Edwin @ 2 years!

TODAY Edwin turns two :D

Edwin is just the handsomest little love.
He gives hugs constantly, and says "I love you" to EVERYTHING. The other day we were on the freeway and a semi-truck was driving next to us. We took an exit, and the truck kept going. Edwin waved and said, "Bye, truck! Lovvu!" (love you)

He enjoys yogurt (rogrit), bananas (banalalas), and basically everything I'm eating. He likes trucks, trains, airplanes, toy cars, legos, and knocking things over. He likes to climb, run at people or furniture and go "boom!" and roll around on everyone and everything.

He is a neat freak and always wants his hands washed. He doesn't like messy clothes, or messes in general. He is really good about picking up trash and helping me with the laundry, the dishwasher, and dinner.

Edwin enjoys going to story time at the library each week with me, Gram, and Kate.

showing Gram where to go :)

He doesn't like to sit on the rug with all the other kids, but he always wants his hand stamped, and he will sit on my lap until craft time. This picture below was from the week that we read stories about mice, and the kids got to make little mouse hats:

Edwin is much more imaginative at this age than Kate was. He will tell me that he is going to work, and when I ask where he works he says, "School!" I say, "What do you do at school?" and he says, "Teacher!" and then says, "Bye, mommy! Lovvu! Go school!" (I love you! I'm going to school!)

He also loves "cooking" in his play kitchen and tells me he is making waffles for me all the time :)

Don't be fooled, though. He still has his rough days:

Edwin's speech has been excellent the last couple of months. He can form great little sentences and communicate clearly what he wants. He knows all of our names, and can count to three. Edwin knows some of his alphabet and most of his colors, but I'm not in a rush. :) He picks up a lot from Kate.

Edwin is down to one nap a day, just mid-morning at 11am. He still sucks his thumb when he is really tired, and his blanket MUST be with him at every bedtime.

Lately Edwin has mixed up our nighttime routine by insisting that we sing, "I love to see the Temple" before prayers. He calls it, "Temple Song". He tries to sing along with me (which Kate never does, as she is typically just more of an observer), and it just melts my heart when he knows the next words coming up. I especially love the line that says, "I'll prepare myself while I am young" and Edwin says loudly, "YUM!" hahaha. Sometimes we just sing one verse, and sometimes Edwin asks for two. But always at the end he will quietly say, "yaaaay!" and then fold his arms for prayers.

Edwin does look for the temple whenever we drive up to the school. Since our temple is on a hill next to campus, he will point it out when we drive by. "Dere it is! Hi temple! Lovvu!"

My favorite things about Edwin are his soft baby cheeks and his little toddler tummy. He has the biggest blue eyes, and still wants to snuggle me and be held as much as possible.

He is very steady on his feet, although the clumsiest little kid. He can run around and jump a little, but he never watches where he is going and so he trips and gets bruises on his head quite often. I love that he still has so many baby features, but I'm sure that by the time he is 3 next year, he will slim out and grow up quite a bit. It's exciting, but also makes me sad. I wish he could stay small and snuggly forever!

The best part of Edwin's personality is his LAUGH. He giggles madly at Kate and Margo more than anything. No one can get him laughing as hard as Kate can. I just love his crazy inhaling giggly laugh! I was able to catch him on video the other day laying down in the kitchen and laughing while he watched Margo eat:

To celebrate this little man's birthday today we had Gram (my mom) and our good friends Scott and Jordan over for cake and presents :)

Yeah, I have no idea what's up with Kate's "lobster claws"

It was really low-key with just popcorn, chips, cake, and ice cream. We did a little airplane/cloud theme.

Jon made the model plane to go on top of Edwin's cake, and I made his birthday vest with airplane fabric.

Edwin made out like a bandit with his birthday gift haul!

We are so grateful to all the friends and family who brought and sent gifts our way. Edwin was a pro at tearing all the paper off the presents. He was obsessed with the Larabars from the O'Keefe's,

and his new church shoes from Grandpa had to be worn immediately!

Jon and I gave Edwin his very own mini Book of Mormon with his name printed on the front.

He seriously would not let go of his Larabars.

The hardest part of the day was that he woke up from a nap about 30 seconds before his little party, so it took him a while to warm up to the idea of pictures. Or people. Or clothes. I don't think he was really sure of what was happening when we turned out the lights and sang Happy Birthday!

*no airplanes were harmed in the making of this picture.

After cake, I wanted to take the kids outside for a few pictures and to blow bubbles, because it looked like a nice partially-cloudy day! Wrong. I forgot we are in Rexburg, I guess, because it was deceptively FREEZING and windy. We were outside for about a minute and a half before the kids (and especially me!) gave up and came back inside where it was warm :) In that minute and a half, though, the kids RAN around in circles on the grass, and I was so glad I snapped this picture. To me, this perfectly sums up their relationship:

We were also able to get a family picture :D

Thanks, Jordan!

The best part of the day was just watching Edwin be happy and seeing our family playing together.

I asked Edwin to say "cheese" and this is what I got ;)

Kate gets more and more goofy everyday :) Just today she started striking a pose every time she knew that the camera was on her.

Legos!

 

At the end of the day we had waffles for dinner (at Edwin's request) along with some country style hash browns and a mushroom egg scramble. Then we did Edwin's hand and footprints,

and watched The Weekenders (also at Edwin's request) before going to bed.

