When the temple was first announced I made it a goal that when it was finally built to be open to the public that I would bring at least one soul to come and feel what I feel when I enter inside. And to get an idea of what temples are all about. And I did. Words cannot express how great it feels to share the love I have for the Lord, the temples, and His gospel. It is something that I have learned to do in a subtle, kind, tactful, and fearless way. I love the euphoric feeling I get after I've shared my conversion story, and testimony of the Savior, and the Book of Mormon. I have such a passion for sharing, and I'm so grateful that my lovely friend Cherie accepted my invitation in coming with me. She loved every part of the tour, the fact that families can be together forever. She loves the whole purpose of what temples are all about, and even though she had a few questions that were a tad bit hard for me to answer it's nice to know that I can turn to the scriptures to give her a more accurate one!
A week before I brought Cherie I drove and picked up my dear friend, and her girls, and we all toured the temple together. It's so nice to also bring someone who has been a member less that six years, and no matter what trials they may face they know that the church is true, and that they had the desire to attend the open house in hopes to become a better person. This is my hope for me too! This is exactly why I love going to the temple! So that we can spiritually grow, and do better.
I have learned that no matter what religion others may be, and what struggles someone may be going through which causes us not to attend church more often that love, communication, and reaching out in being a friend, having a genuine love, and understanding in what they're going through will help uplift them, and give them the extra strength they need to help keep them going. We all need friends like that in our lives who will help build us up in wanting to do more for ourselves so that we can be able to serve others.
I love that Chelsea has such a strong love for the temple at such a young age, and she's not even 12 yet! Once she turns 12 she has already decided which temple she'd like to go to with her little recommend to do work in, and that is the Hartford Temple! How fortunate we are to be having another temple built in the east coast!
Love, love that we have so many temples close to us, and when I read the numbers of how many people attended the open house for the Philly temple blew me away! Over 140,000! What a wonderful blessing for our area to see much fruit! It is my hope that we can all make the time to attend this temple now that some of us live less than an hour away! The Philadelphia temple is now closed to the public, but if you are willing to drive a few hours to attend the open house for the temple in Connecticut it begins on September 22nd through October 30th. I implore you to please make the time to go! We've already had a glimpse of it from the corner grounds, and look forward to touring inside it!
I love this time of year when the weather starts cooling down where I can sit and watch my girl play tennis. When I went to Lexie's first official tennis match last week I noticed her rocking her school colors. They just got their tennis uniforms and I think red and black suits her. If you notice her tennis shoes they are the same as her school colors. I bought them back in April and little did we know we'd be moving to a school with those same exact colors! When I noticed that I said to Lexie, "this school is meant to be!" I missed the first part of her game due to Noah's bus coming home so late. The first week of school tends to be a little chaotic with buses arriving, and dropping off late. Her match began at 4:30, and because we had to drive 15 minutes to her location arrived close to 5pm causing us to miss the first part of her game. Luckily I caught a glimpse of her backhand, and she and her new partner killed it! Score was 6-2.
Abi is her new tennis partner, and in some cool way reminds me of her tennis partner back at highland. I've met most of the girls on the team and these group of girls for the most part are polite, and sweet. It makes me feel good seeing that Lexie has meshed in real well with the team. Here, in this part of Jersey kids and coaches take tennis seriously. Tennis is a lifestyle, and not just a sport, and that's what Lexie likes about it. There are girls on the team who have been taking lessons since they were six, and play really well. Lexie has a genuine love for the game, and tries her best to practice so she can play her best. Her coaches are really kind, and easy to talk to and I can see that they work really well with these girls. Lexie's goal is to become good enough to play in college, and I know she can do it. If she practices hard enough she can do it! I'm happy that she feels confident, and comfortable on her new tennis team, and that she has fun playing the game! And from what I have been seeing during her practices throughout the summer, and her first game she already is!
I think it also helps knowing that she has a cute little brother who likes to photobomb pictures! The girls think he is the cutest thing alive! Have a great season Lexie!
