4th of July!!

We thought even though we just moved in, like 3 days ago that we'd better live up the experience of Boston and hit the 4th downtown. It was amazing! It was about 30 min of spectacular fireworks. :) It poured with rain 15 min into it so we got drenched, but we still enjoyed it.

                                                                 Our view of the city.

                                                                Longfellow bridge

                                              Ashley showing her red, white, and blue nails.

Em going crazy while we waited for 2 hours. 

Upstate New York and Niagra Falls

We had a great time going to upstate New York!  We spent a few days away going to Palmyra and then off to Niagra Falls, Canada side.  So gorgeous! 

 

                                                            Our Sacred Grove hike. 

                                  Josh had a notebook and would stop periodically and draw the trees.  They were so amazing I couldn't blame him for wanting to remember them on paper.  :)

                                                          We barely fit on the bench!

                                   Loren always piggybacking somebody that is tired. 

                   After the sites we had time to kill before the Hill Cumorah pageant.  We ate, had amazing ice cream (as you can see on Mason's face) and played at the park. 

I'm so sad that I only got one pic of us waiting to see the Pageant.  We sat with the Gibsons.  It was fun to meet up with them there! 

 Now onto Niagra Falls from the canadian side!  We rode the Maid of Mist!  So fun!  Russ, I thought picked the worst spot on top for us to see everything, but I had to eat my words b/c in the end it was the best!  Way to go Honey!  Mason was not happy to have the blue jacket on, but he was happy to be held my me the whole time. 

                                       I love that Ashley looks like she was eating the mist! 

                          The wind was so strong on the boat so Russ just took off the blue coat. 

                                                                  Horseshoe falls

                                                Owling it!  Loren is really annoyed by it.  :)

                          You can see the Maid of Mist going into the horseshoe.  That's how close we got to it.  It was really a fun thing to do!  The mist and wind was really strong.  The kids loved it!

 It was a lot of walking for the little people so in the end Russ was carrying the team, literally.  :)  Look at Ashley hanging from the stroller!!  :)

                            Waiting for the close encounter with the horseshoe.  Russ and I felt like it was a bit of a disappointment b/c we just did the Maid of the Mist.  But if we'd done it in the reverse it would've been worth it. 

My parents came!!

 We first started out at the Navy Shipyard.  They have ships you can walk on an my Dad is showing us all as you can see above.  :) 

                      Mason wouldn't go unless his sissy Emmy went! 

                                 Holden wanted to climb this baby and so we took a pic!

                                                  Outside of the USS Constitution.

                We had a great time going on the ships.  They also have a museum that is fun for the history side, but fun things for the kids to do as well, and the best part was that the museum was free!  That is very rare in Boston.  To go onto the USS though you had to go threw security and the dear Loren brought his pocket knife....so long story short I told him to throw it in the bushes and we'd get it on the way back so he could go on the ship.  Well unfortunatley, the security threw it in the garbage b/c you can't hide a weapon on federal property.  They had video cams right there.  We were told we could've been arrested for doing so.  Oops.  So security is a serious thing around here.  I'm grateful, but felt so bad for telling him to throw it in there.  He was pretty upset.  It was his fav. 

 Here are my wonderful parents walking with Mason in the woods by our house. 

 Okay people this is the biggest deal of the day!  Plymouth Rock!  My mom is from Plymouth, England so for her to see the other side was very beautiful to see!  She was very touched the whole day.  She felt very close to her family in England seeing the ocean.  Plymouth is a very cute town.  It was a gorgeous day. We went to Plimouth Plantation which was cute and then stepped aboard the Mayflower.  We had fish and chips (even the Lady did) she was going all english on us again.  :) 

              This tiny rock is "the plymouth rock," but still cool to see. 

 These pics were hilarious to me.  These two lately are funny to see.  Loren always has that face and Em this face.  :) 

                                   I love the Atlantic in the back with the sailboats. 

                             Emily just posing and I loved the pic.  :)

Rewind!!