Happy 2nd Birthday, little man! We sure do love you lots and lots. :)

The Katherine: 3 years 8 months

I don't seem to keep up with milestones for Kate as well as I used to. It turns out that once your child is 3, saying repeatedly that they, "got more sassy today" just isn't as exciting as when they are under 2 and take first steps, discover new foods, and try adventurous things every month ;)

love those honey-brown eyes and rosy cheeks!

Even still I find myself taking note on a weekly basis of all the great things Kate can do, and what a sweet little lady she is growing into. She is a mini-mom and loves to take care of children smaller than her. She is always reminding Edwin that it's time to brush our teeth, or lay down for naps. It hit me this week that Kate will be 5 next Summer, and therefore starting kindergarten in the Fall of 2017... I am not ready.

In the meantime, Kate has been attending "little school" at BYU-Idaho this semester.

first day of school! she was too distracted to look at me. haha!

She loves the preschool lab! The child development and early childhood education majors get hands-on experience working with children ages 3-5 and in turn there is research conducted and observation booths where faculty, parents, and students can watch for behavior and interaction with the children. All the while the kids get to learn and play, getting an introductory school experience. Win/win!

This week they sent home some developmental information for us on Katherine, including how she recognizes all her letters, is starting to sound out words, and knows her shapes and colors with 100% accuracy. She also can put small puzzles together by herself, and enjoys creative art like coloring and painting (which we definitely already knew!) Kate also loves to read, and has a desire to read a book every day in class, whether the teachers read to her, or she reads to herself. One of my favorite parts of the letter was when they said that Kate is "so nice to everyone in the classroom and is willing to lend a helping hand whenever it is needed." :) It made me and Jon really happy to hear, since she is often more of an observer and quiet in new situations.

As part of little school, Kate was able to bring home her very own goldfish last week when they had a unit about animals. She named him Horse. :D

Can you see how excited she is??

See the horse sticker that Kate put on his take-home jar? Seemed appropriate.

We picked out an aquarium and some food for Horse, and I learned ALL about the proper care of goldfish. Together we learned how to rinse his new environment, condition the water, and the kids helped us move Horse into his new tank after 24 hours. Who knew that goldfish were so much work??

"Wish I could be... part of that WORLD..."

Horse is now happily swimming in his mini-aquarium, and Kate helps me feed him every day at lunch time. He's been a great addition to the family, and a lovely decorative addition to our bookshelf ;)

Occasionally I get a glimpse back at those baby days, when Kate would sleep with her hands up by her face.

Kate is silly, sweet, sassy, and charming. :)

new swimsuit!

SUCH a Kate face!

Being almost 4 is an interesting transition between toddler cuteness and big-girl status. Some days I look at her and it seems there is no trace of babyness left at all. Then other days she just wants to hug me and be wrapped in blankets, and she is STILL not potty trained, so changing diapers definitely helps keep me grounded in baby-care mode. ;)

Some of the most entertaining things that Kate has said lately are that she told me she wants a train on her cake for her 15th birthday. So this is definitely happening. Also, she recently called Edwin her "little tiger" and while Jon was at work asked, "Where is my big daddy boy??" haha!

Kate has also started telling me about her dreams. On February 26th she said she dreamt about doors. It's been really exciting to see how much more interactive she is getting at preschool and at library story time each week. She sings songs around the house like "If you're happy and you know it" and regularly requests that we sing "ring around the rosy" :) It makes my mama heart so happy when I see her join in the song time at the library, or share with friends at school. I asked her the other day what her favorite part of school has been, and she said, "Playing and reading with my teachers." :) She also told me her favorite friend at school is Avery.

For the rest of this Spring and into the Summer we are looking into gymnastics or dance, and swim lessons for Kate so that she can start to find new interests. I can't wait to see how she learns and grows heading into turning 4 this August!

I love seeing her friendship with Edwin grow, and that every time someone comes over to our house she says, "This is my friend, Margo!" Kate always asks for mac and cheese or spaghetti and meatballs, and of course strawberries with every meal. ;) She loves the movie Dumbo, and is obsessed with Daniel Tiger. There are so many other little things that I could share about Kate: how she loves wearing necklaces and asks to have earrings (which we told her she can decide on when she is 8), how she has never ever had her hair cut, how she insists on wearing pretty skirts and dresses as much as possible, and how she loves to have Edwin dance with her in the living room. She always asks to help me make dinner, and thinks play-doh is the best toy ever, she loves books and always asks us to read her a book after prayers at night. Kate tests my patience majorly, but she also teaches me so much. Our life is better with her in it!

We are so glad to have Miss Kate in our forever family. :)

Easter Sunday

Our Easter Sunday was cold and rainy. As such, I didn't get a cute-outdoors-springtime family mini photo session like I had pictured in my mind. I just wanted to get some cute shots of the kids in their new Easter outfits that Jon and I made for them, maybe even with their Easter baskets. Instead, we set up the tripod in our living room after church, and it was perfect!! Curls were falling, kids were worn out from nursery, and still everyone looked at the camera and smiled. I don't think it could have turned out any better!

