one day that a girl in our ward had a new really nice profile picture so I was curious to find out who took it for her. Turned out she did it herself and she owned a photography business.  We started talking and set a date. It was so hard to pick a date.  We had some crazy cold weather and I wasn't sure if the trees would even blossom and would they still be blooming when our date came up?  And how do you coordinate outfits but don't come across as matchy matchy?  It may sound silly but it was so stressful.  We actually had a different date, a later one, but I wanted to do our pictures at UVA Research Park and one day I drove down the street and saw trees blooming and asked Alyson if she could do the earlier date. She could but the only time we could do it was 7:00 AM.  Jared and Lydia are early risers but that was even a bit early to be completely ready for professional pictures but it was either 7:00 AM or 6:30 at night and that wouldn't work for Mark because of Priesthood Session. I spent all day Friday at Kohls looking for outfits (I was completely unsure if what I chose coordinated or not) and worrying about the weather as it pretty much rained all day. Like real heavy storms. Would all the blossoms fall off the trees? I worked Friday night and got home around 11:45 and then we were ready and at UVA Research Park at 7:04.
The weather was perfect!  The trees still had blossoms!  Jared and Lydia were super cooperative!  And Alyson did a great job. I know this will expire in a few months but I cannot take the time to choose favorites and upload them So here is the link:

Spencer Family Session

Alsyon was really patient and kind. I was also nervous because she had never shot there and was not very familiar with the area but we found some great spots. She had told me some of her favorite spots which I am sure would have been great but I felt they were spots that everyone who gets pictures done in Charlottesville go to (Read Boars Head Inn).  Often in events like this I don't like to go and get the same thing as everyone else even if I know they will be good.  It's how I rebel. I don't want to be like the "cool kids".  UVA Research park is a sentimental spot for as as well as we often go on walks there so its nice to have a somewhat connection of the place we got pictures at. I don't see our family spending much time at Boars Head Inn so should we move from here it will be nice to have pictures at a place we actually spent time at.  She really did a nice job and I am really happy with our pictures.  I do feel like the pictures of Jared and Lydia are the best and that I look at little more tired than I would like in these pictures but I get it because it was so stressful!

So that was conference morning.  We got home from pictures and ate some conference cinnamon rolls and then got ready to watch the first session.  It was the best session as far as people listening and not distracting others from listening.  After it ended we went out to ice cream to celebrate pictures being done and the great job they did.  We watched the next session and then Mark headed over to the church for the "Priesthood Pulled Pork dinner" he spearheaded.  When we got here and were in the 1st ward he was YM President. He invited the YM to come eat pulled pork at our house and watch the session.  They loved it and asked to do it again for the next Priesthood session.  Then we moved to the Rapidan ward and he hosted a Priesthood BBQ at our house before the session.  He did 2 I think and planned to keep doing it but then got called as Bishop and wanted to take this idea to all the Priesthood in the ward and they had a really great turnout. People were excited when he announced it and brought lots of meat (Like 9 or more slow cookers full of it).  YM came and so did Elders and High Priests and everyone had a great experience.  We have heard back from a few people and they all thought it was excellent and are excited to start this tradition. I was really happy for Mark that he got to do it and that it turned out so well. It's always great to have an idea and see other people jump on board and have it turn out how you hoped.  The 2nd ward showed up a little later and had ice cream sundaes and I am sure there was some happy mixing of quorums and food. I really was happy for Mark and lad the Priesthood showed up.

Sunday we watched both sessions with some success and enjoyed a nice family walk.  The cinnamon rolls and conference treats were appreciated and I am looking forward to reading over the talks.

Womens Conference

Our stake planned a women's conference with a guest speaker and I have been looking forward to attending.  It was held in Waynesboro, a 45 minute drive from here and it was a lovely evening. I rode up with my friend Mallory and loved having time to visit with her. We did the moves, and yard work and then I got a quiet spirit filled evening.  The music was beautiful and quickly brought in the Spirit. Wendy Ulrich A psychologist (and many other great things) was the guest speaker and gave a really nice message. The funny thing was that the main point of her message was not what led me to to feel the spirit the most. It was a good message and had lots of ideas about strengthening relationships but it was other small things that were shared that really touched me.

Two that really caught my attention out were from our stake RS President, Julee Ellsworth who I admire very much.  She is a wonderful person and I am glad I have gotten to spend some time with her outside of just church things.  First she mentioned a talk (I believe it was this one from Elder Nelson  but there have been lots of messages on Sabbath Day observance the past 2 years or so so it could be a different one) on sabbath day observance. Mark and I have made some changes and some good progress with our Sabbath day observance over the last 6 months or so but it still wasn't where I hoped it would be. It wasn't quite the delight I was hoping for. Jared and Lydia have both commented on how Sunday is the worst day of the week, not what we are hoping for.  So in her talk she mentioned a line that said essentially: Your ability to feel the spirit is directly linked to your Sabbath Day observance.  I, like many people, am always wanting to feel the spirit as much as possible and to draw from a line from Sister Ulrich last night, have sadly been "in a flat place with God" for longer than I would like. This is largely from lack of effort on my part and from things that did not turn out how I hoped they would that I have been angry about but have a hard time understanding and moving forward from. So I decided that this, my observance of the Sabbath day was going to become a true focus. My way to feel the spirit more. 

