7 months old and too cute for words!

Here he is!  My handsome.  He may think that's his actual name because I refer to him as that so often.  He continues to melt my heart.  Alex laughs easily and loves to make us laugh, has a happy disposition, and is one of the most contented babies I've ever seen.  He was so good on our trip.  If everyone had behaved as well as him (adults included), we may have stayed an extra day:)

He's almost sitting up.  He still falls forward if you don't support him.  He is starting to army crawl and if I'm not careful he'll be on the other side of the room from where I laid him down.  He's started having solids twice per day and he LOVES his food!  We've decided he stores most of it in his cheeks.  He blows rasberries all of the time and he gets a kick out of himself.  He loves it when I read to him, sing to him, and give him soft squishy toys.  He loves Patty Cake, and he adores his daddy and his two big sisters.  We love you over the moon and back Mr. Handsome!  Thanks for blessing our family every day with your little spirit.

Spring Break 2015: Philadelphia and The Statue of Liberty

This year for Spring Break we decided to be a little crazy and try to travel with three small children.  We have friends attending school in Phillie and they graduate in May, and Shaun's uncle is a mission president in the New York City South mission, but he will end his service there this summer.  We felt like time was of the essence.  We decided "Carpe Diam" would be our motto.  So we seized the day, and we headed off on our little adventure!  

First stop:  Philadelphia

Just a short jaunt (although not quite as short with young children) three or so hours north of us is Phillie.  We went to see Becca and Troy and their two cute boys.  We started our adventure at Reading Terminal Market where we had absolutely fantastic blueberry pancakes from the Amish Market.  In fact, I don't think I should ever even attempt to make pancakes again for fear they will pail in comparison, and they inevitably will.  We walked around the market and the kids enjoyed feeding the pig (photo below though you can't see the pig because Amelia is literally hanging from it's snout).  No worries, it's only the statue of a pig, and the donations go to feed the hungry in the city.  

 Then we decided to walk home from Reading via Logan Circle, which also happens to be where they are building the new Philadelphia temple.  Here it is in the background of the photo below.  It is going to be absolutely stunning, and a perfect mix of Salt Lake Temple meets Philadelphia architecture.  I hope we can go back and see it once it's completed.

 Just across from the temple is a fun little park, Sister Cities Park, that the kids enjoyed playing at while the adults chatted and visited, and then just across the road is this fun fountain at Logan Circle. This trip was really all about the kids, and they had a fantastic time playing at the park and running around the fountain.

 Little man enjoyed the fun from the comfort and security of the Baby bijourn with daddy.

Then it was back to Becca's where Alex enjoyed some time with one of his mommy's favorite friends, Miss Becca.

 And the kids were mesmerized when Shaun started playing a racing game on the I-PAD.  I had to take this photo because it was so funny how they were all hooked.

 We spent the remainder of the afternoon at Smith Park, an amazing park for kids that puts all other parks to shame.  I didn't get any photos there, but that's mostly because my children were running around like wild banshees and had no interested in stopping to pose for the camera.

The evening was spent trying to find "the best Phillie Cheese Steak."  Our inquiries led us to a hole in the wall just west of the city called Delassandros... or something like that.  I have to say, it was pretty good.  I'm not sure what constitutes having the BEST cheese steak, but my tastebuds were happy.  Here's Amelia waiting for her order.

 And here we are in the small little diner that was filled to capacity.  Just our two families took up the only sitting room available in the whole place.  And just recently Jimmy Fallon from the Late Night Show ate there, so maybe it really is the best cheese steak?  One could argue this at least.

Second Stop: New York's Lady Liberty

We left Becca and Troy's Friday morning and headed north towards our next destination, The Statue of Liberty.  Ella learned about Lady Liberty in her Kindergarten class, so she was excited to see her in person.  We decided for a myriad of reasons to park on the Jersey side of the island and take the ferry from there.  It was a gray and drizzly day(sometimes more than drizzly), but we really enjoyed it, even though we were exhausted!

Here the girls are ready to board the ferry.  You could look across the water and see NYC, and these two are just too precious for words.

 Amelia in the gift shop owning her new Lady Liberty look!  Work it girl!

 Ella once we were off the ferry.  You can see the silhouette of the city in the background.

 My two girls.  They are so cute together sometimes and the best of friends, then the next minute not so much.  but this was a nice minute to catch them in.

 And look at my camera ham, my Amelia Ruth.  Oooh that dimple gets me every time.

 This was not only the girls first time at the Statue of Liberty, it was Shaun's first time too.  He can check it off his bucket list now.

 More hamming it up...

 Me and my girls.

 Shaun and his little guy.  He may be small and he'll have no memory of it, but Alex can say he's been there.