I didn't decorate the house or get a Spring wreath. I kind of thought I would have time to make a garland, but it didn't happen, and that's ok! Instead I was able to make breakfast for our family and spend the morning with them and serving in my ward calling as part of the Relief Society presidency. :) It was perfect.

I didn't post anything on social media about Easter morning, (except for a quick look at our bunny pancakes with "carrot" strawberries)
























and I didn't ever decide on the right words for talking about the Savior's loving atonement and sacrifice for us, like I had thought I would. Instead, I had the most spiritual Easter Sunday during all three hours at church that I've probably ever had. The talks were wonderful, I sang in the choir, and our Sunday School lessons were perfect. It was uplifting and touching, and exactly what Easter should be about. :) It was holy.

I did get a couple pictures of Kate's hair and dress right before church as she was showing off her chocolate egg:

hair clips and curls by Steph

dress 100% handmade by Jon

With the help of friends and family, Jon and I were able to put together great Easter baskets for the kids!

I even stuck our new family Easter book, and some Easter books from Nonna and Papa in with Jon's basket ;) He got two Easter eggs: a Cadbury one, and a Lindt one (that seemed more "grown up" haha)

The kids got wonderful little Easter baskets in nursery too with play-doh and CTR rings!

During the day we made popovers, resurrection rolls, had a family lesson on the atonement, and watched this adorable video of Claire Ryann singing Gethsemane. The kids were mesmerized!
Jon and Kate were able to skype with Nonna and Papa while Edwin napped, and we ALMOST forgot to start Easter dinner in the crockpot, but thanks to some fast action by Jon, it got done and we were nearly still on time for church!

I didn't get any pictures of our dinner, but we shared it with my mom and some friends. Everyone brought food, and it was busy, and talkative, and happy!

The kids told me they had a GREAT Easter, and it was probably one of my most favorites of all time. We didn't go see the Easter bunny, we didn't have an egg hunt, we didn't get "professional" level pictures of our entire day, and I wasn't even worried. To be honest, I'm not always that great at keeping up with Instagram and Facebook posts anyway. :) It's been joyful to spend the time with my family, and not worry about anyone's expectations except my Heavenly Father's. We had a holy day of worship, and I even got to see some friends who just had their first baby, and hold their 3 day old daughter. Score.

That is what Easter is all about. The love that our Savior had for us, to suffer and die, and the celebration of his resurrection on the third day, overcoming death and allowing us all to have the same blessing of resurrection after death, and live again with our families forever!

All of my personal and societal expectations aside, Easter was amazing. All of those other things I thought I would get done didn't even matter. I'm so glad that Easter Sunday got the true attention and focus from our family that it deserves. :) Just like Christmas, it is not about the "things" or keeping up appearances, but it is about the true dedication of the day to Jesus Christ. It is the most holy of holidays, and should be celebrated always! Because of Him, we can have eternal life, and all things are possible. That is the message that I hope Kate and Edwin took away from Easter this year. I know I did.

14,474

That's a lot of miles.

In fact, it's the added up total estimate for our Year of America road trip. With all our specific stops and sight-seeing interests, 14,474 is the distance in miles that it will *roughly* take us to travel in a big circle through all 48 continental United States.

I crunched the numbers officially this week. Take that number and figure out the cost of gas, plus lodging, plus food, plus incidental expenses, car maintenance, also paying ahead on our rent for while we are gone, and having a buffer for emergencies (not to mention our inevitable desire for souvenirs and the occasional novelty food that is famous in a particular state here or there...) and you've got a BIG undertaking.

SO big, that it's too much for our little family to handle entirely right now.

We knew going into this plan that it might be way over our heads. But we went for it anyway! I don't regret at all hoping that we could make it. I thought that MAYBE if we stretched we could make a big chunk of savings by the Summer, but it looks like the numbers are a little more grand than my imagination supposed. :)

That being said, we are happy to announce a modification to our trip! We are going to complete the first couple weeks of the original plan, and cut the loop down to 7 States on the West Coast.

New road trip map! Roughly.

I know that is 41 states less than our original plan, but we're going to save our goal of seeing the Midwest, East Coast, and Southern States for another time. We are pretty bummed about the friends and family that we will be missing, as well as all the National Parks and landmarks that we will have to wait on, but ultimately, this modified version is going to rock, and we're still super excited!

The main point of this trip was to see America. And we will still be doing that.
We wanted to go and see places that we had never been. And we will still be doing that!
Most of all, we wanted family togetherness, bonding, and building a tradition of travel and exploration. And we will still be doing that. :)

With our new plan, we will:
A) be spreading out our stops to see MORE of the parks and friends and family that we were already going to be hopping between,
B) have the ability to travel comfortably and explore WELL within our budget, and
C) we will easily be pulling off this trip completely debt-free while not breaking the bank for the time we are gone.

The New Route
Start: Rexburg ID
Craters of the Moon National Park, ID
Lehi, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ
Sedona National Park, AZ
Mesa, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Hoover Dam, NV
Bakersfield, CA
Clovis/Fresno, CA
Sequoia National Park, CA
San Francisco/Oakland, CA
Loomis/Sacramento, CA
Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA
Portland, OR
Yelm/Seattle, WA
Coeur d'Alene, ID
and back to Rexburg, ID!
(I highlighted all of the stops that either Jon or I --or both of us-- have never been before!)

