The Rose Garden and Family Pictures

We were excited that my younger brother Riley was able to drive through on his way from North Carolina to Idaho. He just finished four years with the army and is now heading to Boise State for school. It was fun to his see him and his puppy, Luna. We all took a stroll around the rose gardens and it was a perfect opportunity for a family picture.

And with family pictures, comes lots and lots of “not so perfect”  pictures:

Stella just loved her Grandpa Dirk!

The look on her face isn’t a mad one.It is a very interested and focused one and maybe a little bit of a “I want to eat the rose” look. She was quite happy looking at the roses up close.

And of course she loved her Grandma Jody, too!

She was also quite fascinated with Luna

I think her most favorite place in the world is on a blanket outside with a slight breeze (although it was extremely hot and humid with no breeze when we took these pictures).

Segways and Sausage

When my family was here we had the opportunity to go on a segway tour of downtown Columbus. It was so much fun!!!

After the tour, Benj went to get Stella from the babysitter to join us for the rest of our outings. While he was picking her up the rest of us stopped by German Village and explored the maze of a book store, The Book Loft and it’s 30 something rooms of books.

Next we went to Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in German Village. We all got the buffet with all you can eat sausage and all sorts of delicious German food. It was amazing!

 

We also ordered 4 GIGANTIC cream puffs. Vanilla, blueberry, chocolate, and peanut butter chocolate. They were delicious.

My family was excited to see fireflies for the first time. We spent a lot of evenings outside watching the little lightning bugs.

Stella’s Blessing

Last month we finally got around to blessing our little Stella Snow. She was four months old (and very big and wiggly), but we decided to wait four months because we wanted some family to be there and we knew my parents would be coming in June. We had it all set up to bless her in church on June 9th, but after family got their plane tickets, a “special stake conference” was scheduled on short notice because some General Authorities were visiting the area. So we decided to bless her in our home. (If you are wondering, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we give babies “blessings”. They are usually given by the father, although it can be given by any worthy priesthood holder, and it is basically a special prayer blessing the sweet addition to this world. It is usually done around 2 months.) My parents and siblings were there, as well as my Uncle Jared, Aunt Wendy, and their 4 kids who live in Cincinnati.

We couldn’t get Stella to look at the camera or to smile that day. There were so many other people to watch and look at. She is still super cute.

 

Hot Glass and Butterflies

When my family was visiting we took a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory.

We explored the butterfly garden:

We watched a glass blowing demonstration. This guy showed us how he makes vases from start to finish. It was pretty cool.

Stella started out in her stroller, but this little girl is so curious and just loves to be in the middle of things experiencing everything. You can see her in this picture just totally enthralled in the presentation. 

They also had a leaf showing that day. People brought in their leaves to be judged. I thought it was kind of quirky and weird, but cool at the same time.

They also had little miniature flower arrangements being judged. They were each about the size of a can of food.

We explored the other rooms in the conservatory. There is a desert room, a Himalayan room, a rain forest room, a Bonsai room, a Pacific Island room, and a couple other rooms.

 

I isn’t my little sister pretty?

A Visit from the Fam

The month of June has been full of fun and family. My parents and siblings visited us from Idaho. I have lots of pictures from their trip to Columbus, so it will probably take multiple posts to cover their trip. My family made it to Columbus after midnight so Stella was fast asleep when they first got there.The following pictures are from the next morning. It was their first time meeting Stella (except my mom, who came when she was born). She immediately loved them!