Peace out NYC!

I had been counting down the days to our move out date and it seemed as if would never come. As it approached I kept feeling so anxious that it wouldn't actually happen, that something would come up or go wrong. I was determined not to let that happen! Our last weeks were a whirlwind. Elly was born, then a few days later I had a going away party thrown by the best friend a girl could have, K Diggity. Of course i have no pictures to prove it happened so you'll just have to believe me. It was a blast, she went around the city and got food from all of my favorite places. Indian, ethiopian, rice pudding and levain cookies. It was awesome.

NYC was SO good to us. It shaped and molded us into who we are today. It made us tougher and more compassionate, it helped us to align our priorities, it motivated us to be better people. It was the hardest, most maddening, lovely wonderful and amazing 8 years of our lives. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm so grateful for the opportunities that we were given there, the friends we made, the food we discovered, the plays seen, the craziness, cold, rain, heat EVERYTHING! It really puts life in perspective when you're there. I lived in NYC now I know I could live anywhere!


We packed everything we would need for a month because I was determined to find a place within that time frame and thankfully we did.

Saying goodbye to Osman was hard. We all cried.

He was our surrogate grandpa while we were there and the first person we met in the city. We got off the plane and went to the apartment and met Osman. He has been so beyond generous to us, feeding us, giving the kids amazing Christmas presents, helping us fix anything we needed etc. We love him!

After a few pictures we realized someone was missing....August! Duh! He had been asleep in his carseat!

August got a black eye a few days before we left because Levi dropped him at the park!

So with a 10 day old baby and 4 other kids we set off in our packed car. Poor kids in the back, they had NO room! Nee Nee was such a trooper!



Woo Hoo! See ya lata!

Palmyra

Way back when (in July) The kids, Nee Nee, Julie and I took a roadie to Rochester to see our gorgeous friend, Christa! It was such a blast and we loved invading their space. I love upstate NY, it is beyond gorgeous and SO green. I have been to the Sacred Grove many times and just love it. I have absolutely felt the spirit here and it has testified to me that Joseph Smith did in fact see our Father in Heaven and the Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for that testimony because with it brings the knowledge of eternal families, temple ordinances and all of the other wonderful things that go along with being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 











Sacred Grove

 

 

Poor Julie had to endure Nee Nee and I singing for hours on end.

 

We went a little cray cray being in the car for so long. 

We sat smack dab in the front. Funny story, I knew that our friends the Ortons would be there performing but I thought what are the odds that I would see them. Sure enough one of the first performers I see walking around is their oldest daughter Karina! It was so fun to see their awesome family there.



Lake Ontario was SOO gorgeous!



This guy was doing this....so amazing to see it all come together. Sadly there was a deluge about 5 minutes later so it got washed away. But you know, being a sand artist has it's hazards.







We totally got stuck in the aforementioned deluge and saw lightening strike...pretty amazing!

Elyse in UT

This summer Elyse got to spend 2 weeks with her grandparents in UT! We missed her but she had SO much fun! It's hard being apart from family and it's sad that she doesn't know her cousins well so we hope that we can continue this every year.....if it's ok with Grandma and Papa that is :)


Can's dad races cars and always has something new and fun to drive around.

The cousins did a lemonade stand.

Of course Elyse made a friend at the skating rink.

The campout.

Due to rain it ended inside :)

Boys

Cute boys! I can't believe I've got 3 of them now! 

June

Cannon's parents came for their last visit in the city...I hope they had fun!

Elyse had a singing recital and rocked it! My daughter is so talented. I would share the video but the audio didn't turn out too well on my camera and it's pretty splotchy.

Also, can I brag about my BFF K-digg? Elyse asked her to come and she came. So thoughtful because Elyse idolizes her and just felt so special when she saw her there. Thanks a million K digg!

That same day it was also my amazing hubby's birthday! I made a bomb.com strawberry shortcake cake and because I'm awesome the only candle we had was an 8.

 

South Carolina!

After some very long hours in the car we made it to South Carolina!


We pulled into downtown and flew out of the car into the most gorgeous park I've ever seen!

 

 

 

Then we saw this in the water....



We think it was related to this thing that we saw a few days later on the beach.

We stayed in Mt Pleasant which was very pleasant and they had a farmers market...score!

The walk to the gorgeous beach on Sullivan's island

Someone found this dolphin and dragged it to shore....sad :(

The amazing Ravenel bridge that takes you to Mt Pleasant from downtown.

This is our new home! Ok not, but I WISH!

Such a cute brother moment!

 

SC has the MOST gorgeous sunsets. We planned on moving there after our trip. We are here now and love it! We move into our rental house tmrw (wish us luck!) It has a fenced in yard and an island in the kitchen...woot! Our ward is amazing and we just love the beauty that we are surrounded with.

North Carolina!

Approximately 5 months ago we went on a roadie. I have always wanted to live in NC. I have never visited but I had it in my head. Later I got it in my head that SC would be nice too. SO we packed up the 'burb and went on a LOONG road trip to check it out!

 

Someone forgot to put the attachment on when I...I mean they, shaved his head.

Uber white trash. We loved it though! They had a rockin' blue grass band that we all dug....love me some blue grass!

It was fun for a minute until the creepy carney kept him on too long.

This water balloon tosser was pretty awesome.

 

 

The temple! I made Can take a pic of me to document my existence on this trip.

We loved NC and it felt very familiar but it also felt very suburban. Lots of chains and not a lot of the charm that we have been so spoiled with in the city.

Up next, SC!