This whole major road trip has been such a learning process. It's also been great practice for our family to work on setting realistic goals (ha!) and working together toward a savings plan. :)

The new 7-State Loop has some awesome features, and best of all it is full of some of our most favorite people! Ultimately, it's going to be a couple weeks, instead of 6. It's going to be a mix of camping and sleepovers with friends. It's going to be one of the craziest family vacations we've ever done.

It's going to be awesome. :)

A Dozen

Jon and I had our first date in January 2004. We went to Taco Bell and saw Cheaper by the Dozen in theaters. (You've all heard this story, I'm sure.)

Fast forward 12 years, and it is 2016! Typically on our anniversary we re-watch Cheaper by the Dozen and eat Taco Bell, or go see a new movie in theaters and eat fast food of some sort. Just a throwback to our first date in some fashion.

But THIS year was number 12! A dozen years. And since we saw Cheaper by the Dozen the very first time we really hung out together, this just had to be a bigger year. "12 is our number." -Kate Baker, Cheaper by the Dozen

Our family, 12 years after our first date :)

My awesome friend, Jordan, came over to help me plan. Since Jon had Friday off of work, we made it the anniversary celebration day! We had a list of 12 things to do, including taking a family picture, which Jordan did for us ^^ :) 

On Friday morning I gave Jon a dozen eggs:

A dozen balloons:

A dozen hearts, spelling out "A Dozen Years!"

 A dozen drawings, full of a dozen things:

thanks for all your suggestions on facebook! (see: a dozen meatballs, a dozen hot wings, a dozen flowers, etc...)

 Two of the pictures were of our first date... to now
















For breakfast I cooked 12 strips of bacon (they were only half strips. and since we haven't eaten bacon in months it was a little much! haha!)

Then for lunch we had a dozen things from Taco Bell!

Kate picked this picture for the blog. She said it is silly ;)

Amongst the 12 things we did throughout the day were:
-Going on a walk
-Giving high fives
-Writing letters to each other to open in 12 years
-Watching Cheaper by the Dozen
-Baking a dozen cookies
-Painting a picture together!

We already had a blank canvas sitting around, so we asked the kids what they wanted to paint a picture of, and Kate said, "We want to paint with our feet!" So we did...

 Don't worry, I got in on the action too! The purple paint is from my foot.













After bath time we went up to the temple to watch the Sunset together. :)

It was such a fun family day, and I'm so glad that we spent year number 12 all together!

Happy 12 Years of dating, Jon! I'm excited to see where we are 12 years from now. :)

Just to be Clear

Just to be clear: Jon works damn hard for our family.

Working in retail is not the most glamorous thing you could be doing. But when the school you are teaching at in one state closes down, and you move far away from your friends and family with no prospects of anywhere else hiring teachers--ESPECIALLY not full time ones--it is completely reasonable to take a job, ANY job, that will let you work for trade of pay.

Because of Jon's hard work, we are out of debt, we have been able to get through college without any loans, and our family is taken care of each month with a place to live and food to eat. Because of his patience, he was able to get his foot in the door as an adjunct faculty member at BYU-Idaho. In the meantime he writes, and submits his work for publication, and researches doctorate programs, and runs a literary journal. His first priority is to care for our family, in whatever ways he can, and then still tries to pursue his dreams and not give up on being a full-time writer someday. I don't find anything more respectable than a person that can humble themselves and stick with a job they don't love, in order to provide for the people they do love.

So for anyone who feels that they "can't respect" someone who is working 60+ hours a week and putting aside their wants for true needs, take a look in the mirror and tell me what you would do in the same situation. This is the real problem with America. And it's not about respect for your elders, or respect for your teachers, or respect for the government, or the government's respect for you, or any of that. This is about respect for each other, and realizing that when you say something, there is a human being at the other end of those comments, and this goes in all directions. It's not about respecting _____, it's about respecting people.

Heavenly Father doesn't love someone less because of where they work, and neither should we.

When you graduate from college and realize that jobs aren't always just handed to you, come back and see me.

Edwin @ 22 Months

At the end of January Edwin hit 22 months! I don't know where he was looking in this picture, but it was still super cute :D

He gets more and more handsome every day. :)

Edwin loves to "read" and enjoys looking at books when we go to the library each week. I always let the kids pick out a couple books to bring home. Last week Edwin chose, "I love my Mommy Because..." :) this was not a surprise. Edwin is the most loving, mommy-attached kid around.

He also loves to color, and it's been fun to see how he follows along with what Kate does. Here are the pictures they colored this week in nursery:

Kate colored Jesus' face, and so did Edwin...

Kate colored the door of the church, and the faces of the family, and so did Edwin...

Edwin is still very much a mama's boy and needs to be around me all the time. Here he fell asleep on the floor with his leg over my foot while I was writing in my journal. haha! :D























He is my little Linus, carrying around his blanket and sucking his thumb. :D I have tried to catch a picture of him snuggling nearby, but he is elusive. While I was preparing for class the other day, he sat on my lap at the computer with his head down on the desk in front of me. He is just too cute!

Edwin says small sentences like, "Mommy, help me!" and "More, please, mommy." He is stringing words together and can acknowledge when something belongs to another person in the family, "Kate's blanket" or "Margo's crate".  He also loves to tell us when things are funny.








































His favorite foods are bananas ("banalalas"), yogurt ("ro-grit"), toast, cheese, Larabars ("lo-bar"), oranges, apples, waffles, and cookies. haha!

