We went to Park City for Conference weekend and stayed at a fun Condo. We got the condo because Jason's boss wanted to thank our family for helping Justin and Jason out at work. I love our family. So glad to have them and that we have each other's back whenever anyone is in need.
Our first family photo as a family of six!
Cousins are the BEST!
At the Olympic Winter Park Training Center
The hecklers/cheerleaders for the Olympic trainees
Park City Resort in the fall. So pretty!!
Lots of chairlift rides to admire the sights
Fun at the Condo
Cousin love
Ready to ride the Alpine Slide (Presley had to pee so bad so I think she went down the fastest! ha ha!)
I have so many things I want to blog about. The kids are doing and saying things that are hilarious or just fun to see and I am getting that anxious feeling. These things need to be recorded or they are lost forever!! A giant cell phone photo unload and post would really give me some peace of mind right now! Alas, that will have to wait for another day. More urgently, I wanted to share some photos of Josh's parents' visit last weekend.
Our family is experiencing some interesting changes and prepping for more to come. The main thing is that Josh got a new calling (or job) at church. Josh's parents came out to Boston to be there for Josh becoming a High Priest and now serving in our Bishopric. It was such an amazing experience to have them here and to see Josh get ordained. --Sorry for all the Mormon jargon to those not of our faith. It was also nice to have people express their appreciation for our family to Josh's parents.
The kids just basked in the presence of the grandparents. Al and TK just came back from a Middle Eastern cruise. They had great stories and brought the kids souvenirs from Turkey.
^Here is Presley wearing her Tukish princess hat. Noah got a freaky knife that looks really tough. It was fun bringing that one to school for show and tell. I brought it straight to the principal for permission and he did a gasp/laugh when he first saw it.
So happy. The kids made leaf collages, cleaned there room and wrote welcome signs in the house for grandpa and grandma.
Since Al and TK were here for such a short time, we pulled the kids out of school on Monday and had them come with us to John Adams' house. I babysat that day too so we took the little guy with us.:)
Josh's dad is reading the book, John Adams, so this was especially fun for him. I loved the stories about him. There is something cool about walking on hallowed ground where powerful historic events took place. John Adams went from wanting to be a farmer, to going to Harvard, to becoming a teacher, then a lawyer, then an ambassador, then our second US President. (If you can't tell, I'm no historian, but I am learning and wishing I paid more attention in high school!-boys were way more important!!
Here is John and abigail's home after they returned from living in France where everything was nicer and more extravagant.
The interior layout was really cool. They had little bells in each room that led to the kitchen so the maids would know which family member needed something.
Josh''s dad left to go back to work and TK stayed an extra day. She helped watch the kids while I did photo sessions. Pres came down with a fever and stayed home from school so it was such a blessing to have an extra set of hands. I did a photo session in Beacon Hill and TK and Pres had a little lunch at a cute cafe. I'm so glad PK got the chance to have quality time with grandma TK. Thanks again guys for coming. We had a blast!
Charlie and I met up with our weekly play group to go apple picking recently. This is one of the many New England traditions that I have really grown fond of. This year, Charlie and I had so much fun. We have gotten into our own little system together that is working for us. We are total buds.
Being at the orchard, though really made me miss this little Miss.
...and this little dude.
I realized that while I've been in Boston, I've watched my kids grow up. These are the best memories of my life. I am (need to be) determined to live it to the fullest. Ten years from now I am going to laugh at the memory of my 32 year old self. Why did I sweat the small stuff like dishes, the ant trail that's formed under the dining room table, the endless loads of laundry that can't seem to stay folded... Sometimes you just need to ignore it and watch the end of Star Wars: A New Hope with a little buddy. These days won't last forever. Sniff.
When Charlie says "cheese" it looks like he's snarling at the camera!
I have to admit, we associate with some cute people too.
High on our priority list when we came back to Utah was to spend time with Josh's sister Annalee and her cuties, Madison and JJ. We wound up braving the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point on a discount day. The place was packed!! It was so much fun, though.
Time with family has to be my all time favorite thing.
It had been way too long since Denise and I had gotten together with Linda and Heather as a group. They were our first off campus roommates. We had known Heather since our moms were pregnant with us. It was such a plus that when we got to BYU, she had such an amazing cousin, Linda that who meshed with the three of us so well. Heather lives just blocks away from the Santa Monica Pier, so once again, we headed to the beach!
Heather's house is a vacation! It was dreamy.
It was so awesome to get our kids together. I had been dying to meet her little Ella. What a DOLL! She was such a seasoned beach goer. :) Gotta love those Shirley Temple curls.
This guy was an absolute terror when we got to the beach. Everything made him cry. He was really mad at the sand, and the boogie board, and the towel, and momma...
...Then this happened:
and it was all good. I guess traveling and staying up late all the time takes it's toll. Poor little guy. He slept for three hours on the beach! (Don't worry, I built a little tent for him right after this picture).
It was so fun to build these beach memories with the kids. They got to see a slice of our childhood
and they loved it! Jack fell asleep in my arms for half the time. What an angel!! I miss all of these guys to pieces. So fun to see everyone's personalities and interestes.
I couldn't believe how interested in reptiles and sea creatures Joel was. He had so much focus with his sand crab searches.
Denise's daughter Anora was so confident in water. She was an excellent swimmer and took to the ocean like a fish! The waves were thrilling to her. She body surfed and boogie boarded like a natural. So cute! Here is a video of here and Denise. I wanted to catch Denise riding a wave, but Anora caught one first, then we got moved by the life gaurd because of surfers.
Watch Anora on the right.
These guys were so cute together:
So hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful place.
That night, we had dinner and Heather's incredibly generous husband offered to watch all of our kids for us while we went out on the town and got dessert. How sweet is that? He had one baby under two, one three year old, his own two year old, a four year old, a pair of six year olds and an eight year old. YIKES! Love ya Chris!!
We shopped around and talked and talked.
we also indulged! Mmmm.
Cute Linda. I really need to do a family portrait session at night in the city. Any takers?? I love those city lights and store windows!
In 1999 the four of us as roommates made a time capsule! How funny is that? We had this vintage suitcase that we filled with magazines, photos, momentos, letters, notes to each other, etc. It was the most hilarious thing going through all that stuff. Heather was laughing uncontrollably! Chris got a million pictures. --Send some my way, will ya?? We were so sweet together as roommates though. We'd write little notes to cheer each other up. We'd help each other out as much as we could. We were there for each other. I think a lot of people must go through this period of adjustment when they get married and suddenly they aren't surrounded by their girlfriends.
The other event of hilariousness was when Noah, Joel, and Anora were sound asleep on an air mattress near where we were up talking. Anora made a little coughing sound in her sleep then rolled over. We went to check on her to find a huge amount of throw up all over Joel's left side! Anora puked on her brother in her sleep and never woke up! since none of the kids were awake and crying, we gave it the green light to pretty much DIE LAUGHING at that one! WE were the ones in tears as we all pitched in to carefully clean up the mess. Not waking a single little soul. It was unforgettable! Chris got plenty of photos of that one too. Ah hem. I'll be waiting for that email mister!
