New York & Washington DC Family Trip

Wow!  This was an amazing trip.  I still cannot believe we were able to take our kids and see and do all of the great things that we were able to.  It was such an awesome experience.  I am not going to go into a lot of detail here because we always try to make a whole book about each of the vacations we go on.  I just want to include some of the highlights!

We were in 8 states! (New York State, New York City, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware and New Jersey!!)

We were gone a total of 16 days!

The first half of our trip we spent in New York State touring the Church History sites there.  Mike and Debbie joined us and our two families traveled together.  We stayed 5 nights in hotels at different locations along the way.  We saw and learned so much.  I love Rochester, NY.  Chris and I both decided if we ever had to move far away from home, we'd go there.  It was peaceful and beautiful...and I would take a stroll into the sacred grove daily!!

We were able to visit:

Liberty Island - Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

The Palmyra Pageant (my favorite part of the whole trip)

The Smith Family farm in Palmyra

The Sacred Grove

The book of Mormon printing office

The Palmyra Temple

The kids and dads did baptisms for the dead in the Palmyra Temple

Hill Cumorah

Niagarra Falls (awesome)

Lake Erie

Kirtland Temple

 Newell K. Whitney store

 Newell K. Whitney house & sawmill

John Johnson Farm

The second half of our trip began the Southwick Family Reunion.  We were joined by Tracy, Bill, John and their families.  We all stayed at Mike and Debbies house for the next week.  Debbie had worked so hard to set up many tours and sight seeing opportunities for us.  It was amazing.  The weather was HOT and sooo humid, but overall we had such a great time.

We were able to visit:

A tour of the White House

Several Smithsonian Museums

A tour of the State Capitol

Federal Archives

Washington DC Temple & Visitors Center

A tour of the Pentagon

Arlington National Cemetary

Virginia Beach (the ocean was so fun)

The Glass House in Historic Jamestown

Chris had to fly home a couple days before the rest of us to get back to work.  So the last 2 days the kids and I spent in New York City with Bill and Marci and their family.  The only catch was that I had to drive myself and my children from Virginia...through the craziest traffic I have ever seen...into New Jersey to our Hotel.  But we made it!!  Once we got there Bill took us sightseeing.

We were able to see:

Time Square

World Trade Center Memorial

One of the best trips we have ever been on.  But I'm pretty sure we needed some rest and relaxation once we got home.  Every single day was so packed.  We really made the most of our time there and saw and experienced everything we possibly could!  Great experience we won't forget!!

We can't wait...

5 MORE DAYS...we have been looking forward to and waiting for the day to arrive when we will board the airplane and fly away to NEW YORK CITY!!  The kids are so excited, and so are Chris and I. 

 A few years ago Mike and Debbie warned us all that they would be having the reunion of 2012 in Virginia.  Chris and I started saving our points.  We knew it would take a lot of them and we wanted to be able to go.  It is nothing short of a miracle.  We were able to have enough points from a program at his work to be able to buy our airfare, rental car, 6 nights in hotels all over New York, Discovery passes into Niagarra Falls, airport parking...almost every detail was taken care of.  It will take some of our own money, but nothing comared to the cost it would be for such a great trip.

I don't know why we are so blessed, but I am sooo grateful that we had the opportunity to be in Nauvoo with our family last year, and that we will be able to tour the rest of the Church History Sites in New York this year.  That has been a dream of mine for many years and I almost can't believe it has all worked out!!

We will be gone for 16 days.  Mike and Debbie have planned an awesome reunion for us.  We are excited to see the sites as well as spend lots of time with family.  The kids are so excited to see their cousins.  Brinley keeps telling me that she is most excited for #1-to ride on an airplane because she has never done this before, and #2- to get to play with the Virginia Maddie. We have 2 Maddie cousins, so that is why she is known as the Virginia Maddie.

Lots to do before we leave...but we are so excited!!

Emilee's Girls Camp

This year Emilee got to go to girls camp at Heber Valley Girls Camp.  This opportunity only comes around about once every 5 years.  They stay in nice cabins and the camp is set up with so many activities and fun things to do.  She had a great time.  Em has so many great friends in our ward.  She is very lucky and loves to spend time with them.  Thanks to her great YW leaders for all the hard work put in to make camp great this year!

Curls!!!

 Brinley discovered if she gets in the tub in the morning, then wears her hair all that day and all night in two french braids, this is what she gets the next morning!!  We thought it turned out pretty darn cute.

I love her long blonde hair.  Her big sisters are also jealous of it.  It is thick, has natural highlights and she is young enough I can still make her let me fix it.  I'm afraid my years of this are limited, but I will take advantage of the few that I have left!!

Very Creative Girls!!

 This is what happens at our house when girls get bored!!  Kylee saw this idea on pinterest and talked Quincy and Brinley into being her willing participants.  They drew chalk pictures all over the driveway and then took pictures. 

I think Quincy and Brinley are really going to miss Kylee and her fun ideas when she goes to college!!  They love her dearly...good thing they still have Emilee as a great big sister!

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we tried something a little different.  It was definitely an experience and a memory we will never forget...but not something we will probably ever try again!  We decided to be a food vendor at the Plain City 4th of July Celebration.  Only those who wanted to give up their usual 4th of July traditions participated and we were pretty sure we were set up to make a fortune!  Grandpa and Grandma, Alex and Kacey, Clint, Heidi and Maddie, and our family chose to participate.  We set up shop to sell cotton candy, popscicles, pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, drinks, chips and ice cream bars!  We were very brave for our first plunge into it.  It took a ton of work on everyone's part.  We spent months talking and planning and shopping...and the whole day before setting up. When our big day arrived we were very frustrated to find that there were tons of other food vendors.  We had been assured that we would be one of only a couple!  Needless to say...after a very long, hot but pretty fun day we were excited to be done.  The moment of truth awaited as we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house to find out if we were in the hole, had broken even, or made the thousands we were hoping for.  We had big plans to take the money and rent a huge cabin at Island Park next summer.  Well......we made enough to give each of the kids that helped $15.00!!!  Not what we were hoping for, but we were so grateful that we had not gone in the hole!   

Even though it was not as successful as we had hoped, it was pretty great to see us all work together to accomplish something BIG!  It was a big undertaking and we did a good job even if we didn't make our millions!  We will just have to save our pennies and find a different way to get us that great cabin in Island Park!!

Kade's Soccer Season

 Kade has played competitive soccer since he was 5!!  I know, crazy parents, but that boy loooves soccer.  He has been on 2 different teams and he loves to play.  He plays the mid position and he as a great team.  They just finished up their spring season in first place!!  Yahoo!!

Kade has learned a lot of life lessons through soccer.  He has learned that he gets different results when he tries his best verses giving something a half hearted effort.  I appreciate his coach.  He always tells the boys that he doesn't care so much if they win or lose (although from all the yelling from the sidelines I'm not sure I completely believe this) or if they are the BEST player.  He only cares that each boy gives his BEST EFFORT.  Kade has put this to the test and has seen the results.  I was very proud of him a few weeks ago at his last game.  He got a little tired and lazy on a game earlier in the season and he paid for it by sitting on the bench for a bit.  The last two games, and interestingly the two hottest games of the season, he really gave it his all.  He scored the first goal of the game and and had the assist for the second goal! 

That is one thing I think makes it worth all the time and effort put into supporting kids in sports.  They learn lessons that hopefully will go way beyond the actual sport itself.  I have seen them learn determination, drive and a desire to set goals and work hard to accomplish them.  It's also been fun to watch them interact and be a part of a team.

Good Job Kader...you are awesome!!!