Cutest of all, Edwin LOVES to pray. He insists that our bedtime routine is prayer FIRST and then a song. And he always has to be the one to say, or at least lead prayer-time. I'll leave you with my favorite Edwin prayer that he actually gave the other night:

A Prayer: by Edwin

January 27, 2016

Edwin: "Fodder" (Heavenly Father)

Mommy: "Yes, Heavenly Father. We are thankful for this day."

E: "day! church!"

M: "ok, and church."

E: "nos" (snow)

M: "and snow... and we are thankful for our family."

E: "daddy!"

M: "and daddy."

E: "daddy!"

M: "and gram"

E: "gam!"

M: "and nonna and papa"

E: "papa!"

M: "and..."

E: "nonna!"

M: "and grandpa"

E: "nonna!"

M: "and grandpa"

E: "nonna!"

M: "and..."

E: "gappa!"

M: "we ask thee to bless us."

E: "church!"

M: ...

E: "nos!" (snow again)

M: ...

E: "eggs!"

M: [laughing] "please help us to sleep well."

E: "waffles!"

M: [laughing harder] "and help us to be safe."

E: "safe."

M: "In the name..."

E: "name!"

M: "...of Jesus Christ..."

E: "Christ."

M: "amen."

E: "YAY!!!!" (followed by hand clapping)

Happy 22 months, little man!

Oh, The Places We'll Go!

Earlier this month we shared our new and exciting theme for the year: a United States road trip of epic proportions! But there are a lot of different ways that we could make this happen. This whole trip plan started based on the concept of the optimal road trip, outlined in Randal Olson's blog post here.

We took the map and list of landmarks, and customized it to the Alston family's interests, and where our friends and family live. Below is a general overview of our planned stops and landmarks we will be visiting! (All cities and states are listed in the order we plan to go.)

This is BASICALLY the route we will be going, except for some specific stops that have been changed to suit our needs

I tried to make this as easy to read as possible... States are listed in CAPITAL LETTERS, and different state visits are separated with a line that only has a hyphen. Cities where we are planning to stay overnight (or close areas) are indicated in parenthesis, in case you would like to volunteer to have us visit you, or know someone we should visit! Otherwise we will be camping almost the entire way. LDS Temples we plan to stop and take a picture at have ** around them. (We probably will not have time to do work in these temples, especially because we have two toddlers with us.) The main goal is to see the temples and share the beauty of a unified worldwide church with our kids. :) We have even added a couple more to the list in the past few weeks!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has contacted us so far with ideas and your favorite places to see. We are adding in and researching as many of your suggestions as possible!

Also, big thanks to Nonna and Papa Alston for the Idaho State Parks pass, and Beth Alston for the National Parks pass. :D  #ExtendedChristmasAwesomeness

Ready to see where we're headed?? Here we go!

Leaving from: Rexburg, IDAHO

Craters of the Moon National Monument, IDAHO

-

Lehi/Orem/Provo area, UTAH (overnight)

*Provo Temples*

Bryce Canyon National Park, UTAH (overnight)

-

Grand Canyon, ARIZONA (overnight)

Phoenix, Flagstaff, Sedona, Mesa, ARIZONA

*Phoenix, Gilbert, and Mesa Temples*

Mesa (overnight)

-

Hoover Dam, NEVADA

*Las Vegas Temple*

Las Vegas (overnight)

-

Fresno, CALIFORNIA (overnight)

*Fresno Temple*

San Francisco, CALIFORNIA

*Oakland Temple*

*Sacramento Temple*

Loomis, CALIFORNIA (overnight)

-

Portland, OREGON (overnight)

*Portland Temple*

-

Yelm, WASHINGTON (overnight)

Seattle, WASHINGTON

*Seattle Temple*

Sammamish, WASHINGTON (overnight?)

-

Coeur D'Alene, IDAHO (overnight)

-

Glacier National Park, MONTANA (overnight)

-

Fort Union Trading Post, NORTH DAKOTA (overnight)

-

Mount Rushmore, SOUTH DAKOTA (overnight)

-

Ashfall Fossill Bed, NEBRASKA (overnight)

-

Fort Snelling/Minneapolis, MINNESOTA (overnight)

-

Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, WISCONSIN (overnight)

-

Des Moines, IOWA (overnight)

-

check out the border of KANSAS

head to Nauvoo, ILLINOIS

*Nauvoo Temple*

Springfield, ILLINOIS (overnight)

-

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MISSOURI (overnight)

*St. Louis Temple*

-

West Baden Springs Hotel, INDIANA 

-

Louisville KENTUCKY (overnight)

or just straight to Mammoth Cave National Park, KENTUCKY

-

Cincinnati, OHIO (overnight)

-

Detroit, MICHIGAN (overnight)

*Detroit Temple*

-

Christmas Story House, Cleveland, OHIO

*Kirtland Temple*

Edinboro, PENNSYLVANIA (overnight)

-

Niagara Falls, NEW YORK (overnight)

*Palmyra Temple*, Hill Cumorah, Sacred Grove

-

Shelburne, VERMONT (overnight)

-

Mount Washington Hotel, NEW HAMPSHIRE

-

Acadia National Park, MAINE (overnight)

-

USS Constitution, Boston, MASSACHUSETTS (overnight)

Harvard University!

