It's that time of year again.... the time of year that just about knocks me off my feet. It's so busy and full and hectic, but also wonderful and exciting in every way. The end of the year is just around the corner and we have so many awesome things to look forward to! Cannot believe we'll have Grant finishing middle school and heading off to HIGHSCHOOL. And Dane- a senior next year!!!!!! Evelyn will begin her clinical study in nursing school.... so many adventures.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about this month's highlights and I'll keep it brief because I have ZERO time.... tis the season!
First of all, best highlight hands down was our spring break trip to New York City. I can't begin to describe how incredible this trip was. Short and sweet, we visited for 4 days and boy, did we do a LOT in those 4 days. A red eye into the city and a red eye out of the city, the kids were incredible sports and definitely at this age, old enough to go with the flow and just have the best time. We stayed near Madison Garden on 34th Street. PERFECT distance to walk to Time Square or Broadway- which we frequently did. Day one was hop on hop off bus in the rain; catching the bus in Time Square at 6am because it was too early to check into our hotel- haha! We were wiped out but the city is magical and we loved taking it all in- ponchos on, ear phones in, listening to the history of the city. We then enjoyed a fun day shopping and walking around Time Square and mid town, Bryant Park and of course a trip to some of our favorite pizza places. After a quick nap at the hotel, we headed up to Broadway to see Hamilton and it was SO GOOD and SO MUCH FUN. Dane and Grant's 1st musical. I sure loved that night. Loved walking home through the city that never sleeps and stopping AGAIN for pizza on the way back.
Day two, we spent the day in Brooklyn visiting all the old haunts, our beloved Prospect Park which brought back so many fun memories of the old days in which I would just wander out the door EVERY DAY and spend hours walking around the park, swinging on the swings with the kids and riding scooters. Life was so simple and so sweet back then. We showed the kids our apartment building and YMCA across the street where we'd visit for classes and refuge during the winter. 7th Ave for La Bagel Delight and the hospital where Grant was born. We toured DUMBO and ate ice cream from Brooklyn ice cream factory, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then caught the subway back to the hotel for a quick break before the boys took off for a Knicks game at Madison Garden and the girls headed to Six on Broadway. FUN DAY.
Day three, we toured the 9/11 museum and memorial. So tender and touching and good for the kids to learn more about. We walked around Wall Street and had lunch before heading the girls headed off to Lion King and the boys to the Yankee Stadium for a MLS soccer game. Anna and I enjoyed an evening at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the waiters and waitresses sing for you while you eat. Day four, we took the ferry to Statue of Liberty and then spent hours at Central Park. We rounded off the trip by walking around the Lincoln Center, LDS temple and then subway to So Ho to shop. Again, we couldn't have asked for a more wonderful trip- had the best time ever and so glad we did it!
Other highlights for the month included Anna's 12th birthday! She decided on a camping party this year and invited a bunch of her cute girlfriends from school to camp out in her backyard. The girls put together trail mix, decorated hot coco mugs and then drank hot coco! Anna asked for a pasta bar- and s'mores. The girls swam and played games and had the best time. The next day, Anna and Kate had the best day ever at build a bear and Ol' Spaghetti Factory. Safe to say, the girl was sufficiently celebrated :) Love my little sunshine girl.
Spring break kicked off in a very relaxing way-- we enjoyed conference that first weekend and Evelyn at home! We spent time at the beach, at the mall at the gym (Evelyn taught us all how to lift) and at an incredible Nate Bargotze show with Nancy and Herb and Stacy ( a Christmas gift!) This was all somehow in the mix before our New York trip! We fit in a lot of fun times.
We had the best time with Grandma at Disneyland! Evelyn was able to join- and Dane's friend Kenzie. Really great day riding all the rides, eating all the food, talking and walking a lot. We tried going back and forth between the parks a couple times to maximize our time... our rationale? We walked 10 miles a day in New York, we can obviously walk back and forth between parks to ride more rides! THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa for our awesome Disney Christmas gift.
