Memorial Day Week with my Parents

We spent a great week with my parents around Memorial Day. It was so nice to have family come visit us. We spent the week playing! Our first stop was the Cincinnati Zoo. I love this zoo and we had the perfect weather!

 

Our next stop was the Shaker Village near Lexington. It was pretty interesting, but also pretty chilly that day. We toured the main building and I even got to work the lave. We learned more about the Shaker's history and that they invented the flat broom and seed packets with planting instructions.

That night we spent the night at Sleep Inn in Cave City. It was a nice motel with a great continental breakfast. In the morning we went to Mammoth Cave. I've been pretty excited to go since I really like Timpanogos Cave in Utah. Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in North America, but it's not nearly as decorated with interesting features as other caves I've been to. I still thought it was interesting though and enjoyed seeing it in person.

On our way home from Mammoth Cave, we stopped by the Louisville Temple so my mom could take some pictures.

Sunday we attended church. I had been asked the week before to give a talk on prayer. That is an easy topic for me to speak on since I have many experiences with prayer, but it was also very helpful to me to study it for a week and realize some areas I need to improve on. The talk went well, and my own personal prayers have been even more sincere ever since.

Memorial Day was really rainy so we opted to stay at home and watch the new movie "Meet the Mormons" that was recently released. It was the first time that Jason had seen the movie. I saw it in a theater in Ohio several months ago with the Young Women's group, but it was fun to see it again. We also took my parents to eat at Skyline Chili. I happen to like the specially seasoned dish, but people usually like it or hate it. I don't think my parent's loved it, but now they have at least experienced it. :)

Tuesday we walked along the Riverfront in Cincinnati. The park and walking area have just been finished recently and are beautiful. We also went to the Underground Railroad Freedom center. The museum was large and beautiful, but I didn't particularly like the spin they put on the exhibits. It seemed dark and without hope of a brighter future. It's true that this country has made its share of mistakes, including serious abuse and mistreatment to other races and religions, but let's learn from the past and move on to a better future!

Here are just some fun pictures of Ethan and my parents. We really enjoyed having them stay with us. We had a relaxing and enjoyable time with them. Anyone else who wants to visit us is always welcome!!

Ethan and Grandma read lots of books together and went on a walk to the park.

I love this silly boy!

Ethan loved playing with Grandpa, his new playmate. :)

I love this picture of my parents! They are the best!!

A Few Pictures from May

A few weeks ago we attended a service for the National Day of Prayer. It was well done and we were happy to run into some of our neighbors that live in our building. I only wish more people had attended. Since our LDS church building is being renovated, we've been meeting at the Union Presbyterian Church. It has been a great experience, not only to remind me what I love about the church buildings that I'm accustomed to, but also to become more comfortable and better appreciate the faith of others. Reverend Lisa refers to us as another "flavor" of Christianity. I have really enjoyed getting to know the Presbyterians better as we have had several joint meetings and activities.

Union Presbyterian Building where we temporarily meet for our Latter-Day Saint church meetings

Posted this pic on Instagram in token of our commitment to read the Book of Mormon each day as a family in preparation of the Burningham Family Reunion later this summer

A few weeks ago I organized a group of young moms with their kids for a visit to the Krohn Conservatory to see the Butterfly Exhibit from the Philippines. It was really crowded but it turned out well and we had about 8 of us there with our kids. Ethan thought it was pretty cool and even walked around holding the white card they give you to try and encourage the butterflies to land there. Towards the end, a butterfly actually did land on his hand and he immediately panicked and started shaking in fear until I was able to blow the butterfly off his hand. Now I'm not sure what he thinks about butterflies...

This cool butterfly has brown colors on the outside of its wings but has beautiful blue wings when opened

This is cute little Hailey showing off the blue wings.

This picture shows the butterfly that finally landed on my white card in the bottom left corner.

I love waterfalls!

I think this is a cool bench that they had at the Conservatory

After the butterfly exhibit some of us met at Eden Park for a picnic lunch. It was perfect weather for a picnic in the shade, but too hot to be playing on the playground equipment in the sun.

Picture at Eden Park, behind us you can see the Ohio River and one of the bridges that crosses from Kentucky to Ohio.

I enjoyed happy Mother's Day. I'm forever grateful to my own mother for being such a large part of who I am today. I'm also grateful for all women who have mothering hearts, whether or not they have children of their own. They truly influence me and the world for good.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ethan loves playing at the playgrounds. We could be there for hours and he wouldn't get tired of it.

Ethan loves to 'pop' bubbles. He walks around saying 'pop' when he touches them.