Josh Introduces Ameo to Zija!

We went to Zija Summit 2014 this year to see years of Josh's research put to use in a new system for determining quality in essential oils. It is emotional for me to see this video because I am so proud of the work Josh has done and I know first hand all the effort and sacrifice that went into it. ;)

http://ameo.com/media-center/studio-z/am%C3%A9o-cell-active-permeable-essential-oils

If any of my friends or family is interested in purchasing or selling Ameo oils, let me know. This is such a huge opportunity as this breakthrough technology is going to sweep the industry! Growth is already multiplied what was expected.

Way to go Josh!! <3 comment-3--="" nbsp="">

Happy Father's Day to the AWESOME Dads in my life!!

Lately

So much has happened in the last few weeks!! For the month of April, Charlie and Noah participated in Provo City Soccer. This was Charlie's first time being on a team. 

He totally loved it too. He had an awesome coach who was so good with the kids. Noah had a great time as well.

He had a bunch of talented hard working players on his team that made it really exciting for him. His coach was a little rough around the edges, but we were able to work with it! 

Josh celebrated his 33rd birthday in April.

It doesn't look it, but I promise he was really happy! It was fun to be together with so much family.

It felt like a special one to be because I couldn't help but reflect on the year we had and the ups and downs. I also thought about all the exciting things that this year will bring. I am so super proud of Josh. He has been working at Zija for about 9 months now and is totally thriving. I am so happy he is in an environment where he is appreciated and where he has good friends. Josh is also excelling a great deal in the company. He just got a big raise yesterday and was offered shares in the company a few months ago. His position is called Director of Research Sciences. He is referred to as Dr. Plant and has a following of distributors that shower him with questions and praise! He is currently on a flight to Japan for a week long trip to meet some of their top distributors and to speak at their convention. In April I actually got the chance to fly with Josh to the San Fransisco area for one of his work trips. 

He introduces himself to big groups and speaks a lot about his family and how much we supported him through all the years of schooling. It is really touching and sweet. Also so good to hear ;)

We had the chance to go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point as well. I took some family photos for my friend Darby and her family who was visiting from New Hampshire. Charlie, Denise, and Jack got to tag along. 

 Love this cute little guy!

As we are wrapping up the school year, the kids are helping each other get through it. Noah is awesome at helping Presley with her homework.

Melts my heart!

Of Course we had another birthday! We celebrated Makayla's 10th at her house in the form of a fun family dinner. It is so so nice to live close to everyone!

I'll have to start chatting about May in the next post! So much to tell about our glorious family vacation. WE. HAD. A. BLAST!!!!

Date on the Charles

Tonight we went on a fabulous, spontaneous date thanks to my friend Brittany. The Bishop (or pastor) of our church in Cambridge is an expert in the history and architecture of the area. Every year he guides a boat cruise on the Charles River. Josh and I wanted to go, but didn't have the energy to find a sitter to watch all three kids. We totally forgot about the whole thing. Then My sweet friend Brittany called saying her and her husband couldn't go and they would love to give us their tickets + watch our kids for us while we went. She called it a late b-day present. Holy cow! It was a wish come true! After a week of drenching rain, today was gorgeous and Josh and I had been postponing date after date lately. This was PERFECT.

Isn't Boston cool?

Don't we look happy? Unexpected dates are the BEST.

 This sunset was the reward after putting up with all the rain. I actually liked the rain (as long as I wasn't shuffling kids in and out of the car in it). It is getting me excited for fall. We are already planning a fun Halloween with a visit from Josh's cousin, Porter. Yay for visitors!!

We watched one of the many specials about 9/11 last night. I can't believe it's been 10 years. I was in Mexico doing my student teaching when it happened. It was four months before I met Josh.

Right after the special, the news came on and said NYC is on high alert on bridges and tunnels. They said Boston will be too, just to be safe. It kind of creeped me out. Then we wind up on the river, cruising right underneath most of Boston's bridges!! I was on high alert for any suspicious activity. All was clear:) You can rest easy guys.

Sweet Sundays

This is what's melting my heart at the moment.

In less than a week the kids and I will be heading west for a few weeks minus Josh. We are so gonna miss him!

Dad's Day, Classroom b-days, and a Charlie modeling gig

One of the best parts of Father's Day was our big crepe breakfast. Josh ate crepes while serving his mission in Norway so I thought I'd make some for him. We had just gone berry picking so I made lots of homemade jam (seriously one of my favorite foods!). We also had butter, homemade whipped cream, powdered sugar, nutella and Norwegian Goat cheese. Everyone in thae family eats theirs differently. 

 Josh has the goat cheese and jam

 On Monday we celebrated Noah and Presley's birthdays in their classrooms. Summer birthday kids get to pick which day they want to celebrate. I brought ice cream sandwiches to Presley's class and chocolate peppermint cupcakes to Noah's. It's been a busy week!

I have to learn to quit filming sideways!

Charlie and I took a stroll to the library. I heard from friends that there is a giant photo of Charlie in the parking garage and so I wanted to check it out. Sure enough, there is little (big!) Charlie at 9 months old. Charlie liked it. He was laughing at how his teethe looked ! 

Today is the first day out of school. We have big plans for the summer. First up is Charlie's b-day on the 5th. Still trying to figure out how the heck to celebrate. 

Graduation Day

WE DID IT!!

I need to take you on a little walk down memory lane to appreciate this...

Back in 2007 when we came to Boston to look for housing, this is what I blogged:

then this:

We only had two teeny kids at the time!

 Experiencing Josh's graduation was amazing! We had a super full day. Breakfast in the early morning, then Josh marched with the other phd grads down Oxford St. so cars could honk and congratulate. Then we fought the crowds and walked for miles (yards) around the gate of Harvard Yard, looking for our entrance. We opted not to fight the early crowd for seats to the first event so this was our set up:

 GO PhDs!!!

 We listened to a fabulous student speech (we didn't get Amy Poehler- boo! that was undergrads the previous day) 

Later in the evening was the ceremony at the med school It was much smaller and really special.

My very favorite part was the middle ceremony where the kids walk on stage and got diplomas with Josh. I'll have to post about that later when I get the photos from everyone else. 

We've had quite a journey! Glad it has come to an end, but very grateful for it all. So proud of Josh and US.