 That evening we stayed with Shaun's aunt and uncle at the mission home, and the girls were almost more excited about the bunk beds they slept in than the Statue of Liberty.  They loved playing with their second cousin, Lily, who is now 11 years old (photo below).  We had a really nice visit with Kevin and Sidney, although it was brief.  We really appreciated their hospitality, as well as Becca and Troy's hospitality, for letting us be in their homes, making this trip possible.

We originally thought we'd try to take Saturday and go into the city, but we were absolutely exhausted!  This trip with kids zapped us and we were ready for the comforts of home.  So we drove home Saturday and listened to conference along the way, actually making the trip a really nice one.  The girls watched a movie in the back, Alex slept mostly (I think he was tuckered out too poor little guy), and we enjoyed listening to our prophet and apostles speak to us.  

Today is Easter, and I have a lot of thoughts going through my mind, but I am indeed grateful that we made it home safely, that we had today to watch conference as well and to be together as a family.  I'm grateful for this most sacred day and all it represents.  It's truly the most important holiday we celebrate.  The girls enjoyed seeing their Easter baskets and doing crafts (the Easter bunny brought lots of craft supplies this year because she knew they'd need to keep busy while conference was on), but I'm grateful they know that it's more about the Lamb than it is the Easter Bunny!  I know my Savior lives.  I know it is because of Him that I can be with my beautiful family for time and eternity.  I'm grateful for his love, and for the love of my Father in Heaven.  There are things I have felt today and been inspired to do while listening to these wonderful leaders, and I look forward to making choices each day that bring me closer to my Savior!  Happy Easter everyone.  It's been a lovely break, and now it's time to return to the real world daily grind.

Extraordinarily Ordinary lives

All work when work is play can be simply exhausting!

a b

efore and after

Who needs anything more in life when there's this cuteness in front of you?

This big sister is the best big sister ever!

 Trying a new do.  We call this the baby mohawk!

We also caught nana trying to feed Alex from the wrong bottle.  This is the beginning of a long time addiction if Nana has her way with him.  

My beautiful Elle getting ready for church this morning.  And both girls in their pretty dresses.  They're growing up too quick!  

My three little monkeys

From monster...

 ... to angel!

Bath time is the best time

I generally hate selfies, but I couldn't resist this one on a relatively good hair day... for both of us.

We had our friend, Heather, and her new hubby, Chad, come visit us one evening.  The kids loved playing Uno with Heather and Chad, who were very good sports about playing by Amelia's rules.  We loved seeing Heather, a long time friend who I have many fond memories with.  We can add this to our list of memories.  Thanks for making the effort to come see us before you two are off to Hawaii to live.  Next time we're coming to YOUR place for sure!

And it's never too early to show a little Hokie pride!  Go Virginia Tech (only second to my alma mater, BYU)

So as usual, March has been a pretty slow month, but we have enjoyed time together.  Really life isn't so much about the extraordinary adventures as it is about the ordinary days.  Those ordinary days stack up to be a lifetime of precious memories, and they make us who we are.  I think life really is most often about the extraordinarily ordinary people doing good every day in ways no one really notices.  I'm so grateful to have my beautiful family!  They are extraordinary to me.

Valentine and Birthday Celebration

Shaun and I celebrated his 33rd birthday this weekend by going out to dinner with some friends.  I got Shaun the cologne that makes me swoon (because really isn't that the point anyway?), and we enjoyed a really nice evening.  We came out of the restaurant only to realize we'd just had a blizzard roll through town, but we timed it well and missed all of the hazardous and blinding snow fall.  Since we chose a restaurant close to home, it wasn't too hard to get back.  We spent the rest of the evening in, and it was a fantastic way to spend Valentine's and a birthday.  Probably our best Valentine's yet, maybe because we're getting old, or maybe because we've just learned what makes us happy.

Snow Day Fun

The winter of 2015 has given us many snow days here in VA, but many of those days didn't amount to much snow.  Ice came in the morning, or we'd just get a trace of snow (in VA schools close for even a trace of snow.  It makes me happy because I work the teacher schedule, but for many families it can be a huge hassle).  Anyway, towards the end we got a few clippers that gave us some good fluffy snow to play in.  The girls had a lot of fun, and Alex had his first outing in his baby sized parka.  Shaun did some work for a friend doing snow plowing, so he was gone from us for the majority of one day, but when he was home the girls loved playing with him and sledding at a friend's house.  The girls enjoyed yummy hot cocoa in the crock pot and we ended the evening watching the original "Wizard of Oz."  It was the girls' first time watching the movie, and I honestly wasn't sure if they'd be very interested, but they were hooked.  It's a classic, what can I say?  So all in all, I'm glad we finally got our snow worth posting about.  But I enjoyed it that much more because I knew it was March and Spring is just around the corner... Thank Goodness!