Double Date

Pops and I took Abizella and Superkid on a Double Date. 

Pops has been dying to take the kids to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit at the Museum of Science. The Dead Sea Scrolls hold a special place in his heart and he only shares them with the people that mean the most to him in his life. I know because it was our first date after he got home from his mission.... okay actually the second. I think the re-release of Star Wars was the first, but you gotta have your priorities. 

We put on our Sunday best and dined the children at The Top of the Hub Restaurant. We wanted to dazzle the children with the spectacular views from the top of the Prudential building, even if it was a foggy New England day.

The food was pretty great too! 

The kids were majorly impressed with the hot dog appetizers. 

Superkid couldn't get over the scrumptious snap!

And then there was the dessert, of course Boston Cream Pie! The kids were less impressed with the steak tips, claiming Pops' were better (I agree).

And here is our happy little 5th-wheel! 

He won't be coming back here for a LOOOOONG time, we told him to live it up.

We took a few moments to digest and enjoy the fabulous view. 

We even scouted out a route to the Science Museum for the second leg of our date.

And here we are looking back at the Prudential from the roof of the Science Museum!

We enjoyed the exhibit (sorry no photos allowed), but it wasn't as impressive as the collection that was displayed at the BYU 16 years ago. Who knew then thatwe would back with this handsome couple? They made it a day to remember. Thanks for taking us all out Pops! 

We all love you and your passion for old parchment! ...and Star Wars too.

Connecticut Cousins

We are major losers. My Cousin Mike and his family have lived in Connecticut for 16 years and we have lived here for 12 years and we have only gotten together twice in all of that time. What a waste! We spent our first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts with them, Cousin Lon and Suzi and my cousin Renee and her family. The others moved away within a year, but our two families have remained. I guess because their kids are older than ours I just always assumed they wouldn't want to hang with us, we would slow them down. We invited them to come and stay with us, and I figured we would just see them passing through in the evening as they toured the town, which was totally fine with us. But they actually wanted to spend time with us! I really enjoyed having them here. Patti is such a bright and positive person. I've always been a fan of Mike. Their kids are just as great as them.

I am so glad they came. We quickly became fast friends!

Little Chief quickly adopted a new "sister".

 Their teenage daughters are the biggest sweethearts. 

They just played and played and played with our kiddos.

And Abizella got to fulfill her life long dream of being a sand mermaid!

We can't wait to play again soon!

Blackburn Time!

Definitely the best part of coming home to Massachusetts was having the Blackburn's here when we landed! Kind of makes up for the year that those turkeys moved away while we were out of town. 

Reunited and it feels so good!

Of course we took in some beach time with them!

These ladies just think alike...

And some carousel time too!

We even jumped in on a lunch invitation to Carl and Annie's house. This goes down as the best lunch I have ever had. Ever. 

If you ever have the chance to have Carl teach you how to split open a lobster, take it. Right dave?!

The worst part of the Blackburn's coming is that we were reminded how much we just love them to death and how we are supposed to be best friends forever. Of course we always will love them, we just wish Texas were a lot closer!

6 Things That I Love About You

1. This kid is a word smith. He has the most incredible thoughts and such a marvelous way of expressing  them.
2. He has the softest cheeks to kiss. I demand to munch on them every night. He actually won't go to sleep without 3 kisses from me. One on each cheek (the meaty part) and one on the lips.
3. He has an amazing imagination. He plays for hours and hours every afternoon. You can always find him up in his room with a line-up of toys amid an elaborate scenario.
4. He has the tenderest heart. He has the most beautiful expressions to tell me he loves me. He also has the most pathetic heart wrenching way of letting me know when I have hurt his feelings.
5. He is ultra efficient when it comes to the necessary stuff a kid has to do. He has mastered blasting through his homework, chores and saying his prayers ("Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for everything except for the bad guys and the devil. Amen.").
6. He loves a good snuggle. He always tells me he is going to try to wake up before I leave so we can snuggle.

We all lined up to celebrate the 6 years he has spent in our family.

And we all enjoyed a delicious chocolate peanut butter Cold Stone cake...

And some serious Lego Ninjago time too!

Happy Birthday Tadpole! We all love you!

I Grew That Baby!

If I could roll back the clock to July, I would tell you about our little Jaws. 

Isn't he just the cutest EVER? What he lacks in chubs, he makes up for in giggles and smiles!

I grew this baby! I am super proud of myself. I like to get a good picture of what my babies look like before we introduce outside nutrition. I get a little jealous of the intruding calories. 

This is the month that his little teethies popped up....

And along with the teeth came his desire to eat big boy food. It happened one evening at Cold Stone. I ordered a small scoop of salted carmel ice cream. Little Jaws reached out with both hands and snagged my spoon and started gobbling down the goodness. Milk, salt and sugar. The kid has good taste for sure. We may have ruined him for anything else. 

We decided now that he was nearly 6 months it was time to pull out the sweet potatoes. 

"Huh? What happened to the Cold Stone?"

"Come on!"

Over time he grew complacent and has generally accepted the fare around here...

It is generally finger lickin'

And toe lickin' good!

40 Minute Flight Delay

40 min flight delay (at midnight) equals a 15 minute layover (at 6 am). Let's do this thing.

Most of us couldn't hold out for the plane. 

Tadpole demonstrated his X-Man Power of sleeping in any position. 

Even Derek George would be impressed.

They were falling like flies...

Except for the little Energizer Bunny here...

We knew we were sunk when in Salt Lake we saw the 8 people in wheelchairs that had to be assisted onto the plane. We watched our 15 minute layover in NYC vaporize. We missed our connection by 10 minutes. While Pops tried to haggle our way onto the next flight into Boston (for nearly 2 hours), they rest of us resumed our most comfortable airport position...

Abz even tried planking...

But we were determined to get our Zzzzzs.

Except for this guy, who apparently only needs donuts. 

Sleep is a non-essential.

Pops did prevail and all 7 of us made it home on the next flight and much to our dreary, homesick hearts delight we found a package from Aunt Margaret! It was simply the best thing *EVER*. There was some thing for everyone, from science kits to bouncy balls to cook books, to blasting rocket ships to tiny baby jeans and baby cowboy boots. It brought smiles to our tired faces and spring back into our step. We couldn't have found it at a better time! Thank-you Aunt Margret! You are the best!

About 2 hours later I made the kids some mac and cheese and went to put Jaws down for a nap. Little Chief was cheerfully chattering about his new bouncy ball when I left. 

10 minutes later I came back to find him face down on the floor, dead out. 

We made it home.

Parting Is Nothing But Sorrow

The first morning in Utah, I walked out onto Grandma's front porch, filled my lungs with sage infused air and said, "Mmmmmmm! I love that Utah air!" 

Every time Little Chief stepped outside with me after that , he would pause, take a deep breath and say, "MMMMMMMM! Mommy, do you see that Utah smell?!"

There are so many things we love about Utah, 

but by far it is our grandparents that we love the best. 

Nothing is more heart breaking than to say good-bye! It rips us apart.

How can we take them away from all of this?! We love you all so much. 

We simply don't want to go. The week before we left, Tad came to me with the ultimatum. He said I had 12 days to find a job in Utah. He said Dad already found a job. He informed me he wasn't going back. I failed him. 

We wish we could be with these people all the time.