The RS Express

Today was the Elder's Quorum Annual Pinewood Derby and it was a lot of fun. Since Dave has been very busy with school we decided to not take the time to carve our car but to instead race a block and try to come up with a creative way to decorate our block. I have to admit we did not come up with our decorating idea on our own (my sister saw this done in her ward so we decided to copy) but we think it turned out pretty nice. We decided to have it look like a Relief Society table. It has a nice lacy tablecloth, a picture for a centerpiece, some pretty flower arrangements, and of course a Bible and a Book of Mormon. We weren't expecting to win many races but we did come away with the most spiritual design (actually we tied with the pioneer covered wagon car). And we actually even won a few of our racing heats so it was fun.

The pre-show line up and some of our competition!

Our cute cheerleader!

A close up of our finished car!

That is about all we have been up to. Unfortunately I have been sick for the last week and I am more than ready to be over this thing already! But being sick doesn't lead to many exciting things happening that are blog worthy so sorry.

We are excited for Thanksgiving next week. Dave has the week off school but he will still be up in his office everyday studying so Lauren and I will have to find some fun things to do. We won't be going home for the holiday but we will be spending our Thanksgiving with great friends who like us won't be going home. Of course I am excited for the day after Thanksgiving shopping but this year I don't think we will have a lot to buy but I will be checking the ads to see if there are any great deals! Even though the stores are crowded I still love shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving and luckily I have a husband who likes to go with me so it will be fun. I have enjoyed reading about some of your favorite Thanksgiving Traditions and I think we will need to start some new, fun traditions of our own this year! So whether you are with family or friends, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Texas Roadhouse came to Coralville!

I have been looking forward to today for weeks! I am a big Texas Roadhouse fan so I was so excited when they started builing one right near my home and today was opening day! We got there about an hour after they opened and got right in and it was GREAT! I just love their rolls and their fall off the bone ribs. Lauren loves their peanuts and Dave isn't picky - he just likes it! So if you live nearby and haven't tried it before - go and give it a try.

Now if we could just get a Jamba Juice in Coralville/Iowa City, I would be set!

Week in Review . . .

We have had pretty fun and busy week (get ready for picture overload)! My parent's were here with us for a full week and that was a lot of fun to get to spend so much time with them and to hear all about their mission in Zimbabwe. We were glad they were here to play with us over Halloween and for my birthday. Here is a pict. of us picking them up at the airport!



We also took a trip down to Nauvoo with my parents. They had visited Nauvoo years ago before the Temple was rebuilt so it was fun to do a session with them and to see the beautiful temple. We didn't have a lot of time to check out the town but we went by Joseph Smith's burial grounds and toured the Browning Gun Shop and stopped by the Visitor's Center and walked around a little bit.



On my birthday we went over to Moline, IL and we visited the John Deere Museum and Pavillion. It was fun to check it out and Lauren had a great time climbing up in all the tractors with her Grandpa and pretending she was driving!




Halloween was a lot of fun. We had a great time at our ward trunk-or-treat and Lauren even won a best costume award! She had so much fun posing as Wonder Woman all day. Someone handed out carrots to the kids and it was the first thing Lauren ate after she was done trunk-or-treating! Funny girl!









The weather the other day was gorgeous so we went and had one last day of playing at the park! Lauren had fun going down the slide and riding on the rocket with her Grandma!




We also had a great time this week playing in the leaves at a friend's house. We had the best time just jumping around and playing with friends!