Spring Trip to Utah

Here are a few pictures from our pit stop trip to Utah in between moves from Arizona to Maine. We were able to spend almost 3 weeks there and it was so nice to soak up some time with family before moving so far away. 

Maddie, Nathan, Davis, and cousin Harper at the Christus statue at Temple Square. Isaac was old enough to see "Music and the Spoken Word" in the actual conference center that morning so he wasn't with us. 

Grandpa Mike knows how to create a memorable afternoon. On two separate occasions he drove the grand kids to 7-11 in his tractor. It's something I'm sure they will never forget.

A unique view of the Salt Lake temple while visiting Grandpa Lynn at work. 

We had the best weather while in Utah and spent many many hours in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

Nater and his look alike taking in a view of the city on the top floor of the COB.

We spent a day at the Museum of Natural Curiosity with a bunch of cousins. The kids had a ball. 

A Pi party with the family on March 14th was a must. 

When aunt Sara babysits you, she gives you Fanta and doughnuts--all you can eat. We love Parker!

Did you know that Kneaders bakery marks down their sweets to half price every Saturday at 8pm? We stocked up two separate times on that screamin' deal. My dad is the most fun to go with because he buys just about one of everything. 

Sister Selfies. I'm pretty lucky to have them in my life. 

And just like that, our Utah time was up and we were off to the east coast.

Grandpa Bond

My Grandpa at his 90th birthday party a couple of years ago. 

My maternal grandfather passed away this past Saturday. While there is always some sadness that accompanies death, his passing mostly brings me feelings of happiness and peace. I know that is a product of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The sting of death really is swallowed up in His atonement because I know I will see my grandpa again one day, and I know that he is now reunited with my grandma. Thinking of them together makes me really happy.

This weekend we will get to celebrate his life, and I will see cousins that I haven't spent time with in years. From what I understand, almost all of them will be there. What a great way to honor a great man. My grandpa was kind, charitable, soft spoken, and hard working. And he was a great teacher. Anyone who knows my mom can vouch for fact that he must have taught his children well and been a pretty great father, because she is one of the best people I know. He also had a great sense of humor. I remember the code to a lock that he had on his suitcase when I was a kid was 007. 

I am proud to be counted among his posterity.

On the Road

 At the end of June we packed up our family and drove 2,250 miles from our home in Connecticut to Utah. Just an FYI, driving cross-country is totally overrated. It was as crazy as it sounds and something that I never want to have to do again! We have since traveled back and forth from Utah to Arizona 3 times this summer (twice with kids, once with just Ryan and Mary-Ann and I to meet the movers and set up our new home here). We should dub this last month "The Summer of Driving." Here are just a few photos of our adventures.

Maddie and Davis, somewhere in middle America.

Isaac and his orange chicken.

Chrissy and I have been friends since Isaac and Alec were just months old. I'm so glad we were able to stop on our drive and spend some time with them one morning. We each have four kids now so a lot has changed. 

Nathan and Ryan at one of our many outdoor lunch stops. 

This picture more than any other sums up our trip. The older kids were champion travelers. Nathan, on the other hand, just couldn't understand why we were continually torturing him. He screamed just like this about 70% of the time, stopping occasionally when he got distracted or fell asleep (usually for 15 min. power naps, where he gained just enough strength and energy to start screaming again).

Once we detox from all our time on the road and give the kids a break for awhile, Ryan and I have decided that we need to make a trip to southern California with the kids before the year's end so that we will have traveled from coast to coast in 2014.

April in Connecticut

I love these mugs!

