Spring Break- Charleston

Oozing with southern charm, Charleston, SC is now one of my favorite places. Boasting a beautiful historic district, lovely beaches, plantations to tour, horse carriage rides, Civil War historic sites, and southern food, Charleston has the whole package.

Isle of Palm

Fort Sumter- where the first shots of the civil war were fired. We met up with Grant and Jen who were vacationing in Hilton Head, SC.

Magnolia Plantation

Cyprus Gardens- spotting alligators in the swap

Blossoms 2014

Forget Christmas, THIS is the most wonderful time of the year. The blossoms have sprung and the girls and I had the special treat of seeing them during their peak bloom! All is right in the world.

 

Random Moments Cabin Fever Edition

We are getting a glimpse of spring, and it could not come soon enough!! This has been an extremely L-O-N-G winter with so many snow days that I have started to block from my memory. Luckily the days are getting longer, the grass is getting greener, and gloves and scarves are starting to become a thing of the past. Spring, we welcome you with open arms!!

Budding Artists

With two older brother, my girls are immersed in all things Star Wars. When 5 year old Afton showed me her drawing of Luke and Leia, it made me smile. I thought it was super sweet that she even proudly displayed it on the fridge. Well, at least until I discovered that she GLUED It to the fridge. Not so sweet. 

Ben's Run
Every year our neighborhood hosts a 5k race put together by the parents of a little boy who lost his life to cancer. It is an awesome event with the proceeds going toward cancer research. We live in an area with such a strong sense of community and it is touching to see so many come together for such a worthy cause. This year the boys ran it with me, and while Sam kept right with my pace, Luke blew us out of the water! We had so much fun, and I'm looking forward to future races with these kiddos!

Baby Matthew
In March we were able to meet the newest member of our family- baby Matthew! The kids and I made the trek to New Jersey a couple of days after his birth to meet their new cousin. Matthew was perfect in every way possible!

 

Just because...
A picture with Clara and her "twin" Megan. Love those two together! And a picture with my awesome husband- we don't have enough pictures of just the two of us.

Luke's Baptism

Our boy Luke turned 8! For members of our faith this is a milestone birthday because it is when a child can be baptized. I'm pretty sure Luke has been looking forward to this day ever since he saw his brother Sam be baptized, and finally on February 22 his big day arrived.

Luke's baptism was a wonderful occasion packed with family and friends. Cousins sang, Grandparents spoke, his Dad performed the baptism, and family priesthood holders gave him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was very touching to see how many people came out to support this boy who we love so dearly. 

I've often said that Luke is one of a kind, and this still holds true. He works so hard to do his best, and this past year we have been blown away by his growth. Since we arrive back in Maryland Luke has been seeing a specialist 3 days a week to help out with his reading. When we recently had a meeting to reassess his progress, Luke's teacher was confused as to why he needed to see a specialist. Apparently he is now right on track with his reading. We are so proud of this little boys who takes such pride in doing his best. 

Winter Fun

Is there anyone who really enjoys winter? I mean, honest to goodness, loves it? Maybe if I were into winter sports, I would be into winter, but I'm not. Plus I  hate being cold (Andrew insists that I throw around the word "hate" to lightly at times, but in this case I find it appropriate.) Luckily we live in an awesome area with lots of things to do indoors. It's what keeps me sane on those long, cold weekends.

Air and Space Museum

Baltimore Aquarium

And of course lots of fun with the mounds of snow we have been getting-

Sam's 10th Birthday

We have officially been parents for 10 years. 10 years!! I remember right before Sam was born thinking that we were pretty well prepared for what was to come. I mean, I read all of the recommended parenting books, and I did just graduate college after all. How hard could parenthood be? Ha! The moment they put Sam into my arms I knew I had no clue what I was doing. I remember thinking, "What in the heck did I get myself into?"

10 years later and I couldn't have been given a more wonderful first child to show me the ropes of motherhood. As a mom, I have made, and continue to make, lots of mistakes. Lot and lots of them. Fortunately Sam is an extremely forgiving child who lets us move on from my mistakes. It is one of the traits I love best about him.

It has been such a privilege being this child's mom. He is kind, fun, and enthusiastic about life. He is a great leader and example to our other kids. Most of all he finds a lot of joy in doing what is right.

Of course, that doesn't mean the kid is perfect. Fortunately for him, he has very forgiving parents who love him dearly. :)

Sam's bday party with some friends. 

Later celebrating with Grandma, Grandpa and Pete.

NYC with the boys

During Christmas break we discovered a whole new world of traveling with just our older kids. This discovery was made possible by depositing our girls at my parents house and then shooting on up to NYC for a long day trip. We took the ferry over from Jersey, walked across the Brooklyn bridge, ate some pizza, subwayed a lot, toured around Times Square and ended the day in Central Park at the MET. It was an awesome day, made all the more fun with two excited little boys in tow!