The Mergenthaler Family

We really enjoyed our visit with Aunt Anjee, Uncle Jeremy, and baby Josh. On Saturday night, we spent some time at the Iowa Children's Museum at the mall. Our children love the "worker guy place." I'm not sure how this came to be, but our kids call any blue collar worker a "worker guy." Ricky used to be terrified of worker guys, but he has gotten over that fear. Here they are building a house: What do you think Andrew is saying here? I have thought of lots of funny words to put into his mouth, but I thought it might be more fun for you to use your imagination on this one. Emily might just be the prettiest worker guy I have ever seen. Ricky is going for a cross between a scuba diver and a worker guy. I have more cute pictures of Makayla and Josh on our laptop that I might add at a later time . . . but then again, I might not . . .

We have been enjoying a visit from Aunt Anjee , Uncle Jeremy, and their cute little guy, Josh. One thing we did together was go to the Handcart Park in Iowa City. This park was built by the University of Iowa and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is maintained by Iowa City. Mainly, it is a walking trail with signs and facts about the pioneers and their experiences. The morning after our walk in Handcart Park, Ricky had some thoughtful comments. He said, "Did you know, Mom, that the pioneers had a hard time walking all that way? Some of them even died." I agreed that they had a very difficult time. Then he said, "But that was a long time ago . . . like back in the 80's." I said, "Back in the 80's? Don't you mean 1800's?" "No, I mean the 80's when they wore different clothes and things were so hard." Hmmmm .

Last weekend, we drove 4 1/2 hours to Kansas City for Rick's cousin's wedding. The kids were really good for the drive--especially since we drove there on Friday and drove back on Saturday. Andrew was especially good considering his age. We found some of Ricky's gloves in the car and Andrew thought they looked pretty cute on his feet. There were very few children at the wedding because most of the people attending had babysitters or older children. We were grateful that our children were very well behaved for the ceremony and at the dinner. They used their best manners and we were glad to be able to bring them along without worrying too much about what they might do (or spill). The wedding and reception went late into the night. The kids were tired, but they didn't act up. I would have expected Andrew to get a little crazier as the night wore on but he was a perfect gentleman. Ricky was also a gentleman. He is probably the most social child we have. He made the rounds...

You know you're getting older when . . . . . . . for breakfast you prefer raisin bran, oatmeal, or a piece of whole wheat toast to Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, or Lucky Charms. . . . you're sore the next day after playing basketball for a couple of hours. . . . you remember watching Family Ties, Full House, The Jetsons , and The Flinstones and your children think those are "old shows." . . . you know the words to "Oh Sherry" by Steve Perry of Journey AND you think it is a good song. . . . you can't remember the last time you stayed up past midnight for fun, but the last time you were up too late for work is fresh in your memory. . . . you like to laugh at your own jokes. . . . you will admit to getting older, but will never be "old." . . . you just had another birthday. Happy 32nd birthday, Rick! I love you. I'm looking forward to spending many years getting older with you.

Dear Tooth Fairy, You won't believe it, but I finally lost my first tooth. I was starting to think that I would be the only seven-year old who did not have a visit from you yet. I was the only one in my first grade class who had not yet lost a tooth. My two bottom teeth started getting wiggly a few weeks ago. I was so excited. I was sort of hoping that you and the Easter Bunny could visit on the same day, but my tooth was just too excited to be out of my mouth!! Right before I was going to leave with my Daddy to pick up Grandma and Grandpa Mergenthaler at the airport, I bit into a strawberry and out that tooth came! I was shocked! I was soo excited the next morning when I checked where I had left my tooth, and you left me a dollar!! Wow! Some of my friends at school don't believe that you are real. I asked my mom what she thought. She didn't really give me a straight answer. She asked me, "What do you think?" I'm still thinking about that one. I ...

Another place we visited for the first time with Rick's parents was the Amana Colonies (about 1/2 hour away from our house). Those who are familiar with Washington can compare this place to Levenworth (who knows if I spelled that correctly). The Amana Colonies are an old German settlement. We only spent about 1/2 a day there. Many of the fun activities do not begin until April. A lot of shops and restaurants were open, but I think we will go back this summer or fall to get the full effect. We started out with breakfast at the Brick Haus Restaurant. Most of the restaurants serve meals "family style" which means they bring out huge plates of food and you just eat as much as you want. The food was delicious. Our favorite part of the meal was the peach marmalade/jam on toast. Everybody in our little group loved it. The chocolate milk and hot chocolate were really good too. After breakfast, we walked around town. We liked the clock shop and the toy shop. The Christmas s...

Rick's parents came to visit last week and we had a great time with them. They gave us a good excuse to get to know our area a little better. When we moved here last summer, we were so consumed with remodeling and getting settled in that we really haven't had a chance to be tourists. Weather and time limits kept us from seeing and doing everything we wanted to, but who wants to be rushing from one place to another every day? One of the places we visited was Nauvoo. This was the first time I had ever been there as a tourist. There is definitely more to see and do than can be done in one day. Since we are only 1 1/2 hours away, we can go back often (I hope). We left around 9:30 a.m. and were getting to Illinois around 11:00. We had lunch at Zion Mercantile. It is a cute shop with lots of memorabilia. We went on two wagon rides. The first was a short ride around a loop pulled by oxen. The second was a tour of Nauvoo. I think the kids like the oxen ride better because they could ...