September for me is filled with many things to look forward to. Birthdays of friends, and family including my own. School starting, tennis matches, and 9/11. 9/11 is something I wish never happened, but do look forward to in some weird way because it gives me a chance to reflect on those who lost their lives. It helps me to teach my kids about human kindness, remembrance, and no matter what to always pay respects to those who have passed on. And to also pray for those who caused such a tragedy. So today I couldn't let this day go by without writing down a few words to remember those who lost loved ones 15 years ago. It's seems as if this travesty happened yesterday. With all the turmoil that still goes on in the world today it's nice to know that we remember those who lost their lives with a positive attitude, and by their loved ones remembering them in a special way for all the goodness that they brought into the world. A couple of weeks ago when the kids and I visited the Grounds for Sculpture, and arts museum we came upon this sculpture that was made specifically for the victims, and their families of 9/11. As we looked closely at the sculpture my heart grew sadder. Like many of the sculptures in this museum it was so detailed, and looked so real. The flowers, the hard hats, the water hose, and random things they found in the rubble looked all too real. Even the dried up flowers. And it truly felt as if we were there.
Lexie who was standing behind us had such a long face. I mean, she was just a baby when this happened, but by learning about it at school throughout the years, and by us talking to her about it at home has made her realize that this certainly was truly a catastrophic event. She didn't want to be in the photo and I respected that so as Noah and Chelsea were taking a closer glimpse at the sculpture I captured this moment. I could see the sadness in their faces, and even though Noah is six he sensed that there was a sad story behind the art sculpture. Once again, I explained to him why every year a couple of weeks before my birthday, we go to different locations where they have a memorial for those who lost their lives to the "bad guys", and when this day comes we sit quietly for a few minutes, and give our respects to those who lost their lives that year. I reiterate about how these people just came flying in on a plane crashing through these tall buildings killing many, many people, and how another plane crashed near the white house, and another crashing in Pennsylvania which is close to where we live. He frowned a lot as I was telling him this story again, and after a while remembered what 9/11 was all about. He'll then mention "oh, you mean the bad guys who flew into new york and crashed the buildings where we only have one building now (which is the freedom tower) and a lot of people died." He's a smart kid, and eventually will know what it truly is all about with raw emotion on his own motive. The older my children, and I get I have learned that no matter what devastation occurs within our country, and other countries I'm grateful to be living such a wonderful life with great humans. I'm thankful for my family, and to be living in a country where forgiveness can be granted, where families reunite, where bad days can lead to better ones, where I can be "free", and proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A., but most of all for a God who stands under this nation, watching and guiding over us.
When you look at it this way, no matter what happens in our day to day, we truly live in a beautiful world. It's a choice. A choice that may be hard to make for some, especially with all the negativity that goes on in the world. But I know, that if try hard enough, and pray hard enough, we only need to remember the good in everything.
Labor day weekend for us was unforgettable. This is the one holiday where I look forward to a last hurrah before school resumes. And although I'm excited for the kids to start school it's always nice to finish the summer off with a trip where we can relax, eat good food, and enjoy each other's company. Even if our two youngest nag on each other on the drive up the fact that they are in loving arms upon our arrival assures me that their bickering never lasts. And it's all good. Here's a little video I made too, you can view it here on vimeo.
On Sunday we drove by the temple in Connecticut which is located in one of the sweetest towns I know which is Farmington. It's 20 minutes away from Hartford, and this temple is so beautiful, and so white! I love the architecture, and it is so new england! The kids really love and appreciate the temples, and so I captured a few moments of them on the lawn. It's pretty much complete, and will be ready to be open to the public for free tours on September 30 through October 22. So if you live anywhere close to Hartford I encourage you to please attend. We are so excited to attend once it's opened!
On our way to Maine we made a pit stop in Boston to see the temple there as well. This is one of my favorite temples. We didn't spend too much time here, but were so grateful to have had Rich take our picture for us. While we used our selfie stick to take a picture of us in front of the Connecticut temple it's always nice to have someone get a full photo of all of us with the temple in the background.
I absolutely love taking photos in front of this sign. This seems to be our usual spot for photos since Noah was a baby. I look back at this post, and can't believe how quickly this boy has grown!!
I also captured a few moments of Noah walking around the temple. He's always willing to strike a pose for me.
