My sister (in-law), Mandy, and her kids are in town, so they came up to our house to spend the night and play. They joined us for dinner and FHE...plus, she taught me a little about the new family history search site. Because of that little introduction, I am meeting with my ward family history specialist on Thursday to learn more and begin our family genealogy. I am so excited. While Mandy and I were online, we looked up a few different family lines, then went into my Grandma and Grandpa Gutke's line. Mandy had mentioned how powerful the spirit of Elijah is while doing genealogy...as we looked back at his parents and brothers and sisters I became so emotional. I couldn't hold back the tears. It's almost as if these people that I never knew, came alive. I've caught a little of the fire and I'm excited to learn more. There is so much Temple work to be done and so many promises to be fulfilled and I'm anxious to be a part of it.
I feel blessed to have such an awesome sis in law...she is always an example to me. She loves the scriptures and lives them. She is a great listener and always has perfect advice and counsel. We loved having them spend the night and were sad to see them go. They showed up at our door a little sooner than we had expected and to see the kid's expressions when they saw their cousins was unforgettable...they thought friends were ringing the doorbell, but when we opened the door, it was such a fun surprise to see Jacob, Lily, Kali and Aunt Mandy - Colter's expression was priceless. He was soooooo excited to see his cousins!
I love this picture of Jacob and Colter in Chopper's little run with Lily hanging outside the run, being the little poser she is...hey, but where's the dog??
Tuesday we met up at Chuck-E-Cheese's with some of my good friends to play and have lunch, then headed off to visit the Aerospace Museum. Jacob's favorite part was putting his token into a machine that would make a special card with our picture on it. He was so excited to use his tokens so each of us could have one...thanks for that special memory, bubs, I won't forget your thoughtfulness! My mom also took the day off to come up and play with us...
Living so close to Hill Air Force Base, it seems all of my kids have been to the museum on one field trip or another...all except for Wyatt. He doesn't ever remember going and Jacob, my nephew, who is 5, loves airplanes...(maybe it's because his dad, my brother, is a pilot) so I thought it would be a great day out - plus it's free...it can't get any better than that! But, the whole time at the museum the kids kept saying "can we go back to Chuck-E-Cheese?" Are you kidding me? But, really we were practically the only ones there and the kids had a great time.
I love this picture of Wyatt, Jacob and Colter checkin' out the 'guts' of the airplane...
While at the museum I learned something new...thanks to the curiosity of two little boys, Colter and Jacob. At the beginning of the tour is an area with uniforms and flight suits on display, one mannequin dressed in a flight suit had on an eye patch and the boys questioned why. We read the inscription and were taught that at times during WWII, fighter pilots had to fly at lower altitudes, sometimes in places where atomic explosions were possible. When this was their mission they would place their patch over one eye so they could still control the plane, then if an atomic explosion happened nearby, only one eye would be damaged. They could then remove the patch and still maneuver their plane and themselves to safety with their one good eye that was protected....pretty amazing! So many men and women sacrificed so willingly and so readily. In talking with my mother-in-law, I was also reminded that her dad, Dale Powell, who is Garrett's grandfather, served in WWII. He flew 35 missions over Germany as a Turrett Gunner in the B17's...that means he sat in that big bubble below the plane. How scary. He said being in that bubble was very cold, but he felt invincible! Wow.
I love this picture of Wyatt & Aunt Mandy enjoying an 'apple kiss'...something she and her kids love to do!
Thanks for coming to play...we'll see you in a few weeks!
