Sleeping beauty

 She got bored watching him play his airplane game.

 Gotcha!

She's been found sleeping the wrong way like this a lot.. guess she likes to go against the grain :) Love our little Princess!

The Zoo

So we try to come up with things to do in the frigid MN winter. Before it got too cold.. we went up to a zoo in the Twin Cities. It is actually free!! and really cool. I imagine it's totally amazing in the summer when all the animals are out and it's not 30 degrees outside! 

 Don't you love the people? (and monkeys) :)

 Tigers!

 ROAAAAAAAAAR!

 These seals were going crazy and barking at someone's guide dog. It was really interesting to see them be so territorial.

 The zoo is connected to the MN conservatory, which is BEAUTIFUL! We didn't see a lot of it but sure enjoyed the greenery.

Halloween

Our family costume theme this year was Peter Pan. I had to in-doctrine Sarah with who Tinkerbell was so she was excited to dress up like her. I made their costumes and had a lot of fun doing it! Here's us at our ward Halloween party. Waaaaaaaaaaaay to much candy was consumed that night. It was eaten almost as fast as it was put into their buckets.

Amish Country

Kurtis and I had a wonderful opportunity to finally tour around Amish country! There is an Amish community in a town about an hour away from Rochester and a friend in our ward does tours. She has developed a friendship with many Amish families and made it more comfortable to be able to visit them. We learned so much about these sweet, humble people and admire their simple way of life. And they make the BEST doughnuts ever. Really, better than Krispy Kream. It was hard to only have a couple.

I didn't take a ton of pictures because it was raining most of the time and I didn't want to offend the families we visited. They do not wish their pictures taken and I felt bad snapping shots all around their properties. But we did get one with a buggy! Can you imagine driving around in this thing in winter??

So, things we learned about the Amish:

• They are a break-off from the Mennanite's who broke from the Lutheran church over the issue of infant baptism. They came to America from Germany and still speak German. English is only spoken (usually) to other Englishman (non-Amish people). So they usually have thick accents. 
• The woman never cut their hair as a sign of respect for the Lord and men grow beards after baptism and never cut them. 
• A lot of the rules in the community depend on the Bishop and traditions set in the community. So each is different. Most Amish decide to be baptized near 20 and this is when they make the commitment to the religion and community. To leave after baptism would result in shunning, or complete ignoring by the community and not being welcomed back. Some families still see their shunned children, because they are still their children, right or wrong. I think that's a wonderful thing to allow that choice. This community also encourages "Rumspringa" or 'Running Around' before baptism to allow teens the choice to spend time in the 'world' to see if they really want to be Amish. Most end up back in their communities. Honestly, the world is a terrible place so I'm not surprised. But again, I admire that the choice is there. It isn't as open in all communities. 
•  Each family has a trade and that's how they make their living. Making furniture, a bakery, sewing, basket-making, and that's pretty much all we saw. I'm sure they do more, like tilling the land and such. 
• They have BIG families, like 10-15 kids. Everyone is expected to help. They have a great work ethic.
• They have no electricity or indoor plumbing. These things, among others, are considered worldly. They do ride in cars and shop at stores if necessary. Some are more strict than others. 
• They don't really look you in the eye or talk a lot. No that they aren't friendly and so nice, but I think it's just their way of staying out of the world and I respect that. 
• Dating is very casual and marriage isn't until around 20 or so. Singles have a lot of 'frolics' where the men work on a house or barn and the girls prepare the meals and other supplies for the day. They get to observe each other in a real setting and see how they act. Good behavior can only last so long after a day of hard work and a loaf of bread can't be burned without someone knowing. I thought that was a pretty neat idea! 
• Their homes are humble and have only what is necessary. Everything has a function. I would like my home to be like that and less cluttered.. it's amazing how much I seem to 'need' every little thing. 
•  Overall, we were struck by how humble they were and how happy they were! It is a sweet lifestyle and probably very fulfilling.    

It's beginning to look a lot like.. Fall!

But it seems to have come and gone already! We had some really beautiful Fall days and even got some rain recently. But the leaves are all gone and it's looking pretty dreary outside already. Cue the snow to make it look pretty. Wait, did I actually say that?

We've embraced Fall in getting pumpkins from the orchard, carving them, making Halloween cookies, playing in leaves, watching General Conference (which was not too bad until Sun PM session.. lots of boredom) and enjoying the weather. Here's some picture highlights.. it's just easier this way :)