Wow.

Today is Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama which is equivalent to Cesar Chavez Day in California.  State offices and employees have the day off, but no one else really knows about it.  All I can say is that we are definitely living in the South. :)

Flat Stanley

Newel's nephew sent us a Flat Stanley for his class project.  For those who are not familiar with the story of Flat Stanley, he used to be a real boy but then he had a bulletin board accident and was flattened to the thickness (or should I say thinness?) of a piece of paper.  Anyway, turns out Flat Stanley likes being flat because he can do lots of things he couldn't do before like slide under locked doors and fly across the country in a paper envelope.  Anyway, he came to us so we took him on some adventures and sent the following report back to Newel's nephew to share with his class.  Hope you enjoy. :)

Flat Stanley Visits Birmingham, Alabama

Flat Stanley went on vacation to Birmingham, Alabama and had a great time.  He stayed with a really nice couple named Hillary & Newel Mecham (Kyson’s aunt & uncle).  He did lots of fun things and spent a lot of time hanging out on the Mechams’ refrigerator so he would not be forgotten.

His hosts first took Stanley to Sloss Furnaces which is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham.  It operated as an iron-producing furnace from 1882 to 1971.  Stanley walked through the remains of the furnaces which were really cool looking.  He even got to see an old, black train!  Don't worry; he did not get burned in any furnaces since they have all been shut down for years.

On another day, Flat Stanley went with Newel and Hillary to the Birmingham, Alabama Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He really liked the outside of the temple because it was so beautiful.  It's not as big as the temples he has probably seen in Utah, but he thought it was neat.

Flat Stanley also took rides around town and went out to eat with Newel and Hillary.  His favorite eating stop was Saw’s Soul Kitchen because it was some authentic Southern cooking.  He really wanted to eat Hillary’s Pork N’ Greens but couldn’t fit it in his flat stomach so he just watched Hillary enjoy it.

On Flat Stanley’s last weekend with his hosts, he went to the Cahaba River and looked at waterfalls, climbed up trees, and played hide-and-seek in the bushes.  Can you find him in the third picture below?

Flat Stanley had a fun vacation in Birmingham, Alabama.  Hillary and Newel were sad to see him go, but they could tell he was starting to miss home.  They hope he comes to visit again soon, and that he will bring his friends with him next time! 

The End

Kind of MIA

So Newel and I have been watching our friends' kids since Wednesday and we'll be watching them through Monday while our friends are in Costa Rica.  We're having a pretty sweet time, but there's little to no time for updating a blog right now.

This is what we're doing this weekend with the kids: awesome-ness.  How about you?