June Is Here!

So far June has been hot and humid and wet. A couple weeks after having surgery we escaped to the ocean where we can hear the waves crash and the seagulls sing. It was a much needed getaway. Those 65 minutes away from home was the remedy that I needed after being cooped up in a room with four walls. The kids forgot how the sun felt on their face. Their cheeks turned red within seconds but as we continued to walk further into the beach feeling the sand in our toes they forgot about the scorching heat. And ran against the waves and tagged each other back and forth. All Jon wanted to do was relax and lay on the sand but to no avail. We sat and stared at the sun on a bench where Chelsea captured our smiles. He didn't mind. He was just happy to have been at the beach with us where packages aren't delivered. It was a beautiful pre-summer hot day and fun family beach day and we look forward to more days like these this summer! 

Happy June! Enjoy the picture vomit! 

The Bow Bridge In Central Park At Golden Hour.

One thing I have never witnessed during golden hour is the Bow Bridge at Central Park. A couple of weeks ago we decided to spend the day in the city and take in all of nature's gold before the rain hit and took all the leaves away. Central Park is definitely beautiful time of year and one bright thing that 2020 has brought this year is a beautiful autumn. Another bonus besides taking in all of nature's glory at the park is meeting Beth Beckman. She is a pretty big deal in New York and because of her IG page I get to find out about all the events that are happening in the city. It was a pleasure to meet her and her son and hope to get together with her soon in the near future! 

Here are a few photos from that day and you can see more on this post of me and Noah when we went on another day. We took quite a few. I'm also glad that Jon took a day off to spend time with us and that he was able to see Central Park in all her beautiful glory!

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze

For family night this past Monday we had tickets to go to the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze and it did not disappoint! This was our first time going and to be honest don't know why I never bothered taking all the kids when they were younger and living at home. Well, once Sierra and Lexie are home for a visit we will definitely take them there. There are over 7,000 carved pumpkins displayed. From The Statue of Liberty, to the headless horseman. A unicorn, carousel, dragon, dinosaurs, sunflowers, and a graveyard to name a few. There are sooooo many pumpkins that are tastefully displayed in this blaze and it is definitely worth the price. It was a perfect beginning to start the witchy season. I love how New York does Halloween! You can see a little snippet of it on my tiktok here. More photos below...

75 Degrees In February!

The weather we had this past Wednesday was absolutely gorgeous, and too good to be true especially in our neck of the woods. It's very rare to have warm weather in February. The last time I remember having a warm day in February was four years ago. 

Over The Weekend...

After a long week of rainy, and dreary weather (it totally felt as if I was living in Seattle) we finally got a bit of sunshine over the weekend, and I have to say that it was so nice to be able to get out of the house because this kind of weather cn really make one lack motivation to do anything. I'm not one to just sit around and mope around the house, but I felt a sickness coming on, and luckily it passed, but unfortuanely both Noah and Chelsea became infested with allergies and even though they both felt better after dosing with allergy medicine on saturday we came home from the adult session of stake conference (which was excellent by the way) to a very sick Chelsea. Her allergies turned into a cough, and was burning up a bit. We gave her some more medicine to alleviate the slight fever she developed, and she conked right out. We woke up the next morning, and got ready for church. I went upstairs to see how she was feeling, and could tell that she needed to rest some more so she went back to sleep. I could tell that she wanted to go to church, but explained to her how she really needs to rest. She can be stubborn at times, and sometimes it's a good thing especially when it comes to her not wanting to miss church or school, but what's important is that she rests that way her sickness doesn't get worse so that she doesn't miss church or school.

But that didn't last. 

30 minutes past after everyone left, and she came down to let me know she was hungry. Even though she looked a bit groggy she seemed a bit better. She was hungry, and so I made her some breakfast, and after we ate she asked if she could watch a dvd. But instead of clicking on to that remote, I asked if she was up for a walk on the bike trail. On Sundays I really try to refrain from any technology in the house, but almost gave in since she was sick. Had it been raining of course that would have been a thing to do, but because it was such a pretty day outside I couldn't let it go to waste by staying indoors. She obliged, and because it was windy she bundled up with a hoodie. We had such a nice morning together as walked, and talked. We saw a few flowers along the trail and asked if she could pick a few. I didn't see any harm in that, and so as she pickin' I decided to capture a few photos because...

FLOWERS! 

I captured a few shots of her pickin' some. She absolutely loves spring, and on this day we were really feeling it! She saw some pretty colored flowers from a distance, and as she picked them ran up to me and said, "look mom they're bachelor buttons." I'm like, "how the heck do you know this? Bachelor buttons?? What a cute name for a flower!" Not even I know the names of certain plants, and flowers, but I guess she's learning a lot in school on certain topics, and then again she's been reading more and more lately (which makes me super happy), and that can help too. 

Here are a few moments from our Sunday walk...

After the rest of my crew came home we all decided to go the park to play bocce. Like I said, it was such a pretty day that I couldn't let it go to waste. We all gathered our picnic blanket, and bocce set, and while Jon was out visiting people from church we all went without him, and ventured out to the park for some family fun. He truly was missed, but nonetheless the kids had a great time. 

Can I also tell you that this was my first time playing bocce! So fun, and I think we need to buy a bigger set. I bought a small set only because the balls are easier for Noah to hold. He sure does love this game especially that little jack ball! 

It was a glorious day filled with lots of wind, and sunshine, and I am so blessed to have these kids by my side, and to see them getting along, and laughing have a good time brings a huge smile to this momma's face! 

And kudos to Noah for capturing such a nice pic of me, and his cute sisters! 

Happy Monday folks, and hope you're weekend was just as fun as ours! 

Winter Storm Jonas '16.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited we all were this past weekend when we started feeling the snow falling on our faces as I was on my way out to pick up Jon from work. Jonas had arrived. Snow is something we have been waiting for long before Christmas, and boy did we get pounded with it. It's amazing to see how much snow we get in one lump sum! We woke up the next morning to sunshine, and about 15 inches of snow. It was a beautiful sight, and the kids had a blast playing in it! 

Because of all the snow we got in one shot Jon spent half the afternoon making a snowcave, and when he was done he called it a snow house! He hails from Utah so getting this much snow was a treat for him. Apparently Utah doesn't get this much snow all at once to be able to make a snow cave so he was all giddy! Lexie also attempted to make one, and she was proud of her little snow cave. 

As always I was capturing precious moments of my family as they were enjoying the snow, and made a little video of them playing in our street, and backyard.

One of our neighbors who has lived here since he was a boy told us that they would block off the street so that he, and his friends can go sledding down the street. So old school! It was epic, and a lot better than going to a hill where it's crowded with people sliding down all over the place! We had the whole street to ourselves, and in between building the snow cave, and shoveling Jon would push the kids down the street on their sled. It was so much fun, and I even had a turn. 

 This boy was all smiles! He wasn't too fond of the snow when he was a baby, but now...he can spend all day in it! 

// and this one can be making snow angels all day long! //

// Since church was canceled on Sunday, the first thing these kids wanted to do was go outside, and play in their snow cave that pa built. These two could literally live in it, and even wanted to spend the night inside, but temps got low in the teens so we opted no! They were getting cold anyway. Maybe next time! //

Love these kiddos! How fun it is to be a kid, and to not have a care in the world! They all had such a wonderful time, and really appreciated mother nature (a.k.a. Jonas) bringing them all this snow. We don't get this much snow too often so they truly took advantage, and enjoyed every moment! 

And so did I!