Spring Break

Two of my brothers and my sister came to Massachusetts for their Spring Break. They love being an uncle or an aunt and Mckenzie thinks it's the coolest thing to get so much attention. We did tons of stuff in the week they were here. We went to Plymouth Rock, a tour of Fenway Park, and Washington D.C.! They were such helpers with Mckenzie. It was nice to have the help. They even babysat the girls so that Dan and I could actually go to the temple TOGETHER! The Boston temple is BEAUTIFUL. I'm just hoping that one day I'll run into Mitt and Ann Romney there. HA! Here's some pictures of our week with them.

PLYMOUTH ROCK

The area surrounding Plymouth Rock is gorgeous!


The actual rock is a bit of a letdown. I had always imagined it as this HUGE rock that you could climb. Oh well. It's still neat to see the engravened "1620" on it.

Abby, Mckenzie and I standing in front of the Mayflower replica.


FENWAY PARK

If you aren't a baseball fan you will be once you've gone to Fenway Park. If you are a baseball fan of some other team, once you visit Fenway, you'll become a Red Sox fan! The history and intensity of it all is incredible.
View from the pressbox



The "Green Monster"

Oldest and Original Seats in Baseball

Uncle Spencer and Mckenzie playing in the stands. It was so cold and rainy.


A couple random pictures near the park




Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. was incredible. Being there, you gain a greater appreciation for our for-fathers and the sacrifice that so many have made for this country and our freedom.

Washington Monument

Looking out towards the Lincoln Memorial

Shelby at the World War II Memorial

Spencer and Shelby at the Lincoln Memorial

Jessica and Dan and the Washington Monument behind us

Mckenzie and Abby at the Lincoln Memorial

At the Vietnam Memorial there was almost absolute silence. People were so respectful. I wish they would be as respectful to those who are fighting in the Iraq war and show more support then they do.

This tree that Bree is standing in front of smelled so good. If anyone knows what kind of tree it is, please let me know. We couldn't figure out what smell it had, but it was like a mix of sugar and vanilla.

Mckenzie coloring with her aunt and uncle at the White House visitor's center

Mckenzie was so patient waiting in line at the National Archives. We ended up stepping out of line and going there the next day.

Isn't the capital building beautiful? We couldn't believe how much security there was. One of my brothers asked a guard if he could take a picture with him, but he said no. Where's the fun?

You might be thinking this is a random picture, but it's not for us. This is a monumental day for us! Mckenzie fell asleep for the FIRST time in the stroller. We celebrated by taking a picture. Are we bad parents for thinking it's exciting that our daughter is taking a nap in the stroller???

I really wanted to get a picture of us all without the stroller, but we weren't about to wake them up.

Library of Congress

After waiting in a LONG line, we were able to visit the National Archives and since we had a stroller, they gave us special treatment and we were able to go through everything faster once we got inside. Sorry about the picture turnout. They don't allow you to use a flash.
Constitution of the United States of America


I can put Abby's hair up! I don't think any of our babies will be bald.

We came at a great time. The Magna Carta is on display for a few weeks.

Bree in front of the National Archives

Shelby in front of the National Archives

Pregnant AGAIN!?!

Alright, before you start picking up that phone please read on. NO! I'm not pregnant. A couple of my brothers and my sister came out to Massachusetts for spring break. One night we went out to dinner and this is a conversation I had with our waitress:
Waitress: "Wow. So all of these kids are yours?"
Jessica: "No, just the two little girls"
Waitress: "Oh, so soon you'll have your hands full with 3"
Jessica: "What do you mean" (in GREAT confusion)
Waitress: "Well, you're pregnant" (as she looks at my belly)
Jessica: "No, I'm not"
Waitress: "Ohhhh, sorry. I just...just...you never can tell........"

Needless to say, she didn't get the greatest tip. So, I know I haven't been PERFECT in getting back into shape and I know that my sweater was buttoned only at the top, but still! It teaches me that I just have to laugh things off and not get offended.

Second half of our California trip

We've been busy tourists. Here's a look at what we've been up to.

The Mystery Spot is where everything is level, but the gravitational pull or something makes everything off. Hard to explain. An example: The tour guide placed a ball on a 2x4 board that was sloped. He rolled the ball, but once the ball reached a certain spot it rolled back up the board. Creepy, huh?

My aunt and uncle took us around Santa Cruz. It's one of the best places to surf, or so I hear. One of my goals in life is to get my knee strong enough to where I'd feel comfortable learning how to surf. It looks hard, but a lot of fun! The beaches are beautiful and it made for a nice drive. They also took us near the point of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. I'm sure glad there wasn't an earthquake the day we visited! The forest was beautiful and we couldn't believe how HUGE the trees were. Sorry the pictures are so dark.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was a big hit with Mckenzie. She continues to have a fascination with sea life. My cute cousin, Lauren came with us. She adores Abby and was such a big helper.