The other thing Julee mentioned was a prayer that she heard in conference that really touched her heart.  She quoted some of the words prayed for and that really stuck out to me too. I mean how often am I really listening to the prayer being offered?  At the end of the meeting our Stake YW President (also a sister I admire from our ward) said the closing prayer and I really listened and felt like it was as much a message for me as other things that stood out in the meeting. One thing she said was something to the effect that we "would take the revelations we received at this meeting and apply them." this was not the first time I have heard this but this is the time it stood out to me. I have moved away from taking real "notes" over the past few years. I did it all the time in high School and college and even the first years of marriage but I feel like I am often distracted while listening to talks and while note taking helps me focus I also then just have piles on notes I don't look at and feel I can learn more by just rereading the words when I can like from conference.  I will often have a notecard out, ready to write something down that stood out but am not making summary of talks like I used to. But I thought about what she said and what I felt from Julee's remarks and wanted to make a better Sabbath day plan so I could better feel the spirit.  

After stopping for some delicious ice cream on the way home (Willy's in Waynesboro is great! I am so glad that Mallory is one who is also always up for treats and acts on it) and talking to Mallory and Mark about the evening I got ready for bed but I could not fall asleep. I lay there just thinking about  how to improve our Sabbath day observance and it occurred to me that I do not do well with unscheduled time (see here).  Some people thrive on it I do not.  I actually am very aware of this about myself but had not been listening to this. We had done FHE's about the Sabbath day, had a list of "approved" Sabbath day activities but were expecting Jared and Lydia to act on them themselves.  We had talked about how Sunday was a great day because we got to spend a lot of time together as a family but I had not been putting forth the effort to actually be with my family at all. So I felt inspired  to come up with a "Sunday Schedule".  We had our family council and wrote down a list of things we could do together as a family and things we wanted to do on Sunday and divided the morning up in 30 minute increments.  From 7-8 is time to do what individuals want.  (Jared and Lydia aren't sleeping in anyway) For example I can play the piano, read lessons, shower, lay in bed, any of the things I want. We planned to have breakfast at 9:00 and so from 8 -9 is breakfast prep and making muffins for muffin Monday.  This is the time (about 7-9) that Jared and Lydia can play.  They can build with things like Magna tiles or Legos, read, play together any Sunday approved type of play is fine.  We eat at 9:00, clean up, have family council and then are together! 

9:30 Scripture time which includes: looking up scriptures, scripture chasing, reading by topic, memorizing scriptures or Articles of Fatih, reading scripture stories together and practicing finding scriptures (teaching them how to use the scriptures) 

10:00 Art time.  This past year I have probably done 5 art projects with Jared. I have been so busy with preschool/work/gospel doctrine I haven't had time or energy to include all the fun learning times we used to do together, the things I loved doing with him and Lydia. With him gone to school all day we just don't have the same time together. 

10:30 Dressed for church, board game and puzzles.

11:00 FHE Time and Friend magazine time. I have long wanted to improve our Family Home Evenings and have not succeeded.  I also want Jared and Lydia to start planning FHE lessons.  So either Mark or I will be helping Jared and Lydia prepare to teach once a month or planing our own FHE lessons.  Whoever is not working on FHE will be reading the Friend.  We get these magazines and do not utilize them.  Jared and Lydia look at them during Sacrament meetings sometimes but that is it and we want to change that. They are full of great applicable stuff! 

11:30 Write letters.  My good friend Tara mentioned how she has her kids write a letter to someone every Sunday and I have wanted to do it. It has been an option for Lydia and Jared and we do it often on Sunday but not regularly but now we will. I want to encourage them to try to think of someone who could benefit from a letter and then act on it. (Mark normally leaves around this time.)

12:00 Lunch: Piano and free time when done eating. 

12:30 Reading time.  We will read books together and alone. Most often I am sure I will be reading to them which I love to do anyway.

1:00 Final church prep time. 

We implemented as much of this as we could today and I was impressed, amazed and grateful with how well our Sabbath day went.   I truly felt the Spirit in my home and enjoyed spending this time with Jared and Lydia. I loved that we had set things to do at set times.  Jared and Lydia both commented that they enjoyed this Sunday more.  They asked if we could do scripture time on the trampoline and it went great.  We all enjoyed it so much. I am so grateful that of all the things that were said last night this is what I felt impressed to work on, a plan came to me (inspiration) we acted on it and it was fulfilled.  It was really nice to feel excited about doing something to invite the spirit and having it happen. Our Sabbath Day observance is directly linked to feeling the spirit. I will print up this schedule and have it on the fridge and we will follow it. Will every Sunday be amazing probably not but spending more time with my kids, being less selfish with my time has long been a goal of mine and I am looking forward to trying this out. And really, this is directly related to what the guest speaker talked about as far as improving relationships. I know spending this time with Jared and Lydia and even Mark will improve and build stronger relationships with them. 

I am grateful for the effort leaders put into this meeting and so glad I went.  I am so looking forward to trying out out and really observing the Sabbath day and doing my part to bring the spirit more into my life. 

