NYC

I had a great weekend with a few of my favorite people in fabulous NYC! My dad put so much thought and effort into planning this trip and it went off without a hitch. 

Gotta love the taxi advertising

The Empire State Building

At the 911 memorial site...very sobering

The new "Freedom Tower"

Exhausted in the elevator

Sex and the City staircase

Friends

My dad and his girls

At Columbia

Yummy food at Sarabeth's

Amber's stairwell in Harlem

The ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

Proof that we were on high alert that day. Their was a secret service man on our ferry, these guys everywhere on the islands, and helicopters were circling. It was terrifying and of course Renee and I were freaking out!

Anything Goes...loved it!

The subway

Yummy Bakery

Central Park

Shopping tour

Phantom...very eerie but amazing voices

FAO Schwartz...my dad is classic

We visited the church/temple on Sunday afternoon

It was a wonderful trip and I am sad that it is over. We laughed, shopped, cried, and made memories to last a lifetime. It was so fun to spend time with all these ladies and of course my daddy! Thanks to my hubby, MIL, neighbors, and SIL who all helped with my kids so I could relax knowing they were in good hands! A special thank you to these 2 amazing people who made this trip possible. I love you!

Til next time :)

Oh What Fun!

We had another wonderful weekend! On Saturday we had a tailgate party at my parent's house for the game! The party was fun, the game was not :(

Double Trouble!

Ryan got the kids hooked on kickball and now they want to play all the time. He and Kelsey are the best and play with them almost every Sunday! They all love it!

Family Night...

The weather was absolutely perfect tonight! I made dinner and we sat outside and ate it on the deck as a family. After that we headed over to the park. We played on the swings and the slides. Chased each other and played tag. I even did cartwheel after cartwheel which Brady and Easton thought was so cool (I thought I may have broken my wrist afterwards. Please refer to my last post about being a cool mom...I should definitely give up). The highlight of the night for the boys was feeding the ducks. This is our favorite park because of the ducks and we have been there many times in the past but I have never seen so many at once. Ryan thinks there were 100 or more. There were even 4 little babies!

 

Luke is currently obsessed with his pockets. Go HERE for more proof!

We ended the night with at Yogurtland! Our favorite! It was the perfect family night!

Weekend Fun!

On Saturday I was lucky enough to go to Mary Poppins with Ryan's family! It was wonderful (except for the 3 hour drive home) and a great GNO! My parents and Kelsey convinced Ryan to meet them at the MV vs. Timpview game at the Bruin Bowl...oh the memories! They had a great time and even though the score did not convey it, MV won (it even said so in the paper today).

Silly Boys

Grandma and Lukey!

On Saturday we woke up bright and early and hit the soccer fields! The boys have really enjoyed playing this year and are improving every week. 

They both scored goals! Easton's may have been in the wrong one but we counted it anyway!

I spend a lot of time screaming at them to get off the net! 

Cutest little soccer boys I know!

That afternoon my parents and Kelsey came and picked us up and we went on a hike to Battle Creek Falls! Ryan was not feeling well so he stayed home with Luke. It was a beautiful day and a perfect hike for the boys. They did great and loved every second of it!

So fun!

There were caterpillars all over the trail...even on Papa's hat! The boys loved counting them!

Love my boys!

The best parents and grandparents!

Throwing rocks with Aunt Kelsey!

They did it! Tough boys!

That night we had fun with friends cheering on the Cougars! They should have won :( Other than that it was a great weekend with family, friends, and sports! What more could you want!

The Funeral

The funeral was wonderful! We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support we received as a family at such a difficult time. We had a lot of friends come to the viewing as well as the funeral. We were given flowers, cards, a beautiful statue of a father and son, cupcakes, and shoulders to cry on. We cannot thank you all enough for being such great family and friends.

My own family went above and beyond, especially my mom and Kelsey. My mom brought in food, bought my kids new outfits, helped me do pictures, stayed up late with me at Kinko's to get the program printed, and on and on it goes. She also took all these pictures! She was the best support for me. Kelsey skipped out on work to make the remembrance video which we will forever cherish. She also helped with my kids on multiple occasions. When I was sitting at the family luncheon they even showed up with a big Dr. Pepper for me :) They are amazing and will never know how much we appreciate everything they did!

Gary was a police officer for Orem City for many years. I thought it was perfect that he had a police escort and was buried at the Orem Cemetery.

The pallbearers

My kids looked that cute! (Don't mind me...the lack of sleep, stress, and free falling tears did not do me any favors)

At the service they had all the policemen stand up. There were probably 40. Thank you!

Gary's mission companion owns a mortuary and he did a wonderful job with everything. We were able to spend time with him and hear stories we had never heard. These are the missionaries that were able to attend the funeral. Amazing after all these years.

Gary had requested that a bag piper play. Of course we granted that and it was perfect!

My nephew Brien also played the trumpet

Each of us had a flower to place on the casket. The kids were extremely emotional which made it even harder as parents.

This broke my heart...I love this picture and this man!

The McGiven Family

Too cute

All 20 grandchildren (it was blazing hot and I let my kids change and then we decided to take pictures...oops!)

My handsome man!

So grateful for my sweet little family and for my knowledge of eternal families!

First Day!

Brady and Easton had their first day of Preschool yesterday! They were so excited to go back to Miss Cathy! We are so lucky we found such a great teacher! They told me they wish they could go to school "everyday". I love that they are in a phase where they love to learn and soak everything up. I also enjoy having 3 days a week to hang out with Lukey and get my errands run. It is a lot easier with only 1 kid :) I love these boys!