Daniel's 1st birthday

On August 3rd 2008 Daniel Benjamin Muir turned one year old. However, to allow schedules to mesh we celebrated on Mary's birthday August 2nd.
Like most little one year olds he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the candle.
He did figure out the cake thing though.
Andrew decided to help him a little with the frosting.

Lillian did her best to help with the crumbs.All in all I think the cake was a success.
The first gift he opened was this little squishy soccor ball.
Next he got into his blanket from Grandma Muir
He received a blue outfit from Ulma and Chad Booth some of Mary and William's friends who came down.
His last present was a front facing car seat. During our long trip in July he became very unhappy about not being able to see where we were going.

Chappel/Taylor Reunion

Another stop on our summer trip brought us to Northern Utah where our family met up with Mary's extended family for another reunion.
Mary's father took some time to catch up with her oldest relative on her Chappel side. It was a little odd to see Mary's grandmother without Grandpa but it was good to visit with her.
Andrew played shadow to his oldest Taylor cousin Michael James Llewellyn, wandering around the park.
Lillian joined the Taylor girl cousins Alexice, Jenna, and Kobi to take a picture with her great grandmother.

We got all the grandkids there together for a ride on a plastic bison, well except Danny.
Later on we took a trip out to Uintah, Utah to visit Great Grandma and Andrew found his way down to the river.
Lillian followed but wasn't as interested.
Before we left we took a final photo with Great Grandma Taylor and Great Aunt Sarah.
The next day we made our way to Holden, Utah for a smaller Taylor brunch. Poppa Taylor, Mary's dad, cooked up steaks for everyone,
Lillian snuck around looking for kitties,
and later we took a walk to a park and all the older kids laughed and swung on the swings.

One long trip...

We took our kids and new minivan on a trip halfway across the country for the Muir family reunion that had been almost two years in the making. Andrew and Lilly are amazing travelers.
Danny didn't like it as much and spent his time either sleeping, eating, or crying.
Will drove most of the way and actually found out that highway patrol officers in Nebraska will pull you over if you speed just like in Nevada.
Not surprising Mary loved the trip and tried to stay smiling through it all.
One of our first stops was at Winters Quarter's in Nebraska one of the places where Mormon Pioneers stopped as they made their way west on their exodus to Salt Lake.
The statue was a dedication to the people who lost their lives there, including children who were buried and left behind. Andrew and Lilly are looking at a baby depicted in a shallow grave which was part of the statue.

One of the things we got to do was dress up a little bit. Lilly fell asleep but Andrew sure did get a kick, or rather a bang, out it.
Andrew also go to try his hand at pulling a handcart replica, which many of the Mormon Pioneers used to transport their possessions across the plains.
He also enjoyed relaxing on a replica of a boat bunk much like that which converts from England and Europe slept in as they traveled to the United States.
In Missouri we met up with some of William's siblings and the kids got to play with cousins.Mount Pisgah is another stopping place along the Mormon Trail. It is in Iowa. William actually has a relative that died and was buried there. All I can say is I'm glad our family doesn't have to stay in a cabin like this.
Our next stop was Nauvoo Illinois. One of the early Latter day Saint cities. Walking through the visitors center was very informative and interesting giving us visuals to go along with all the history we grow up with.
The statue of Joseph Smith Jr. first vision was useful in showing the kids about one of our core beliefs.
A trip to the quarry allowed Andrew to get close up to a life size sun block like the ones on the temple in Nauvoo.The walk to the quarry also allowed us to get some mulberry gleaning in.
It was messy, but yum!

That night we camped and waited for the rest of Will's family to arrive.

One long trip continued...

The morning of our second day in Nauvoo was rainy and wet so we decided to investigate some indoor activities. The first thing we did was watch a demonstration about making barrels. In this picture Andrew is holding a tool used to push the lid into place by sticking it in a knot hole. The hole was plugged with a cork when the barrel was finished.
Next William and Andrew took the opportunity to make rope. First Andrew turned the big wheel to make three pieces of twine and William turned the small wheel and with the help of an instructor twisted the twine into a rope.
When it was all done they had a length of rope between seven and eight feet long.
Lillian explored and found a baby doll dressed in Pioneer fashion.
One of the most memorable parts of our trip was when all of William's family came together to take a four generation photo. William's Muir Grandma, and his parents with all of their descendents were present in the large group photo.
We decided to take the opportunity to have a family photo taken as well. You can see Andrew, Lillian and Daniel's personality shining out in this picture.

Later on our third day in Nauvoo we spent some time playing like Pioneer Children outside.
William helped Lillian get the bear all the way up the ropes
Look at the cute little pioneer baby.
Danny shares blocks with his cousin.
Lillian gets a chance to pretend to ride a sheep.
Andrew pretends to be a teacher in the school playhouse.
He then takes a ride on a wooden horse.
There was a play called, "Just Plain Anna Amanda" that started with a puppet show. Not surprising this was the only play we saw that Andrew stayed sitting down for the duration.
After a long day of running around Danny is tuckered out.
Grampa Muir found a remarkable way to keep Andrew in the campsite when mom and dad took some private time to go on a wagon ride together.
Danny and Lilly sort of took over Great Grandma Muir's lap during dinner time.
One of the last places we went to visit was Carthage jail where Joseph Smith Jr. and his brother Hyrum were killed.
It was a very solemn experience an Andrew kept asking about why people kill other people.
Our family got to see what a pioneer's wagon actually looked like. Can you imagine only being able to take one thousand pounds worth of belongings and that includes food and water in something this size.We all enjoyed a puppet show on the lawn.
Andrew got a little taste of his Scottish roots when he learned the Highland gig.
Danny wanted in on the action and took his own picture as we watched the dancing.
Lilly had fun making a pioneer girl craft.
Our last night in Nauvoo we attended the Nauvoo pageant which explains a little about the Nauvoo settlement and why the Mormons left.
It was inspiring to see the amount of sacrifice the people put into building their temple.The next morning we packed up the van and said good-bye to our resident Charlotte.