• It has been an eventful month in our neck of the woods, with the most exciting news being that Ryan signed a contract with a multi-specialty group in the Phoenix area, so it looks like we are moving to the desert! In July! Hello sunscreen! I think it might take me awhile to get used to the heat, but come January I am going to be loving sunny AZ! We are really looking forward to this next chapter of our lives. 
• Isaac got glasses and the excitement of his new look hasn't worn off quite yet. Hopefully it never does. 
• Nater is scooting all over the place and eating everything in sight and waving bye-bye and generally charming all of us. He even started saying his first word this past week---"mas" (more) No one is the least bit surprised at his choice of first words. It suits him perfectly. He squawks, "mas! mas! mas!" over and over as he eats. I'm not going to lie, it's hard for me to deny his constant requests. 
• The very first blooms of the season are starting to pop up around here and I love it. It means afternoons at the park, dinner outside, and beautiful Connecticut rainstorms. I hope Spring lasts a really long time this year. It's kind of embarrassing to admit just how much my mood improves with the rising temperatures and melting snow. 
• Devin and Krystal (Ryan's brother and sister-in-law) are coming to visit this weekend and everyone is excited as we anticipate their arrival. I realized that they might be our last family visitors to the east coast before we head west in a couple of months. How can that be? Where did the last 3 years go? It is definitely bittersweet to think of our last spring here in CT. I hope we make the most of it. 

He really wanted round Harry Potter glasses but these ones fit his face better. I think the red frames suit him well. 

The Week Before Christmas...

Davis had a Christmas Story moment while one Santa's lap this morning and could not think of a single thing he wanted for Christmas. He finally sputtered out "I wanna a candy cane!"

I recently started the little guy on solids. He is slowly getting used to them and is actually the first of our four children to eat pureed green beans with a smile on his face. 

I wasn't lying when I said he had shoulder rolls. This picture is proof. 

Our school district cancels school when there is even a flurry of snow in the forecast. Seriously. It looks like the kids will be going to school until the 4th of July again this year. We did have fun making graham cracker houses on the kids' day off last week. FYI, burnt sugar is a fantastic way to stick the houses together. Check out a how-to here. 

I know this picture is super poor quality, but I had to post it for memory's sake. Last Sunday we got home from church and the kids immediately headed outside in the backyard to play in the snow. We noticed that Maddie was trying unsuccessfully to pull Davis around in our little kiddie toboggan, so Ryan went outside (suit and all) to take over and gave each of the kids a spin around the yard. I couldn't stop laughing as I watched Maddie with her hands in the air like she was on a roller coaster at Disneyland, squealing with delight while being pulled around by her dad. It was adorable.  I, as you can see, enjoyed the scene from the warmth of our kitchen. 

Twelve

Allie and I at my favorite seafood shack, Stowe's. We stopped there yesterday before taking her back to the airport. Their lobster rolls are the best!


We had the best time with Allie here. I am so thankful for her and all of my sisters. Saying goodbye was rough but I feel blessed to have sisters worth missing. 

Eight

Davis and I have been fighting for Allie's attention all day. 

We love having Allie here. Nathan gets held whenever he wants, Davis found someone new to read him all his Llama Llama books, and Isaac and Maddie are making video after video on her cool iphone. She even brought me my first pair of skinny jeans and convinced me to wear them for the day. I'm only five years late to that fashion trend. I must be getting old. No, I am old. I just realized the other day that I graduated from high school the same year that popular singer/songwriter Lorde was born. Good thing Allie is here to get rid of my mom jeans and make me look young(er) again. This is going to be the best weekend ever with her around.

This and That

Nathan Michael with his namesake.

• My parents headed back to Utah yesterday. No matter how many times I say goodbye to them, it never seems to get easier. I still get all choked up and teary-eyed. We had so much fun with them here. {Sigh}. I wish we lived closer. 
• Ryan and I had a conversation this weekend about being the parents of young children and how, often times, we make our lives more difficult by putting ourselves and our family and our children in situations that are recipes for disaster. Why do we do this? Case in point: taking all the kids out to eat at a sit-down restaurant when ordering take-out would be more pleasant for everyone in the family and everyone in the restaurant. Of course, if we never take them anywhere, then they'll never learn how to act in certain public situations, right? 

I was able to chaperone a field trip with Maddie's class to the apple orchard last week. 