*Boston Temple*

-

The Breakers, RHODE ISLAND

-

The Mark Twain House

Hartford, CONNECTICUT (overnight)

Yale University! New Haven, CT

-

New York City, NEW YORK (overnight)

Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square

*Manhattan Temple*

-

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA

-

Cape May Historic District, NEW JERSEY (overnight)

-

New Castle Historic District, DELAWARE

-

Annapolis or Silver Spring, MARYLAND (overnight)

*Washington DC Temple*

-

The National Mall: White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc.

WASHINGTON, DC

-

Arlington National Cemetery, VIRGINIA (overnight)

Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, VIRGINIA

-

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NORTH CAROLINA (overnight)

Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kitty Hawk, NORTH CAROLINA

-

Lost World Caverns, WEST VIRGINIA (overnight)

-

Charleston, SOUTH CAROLINA (overnight)

Fort Sumter and/or Fort Moultrie

-

Okefenokee Swamp Park, GEORGIA (overnight)

-

Spring Hill, FLORIDA (overnight)

Orlando, FLORIDA

*Orlando Temple*

Harry Potter World!!

Tallahassee, FLORIDA (overnight?)

-

USS Alabama, Mobile, ALABAMA (overnight)

-

French Quarter, New Orleans, LOUISIANA

*Baton Rouge Temple*

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Vicksburg, MISSISSIPPI (overnight)

Vicksburg National Military Park / National Cemetery

-

Elvis Presley's house: Graceland, Memphis, TENNESSEE 

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Little Rock, ARKANSAS (overnight)

Toltec Mounds Archaeological State Park

-

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA

*Oklahoma City Temple*

Platt Historic District-former Platt National Park area

Chickasaw National Recreational Area (overnight)

-

Dallas, TEXAS

-

Carlsbad, NEW MEXICO (overnight)

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

-

Colorado Springs, COLORADO (overnight)

Pike's Peak, Cascade, COLORADO

Denver, COLORADO (overnight)

*Denver Temple*

-

Casper, WYOMING (overnight?)

Jackson, WYOMING

-

Rexburg, IDAHO

*Rexburg Temple*

The End

Whew! So there you have the gist of it. 48 states in 51 days. Some states we just pass through quickly, and others we spend a couple days exploring. It really is a sightseeing and photo taking tour as much as anything. We really have to be picky and choosy about where we are going and what we spend time and money to see! I wish we could do more in some areas, but experiences like So Cal, Chicago, visiting The Alamo, and seeing a show on Broadway will just have to be part of another trip someday. :)

So give us some input! And if you know anyone in these areas that might want to be part of our adventure, let us know. We love all you wonderful people and are excited for this great experience together!

"To travel is to live." -Hans Christian Andersen

Faith

"Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. ...
"faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things...even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiement upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe..."
-Alma 32: 17-18,21,26-27

photo credit: Steph, 12-29-15 Temple Square, SLC UT

On the last Sunday of 2015, I was asked to speak in our church Sacrament meeting. There were about 12 people in the entire congregation (including the Bishop and our High Councilman) because everyone was away for Christmas/New Year break. I don't have a problem with public speaking, so it wasn't really an issue either way to me how many people were there. I was just really glad that I could study this subject more.

The last time that Jon and I gave talks (in January) my talk was on Faith in Jesus Christ. Apparently Faith is a subject I need a lot of work on! I thought the talks might overlap quite a bit, but they didn't at all. There is so much that I could say on the topic, but my goal was to cover the basics. Faith is not perfect knowledge, but it is the idea that can define us. And that is what really counts.

***

Jon and I were watching Inception the other night, and there's a line that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Dom, says to Ariadne, played by Ellen Page, that immediately made me think of of Faith:

“An idea is like a virus. Resilient. Highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define, or destroy you.” –Dom Cobb (Inception)

FAITH is an idea. Faith is resilient (returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched. Recovers from adversity/being tested.). It is highly contagious (capable of being transmitted or spread from person to person). The smallest seed of faith can grow. Faith can grow to define you, and destroy any fear or negative characteristic that you may have previously held.

Faith is one of those words that we use interchangeably with many others, but it encompasses so much just on its own. Faith is confidence. It is trust in a person or thing. It is the observance of an obligation from loyalty. It is fidelity (strict observance of promises, duties, etc. loyalty, accuracy, exactness) to a person, promise, or engagement. It is a belief not based on proof.

By now your mind is probably spinning with synonyms and concepts of what Faith includes. I know mine was! So I decided to contrast the idea of Faith with other concepts to more clearly define what it is, but also to see what it is not. What, for instance, is the difference between faith and hope? A friend of mine who is currently serving a mission asked this question of us (her friends and family) in an email home this week. Here are the thoughts I came up with:

Q: What is the difference between faith and hope?

A: Hope is something that you look forward to, or want for. “I HOPE that I will get this job…” “I really HOPE that my classes this semester will be great.” Faith on the other hand is an active belief. It is based on at least a little hint of something concrete. Maybe you don’t know a professor yet, but you have had friends tell you that they are a great teacher. You have faith that the class will be excellent based on your confidence in the friends who gave you their testimony of a previous experience. Faith is an act of trust. Hope is a wish and a desire.