We went on the "17 mile drive" and saw spectacular ocean views, drove passed Pebble Beach (it's been 6 years since I last went golfing and I sure wasn't going to golf at the "elite" Pebble Beach), and then onto Carmel. Can I just say, I LOVE CARMEL! There are ton's of little shops and a beautiful beach. Being there made me feel like I was back in Europe. Sigh...someday I'll go back.

I took the girls to Half Moon Bay. It's a big tourist trap, but it was beautiful. Mckenzie loved playing on the beach, though after what happened in Carmel she's not quite sure about going in the water.

The Japanese Gardens were beautiful. I found these gardens in the middle of San Jose. You would never expect something like this in a metropolitan area. On our way back to the car, Mckenzie kept picking up rocks and I kept saying, "yup, that's a rock". So, she started saying it too. I love the way she say "rock". She says, "rrrrrrrrrok".

This past Saturday we adventured up to San Francisco. We didn't get to all that we wanted to, but we had fun. We went to Muir Woods and a most amazing chocolate store called Cocabellas. They import all their chocolate and it's definantly worth the money you fork over. We were going to stop by the Golden Gate bridge to walk across it, but Mckenzie and Abby were sleeping and we weren't about to wake them up. We also spent a while trying to find the "Full House" house, but I didn't remember the street correctly, so we ended up driving around for awhile. oops! So, we'll have to do those things when we come back in May along with Alcatrez and the Wax museum.

During the winter time, Dan's grandma lives in California with her daughter and son-in-law and then during the summers she lives in Idaho. They live about an hour and a half from San Jose so we spent a Sunday with them. It was great to be with family. They have a huge orchard with almost any fruit you could imagine!

I took Mckenzie and Abby to "Happy Hallow Park". It's a zoo and amusement park for kids around 5 and under. Mckenzie loved it! She played and played and played some more. She loved the petting area and I was so paranoid about the goat poo. Oh well, she only picked it up a couple of times. Why don't kids see how disgusting some things are?

Our California trip so far

We've been in California for about a week and a half and are having lot's of fun, though I wouldn't trade Massachusetts for California! We arrived on a friday (Feb.22) and the next day we spent the day with our mission president and his wife (President and Sister Hall) in Carmichael. It was wonderful to spend time sharing memories and experiences and just catching up with them. I am so grateful that Mckenzie and Abby met them. President and Sister Hall are very dear to me and to have them meet our little girls was wonderful! They love serving missions and have their papers in and are waiting for their next call!


I had to get this picture. President and Sister Hall took pictures with each of the missionaries when they arrived in the country and the missionary would always be in the middle. So, me being the sap that I am, had to get another one and I figured this would be Mckenzie and Abby's first "missionary photo". hehe.

Sunday Feb 23, we spent time with my aunt and uncle who live in an absolutely beautiful area between Santa Cruz and Monterey. I hadn't seen them in about two years, so it was great to spend time with them and play with their two cute kids Lauren and Chris. Monday, Dan had to go to work and unfortunantly Mckenzie had a fever. So, I stayed in the hotel with Abby and Mckenzie for the next two days waiting out the fever. Fun, huh?
I decided to keep Wednesday a little low key, so I took the girls up to the Oakland temple. It's beautiful! We toured around the visitor's center and Mckenzie absolutely LOVED the Christus. It melted my heart to see the huge smile and excitement she had when she saw the statue of Christ. Those little ones do remember Jesus! Abby was fussy for the majority of our time there, but Mckenzie loved playing on the temple grounds and seeing all the missionaries walk by (they must have had a zone conference or district meeting or something at the building next door to the temple).






Thursday is a blur, but I do remember that we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (I'm still not a big fan of that place)with all of Dan's co-workers. Right now, all but 3 of his team members are out here. It was great to meet everyone. They are all really nice. Mckenzie and Abby had lot's of fun with all of the attention the received.
Friday, I took the girls to the Children's Discovery Museum! Mckenzie thought it was so cool. She explored everything. They had a toddler area where she could run around learning about different plant life, things that make noises, how things feel, and what it's like to do experiments! Needless to say, she had a GREAT nap afterward.

Mckenzie thought she was so grown-up wearing a firefighting helmet!

Mckenzie's favorite part of the todder area!

I know this is a random picture of Abby, but when we were at the museum I thought she looked so cute sitting there with her pacifier. She was a great baby that day!

I was so excited! I have a baby that will sleep in the stroller! Mckenzie NEVER slept in the stroller. She was always too excited to see everything. I was always jealous when I saw other mom's in the mall strolling their little ones as they slept. I know that sounds dumb.

Mckenzie being curious about the ambulance.

Mckenzie was pretending she was a scientist experimenting.

I'll post pictures and stuff from our busy, but fun weekend soon. Mckenzie is ready to go and play!