• Have you heard of the "Who was..." series of early readers? They are fantastic biographies of all sorts of people from Amelia Earhart to Neil Armstrong to Michelle Obama. Written for young readers, they are simple biographical chapter books. Maddie received Amelia Earhart and Helen Keller for Christmas this past year. When she found them in her stocking she was less than thrilled, but recently decided to read them and she has loved them. It turns out our library has a collection of them, so Who was Anne Frank? and Who was George Washington? are on hold right now. I highly recommend introducing them to your budding reader. 
• The leaves are just starting to change here in New England. It's my favorite time of year here! Bring on the pumpkin desserts, caramel apples, and walks through the leaves. I can't wait.
• With Davis in preschool for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, me and Nate are on our own. Today was our first morning alone. I must admit that it felt glorious to clean the house all by myself while Nater slept. And it stayed clean for a whole hour instead of just a couple of minutes. Of course, it's already dirty again, but such is life. 
• Ryan is busy busy busy right now. Thinking about it makes me really excited that this phase of our life is (hopefully) drawing to a close.  
• A young kid from our church died in a horrible car accident this past weekend. I didn't know him too well (I taught him in Sunday school for a few months), but my thoughts have been consumed with grief for his family. Everything can change in an instant and no one is guaranteed a life free from sorrows and trouble. I hope it has made me cherish my family a little bit more. 

While I haven't met Ike's teacher yet, I am confident that she's super awesome since she had the kids celebrate "Talk like a Pirate" day last week, complete with their own eye patch and parrot.

Retro Fun Day

For as long as I can remember, my dad  has been a delivery truck driver. This has meant that he works every Saturday but has Wednesdays off during the week. As a little kid, Wednesdays were always known as "fun days" because my dad was home. He would take us to school that morning (which usually meant stopping at the convenience store on the way and stocking up on candy), he always cooked dinner that night, and, if we were really lucky, he would check us out of school early so we could hang out together. 

This past Wednesday I got my chance at a retro fun day. It was awesome. I can't remember ever spending the entire day with just my dad. It's not likely to ever happen again, so I tried to live it up as much as possible. 

My angel mother took all four kids for the day while my dad and I woke up before the sun and headed to the big city. 

We started off at the Top of the Rock. I'm always amazed by this aerial view of the city. After Rockefeller Center we walked down to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Such a beautiful building and one of my favorite places to visit in NYC. After the cathedral, we hit up the Museum of Modern Art. I have always wanted to see Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night in person. It did not disappoint

After looking at a bunch of modern art at the MOMA,  we  headed toward Central Park to eat at Sarabeth's, since, you know, my name is Sara Beth and all. They serve breakfast until late in the afternoon there so we both took advantage of that. It was delicious. 

After eating breakfast for lunch, we rented bikes and explored Central Park. 

My dad really wanted to see the tribute to John Lennon while we were in Central Park and luckily we stumbled upon it.  As we were walking our bikes back to the rental store we spotted none other than comedian Jim Gaffigan walking with his daughter to their hotel. Now I can say I've seen someone famous in NYC.

After our bike ride we were pretty worn out, so we took a quick subway to Times Square and then visited Grand Central Station. It was such a memorable day. I'm so glad I got to spend it with my dad.

Family Pictures in Cape Cod

While we were in Cape Cod for Ryan's family reunion, my sister-in-law took a few pictures of our family on the beach.

This one is my favorite.

Sometimes I still can't believe I have four kids---four freakin' kids!

Thanks, Becky! We love them!

Weekend in New York City

Shannon, Natalee, and I at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in Manhattan. 

After our family vacation in Cape Cod, many of Ryan's relatives stayed in New England to see more of the sites. After almost a week in Boston, the three remaining die-hard travelers (Shannon, Natalee, and Mary-Ann) headed to New York for a few days before flying home to Utah. I took the train in early Saturday morning and met them for a couple of days in the City that never sleeps.

I have very few pictures of our weekend, but we had such a great time. We started our day by spending a few hours at the Intrepid Museum where the highlight for me was seeing the Enterprise space shuttle.

I got to cross something off my bucket list: seeing a Broadway show on Broadway. We saw Cinderella and it was magical. Her costume changes were amazing--she would literally spin around and her dress of rags would turn in to a rich ball gown in front of our eyes! I'm still baffled by how it was done.

After the museum and the play, we headed to get something to eat. A Mediterranean restaurant near Columbus Circle was recommended to us and it was delicious. I loved their falafel salad. With our faces sufficiently stuffed, we walked over to the park and then FAO Schwartz. Traveling with Shannon is pretty awesome. It's all about the photo ops with her, so when I said, "Hey, do you want to see the piano that Tom Hanks played on in Big?" she was all over it. With Mary-Ann as our photographer, me, Shannon, Natalee, and a bunch of little kids stood in line and danced around on the piano for a few minutes. Classic New York moment.

