Mamma Mia!!

This past week we were able to have my mom here from Idaho. It was such a fun week and we are sad she is gone. Any of you who know her know that she is the life of the party, so of course our week was full of adventures. She arrived last Tuesday afternoon and had dinner waiting when I arrived home from work. Wow, I love my mom! Then we took her to Rita's to try their yummy gelatis. She thoroughly enjoyed it. The next day was spent shopping for scrapbook stuff and home decor, and a little Panera for lunch. Unfortunately, mom got sick that night from something she ate, but she felt better fast. Looking at my house it is evident she has been here- cute decorations, wall hangings, and homemade fridge magnets- I don't do these things myself! That night we had some girls over and had a fun girls night making cute fridge magnets with all the scrapbook stuff we bought. Thursday was spent showing her the temple and surrounding areas. Then we picked up Allyson and hit the mall. It was a fun, relaxing day. Friday Ryan and I both had to work, but we were able to show her a little bit more of campus and take her to an area of Columbus known as German Village. It has a lot of cool old buildings and specialty shops (which are both things my mom loves) and an amazing bookstore. The picture below is outside the bookstore.

On Saturday we strolled around Old Dublin, again a part of town with cool buildings and fun shops. We also stopped for lunch at a cute place and just had a great day. Sunday is when the true adventure began as we decided to go see Niagara Falls and Palmyra, New York with our friends Jeremy and Chelsey. We left early Sunday morning and arrived to the falls around 1:00pm. We spent all day there and were able to ride the Maid of The Mist boat which takes you up close and personal to the falls. It was very fun, and even Ryan reluctantly agrees it was worth the $15 per person. We stayed around the falls for dinner, followed by a live concert, illumination of the falls, and fireworks. We were a little disappointed with the fireworks. Considering the intensity and wonder of the falls, the fireworks weren't much to write home about. But it was still a great time. That night we stayed in the picturesque town of Buffalo, NY. Wait, did I say picturesque? I meant grungy and ghetto. But, we weren't there for long as we headed to Palmyra early Monday morning.

While in Palmyra we were able to see the temple, Joseph Smith's home, the Sacred Grove, and the Hill Cumorah. Just as is true of some of the other church history sights we have visited this summer I felt such gratitude and peace as I explored history. The sacred grove was such a peaceful place and I think we could have walked around forever if the mosquitoes would have left us alone.

Below are some picture from Niagara

I also finally finished the final installment of the Twilight series. I must say I had a hard time getting into this one. It was still good and definitely worth reading if you are a fan of the series, but just not my favorite. I have heard a lot of the same from others, but also that people loved it.
We really are having a great time here in Ohio. Life is good for us and we are just trying to figure out life one day at a time like everyone else. Love to all!