Okay so we have kind of gotten out of order here.....we moved to Boston.  So I am going to post a ton of posts on the fun things we've done this summer!!  I know some of you have wanted to see the Cottage (our 100 year old rental) so here are a few very random shots that the kids have taken.

   You can see the detail on the stairwell and the fun windows!

 Wonderful Em taking Mason, Josh, and Ashley on an adventure in the gardens.

                                             The sideview of the Cottage (taken by kids).

I will post more soon I hope.  For now I'm going to post some fun things we've done around Boston!

Holden's baptism day!

                                                             
                                                                Holden and his daddy!

                                                              Mom, Dad, and Holden

What a special day!  Holden has such a sweet spirit as it is, but he really felt the spirit and so did I.  We ran out of time to take family pictures before the baptism and we were going to go back to our gardens and take the bigger fam pics, but the little kiddos fell asleep.  So this is what we were able to get.  So glad we at least had time for these!

My parents, Russ's parents, Gibson's, and a few people from our new ward came.  Since it was only Holden getting baptized we ran the whole show.  Grandpa Wright gave a wonderful talk on baptism and brought the spirit into the room.  Holden really has a great bond with his Grandpa Wright.  Then my mom, Grandma Fisher did her Holy Ghost talk with props as usual.  She always does a great job!  I think she said this was her 12 time giving it.  Russ did a great job with all the ordinances that were performed and gave a wonderful blessing straight from heaven.  Holden all in all felt loved.  Loved by family and by his Heavenly Father.  He wrote a sweet testimony in his journal about what a great feeling he felt all day. That is my favorite part of them getting baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost, is when they get to actually feel Him.  What a blessing to have that.  I feel a relief to know the Holden  has this protection with him.  I love you Holden!!

Holden's baptism pictures

It's great to be 8!  With a lot of encouraging Holden and I took a walk in the gardens in Elm Bank where we live and took some shot for his baptism picture.  He's not a fan at taking photos, but in the end we got some good shots of him!  

Posing in Elm Bank "the Cottage" gardens

Texas 2012 tour of last times

Well we are at the end of our adventure in Texas. I have cried so hard just thinking about all the good this place as brought to me and my family. We won't leave until the end of June (hopefully not sooner). So I told the kids this is our last time tour 2012! They can choose 1 place they have loved about Texas that is one of their favorite memories, and we'll try to accomplish 1 a month.

To start out our tour we went camping on Jan 1st. We had a great time. Josh smashed his finger in the shelter door and so that was a bummer, the boys went fishing with Russ, me and the younger kiddos went on a hike, but the best part was the being together around the campfire talking. We banned electronics (except for the TV for the little kids) so we had to a talk and laugh. I told some spooky ghost stories. :) Not really I couldn't get past their faces as I'd start so I'd laugh through my whole story, and they'd say, "is that it?" It was nice having Russ all to ourselves b/c as most of you know that is rare. I love him so much! Sorry that was random, but I do.

I have loved this place. As I look at my great friends I have made here and have watched their kids grow up, its like they are my family! I know kids adjust well to their surroundings, but this will be like leaving their cousins for some of the friendships they've built. I truly hope that we stay in contact and see these wonderful kids grow up still. I will miss not hearing their sweet voices when they've called to talk with my kids. People say Houston isn't a beautiful place and I agree, sometimes, but one thing is for sure, the people we have had as dear friends have been beautiful, they have made this adventure beautiful and the best it could be, and to them I am so grateful!

This year for my ornament it's a longhorn and it says, "Texas proud!" I feel I have earned all the rights to be "Texas proud," I feel like I could get away with saying, "ya'll" if I wanted to. Russ even got a gun handlers permit! This has been the only home my kids have known, besides Loren and Em. They are tougher from living here. I mean who gets to catch and play with frogs, bugs, lizards, and even SNAKES in your own backyard? So awesome!

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father who has led us down the paths we have taken as a family. He has been there to help us through obstacle we've jumped.

Okay usually not so cheesy in my blog, but I've been crying not stop and thought if I type out my thoughts then maybe I'll stop crying so much. So if it's random and a lot of jumping around that's why. :)