Lord Huron In Philly!

Lord Huron on the first day of August... 

What a beautiful, simple yet amazing concert. We were in the outskirts of Philly at the Mann theatre where our view was the skyline. We laid down a blanket on the grass and copped a squat during the first half of the concert and then got up to sit a bit closer to the screen where I can get a better view of it. We didn't need to sit down in the first rows. Where we sat was still magical and a relaxing evening I'll always remember. Even if my back hurt just a bit the next day! 

Spring Scenes from Good Friday in Philadelphia!

The beginning of April was too good to be true. I thought it was April Fool's because the temps were in the 80's and it felt so good to have warmer temperatures. But it was real. Spring in Jersey has come and I hope it is here to stay. That is of course until Good Friday came. Temps were not as warm but they were in the 40's and it was still a beautiful day! I went to the temple and focused on the goodness that it brings when I attend. Afterward I went for a walk in the city. Logan square right now is filled with tulips and it is gorgeous! I am so lucky to live close to three great cities where it is beautified in the spring. I captured a few photos and the flowers took my breath away. I love fall in NYC, the blossoms in D.C. but man, Spring in Philly is pretty too! 

Temple Day With The Best Kids!

What better way to start off the month of December than to go to the temple- especially during the holiday season. About nine youth and a few adults from our church all ventured out to Philly to attend. Going to the temple, even if it's just to walk on the temple grounds is pure joy! I love the feeling that overcomes me while stepping onto the temple grounds and an even peaceful feeling as I enter inside the temple. To see the youth there with their folks is a sight. And whether or not to they wanted to be there they will still receive those blessings. I love all these kids and wish them the best feelings while they are at the temple. Hopefully it'll be something they will appreciate and on their motive continue to attend as they get older. But for now-just having them altogether warmed my mama heart! 

Photos From Last Saturday At The Playground In Philly!

There are days when I literally wish I lived in the city. I crave it quite often which is why we are always venturing out to New York, DC, Boston, or Philly. I wonder how my life will be once Jon and I are in our late 60's and our kids are grown and on their own. Will we still be living in Jersey in the burbs, retire elsewhere where it will be a lot less to live or live in the city where it "might" be affordable if we rent the smallest studio apartment. Who knows, but for now we are enjoying our days with the kids we have left at home.

A Simple Day Trip To Philly!

When we moved to Jersey nine years ago I remember the first thing we did was going on a lot of day trips! A lot!! I remember the first few months of living here we went to New York a couple times which included going to the Bronx Zoo, statue of liberty, and seeing Wicked on broadway. We also went to the D.C. Temple right away, and the National Zoo, and also went back to familiar territory in New England where we have family still living there.

Our Date Day & The Philadelphia Temple.

You know spring is in the air when you see construction workers on the streets, construction sites open with a jackhammer hammering in the background, playgrounds full of kids, and dog walkers. Your neighbor mowing the lawn, and a long line of cars at the car wash. Yep, spring is definitely in the air especially when you are now walking your kid to the bus stop instead of driving because you were just too cold to walk two blocks and stand around for ten minutes! Seeing Noah picking up sticks, and finding the perfect rocks to collect asking me, "Mom, when I come home from school can we go to the park so I can ride my scooter, and pick more rocks?" is a sure sing that spring is on its way for good.

And that makes me super cheerful!

When I saw the weather forecast for this past week I was amazed at the temperatures being in the 70's & 80's. It's amazing what spring does to our moods, and I had been itching to go to the temple ever since they took off the scaffold and put up the sign "Holiness to the The Lord, The House of the Lord."

Since Jon has one day off a week (it happened to be on Tuesday) I was like, "we're going to Philly to see the temple!" We decided to take the train in, and walked around and took in this beautiful weather. Walking down the streets of Philly seeing people eating at the sidewalk cafés and walking through Rittenhouse Park with people laying on the lawn reading books, having lunch, listening to headphones is so refreshing. To see that again after enduring the winter months brings nothing but renewal and happiness to my soul because that means no more being cooped up in the house, and storing away your winter clothes. As much as I complain about how I long for fall when it begins to get hot, and how much I long for spring when I grow weary of winter I love the change of season. And that's part of life when you live in a place where they have the four seasons. Thing about it is that I tend to appreciate the seasons more when they change. And with each season comes a change of renewal with my mood and on this day I was ecstatic!!

First thing we did when we arrived was grab some grub! We were starving, and had been craving a really good burger so we decided to eat at one of our favorite places, and of course as much as I repeat this I'll say it again...I love this place, and I can never get enough of their crinkled fries! Bless your heart shake shack for not replacing them with shoestring fries, or any type of fry!

We continued to venture out towards the temple, and I was getting giddy as we were getting closer. I know I sound like a broken record on repeat when it comes to temples, and how much good they bring into my life, but if you only knew the true joy it brings for me, and my family you'd want it too, and most likely be bearing your soul about it. I can't help but to express my gratitude, and appreciation for these beautiful buildings that are being built upon the earth specifically for us so that we can come closer to Christ as well as help our family members who have passed on so that they can have a chance at everlasting happiness. To bless our attitudes, and view on this mortal life we live. Such an amazing blessing, and i can't wait to continue to do some of the work inside this temple!

