Oops...I forgot

Dear Kiersten,

I am so sorry I forgot to post on your BIRTHDAY....so HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!! I was trying to remember when you started dancing---I think 1994? (Kiersten reminded me...where did the years go?) It's been fun watching you grow up. You are a beautiful, talented girl. You have a wonderful smile and a fun laugh. You ALWAYS work hard. You NEVER (never say never) make mistakes and I can count on you for anything I need. You don't complain, you don't whine. You are such an asset to the team. Thank you for making my job that much easier. You are such a success in life because you love life and live EACH day to the fullest with 100 percent of your potential.

Lori

I should have never started.....

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When I first started my blog I gave a 'shout out' to one of my drill team girls whose birthday it was....well if I am anything, I am FAIR and so I need to say 'Happy Birthday' to two more of my girls. Happy Birthday to Megan Roylance who has a birthday today, and Lindsay Reis who has a birthday tomorrow. (SORRY Lindsay we have TWO practice on your birthday, but I am pretty sure there is nowhere else you would rather be, but at practice with ME).

Megan is a freshman and very petite. I use to always tease her that she was going to have to grow taller or she didn't have a chance to make the team. But Megan is a GIANT in talent. She has a ton of natural abitlity and pretty much can do anything you ask her to do, and MORE. She also is an extremely hard worker. I love you Megan.

Lindsay is a senior. If Lindsay and I were closer to the same age, I'm pretty sure we would be best friends....(wait, we are-right?)
Lindsay is beautiful, smart, funny, and CRAZY. I would kill for her skin. I can always count on Lindsay to make me laugh and I love that about her. She's dependable and reliable and does a great job. Happy Birthday Lindsay!

A Rare Family Vacation

We just returned home from a RARE family vacation. We took the kids out of school and flew back to Buffalo, NY. We rented a "LUXURY" rental car which we affectionately named 'Uncle Boyd' and drove cross country. We don't take the time to go on vacation much. Reid is busy with farming and church work. The kids have lots of extra-curricular activities they are involved in and so do I, but we went, and I am so GRATEFUL we did.





Our first stop was Niagra Falls. We saw the falls by day and by night. We then went to Palmyra and vistied the Hill Cumorah and saw the Palmyra Temple. We visited the Grandin building and the home of Martin Harris. We then went to Kirkland, Ohio and saw the Temple there and the Whitney Store and Jon Johnson home.








We walked through the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith at the age of 14 went to pray to ask the Lord which of the many churches he should join. In response to his prayer, God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ appeared and told him the true church was not on the earth yet. Joseph had been chosen to restore it. The grove was sacred and peaceful and calming and beautiful, and the feeling I had while walking through I will not soon forget.



Next stop Nauvoo. WE loved our stay in Nauvoo. Kenzie and I felt like we were in a movie. It was small and quaint and old fashioned. We learned how to make bricks, rope, boots, bread, candles and rugs.



This is the Nauvoo Temple. The temple took the saints 6 years to build. Shortly after the saints were driven from Nauvoo the temple was desecrated by mobs and burned to the ground. The church began to rebuild the temple in 1999. Drawings from the 1846 temple allowed contractors to closely replicate the exterior as drawn in the original plans.



And this is the view of the temple from our hotel in Nauvoo. It was breathtaking. I just couldn't stop thinking about the sacrifices the saints made to build this beautiful temple, and then before it was even completed they had to leave it and move on because of the persecution. But they did so with faith, and built another beautiful temple in Salt Lake City when they arrived there.



This is Sister Colleen O'Neil. Her and her husband Mike are serving a mission in Nauvoo. The senior missionaries were so cute. They were happy to see us....(sometimes we were the only visitors that day) and very enthusiastic about their job. They always wanted to guess the kids ages, and everyone had a grandaughter they wanted to set Jordan up with... Anyone else have any suggestions for him?



Just in case your planning on moving to Nauvoo its important to know they have a dance studio....do you think this means I can write this trip off?




While at Nauvoo we had a carriage ride, a wagon ride and a ride with the oxen. All of the them were fun and informative, but I was so grateful I was only riding around for an hour or so instead of making a two thousand mile journey across the country, packing all my belongings in them.



Wherever we go Kenzie makes friends....did you get his number?



Our final church history site was Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred. It was humbling and overwhelming and a feeling I will never forget. The spirit was strong and I have never known more strongly that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and labored all the days of his live in God's work. He was willing to die for what he knew was right and true. "I had seen a vision, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it."