In his talk from this past General Conference, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on faith as a matter of CHOICE and not just by CHANCE. He says,

“How we live our lives increases or diminishes our faith. Prayer, obedience, honesty, purity of thought and deed, and unselfishness increase faith. Without these, faith diminishes. Why did the Savior say to Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”? Because there is an adversary who delights in destroying our faith! Be relentless in protecting your faith.”

If faith is that little seed of an idea within us that motivates us to action and trust, then it should be the most PRECIOUS idea that we keep, not to let anybody tarnish or steal it. Faith can be small, and it can look differently inside of each of us. But faith has incredible potential.

In ethical philosophy there is the idea, suggested by Immanuel Kant, that some things have inherent value, and are ends-in-themselves. Rather than using a person, for instance, as a means to achieve a certain end, the person has their own intrinsic value, which is not dependent on anything else to have value. Just by existing, it is valuable. Similar to this is the idea of an acorn. It holds within itself the potential of tree value. It doesn’t need anything else to have that ability, but it must be nurtured to reach maximum possibility. I think of Faith in this same way. Faith, in itself, has everything contained within it that it ever needs to be. It might start off small, and we might want to tend to doubt it based on stature. But the way we treat it and nourish it will determine its end result. (Are we going to let it blow away? Or will we plant, and water it—actively contributing to its growth?)


Elder Andersen says, “Although your beginning fire of faith may be small, righteous choices bring greater confidence in God, and your faith grows. The difficulties of mortality blow against you, and evil forces lurk in the darkness, hoping to extinguish your faith. But as you continue to make good choices, trust in God, and follow His Son, the Lord sends increased light and knowledge, and your faith becomes settled and unwavering. President Thomas S. Monson said: “Fear not. … The future is as bright as your faith.””


But if we’re feeling like our concept of faith is shaky, Elder Andersen continues his talk by giving us advice for building faith: “Addressing honest questions is an important part of building faith, and we use both our intellect and our feelings. The Lord said, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart.” Not all answers will come immediately, but most questions can be resolved through sincere study and seeking answers from God. Using our mind without our heart will not bring spiritual answers. “The things of God knoweth no man, but [through] the Spirit of God.” And to help us, Jesus promised us “another Comforter” and called Him “even the Spirit of truth. Faith never demands an answer to every question but seeks the assurance and courage to move forward, sometimes acknowledging, “I don’t know everything, but I do know enough to continue on the path of discipleship.”


I loved this so much, because, as Elder Andersen puts it, “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not something ethereal, floating loosely in the air. Faith does not fall upon us by chance or stay with us by birthright. … as the scriptures say, [in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 11] it is… “substance … , the evidence of things not seen.” Faith emits a spiritual light, and that light is discernible.” (to be discernible means that it can be perceived by the sight, or some other sense, or by the intellect; it can be recognized, or distinguished mentally; as distinct or different.)


Elder Andersen further continues by saying, “Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from heaven that comes as we choose to believe and as we seek it and hold on to it. Your faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker. Faith is a principle of power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the veil. By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through faith on His name. The future of your faith is not by chance, but by choice.”


Hopefully we all have an idea of Faith. A concept of what Faith in God means to us individually. My question, to myself, and to you, is: What are you doing (TODAY) with your faith to make it active?

This idea of Faith can be defining and grow to be the motivation behind every decision we make, and every direction in life that we choose to go. As we listen to the spirit of guidance from our Heavenly Father and have Faith in his intentions for us, we can find great blessings awaiting us. So LET YOUR FAITH BE BIGGER THAN YOUR FEAR.


If you’re not sure where to start, or aren’t sure of what exactly you have faith in, I would suggest starting with the Articles of Faith! These are the most basic points of belief that we have in the church, and are guideposts to help us simplify the gospel. As we start with the first one and examine where our faith is on the subject, we can work out our concerns by asking honest questions of ourselves, and then build up to the next Article of Faith.


Elder Andersen gives us a warning: “Immersing oneself in persistent doubt, fueled by answers from the faithless and the unfaithful, weakens one’s faith in Jesus Christ and the Restoration. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” [1 Corinthians 2:14]” These things must be spiritually discerned.


So, start with the basic idea of faith. Build up slowly, increasing your faith by understanding one principle at a time. When you get stuck, acknowledge that you don’t know everything, but you know enough to continue on the path of following Christ and being a disciple of Him. Choose your faith over your fear, and stay True to that Faith that you cherish. Lastly, recognize that Faith is a gift from our Heavenly Father. He knows that we aren’t able to see everything in perfect detail. He knew that it would be hard for us to function here on Earth with a partially blind view of everything. But this is where the gift of faith comes in. To us it is given to discern spiritually what is true and what is worth pursuing. As we trust this gift, nurture it, build upon it, PROTECT it, and help it to grow, it will be the idea that comes to define us, and change us in ways that we never thought possible. [Faith defines character. It is a form of hope. It requires action. Faith is a feeling, and it builds on knowledge. Faith can grow as it is nurtured. Perhaps most importantly, Faith is the first principle of being a disciple of Jesus Christ, our Savior.]

