to celebrate the end of 3rd year before ben started studying again for step 2 of the boards we took a last min. trip to Atlantic City. it was really fun and spontaneous. we did priceline for a hotel and ended up with a 4 star golf resort that was $375 for the night but we paid $60!! we were pretty proud of ourselves. we went to Rainforest cafe on the boardwalk, it was so fun! the kids loved the rainstorm and when all the animals would go crazy. Carson's face is when the gorilla started moving!

Run a Muck

we participated in the coolest race during june! it was an 5k obstacle course through the mountains, a lake and through mud pits. we had a great time, and are totally doing it next year! Here is a picture of Der and Jamie in the mud pit to give you an idea of what we did!



we camped the night before the race and a had a great time.
i think it is safe to say they liked the smores!

Each one of us Unique

We live in one of the most diverse states in the USA and to go along with that Addie's kindergarten play was based on all of us being different but making the picture complete. They used the book The Crayon Box, it is very creative. I am sure I didn't learn about diversity until I was much older! Anyway here is our very own orange crayon making her unique contribution to her class!

We had the chance to go to DC over Easter while Alicia and Aaron were in town. We had a great time, it was the perfect weekend to go because of the cherry blossoms, they were so beautiful. I think we saw everything we wanted to in the short two days we were there, thanks Lishy for planning everything!






But let's be honest here.. this is really how our vacation went...

a whole lot of this..

really glad we gave him a popsicle

drank way too much of this

talks by the wall (nathan's face is classic)

came all that way to play in
a dirt pile!

lots of breaks

sometimes the drink changed hands

lots of picture taking

we are here.. where are you??

and the end of the day pose!!


Needless to say I think City vacations aren't the best for our kids, but we still enjoyed seeing everything. Next Vacation.. to the park down the street!

Ben and Carson celebrated their birthdays in March


true to two year old behavior, getting into the fridge
100 times a day

we are lucky enough to see this cute girl as often as we can

january blahs

january is one of those months that usually pass by without much to say. christmas is over, the house is "not pretty anymore" (thanks addie) but we have been trying to keep ourselves busy despite the blah feeling we usually get this time of year!


we made lots of cookies...


a knight is always around to save the day...



we made a trip to the emergency room.. (at least i made it to my third child before we have stitches in our home). dad got to save mom a trip to the hospital with 3 kids by taking out the stitches at home. our money hard at work.. good job ben!


we built castle grounds with trees. thankfully we had buzz and mr. incredible guarding us



we built a fort in a really dark basement when the power was out (thanks to tara for this idea, it was a lot more fun than using my cell phone light to work on the basement)

we are ready for whatever february wants to bring us!

Thanksgiving in New York

We had a great Holiday, although I am pretty late posting it! We have loved the Fall back east! We missed the fall the last two years in Grenada so we have really taken advantage of it this year.

we are really getting good at getting around the city if I do say so myself! one day we went in and met our friends and spent the whole day in the park! it was wonderful, the day was perfect and we loved the company! the kids had fun just doing what they wanted because we didn't have an agenda or time limit!


We decided to brave the crowds and go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and we are so glad we did! a family in our ward has been going for 25 years so they know exactly what to do! we left our home at 5:30 and got to the spot where they had "reserved seats" for a bunch of people in the ward, it was great. They laid a tarp for the kids and they had front row seats! it was really, really fun to see it in person and just so see how many crazy people there are out there! at one point I left to go get muffins about an hour before the parade and I had a really hard time getting back to the spot, so many people had shown up and New Yorkers are NOT NICE at events like this! we just kept laughing and saying.. Happy Thanksgiving!


Nathan and Addie loved the big balloons, they were so big!


There were a lot of famous people, but Cindy Lauper was by far the craziest! She had pink hair and was atop a princess float, she was NUTS!

It was really crowded, but a great time..we might have to add it to our traditions!


We then headed home (in record time getting out of the city!) and enjoyed a nice thanksgiving dinner! I didn't get many pictures, we were a little busy, but we loved having our family and friends come over and enjoy the day with us!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!