Our last stop on the trip was St. Louis, Missouri where Reid served a two year mission 30 years ago. We drove around for awhile trying to find places he had served or lived....but believe it or not, things have changed in 30 years. We think he lived in this apartment at one time...and if not, it was an apartment that looked just like this 30 years ago.



And of course because Reid loves heights....we had to all go up to the top of the arch and look over the city. The trip was an amazing experience for all of us. WE loved being together, we all saw so many new things and our testimonies were strengthened.

365 days down.....365 days to go

Today marks Elder Quinnton Reid Baker's one year mark on a mission. Sometimes it seems like he has been gone forever, and sometimes it seems like he left yesterday. We are so very proud of him and his service to the people of Vanuatu. He has had to learn many new things, The language is difficult and different everywhere he goes. His companions have mostly been from the native islands and they are unschooled in many things. But they are working hard daily because they are committed to the Lord and his cause. They pray and study and then go out and do the Lord's work. Keep the faith Quinn! We love you for your dedication and service to the Lord. (And we miss you....)

Home Sweet Home....almost!

I'm in St. Louis, Missouri right now with the fam--(Reid, Jordan, Kenzie and Easton). We are on a family vacation touring the church history sites. We have not taken many family vacations over the years.....when your husbands a farmer you tend to be home in the spring and summer, and when your boys play football and basketball you are stuck at home in the fall and winter. But this year we just decided we had to do it.

Easton is missing the first week of basketball practice. Kenzie is missing a whole week of college and an important dance workshop and Kenzie and I are missing a whole week of drill team. It was a hard decision to make. Easton will probably not play the first game or two and may not be a starter to begin the season. Kenzie will have lots to make up from school and dance and will have to sit out a performance because those are the rules.

But it's been a wonderful experience and life changing. As soon as I get home I will post pictures and tell about the vacation...but I can say we have visited 7 states in 8 days, and stayed in 6 different hotel rooms. We have 5 long legged individuals in a 'luxury' rental car designed for 4. (We have affectionately named our car Uncle Boyd---story later). We are sleeping 5 on 2 beds made for 4 and we our sharing one tv with ONE remote. We are your typical family these days with 4 cell phones, 2 laptops, 2 ipods, little homework and two vampire books, and one set of scriptures (I wonder who remembered those?) We don't sing well enough in the car to play encore and its impossible to agree on a radio station so we often sit in silence. But I can still say I've loved every minute of it. I love watching the kids interact with each other and I've loved watching their testimonies grow of the Prophet Joseph Smith. No ones complaining, and we wouldn't trade this experience for anything.....we've seen way to much hardship that these people endured and knows our is a drop in a bucket. But we will be grateful to return home. I know I miss my car, my bed, my pillow, my blowdryer, my shower, my washing machine and even my kitchen. The kids miss their friends and my space and facebook and practices and even school. Ours truly is a "Home Sweet Home."

Happy Birthday Dear Brad and Caitlynn....

It's Caitlynn Lawson's Sweet 16th Birthday today. Happy Birthday Caitlynn. I've known Caitlynn since she was three. She has always been one of the sweetest, hard working, easy to be around girls I have ever known or worked with. I love watching her dance and she has so much natural talent and drive. I definetly will be able to say one of these days, "I knew her when...



Yesterday was Bradley's Earl 21st Birthday. I absolutely couldn't resist posting this picture from preschool with Brad, Michael, Danielle, and Tanae. Brad is serving one of the hardest missions I have ever heard of. Yet Brad does it with humor and strength and the desire to serve and do more. I'm so proud of him and all the boys serving missions.

At least your hair and make-up looked good....

Halloween night the Chiefs had a play-off game at home. The Molahiettes anticipated their 2nd annual 'Thriller' performance. I was pretty excited. Last year the girls did 'Thriller on senior night, near Halloween, but I was out of town and didn't get to see it. This year I was there to see it and planned my whole vacation around it....and it was Halloween. What could be better?

Well hopefully last years performance was better....I'm not sure what happened, but the performance did not go well. It finally came together in the end for the kick line, but I was grateful when the performance was over. I felt so bad for everyone. I felt bad for myself, because it was not what I had anticipated. I felt bad for the girls that made the mistakes because no one makes mistakes on purpose. I felt bad for the girls that didn't make the mistakes, because the performance was so much less than they had wanted. Our team motto this year is, "Nothing happens until we make it happen." We did not make it happen. In the big scheme of things, it definetly didn't matter and there will be other performances, and I can guarantee they will be better. The good news is....'they had great hair and make-up'!!