After walking more than 8 miles that day, we headed back to the hotel, stopping at Magnolia Bakery on the way so we could get some of their famous banana pudding. It never disappoints.

I was totally exhausted that night that I could barely keep my eyes open while we played the longest card game known to man.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Rockefellar Center where we took an elevator  up to the 68th floor to get a 360 degree view of the City. It was pretty amazing.

From Rockefellar Center we walked to a Mexican restaurant and got some delicious tacos. I love the food in NYC. The price of the food, not so much. But the taste of the food, yum, yum, yum.

By that time, we decided we needed to head back to the hotel so the Utah ladies could catch their flight and I could catch a train home. Shannon walked me halfway to Grand Central Station and then we said our goodbyes at 42nd street. As I watched her walk back to the hotel before heading to the airport, I must admit I got all choked up. It was so fun to spend a little time together and while I felt really sad to say goodbye, I felt even more fortunate to have family worth missing.

Can't wait til we can do it again, maybe with ALL the sisters next time!

Cape Cod Family Reunion 2013

Ever since we moved to New England, Ryan's parents have been planning a family reunion out here. The time finally came and all of his siblings, their children, and both of his parents flew to our neck of the woods and we met up in a beach house in Cape Cod for a seven day vacation. It was just as posh and fantastic as it sounds (thanks Lynn and Mary-Ann!) and so fun to spend the week together in such a fun place. In no particular order, here are a few pictures from our week:

Davis searching for sea shells and playing in the sand. He preferred this to playing in the water. 

Matchy Matchy brothers. At this moment Devin was asking his daughter who looked more handsome in their Cape Cod T.

Hiking near a fresh water swimming hole.

Maddie had a great time with all of her cousins. Sadly, I didn't take nearly enough pictures and this is one of the only ones I got, and sweet Katie is missing from the shot (luckily her mom is a professional photographer and no doubt got many priceless photos). Sisters Quincy and Addie are pictured with her--the four girls played together all week long. 

The men in the family spent a day in Boston with the Red Sox, so they returned the favor and gave us women a day without kids as well. We explored The Cape and found the most beautiful beach in Harwich.

Maddie and Addie searching for shells and sea creatures.

We spent a day in Provincetown, which is the northern most city on The Cape. There is tons of shopping there and the ocean was clear and beautiful.

This Doggy Life jacket cracked me up in the window of one of the shops in P-town.

Isaac lost his first tooth during the reunion and this is his self portrait. According to him, Davis woke up in the middle of the night, made his way to Ike's bed, and (while half asleep) punched Ike in the mouth because he mistakenly thought Isaac had jumped into his bed.  Ahh, brotherly love. Isaac found his loose tooth on his pillow the next morning. 

Davis loved the wagon ride with his cousin, Quincy. They are weeks apart and looked like little blonde twins running around together all week. One of the highlights of the trip for me was watching these two interact. Listening to them argue over who runs fastest was priceless. 

Nathan loved all the attention he got throughout the week. He slept like a champ which made my vacation feel like a vacation! Gracias mi bebe!

On the beach with my hubby. We were able to walk there one afternoon without kids thanks to Mary-Ann. 

We talked about our favorite parts of the trip last night:
Isaac: Playing baseball with Carson.
Maddie: Shopping in Provincetown.
Davis: Playing with Isaac and Carson.
Ryan: Searching for sea shells on the beach with the kids.
Me: Renting bikes with the kids and riding on the Cape Cod bike trail.

Some other things I want to remember are:

• Playing Celebrity with the adults--My father-in-law does a fantastic Chris Christie impersonation.
• Seeing all of the cousins play together. It makes my heart happy. 
• Seafood, seafood, seafood!
• How glorious it was to have Ryan around for an entire week!
• Spending time with Ryan's family all together. It hasn't happened for years and likely won't happen again for a few more since we will soon be living on separate coasts (his brother just accepted a job in San Jose, CA). Here's to a family reunion in California next time!