DC Temple

We went to the visitor center a couple months back. We were married here 12 years ago...how time flies! I love this temple so much!

All of the above photo creds go to Elyse. 

Nee Nee and Elyse

I love these girls. 

Merry Christmas

It is Thanksgiving day as I'm writing this, but when this posts I will be celebrating the day in Playa del Carmen and getting tan :) Have a great day and remember why we celebrate....to honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Lucky

I consider myself a pretty lucky person. I've got an awesome family, my health and I always seem to get the hair, bag tie, plastic thing or bug in my food or drink. This time being lucky has really paid off because my parents are taking us all to Mexico for Christmas! We are leaving today and we are stoked! I can't wait to get a tan and just chillax with everyone and be at the Mayan ruins for the end of the world. Peace out everyone...see ya on the flip side ;) 

My loves

Nee Nee and Hyrum. These two are my loves. I was 13 and 16 (respectively) when they were born and I feel like they are my kids in a way. 

My amazing mama and Hyrum. 

Photo creds to Nee Nee...she is quite the budding photgrapher :)

The Cloisters

My friend Elissa and I took our boys up to Ft Tryon Park in Inwood. The view was gorgeous but the woods were....um, well....gross! We saw lots of trash, a dead mouse and a condom. Awesome. 

Her little boy Matthew (the one in the front) has Neuroblastoma. He's 4 and has had quite an eventful year. He is an amazing kid and she is an amazing mama. 

The boys tried their hand at rock climbing and did a really great job. 

Apple picking

Once upon a time we borrowed K dawgs saweet ride to go apple picking. 

Everyone was in a bad mood but I still forced a family(ish) picture. 

But then they realized that they could pay to work (and eat for free) and then they were in heaven and we ate lots of apples....

And Can took a picture of our booties.....

And they loved the wagons and nature.....

And my husband does smile sometimes....

And the kids discovered this thing.....and Levi discovered his thing (as you can see in the pic) he is starting to get better but I am constantly saying "Levi! Get your hand outta your pants dude!"

Exhibit B.

This kid is OBSESSED with his dad. He screams bloody murder if he gets put down from his arms. It's very sweet :) 

Love these boys!

And we had so much fun apple picking and being OUT of the city! 

The End. 

A love story....

Once there was a juicy pear.

Until Mr Penis came along. The end. 

Guitar

Elyse is teaching herself the guitar, she is getting good and is usually happier about it than this picture shows. 

Richard Simmons

Maybe you will get sick of me posting pictures of this cute little face but I never do....except at 4am which was when he was waking us up for about a month. I put a stop to that a couple of weeks ago and it has been smooth sailing...for now :) 

Dapper Dan

This dude is going to be a smooth operator ;) 

The first day of school

The first day of school (2.5 months ago) was much anticipated since we were moving back into the school that we moved out of 4 years ago. It is brand new and gorgeous and best of all? Both kids go to it and it is less than 10 minute walk....yahoo!

Here are the obligatory first day of school shots.....in sequence.

We can do better!

C'mon let's get serious!

Blinker!

Double blinker!

No more flash!

OK now open your eyes really wide...NO blinking!

This will have to do 

Governor's Island

We went out to governor's island which is a really creepy deserted island. It used to house navy families but now it is just full of empty, dilapidated apartment buildings as well as some really pretty homes. Strange place, but super pretty and a great place to go to ride (rented) bikes. 

Evan thought bike riding was lame so he fell asleep instead. 

We're back!

Welcome back to our lives! I know you've missed us! The latest and greatest:

Cannon started a masters program at NYU. It is a 1.5 year program and he is just about finished with his first semester...one down 3 to go!! When he finishes next December he will have a masters in real estate.

 Evan is crazy, he trashes my house every day and some days I clean up after him. He climbs on everything. Toilet tank, table, window sills you name it. He has an allergy that we are trying to figure out. His upper lip gets super red so right now he's on an elimination diet. sad face. Levi got glasses and a mohawk, pics to come. Elyse is on the running team at school which she loves! And it's free which is a huge bonus! I have started going back to the gym more regularly yay! 

Palmyra

In July we went to Palmyra to camp and see the Hill Cumorah Pageant/Sacred Grove where it all began.



We had a great long ride up there. We were lucky enough to borrow our friends car and I was so happy that my second spouse Karley was able to come with her kids. Our kids were just absolutely not great travelers. (sorry Elyse, I know you will be reading this but it's true dawg.) and her kids were absolute saints.

Our campsite was lovely. It had a cute little stream and about a million mosquitos, but my natural bugspray exceeded our expectations and no one got a single bite in 2 days!


Evan was ALL over the place! I didn't tell Cannon but he almost dove headfirst down a steep little embankment into the creek. I caught him by the leg just in time. Oops :) 

The best part of camping!

The worst part of camping? Sleeping. Evan was restless and I think I was sleeping on a rock. Again, Mavi and Xan slept like logs. My kids were up half the night and then at the crack of dawn. Oh and the second night it rained and continued to rain...that made for some good fun cleaning up the campsite. It also made for a fun ride home.

Bullfrog!

At the Hill Cumorah.

The Sacred Grove

 

 

 

I grew up with these beautiful green forests in northern VA....I miss nature!

Blackberry picking!

 

This was the garden at the Smith home. The missionaries get to grow stuff!!

So freaking cute! 

Ugh...so gorgeous! I want nature in my life!

 

 

I love my boys!

I love this picture of my girl. I wish this was my barn!

 

 I was walking toward the car and waving at Evan....he was SO excited! Not only because he was driving but because he kind of likes me.

Oh and we swam in this beautiful lake in a darling town called Canandaigua. They had THE best ice cream ever and it was only $2 for a hugmongous cone. We decided that upstate NY is the ice cream capital, there is an ice cream store on every corner. No joke. We sampled many but this was the best one that we had.

This was such a fun trip! I absolutely love road trips and can't wait to go again.

 If you want to see a recap of our last trip to Palmyra you can check it out here. There are pics of Canandaigua lake and me rockin' my short hair.
http://thecrunchyapples.blogspot.com/search?q=palmyra