Ikea

For a good while I have wanted to go to Ikea.  Mark did not think this sounded like a great use of a day of spring break but being the nice guy he is we drove over on Friday and it was great.  Really it was.  Neither of us had been and it really is a fun place.  We got there at a weird time as they were finishing up breakfast and putting lunch out so we got a combo of food and ate before heading into the maze.  I didn't love the meatballs that most people recommended they were fine, but the breakfast was quite good. We ate and then headed to drop Jared and Lydia off at Smaland (the play place) only to find that Smaland was closed to be updated. So disappointing for us all. But we were committed to the store so in we went.  It was not what we expected and Mark said it was better than he thought it would be so that was a win.

We were looking specifically for a small desk to put in our dining room because the lighting in our room is horrible and that is where our computer has been the last 22 months.  For the last 2 months or so I have been moving our computer into the dining room to work there as I felt way too closed in our room and the lighting was so bad. It was really a good idea to go in with a specific thing in mind.  We found a perfect little desk and chair and grabbed a few more things too.  Not too many, a desk for Jared and a bench to put by our door and s mall drawer thing to put under the desk.  I really wanted a mud room in the house we bought but no such luck so having a bench at least is nice.  It has a shoe rack which is helpful too. Lately the shoes in the entryway has been driving me crazy so I hope it helps.

We had a lovely time at the store. It really is an experience. It was worth the hour and 45 minute drive and I know we will go back. There isn't a huge rush but we do need to try out Smaland.  Jared and Lydia really held it together well, it takes time to get through there and Mark has already put together the bench, desk and cabinet.  He just has Jared's desk to go. Jared has been little bit envious of Lydia's desk and I think he will really enjoy having his own. I am really happy with what we picked and am loving having the computer out here.

Saturday of work

We are really trying to take advantage of the great spring weather before the humidity comes back and make our front yard presentable.  We have done so little yard work the last almost 2 years and have no idea how long it has been since the previous owners did any serious work so our "yard" is completely overgrown.  We took a break last week for several reasons: 1. We got family pictures taken 2. Mark got poison ivy from the last Saturday of work and he has a terrible reaction to it 3. It was conference weekend.

We started the day with helping 2 families move which was great. They were so well packed and had already moved tons of stuff once they closed on their new houses we finished really quickly.  It was nice to help out and be at a point where Jared and Lydia are old enough to help out too. I have been waiting for this stage for a good while. I may not love moving heavy things but I do love serving with Jared and Lydia and now they are old enough to help not hinder.  After finishing up the moves we went to Costco for lunch and then got to work. A good motivator yesterday was the acquisition of a trampoline from one of the families moving.  I take piano lessons from this sister and one day she mentioned how they hoped to get a bigger trampoline for their new house because they had lots of space.  Lydia has been asking for a trampoline pretty regularly for the last 3 months or so. I have been hesitant because I think they are just like asking for injuries and because we have no level areas any where near our house.  Down in the woods there are some more level spots but Lydia would denote go play on it if it was down there.  I brought up the idea with Mark and we talked about potential spots and decided we could make their smaller trampoline work.  I asked our friend about buying it and she thought it was a great idea and just like that we bought a trampoline.  They were happy to not have to move it to their new house or find someone to buy it and we are happy to have it.  If you asked Lydia she would say thrilled. Now we just had to find the right spot for it.

We did yard work for 3 hours or so and then Mark texted our friend/neighbor up the street. We had borrowed his leaf blower but could not get it to start and were pretty bummed about it. The idea of raking up 5+ years of leaves is not appealing. This friend (Andrew) happened to get the same trampoline this week too and set it up. He also lives on a hill. He came by and helped us find and level out a spot in our yard and then helped set up the trampoline. As if often the case, it was much more complicated than I thought it would be and had way more steps.  Fortunately we had already cleared the spot so it was digging out the base and moving rocks that took most of the time.  It was so great to have Andrew here who just happened to do the exact thing a few days ago and is just a really good worker.  I worked for as long as I could but then had to get ready for a women's conference and just as I was leaving they were putting up the net.  We had told Jared and Lydia we were not sure if it would get finished on Saturday and they were so excited and grateful really, when it was done in time.  I feel confident that it will be put to good use.  Today they asked if we could just go sit on it to read books since it was Sunday and we will not be jumping on it on Sunday's.  It's cute.  Every possible thing you could do on a trampoline they asked to do today.  We read books, scriptures and they wanted to eat lunch but I nixed that idea since we were already in church clothes.  It's fun to have things in our yard to help them be outside. It's a great place to be.

It's hard to really see the difference but it looks way more clear and you can now see the ground instead of just leaves.  We couldn't even tell where level land was because the leaves were so thick it made the ground appear more level than it was. Warning gross bug picture below.

Excited kids! 

I have never seen "grubs" like this. They freak me out. They are massive Jared said they were slimy and squishy.  Ewww!  We dug up a lot or tree roots and found at least 3 or 4 of these guys.  And even though I hate yard work it is nice to see progress being made.  I really have not liked how uncared for our property has looked so we will keep at it!