We saw the temple from the Franklin Institute, and it is absolutely beautiful. The architecture, and color of the temple is perfect. The circled windows remind me of the salt lake temple which is my favorite. Call me bias, but it's my favorite because that's the temple my family, and I were sealed in. As we were walking around the "Philly temple square" (that's what I call it) I almost, almost felt as if I was home. All that's missing is the mountains and, a big, huge conference center!!

And a few more photos of this beauty from different angles...

Again, I'm so thankful that the mayor finally came to an agreement with our former stake presidency five years ago to finally build this temple.

And I have a feeling it's going to do the city of brotherly love a whole lotta good!

You can watch the Philadelphia temple progressing from the the time it broke ground , until now here here, and here.

I invite all my friends near and far to attend the open house, and if you can make it log onto here for the open house dates. If you're wondering, or are curious as to what temples are all about, and ask yourself, "why is Rosie always excited about her faith" I advise you to please join us. I guarantee you'll feel peace, and once you step foot inside that temple I guarantee you'll be saying to yourself, "no wonder."

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Please Touch Museum!

As I look back on this post I can't believe how quickly time flies. Boy has my little boy grown up! I remember the first time we ventured out to the Please touch museum how curious he was with all the interactive exhibits. He was so fun to learn, and explore with, and his sisters had a grand time taking him under their wing to show him what the museum was all about. The time came again this year for Noah's kindergarten class to go to the museum. He's much older now, and has a better understanding of what this museum entails. It definitely enhances his mind, and he loves it here. The place hasn't changed too much except that they added a room specifically for toddlers or for those who are Clifford, and space fanatics. Luckily Noah is a fan of both. We had two hours to spare at the museum, and we took advantage of every single event, and exhibit. 

Here are a few photos, and don't worry...I'm not going to turn this post into a 'storybook' post! Although I thought it was written pretty cute! 

^^^ Noah loves anything that is a train, or a trolley. This is City Capers, which features the John Wanamaker's Rocket Monorail from the defunct department store, and is also a part of the set from the 'Captain Noah and His Magical Ark' TV show. ^^^ 

 ^^^Noah is becoming a fast learner at learning how to read, and recognized his name NOAH, and the words AND, and HIS on the sign. He got all excited when I told him it was a movie featuring him! ^^^

^^^ Alice in Wonderland exhibit was Chelsea's favorite when she first came here, and after Noah watched the movie with Johnny Depp as the Mad hatter he's become a pretty big fan. 

 ^^^ I love that they have a reading room where the kids can take a few minutes to pick out a book and read. Lexie found one of Noah's favorites 'Where the Wild Things Are', and of course Chelsea chose 'Corduroy' (they only have childrens books) which is still one of her favorites. ^^^

 ^^^ We can't leave the museum without going for a ride on the carousel. I swear these kids will be riding carousels until they're 50 years old! ^^^

 ^^^ This is a pretty interesting exhibit. It's an elephant made out of all kinds of scrap metal from aluminum cans, to old dolls, and all kinds of crap such as old binoculars, a rotary phone, an old clock. Very interesting art! ^^^

^^^ This is one of Noah's favorites. He love the water canal with the tug boats. He loves anything that deals with water period! ^^^

^^^ They replaced the 'big piano' with this canoe, and even though the kids would rather play on the piano, they had their bit of fun pretending to be water rafting! Love their imagination! ^^^

^^^ They have a really cool space area where the kids can dress up as an astronaut and shoot foam rockets in the air. Yep...this quickly became a favorite for Noah, and Chelsea! ^^^

^^^ This is the new section they added in which they have Clifford, the big red dog. This was one of Noah's favorite cartoons when he was three years old! Still loves that dog! ^^^

^^^ cute little cut out of the statue of liberty with Noah's little head in it! ^^^

The kids sure really enjoy coming here, and even though it's suited for kids seven years and younger, my older kids love it here! It's a chance I get to learn with my kid, and at the same time enhance each other's minds. It's always interesting to come here and see what's new, and what's still here. So fortunate that the schools here provide school trips to museums in Philly. This is exactly one of my favorite reasons i love the city, and living in the east coast! So much to do, and learn, and explore with our kids! 

A CURRENT PHOTO OF THE PHILADELPHIA TEMPLE.

One cannot go to Philly without walking to the temple site to see how quickly it's progressing in being built, and what a beauty she is becoming. When we went to the franklin institute last week, we also went to the temple site. We all sat across the street from it watching the construction workers doing their job, and listening to the sounds of the city. We were already talking about making plans on what days we were going to attend once it's completed, and how we can work around the kids schedule during the school year so that Jon, and I can go on a date night to the temple every week. We are so fortunate to have a teenager who can watch her sibs, and we just cannot simply wait to take the train into  the city so that we can be spiritually fed on a weekly basis.  