1 Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day.
Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.
Faith is like a little seed: if planted it will grow.
Faith is a swelling within my heart. When I do right, I know.
2 Faith is knowing I lived with God before my mortal birth.
Faith is knowing I can return when my life ends on earth.
Faith is trust in God above;
In Christ, who showed the way.
Faith is strengthened; I feel it grow
Whenever I obey.
-Children’s Songbook 96

I know that this is true. I have had personal experience with testing my faith and just following what I know enough to keep going, and it has always brought me out on the other side of a trial with more awesomeness than I started with. Faith and trust in God works. I am thankful for this gift in my life. Especially with this Christmas season coming to a close and the start of a new year in less than a week. I hope we can all make our faith a little more active in 2016.


I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

A Theme for 2016

THIS. will be the biggest and best theme yet.

48 states, 22 temples, 51 days

#AlstonsYearOfAmerica

It all started last year when I shared a road trip FB post with Jon. Some of you may remember this post being shared around. It looked something like this:

It's a circular trip, so you hop on the trail in whatever state you're in, and ride it the rest of the way around until you're back home. I said to Jon "Next Summer??" being ENTIRELY serious. And ever since then, this Year of America plan has infested my brain.

For a couple of years now, Jon and I have had the major travel bug. We have talked about taking our family permanently on the road. It's part of why we tested out Pineapple Snow (Steph's etsy shop) to see if it could become self-sustaining. If I was able to sew-on-the-go, then we could live in a semi-permanent state of movement, and with our converted bus-turned-camper with built in sewing studio, we would homeschool and visit whomever we wanted WHENEVER we wanted, all year 'round.

Screen shot from our shared Pinterest board: Home Bus

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Enter: IDAHO.

The transition of moving to Idaho and being faced with school, work, and debt decisions made us slow down and really re-evaluate how we were approaching everything. We learned some extremely valuable things. And if you know me, you know that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right. There is no room half-bakery. That being said, I became a budget-Nazi. Jon has been working his BEHIND off with two jobs, and we basically pretended like his teaching job at BYUI wasn't even there. Aside from tithing, we completely ignored those paychecks and threw them down to paying off bills and savings. We have a goal, and a plan, and we are well on our way!

Let me just say this: by April of this year, we will have everything completely paid off, and start working on a great savings, to accomplish the YEAR OF AMERICA 100%. debt. free.

This is our year.

The Year of America is a reward. It is a goal. It is a test run.

With the major push of family world traveling catching on, I have been jonesing so badly this year to get out there and start! Families like the Boyntons: @radish.so.red and the Hunts: @wanderlust.crew on IG have been inspiring me like crazy. I am so thankful for their examples and amazingness. Check them out! Preparation takes time, and I know it's worth it.

So here it is: We are gifting ourselves 51 solid days of togetherness as we traverse the entire country! (Or at least, the 48 continental United States). We decided that if we're ever going to make the idea of travel-life happen, we need to make sure we can do it and will enjoy it. Doing the Year of America road trip is a way for us to jump into a new state-of-mind and lifestyle, with minimal risk.

So the plan is this: July 21st 2016, when Spring semester comes to a close, and BYUI has a 6 week Summer Break, we take off from Idaho and head south to Utah. Then Arizona, Las Vegas, California, up to Oregon, and well, you get the idea. We will make it back to Rexburg on September 9th, with the weekend to spare before Fall semester starts on Monday the 12th. 

Is it crazy?? Probably.

It is exciting?? Heck yes!

Are we going all-in to this plan? ABSOLUTELY.

But here's the best part: WE WANT YOU TO JOIN US.

Seriously, everyone.

Since we are seeing the ENTIRE country (I mean, within reason) we plan to visit as many of our friends and family as possible, AND if you want to come along for parts of our trip, we would be absolutely ecstatic! We realize that we won't be able to see everything in every state, and are going to have to pick and choose the major highlights. But that is where you especially come in. Tell us where you have traveled, where you have lived, where you grew up. We need to know the ins and outs of your state knowledge! I have done a TON of research up to this point, but I want to know your favorite things: places to eat, things to see, where to go, how to do it right. If you were a tourist in your home state, what would you absolutely not miss?

Also, there will be t-shirts! :)

Ultimately, when everything is said and done, the point of our yearly theme is ALWAYS to bring us closer together as a family. We discussed the pros and cons of doing this now when the kids are so little, and we worry a bit about them not remembering the whole thing. But we realized that you don't do things just because a person might or might not remember it. We still celebrate Christmas and birthdays before the kids really know what's going on. But that's not the point. It is the experience, establishing a tradition, and a mindset. It is something that they grow into, and something that we can learn from and having amazing experiences with too. The major goal here is to bring our family closer to Christ.

Closer to Love.

Closer to Forgiveness.

Closer to Peace.

Closer to Happiness.

Closer to HIM.

We are so excited to spend this time together, build memories, (see as many temples as we can!) attend church across the country with fellow Latter-Day Saints, and appreciate the beauty of the world that Heavenly Father has created for us--starting with our own backyard.

"No, never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery." -Washington Irving

So throw it at us! We have 6 months to officially plan, save, make reservations, partner up, and as we come your way, come and play with us! The Alston's Year of America is going to be the best Year ever. :D

Itinerary coming soon...