We stopped at a rest stop for potty breaks, and let the kids run around for a bit. I absolutely love this part of Maine. So outdoorsy! Noah saw Smoky, and once again he let me take a picture of him!
As we were driving towards Cape Neddick we stopped to capture a few moments with this scenery! So picturesque!
Cape Neddick is one of our favorite places to go and take in the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks. I can tell that it also relaxes the kids. Noah kept saying, "I wish i lived here." He absolutely has a love for the ocean as we all do so.
We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Kittery. Oh my gosh! I absolutely love this place. The food here is truly authentic to the taste, and the barbacoa here reminds me of home. This mexican restaurant for Maine is perfect! The first time we ate here I was in shock that it was so good. Being mexican-american and from Texas I know how true, authentic mexican food should taste, and this place hit it on the nose! Those tacos are truly loco!!
My cheat for the entire trip! A sundae split!
There are two things that the kids look forward to when we come to New England...the temples, and lighthouses. We absolutely love visiting here, and I swear it never gets old.
The last time we went to Coney Island was the summer of 2013. Sierra had just graduated from high school, and we wanted to do something fun as a family before she went off for college. This has been one of our favorite theme parks to venture out to since our girls were little, and even though this particular outing hasn't become tradition it's nice to come every once in a while to enjoy the rides, and take in the oceanic smell of Brooklyn. This year our dear friend Maggie who is like family joined in on the fun with us. The kids call her aunt maggie, and I love her like a sister. We all had such a blast, and seeing Maggie letting her wiggles out by dancing with the Coney Island dancers on the boardwalk made me want to boogie on down myself, but was too chicken to join in! It has been at least 25 years since dancing in a major public forum and to me this was major. The Coney Island dancers had some awesome moves, and I'm so glad maggie joined in without a care in the world because that's what Coney Island is all about...having fun. Totally reminded me of the time Sierra sang "Sunday Morning" in front of a large crowd on the boardwalk! We could have seriously been here all day, and we practically were! We ended up leaving late in the evening. That's how much we all didn't want to leave! I made a little video about our day, and you can view it on my YouTube channel here.
A must have when you come to Coney is eating a Nathan's hot dog, and a pretzel.
No matter where we are in NYC a pretzel is a must have for Noah. This kid can eat them all day long!
This year we decided to ride the rides at Luna Park. We figured since the kids are much older that they can ride the "adult" rides, and Luna park had some of the best rides! Noah got to ride some of the rides too. He has seriously outgrown the kiddie park, and has upgraded to much "bigger" rides.
Noah played a fishing game, and because he caught a fish (you can see it on the video) thought he was going home with one of the stuffed animals from above, but instead got this blue soda pop buddy. He wasn't too pleased.
The girls were thrilled to have ridden the Cyclone. Chelsea was four when we first came here, and was bummed that she had to ride the kiddie roller coaster, but after riding the cyclone now understands why she couldn't ride it at such a young age. They had a blast riding various rides!
This was seriously a fun ride. Noah had so much fun that he wanted to ride it twice, and I'm so glad I got to ride in a log with my little guy!
Chelsea has become a cop junkie, and loves the show blue bloods. It scares me a bit, because she'd like to be a cop, and/or an FBI agent when she grows up! She has the strong personality to do it, and put the bad guys away, and would be good at it. I've seen her upset, and trust me, you don't want to get on her bad side!
I actually blame myself for encouraging her because I actually enjoy watching Blue Bloods as well as Criminal Minds myself, and she obviously has developed a love for those shows. Don't think she'll be watching too much of it during the school year though!
Anyway, we decided to try out Wahlburgers, and the food was pretty darn good! Those onion rings were super delicious!
Couldn't pass posting this photo of a beach towel that read "Warriors." For those of you who are familiar with "The warriors" would understand why I posted this! Love that movie!
We had such an amazing day making memories as a family. It's times like this where you need to have that inner child come out, and release all the stress that you didn't get to when you were young. I'm speaking for myself. I never had opportunities like this as a child, and I'm so grateful that we were able to come again, and let the kids have a little fun before school resumed!
