The Modern Conveniences

The tree laying on the line infront of our house, for a week!!!

Well, our power came back on Saturday at 10:30 am. six day after it went out. Yes, that is right we were without power for six days!! Apparently hurricanes hit Ohio. They say that Hurricane Ike traveled across the Midwest and ended up in Ohio Sunday afternoon. It was quite an adventure. There were trees being blown over, power lines snapping, it was nuts. Scott and I weren't quite sure what to think about it. We were sitting in church when the lights went out and everybody just continues as normal. When church was over, one of the members had a tree sitting on his broken windshield and everybody acted like it was normal. We watched outside our window as people rode their bikes and walked their dogs and Scott and wondered "what in the world have we moved in to?!" Three days later when most of the city was still without power I think they finally realized it was a little bigger deal than anyone have thought. As for us, we busted out the camping equipment and weathered the storm.

We took advantage of the power being off to go the Kirtland, OH and the John Johnson farm. It was amazing. I think that Kirtland is the most overlooked church history site we have. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared four times in Kirtland and we were able to sit in two of the places that it occurred. There was such a special feeling there. It was almost overwhelming. We were able to go to the Newel K. Whitney store and sit in the room of the School of the Prophets, and we saw his home where the prophet stayed. The John Johnson home was the most amazing to me though. It is where the plan of salvation was revealed. It is also the location where one of the most tragic stories in my mind of persecution occurred. It is the place where Joseph Smith was taken in the middle of the night and tarred and feathered while his baby was sick. And his son died five days later form exposure to the cold. There is a powerful spirit there. It was such a faith building, rejuvenating trip for both me and Scott. I came away with a stronger testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that he was the first prophet of this dispensation, that he had been chosen by God to restore the gospel for our time. I know that he saw and spoke to God and Jesus Christ. I know that his life was spared many times so he could complete the work that the Lord had sent him here to do. His life is an example of faith, perseverance and love and I am so grateful to him for never shrinking from his task, even when his life and the life of those he loved was at stake.

We got to stop off at Aunt Lynn and Uncle Wayne's house on our way home. It was so nice to be with family. They were so kind to let us hang out for a bit and they equipped up with a cooler and some ice to serve as our fridge for the next couple of days. It is nice to be close to someone.

I am also proud to announce that we got our final room unpacked and we are officially moved in. It feels so nice. Home is good place to be now. It came just in time. Scott starts school tomorrow and we are off and running. He is really excited to get started.

My lovely Ella

I just wanted to say a few words about my beautiful Ella. She is a shining light. I have never seen a baby who can light up a room with a smile like Ella can. Her whole face sparkles. She loves to play, love to make noise and loves to attack anything within her reach. Everything goes strait to her mouth and there is usually an audible grunt as she tries to stuff it in. She is a hardheaded as Scott and I combined but is so sweet and cuddly as well. She is never content to just sit. She always has to be exploring something. This could explain why she rolled over front to back and back to front all of the sudden on the same day. She is eating cereal now, which breaks my heart. I am not ready for her to be getting bigger yet. She needs to stay my little snuggle bug, but there's not much I can do about that I guess. Oh, and she suddenly stopped taking a bottle this week so if anyone has suggestions, send them my way.
Anyway, I just had her on my mind.

Columbus, Ohio

Our back yard

Well, greetings from Columbus, Ohio. We have been here a week and are finally feeling settled. We got most of our stuff up on the walls last night. It is a bitter sweet feeling for me. It has really made it final, that we are here for at least the next year, which is a little hard to wrap my mind around at times, but it has also made it feel like home a little more.

We live in community called Clintonville that is about a mile north of OSU and about 10 minutes from downtown Columbus. The neighborhood is friendly and we live by a great park and biking path. About a 3 minute walk away there is also a park that we visited several times already. It really is an ideal location for us. We are deffinatley not in Idaho anymore though. As you drive down our street you will see Ohio for Obama signs proudly displayed in every other yard. The one McCain sign is safely displayed in someones front window. That may just be coincidence! There are mostly single people and their dogs!! which go by our house every evening around 5:30 to the big green space next door. We have seen more big dogs in a one week then the whole of Rexburg contains I swear. Scott and I are more and more convinced we will never own a big dog unless it has a place to go to the bathroom that we won't step in it and don't have to pick it up. The comedian Brian Regan hit it on the head when he said something to the effect of, "If aliens come to this planet they would think dogs were the ruling species, they have schedules excercise, lots of toys and someone who picks up their poop!" We see it everyday.

As we talk to people in the neighborhood we get little glimpses of what Clintonville is culturally like. It is very green friendly, excepting of all lifestyles, and very left wing. Today we went to the farmers market, which was fantastic, and really got a feel for the community. We felt a bit out of place but comfortable. On the corner driving home there were groups on each side of the street. One holding Bush War Crimes signs and on the other side of the street was a man with a sign that said, "the left hates America. Honk if you love America". Scott and I took a lap around the block to be the only ones who honked at his sign while a long line of cars kept honking at the other. As if the Idaho liscense plate wasn't a dead give away, we honked. It was a great day!

Last Thursday we went to the Columbus Zoo which was a lot of fun. It is a huge zoo. We were there for 5 hours and still didn't see the whole thing. We bought a pass so we can go back whenever we want. The animals were great. They were all very active. Kayt especially loved watching the Manitee's. They are huge, in the words of Kayt. She even donated some of her potty money to help save them. Another highlight of the day was the gorillas. We though this one resembled our little Ella just a bit, now that she has found her toes, it is a position we find her in often.

All in all, things are going well. We are anxious to get started in school and get more involved in our ward. We went to dinner at a ward members house Thursday night. They live a couple of blocks away. It was a lot of fun. I have to admit, it was nice to get out of the house and socialize some. They were the Curtis's and he is getting a PHD in exotic languages.

The biggest highlight of the week however is Kayt's potty training success. We have only had two accidents since Tuesday morning. Glorious Day!!! We never though it would happen but here we are. Thanks to my cousin Lisa for her potty training advice.

Hope all is well with everyone, we love you all.

moving

Well, I just want to give a little update. I don't have enough time to write all that is on my mind, but I wanted to get something up because I am sure you are all just dieing to know how we are doing? And...I need something to distract me while Scott tries out all the photo templates on his cell phone. So far I have been a pirate, clown, googly glasses girl and floozy mermaid. Wonderful isn't it?
We have officially moved. I never thought is would actually happen but we have successfully gotten through one full day on our own. Scott's parents left yesterday afternoon. It was hard to watch our connection to the 'Burg drive away and realize "this is it". So far though things are good.
We live in a nice neighborhood right by a park and bike path. It's nice to be so close to it and we can get in some good people watching if we really want to. Columbus seems like a pretty great place. The traffic isn't too bad, the noise level is good and the weather is not too hot. We hear we are hitting it at about the right time as far as weather goes. Oh and the grocery store people are friendly. What more could you ask for?
We have started to potty train Kayt also which is a post in and of itself. But lets just say things are getting better.
Well, I have a running date with a few ladies in my ward so I need to get to bed but...we are alive and well and so far enjoying ourselves. Love to all.