Lots of wonderful youth nights last month. Loved putting together an evening in which the girls learned to make a few freezer meals and then we delivered to 6 people in need. Loved our photography night -- putting together beautiful pictures for our Mother's Day gift this year. Blake put on a combined activity- a Trivia Night and it was a HUGE success. Because there was a tie, questions started to get silly.... what is Bishop's favorite Disney song, who is the best looking member of the Bishopric, What year was Bishop born? Before this though, the questions were difficult and included all sorts of categories and the kids loved it so much. Also took the kids on a temple trip up to the Newport temple where Nancy was there to greet them! Everyone had an amazing time and of course, no temple trip would be complete without a stop on the way home to In-n-Out.
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Kids have been keeping busy with school, friends, mall with friends, beach, flag football and soccer for Grant, lots and lots of time spent with Kenzie for Dane. He asked her to prom with a New York theme since she'd just been and so had he. He planned a picnic for the two of them, and put together a gift basket just to show he cares for her. They paint, swim, laugh, play games, watch movies, cook, bake, and do a whole bunch of driving for me and I love it! Kenzie is sweet and fun loving and a good influence on Dane.
Anna gave her first talk in church and did such a sweet little job. She got her hair cut and is looking so old. The fact that she is now a 12 year old just blows my mind! It was so fun to have Evelyn home with us for a couple of weeks. Lots of trips to the gym, and hikes with Reha. I was so grateful when Evelyn agreed to stay an extra day to take care of me after my implant! I mostly needed her to pick me up and take care of carpools and Coco. She was a sweetheart to do so and to also help in so many ways while she was home. Growing up more and more every time I see her. I'm so grateful for the beautiful person she is becoming in every way!
Keeping me busy this month.... lots of morning meetings to teach coping skills to the middle school girls, lots of beautiful hikes to prepare for my big hike coming up in TWO WEEKS. Just today, we hiked 18 miles. We left the house at 5:30am and returned at 5:30pm and I'm going to go crawl into bed after I finish writing this up! Hahaha..! But it's been very fun along with the other hikes I've enjoyed with friends and walks around the neighborhood to prepare. A few cute pictures of Sundays with Sophie. Last Sunday she kept asking Alexa to "call Anna's mom" so she could come over. Then when her Aunt showed up, she whispered in her ear, "Can you take me to Anna's mom's house." SO CUTE and we love having her over. Speaking of cute, really fun to meet Elizabeth Jorg's granddaughter who was in town last week! She is precious- Brooklyn. Can't believe it Elizabeth is a grandma, but so so fun. Preparing for Blake's upcoming birthday, Pam at the office asked for a bunch of pictures of Blake growing up. Being the lazy son of a gun I am, I begged Nancy to help me collect pictures that were high up in my attic! She came through with flying colors and these pictures are darling and I think will be so cute all around the office. Blake will LOVE it (haha!)
Mormon prom is THIS Friday and we are all busy because Elizabeth Judd is in charge! You can't put our best friend in charge of a 12 stake event and not expect the lot of us to also pitch in and be super duper involved. We've spent hours painting backdrops and this week we will help out each night to set up Eiffel towers, lights, balloon arches, etc. Elizabeth is a decorating genius and I'm just happy to be her minion! the theme is a Night in Paris. So happy Dane is going and excited to go at that! Last but not least, this April Fool's day was my most pathetic April Fool's to date. I was toooooooo tired to put together anything particularly special. Can you believe it? The only prank I could muster: fake poop on the seat of the car for middle school carpool- although that was pretty priceless because it did truly freak the kids out and I also asked if they'd mind just scooping it out of the car real quick to which their horrified faces was about the best part of my day. I vow to do better next year! This whole hiking preparation takes a lot of my time along with young women and helping Blake with his Bishop duties. This is the busiest I've ever felt... not saying that to complain, but just to explain to myself why I failed to execute an exciting April Fool's day. I'm still fun! I promise! Busy busy but wonderful month. So grateful for everything we are a part of and all the details that make our life full right now.
