A Final Farwell

I am now heading home. has been a fun summer with adventures galore. Three months into things I must say though that I am ready to be done. I certainly cant complain as we have spent our days at the pool and the amusement parks and enjoyed fabulous weekend getaways... but believe it or not there comes a time when you miss the simpler things of life- like a church calling (weird I know) and your kid's friends (weirder still), and above all- home sweet home! Here are a few final parting pictures from the summer- some recent and some that somehow just didn't make the blog earlier. Bear with me as I do some reminiscing.A few "pool shots"- The one above is Kenna in her beloved fish- who she not only rode as a floaty toy but also made sure he was well fed and took plenty of naps. Below is Brayden with Opa who coached him to swim all the way across the width of the pool without ever touching the bottom. Go Brayden!

Above: These are the kids Hershey friends. Kevin works with their dad- so thats the connection but we were lucky to get to know them and do a few babysitting swaps. As you can see the kids bonded quite quickly!

The above and below pictures are of Dutch Wonderland. We visited there three times this summer and enjoyed each experience. Below is a picture of the dive show "The Frog Price." A more accurate reflection of our summer would be a picture of the dive/sea lion show at Hersheypark because I don't know how many times we saw it but lets just say Brayden can pretty much quote portions of it word for word.This is the historic restaurant where we dined for our anniversary. Its actually a National Historic Monument. The decor was very hmmmm whats the word- well lets just say we ate in a cute little table right in a nice round windowsill where we were distanced from others by one of those doors made of beads (like you would imagine to find at a gypsy house). We had a hard time keeping a straight face when they showed us to our table. It was fun, DELICIOUS and a great memory- sorry we don't have pictures to share with us in it- I just didn't like how they came out- I am getting too pregnant for pictures- sorry!

And finally, for those not familiar with "Chocolate World" it is basically a huge store with every Hershey product you could imagine. It also has a very cool tour ride where you learn how chocolate is made (I am guessing we rode that about 15- 20 times this summer- not exaggerating). There is also a few restaurants and a 3-D show. As you can see Makenna found her pleasure there in creating some sort of teddy bear picnic. And yes we did have to buy her one of those bears.

PARTY IN HERSHEY

This week we had a blast with Grandma and Julie who made the long flight (or should I say flights) out here. We did church on Sunday with a special sacrament just for them including talks from both Kevin and I. On Monday it was off to the amish country and a few outlets and a brief dip in the swimming pool. Tuesday featured Hersheypark, pedicures at the chocolate spa and a kid-free dinner at Houlihans. Wednesday is a blur but I know we hit the outlets and met Kevin for lunch and Julie was lured back to the spa. Thursday we had the complete Chocolate World expeience, an Elvis meeting, and more Hersheypark. I think the "eligible roller coaster riders" all got their fill of thrills. I was a big slacker in the picture taking department so here are some of the few photo highlights I have to show (check out Julie's blog in the coming days as she is sure to post some better photos there- hopefully soon).

Here is mom and Julie with "Elvis." This week Kevin was busy with some Elvis promotional stuff having to do with the new limited edition peanut butter banana cup (mmm delicious) and the pink cadillac give away contest- maybe you have heard of it or seen Kevin on the news. Heres a link if you want to check it out. He is not being interviewed but he is a prominent lurker in the background.
http://www.vmsdigital.com/MyFiles_Detail.aspx?mediaId=188235&onum=8AA3212B-DF1D-4A9A-9DD2-76BC5785C745

Kevin was in New York on Monday and Tuesday, and chauffeuring Elvis all around Hershey on Wednesday and Thursday.

At Chocolate World we had our personalized chocolate bar made- isn't it cool!

Happy Anniversary

Here's to 6 wonderful years!
(Sorry about the blurry flowers- just pretend its like a special photography effect)

The Children's Museum

I am a bit behind in my posting but last Friday we went to the children's museum in Lancaster. The kids had a lot of fun. I think they are missing their toys. It was pretty hard to pull them away from all the fun toys they had there.

Makenna's favorite thing was picking the corn off the velcro wall and feeding it to the big pig. The museum definitely gave you the Lancaster county cultural experience with an emphasis on corn and livestock. It was cute!

My kids are not big into dress up per say- but they did enjoy the hats!

Brayden is quite good at the poses- wouldnt you say- he knows just what to do when wearing a pirate hat!

Washington D.C.

This weekend we decided we should visit the temple. On Friday we left Hershey about noon and arrived at our hotel in Silver Spring Maryland about two o 'clock (not too bad of a drive). That afternoon we took the kids to see the temple grounds then we went to eat and then I went to do a session while Kevin took the kids to the pool and put them to bed. On Saturday morning, we met up with the Bassett's and Kevin did a session with them while I played with the kids. For the most part, it worked out pretty well. It is a beautiful temple and I am so glad we made the effort to get there before our summer here ends. Saturday afternoon we set out to see the sites of D.C. This is a shot of the White House, which was taken by Kevin using the zoom of our camera, and below is a shot of the White House (with Brayden) which more accurately depicts the view us tourists get.
And here we are in front of the Washington monument. We seem to be looking directly into the sun, which will help explain our facial expressions. Unfortunately, I cant tell you much more about the significance of the monument. I sure could use a refresher course in US history.

It was a very hot day in Washington- though some I was with were saying it was actually quite dry and so the 97 degree heat was not that bad- I guess its all in how you look at it. Luckily we found a little fountain to get ourselves a much needed cool down- yes even I enjoyed a little splash.

The Lincoln memorial was a definite highlight in our site seeing. It was very cool and powerful and I am glad we walked and walked and walked to get there. I would recommend visiting D.C for sure though try to time it when you don't have small children or pregnant women with you as they can be a bit whiney in the heat. Special thanks to our photographer and tour guide, Kristi. We were so lucky to have her join us and I wish I would have taken her picture.

All in all, a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Kevin

In keeping with tradition we had the famous flag cake (the small version) and yes it does look like I am getting a bit sloppy (esspecially with the stars) but it still tasted delicious. It was a special challenge this year not having my usual equipment. We had to mix it all by hand with a small metal spoon and use a serrated knife to zest the lemon- just like those poor pioneers. I splurged though and bought a new pan to put it in. Unfortunately I am quite sure I left the pan in the shopping cart because it was no where to be found when I went to make the cake (lets call that one "pregnancy brain"). So I knocked on the neighbors door and borrowed a pan (hence the smaller version cake). It all worked out though and I think Kevin would say he had a good birthday- I hope. We were joined by the Bassetts and were able to celebrate Alexa's special birthday as well. I even attempted cooking my first batch of ribs- which went more smoothly than I would have expected. All in all, despite the cool weather, which thwarted our pool plans, I think we managed to have a good day.


At night we watched the fire works from the lawn just outside our house. Brayden even got to stay up for that and I know he enjoyed his special time with daddy. When he saw the first star in the night sky he told Kevin that he made a wish and the wish was that we could be a family forever. What a sweetheart he can be. (I thought I should note Kevin was happy- even though this particular picture doesn't show it).