Greg & Lindsey Cottrell Family

Well it has been a while since we have contributed to the family news letter, so it may be time to give you all an update on what we have been up to the past few months. The beginning of April the kids had spring break and Greg had good Friday off so we made a 3 day trip down to Kansas City. After afternoon of traveling we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. On Saturday we visited the Hallmark Kaleidoscope Creative Center, Hallmark Card museum, Fritz's Railroad Restaurant (train themed restaurant and the food be delivered by a larger model train to each table), the Animal Tales and Trails exhibit, new Lego Store, all at the Crown Center. Then it was to the American Girl Store to get Samantha's (Sarah’s doll) hair done. We head back to the hotel for a quick swim in the pool before attending the temple open house. . It was very special to attend the temple as family and very special to have our entire family sitting in the brightly lit Celestial Room and reflecting on Heavenly Father’s plan for us, Eternal Families.

The next day was Easter Sunday and on our way home we made a couple stops. The Independence Visitor's Center, a great place to visit and learn a lot of Church history. They full-sized office "set" of the Times and Seasons printing office, a panoramic Missouri frontier "set" which includes trees, a log cabin and a frontier family dressed in period clothes using tools and artifacts common to farmers, millers, blacksmiths, tailors and ferrymen of the time, a place the kids to “play,” a interactive touch screen learning center, and some great films. Then it was on to Far West where the Saints planned to build temple. Our last stop was Adam-ondi-Ahman.
We had wonderful Easter Sunday even though most of the day was traveling. We did Easter baskets and died the eggs the day after.

The beginning of May Sarah had her first ever Dance Recital and did a wonderful job. It was special to have Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell, and Julie and Kaitlyn there to support her. She loves dancing. We even made had a little trophy made for her.

Another thrilling event was Lindsey was able to go see Mitt Romney speak in Omaha. She even had was able to get the closest seat and was able to shake his hand twice. She even made the news. : )


Adam enjoyed his end of the year field trip to the zoo and Sarah went the Children’s Museum in Lincoln.

They also enjoyed ending the school year with a Hawaiian Dress up day, field day, and school picnic. It is hard to believe that Adam with be 3rd grade(the upper grades) and Sarah will be first Grade. Thank goodness Isaac has another year of preschool left. Our kids are growing up too fast. They each had a successful year and did very well.
We’ve also enjoyed wonderful Saturday at Wildlife Safari and Monhey State Park as a family. We saw elk, deer, bison, turkeys, ducks, geese, bald eagles, and feed the goats. It was also fun to hike a little.





We also conquered the 70-foot observation tower. It is a beautiful view at the top overlooking the Platte River Valley.

The next weekend we headed to Johnston to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We always love to visit there and this time the kids all enjoyed the new sand and water table.
June has been a busy month. We helped watch Kaitlyn and Keira for few hours one day. Been visiting the zoo, playing at the parks, running through sprinklers, slip and slide, Elkhorn Days, library, swimming, lessons, Father’s Day and a recent trip to Nauvoo. 

On our way to Nauvoo we stopped in Johnston over night. In Nauvoo we enjoyed the Black Smith shop, Nauvoo movie at the visitors' center, pizza in the park, Sunset on the Mississippi show, Living Legends performed by BYU performing arts, a wagon ride, the brick yard, just Plain Anna Amanda Show, Family Living center (rope making, candle making, pottery, and bread making demonstrations), Pioneer Pastimes, The Printing press, Carthage Jail, Dairy Queen (for dinner), Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo show, Joseph movie, Women’s Garden and the Temple. There is so much to do in Nauvoo, we wish would have had more time there. We love the spirit there and the history.