Just standing around looking at it, I can tell that this temple is truly going to be the most beautiful building on Vine street.

These two love the city, and it makes my heart pitter patter when they don't mind walking to the temple site even though it's not built yet. They are always curious as to see what was added, and given that these two just love building things they look forward to seeing what's new with the temple. 

And now...the girls and I are preparing to watch the General Women's Broadcast via satellite tomorrow evening. It's worldwide, and I hope that y'all make the time to watch it!

Happy weekend! 

MY SCIENCE GEEKS AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE.

Only two weeks into the school year and already the elementary kids had their fall field trip. I swear going to the Franklin institute never gets old. There's always new exhibits, and attractions to see, and the kids love it here! I have to say that this is the perfect place to bring kids of all ages! Noah is at an age where he is discovering all things about science, and slowly but surely it's beginning to make more sense to him. It also helps having an older sister who loves it, and when we bring books home from the library that are associated with anything science Noah becomes more engaged. 

Every year my crew gets smaller and smaller. With Sierra out west, and Lexie busy with school we came here with only Noah and Chelsea. Lexie had a tennis match, but since the kids only have one field trip in the fall to the museum we chose the museum, and Lexie didn't mind. The last time she came she had fun, and learned all about the brain. She has a ton of tennis matches to play, and we'll make sure to go to the rest of her games. By the way...she's been winning all of her matches so far!! 

As I was saying Noah and Chelsea both had a blast. We tend to go to the museum during the school year only because they seem to have exhibits that are specifically for kids. It's almost as if their brain somewhat shuts down during the summer due to all the beach trips we took, because when we entered into the kids science room they were all over the place relearning all the elements of light, water, air, and earth! It is amazing to see the light in my kids eyes when they are exploring the wonders of outer space! 

^^^ Noah has become obsessed with spacesuits. ^^^

^^^ There is this kiosk where Noah and Chelsea love playing with. It's basically a "space trip" where it helps you get outfitted in the perfect spacesuit for their destination when going into outer space. It's pretty cool. ^^^ 

^^^ We couldn't leave the museum without checking out the locomotive! Aside from the space center, Noah will always love trains! ^^^

^^^ oh...this was a fun hands-on project for the kids to do. There was a station with legos (which is the kids other favorite thing) where they had to guess what the other person is building by describing how they built their legos. And guess what?? They both nailed it. The men on the other side of the partition guessed exactly what both Noah and Chelsea built! It was awesome. ^^^

^^^ If you're wondering what they're looking at there was a light show on the ceiling with stars, meteors, and planets. It was pretty cool, and they couldn't take their eyes off of it. I just had to pull away to take a picture. I swear Jon was like a little kid in a candy store. He too loves coming here with the kids, and deep down is truly a die hard  science geek. ^^^

^^^ If you have a snapchat which is r_jorgensen I snapped the heck out of our evening here. They absolutely love it here. Three hours isn't enough at this place. Next time we'll have to come earlier in the day and spend longer hours here. There were a couple of shows to see in the planetarium, and franklin theatre that we didn't get to watch. It's amazing here, and I highly recommend every child, teen, and adult coming here to appreciate the earth, and how truly big space is getting! 

SMITH PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE.

I can't believe I've lived here for seven years and had not yet ventured out to Smith playground until yesterday! We moved here when Chelsea was almost three, and although I heard about the place the desire never really kicked in until now. So with Jon having the day off we decided to take Noah to check out this 16,000 square foot playhouse that everyone rants about, and says it's perfect for kids ages 10 and under. Noah is five, and since the playhouse is designed specifically for kids five, and younger I figured we'd go inside and take advantage, and so we did. 

And the best part about this place is that it's free to the public! Donations are appreciated, but not expected!

The playhouse inside has a block room, climb-on-train (which was Noah's favorite), a room full of cars and tricycles, play kitchens, and puppets. 

One of my favorites was sliding down this giant wooden slide! Noah wanted to go on it over, and over, and over, and over again!! All I kept hearing for 15 minutes straight was "one more time daddy, one more time." He wanted to go on it more with Jon, and watching them two sliding down the slide was hilarious. Noah giggled all the way down, and wouldn't stop even after he slid down. I have to say this attraction was indeed my favorite!! We totally felt like little kids again!

Another favorite attraction that Noah loved was the "Apollo Spinner". I'm sorry, but it looks like a modern day merry-go-round to me. Noah had a lot of fun going around and around. You can watch him spinning around here.

Noah played while I captured more photos. I figured since I had my fun sliding down the slide with him why not capture some photos of this vast, extensive playground with him having a ball in it! 

   ^^^ Oh...there's me again. (Fun photo taken by my husband.) ^^^

We could have stayed here all day, but our tummies called for food, and so we had a late lunch at Zac's Hamburgers which is a favorite when we drive into Pennsylvania. 

We are so thrilled that we finally got to venture out to Smith Playground, and we are definitely bringing Chelsea once school is out. Noah had so much, and is excited to come back and explore it again, and again.

Can't you tell?

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!