Venturing out of Lexington

  This week has been so busy and has literally flown by. Lydia had lots of friends over this week and lots of practice with sharing. Sometimes were easier than others. We had a relief society presidency meeting finally and it felt so good to come together and get caught up. I really love our new president. She's always smiling and telling jokes but can also be sensitive and understanding. I think it's been a really good change. 

  Thursday was the RS holiday dinner. We had ham, rolls, salad and dessert. We had a good turnout and it was fun to talk with sister's that I haven't in awhile. I'm so grateful for the wonderful friends I have here. 

  This is Lydia's favorite book of all time. It's Winnie the Pooh's Book of Nursery Rhymes.  We've read it so much now that she can sing all 50 nursery rhymes with me.   

   Friday Michelle and I felt the need to break out of Lexington so we took Adeline and Lydia to the Children's Museum in Roanoke, about 45 minutes away. It turned out to be a lot of fun! This was the aquarium portion. The lady was showing us a weird looking crab. When asked if the girls wanted to touch it, Adeline squealed, "Ew, GROSS!" and Lydia cried, "Wow, cool!" while preceding to poke to poor critter all over.

 How food from the farm finds its way to our table.

 Adeline again thought that touching this tongue was, "Ew, GROSS!" Cant say I blame you there, girl.  It was a little creepy looking.

The butterfly garden was a hit! The girls loved watching the colorful butterflies flying all around them. One almost landed on Lydia, to which she exclaimed, "butterfly on my head!" and then scrunched her eyes tightly anticipating it's landing.

Next was the "Kids Zone" designed for kids's ages 0-5. There was lots of fun activities and we spent a lot of time there.

Digging for fossils.

The science experiment room was probably the best part of the museum. I wish I could have taken more pictures but between wrangling Lydia and doing the experiments I didn't have a free arm. She loved to play some "loud" music.

This was a simulation of the process of recycling. Pretty cool!

We had a great time. I always love it when we get out and do something fun like that. There aren't many museums or fun places to play indoors here so we really enjoy it when we do get to go.  

  Saturday I went to our Stake Leadership meeting and learned a lot about what I should be doing in my calling. There's always room for improvement! I'm excited about all the new changes though. 

  When we face-timed with Brendan this week, we talked about how excited we were to come home and see him. I told him we had a countdown going and when he asked how many days were left, I realized I hadn't actually counted them! So Brendan, as of today, we have 23 days left till we get to see you! We seriously can't wait. 

  I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving break! Loren has a lot to do this week to get ready for his trial on Thursday for his Trial Advocacy class. I know he'll do a great job. Thank you all for your prayers and love! We feel them and are so grateful for our wonderful family and friends.