Gilbert Historical Museum

Yesterday we visited the Gilbert Historical Museum and it was actually pretty cool! Unfortunately our camera battery was low so we only got a few pics before it blacked out, but here you go:


Standing at the pulpit of the first LDS church in Gilbert ........oops! don't touch!



Yay! - we love hands on exhibits: a Gilbert police motorcycle (a nice BMW for Omi to try out).

In the School Room. The museum is housed in the 1913 former Gilbert Elementary School building. Jakob was demonstrating his (fake) attitude toward school - he loves school really. Anna insisted on calling us "teacher" and I think Emma just enjoyed the sound of her footsteps on the wood floors.

Spot the Uncle & Aunts! Click for a larger view.
Jakob was certainly impressed ("You mean the Ella Mae we just saw last week??!")

Papago Park

This morning we went for a bike ride around Papago Park with Shannon, Jason, Brandon & Brooke.
Then we waited in line for a couple of hours at Ikea to buy a couple of dressers.
We didn't take any pictures at Ikea, but here's some of the fun we had at a new desert-themed tot playground at Papago Park.

Jarod & his brother Jason:


Jakob & cousin Brandon rehearsing for their next action movie roles!


Anna & Emma


Cousin buddies.

Smooches from Emma

Emma has just recently learned how to respond to a request for "kisses".

See for yourself...

Rogers Kart

So, we're borrowing my (i.e. Jarod's) brother Trevon's Nintendo Game Cube while he's serving a mission in Florida. This detail may seem unimportant but it is fairly important; the gaming system is a Game Cube, not a Wii. There is no advantage or necessity to move the controller everywhere...

We're having a lot of fun playing Mario Kart. Jakob has mastered it pretty quickly, Anna does well pushing the buttons to "go" and to "throw things" while someone else (i.e. Sara) does the steering, and Emma never fails to get in the middle of it all.

Hope you enjoy watching the mayhem.
(personally, I think the video plays a lot better with a lot of volume...crank it up!)

Sara wants to say that you know you're a mom when you (usually) don't mind never getting to choose which character you'll be, coming to a halt for no apparant reason, THREE times, in the middle of a race and being crawled, climbed and sat upon - just when you were about to finally beat Jakob.

Jakob on Piano

Our ward had it's annual talent show and Jakob decided to play piano. He's been taking lessons for a couple of years now and does really well. In contrast, my (this is Jarod) reading of music consists of a vague realization that if the little dot on the line is a little higher than the previous dot then I should try to make my unwieldy voice sing correspondingly a little higher.

Good job Jakob, we're proud of you!