June 2015

 

We've been enjoying the summer. We've been spending a lot of time at the park, splashpad, and swimming. The highlight of the month was taking the boys to see the ocean for the first time at Rockyneck State Park. We had a great time getting covered in sand and playing in the small waves. We also made it to the zoo in Bridgeport. It is a small zoo with lots of local animals and a few exoctic animals.

Brig eating watermelon at the splashpad

Picnic at the spashpad

The boys like to pretend they are dogs in cages (laundry baskets)

Benson at the spashpad. He is a little unsure of the spraying water

Enjoying the first grilled corn on the cob of the summer. Yum!

Benson pushing Brig on the beep beep

My little duo of troublemakers. I went to use the bathroom and Brig pulled out the leftover fudge sauce from the fridge. I heard them laughing histerically, so I came down the stairs to find them painting each other. The following week there was a similar incident with whipping cream. They keep me on my toes.

Brig going for a pony ride at the Strawberry festival. It was the only thing he wanted to do while we were there, so we stood in line many times. Good thing it was a short line. There were multiple strawberry festivals taking place and we happened to attend the one where there weren't any fresh stawberries to pick. Bummer.

Brig riding the stone bear at the zoo.

Benson liked the play structure at the zoo.

He also liked the goldfish in the koi pond the best.

Brig and I liked the alligators the best. They made my hair stand on end because they came right over to us and hissed at us through the glass.

Here's a good one of Brig throwing a fit at the tigers. He wasn't impressed and wanted to go look at the other animals.

Brig at the beach

Trying out the boogie board. The water was pretty cold and not very many people braved the water. There really weren't any waves because technically we were still in the Long Island sound. You can see Long Island in the background.

Bens and I spent a lot of time under the shade of the umbrella eating snacks.

Jared, the boys, and a beach friend dug a huge tunnel.

The tunnel was about four feet deep. I think both of our boys are in the tunnel in this picture. They also found close to fifty little sand crabs? Not sure what they are really called. They were fun to catch and release and watch how fast they dug back into the sand.

 

The Big Move to the East Coast

Well, we made it to Connecticut. We are all settled in and enjoying where we live. Jared is studying hard for school and has his first final exam this week. They are moving right along but Jared is enjoying the challenge and we are enjoying having him home by dinner every night. Jared and Papa Choo Choo drove the moving truck and our vehicles out here. They made it without out any problems and had almost all of the boxes unpacked by the time they picked us up from the airport on Jared's birthday. Before we left we spent a few days at Papa Moo Moo's playing. We had a great time feeding cows, boating, chasing kitties, hunting gophers, and going exploring. Then it was time to say goodbye and get on the airplane. I was so grateful for Grandma W. to help me with the boys. I was so busy entertaining the boys that I didn't take a picture on the flights. Brig was so cute when we were taking off. I could tell he was excited and a little nervous. When we got up in the air he let out a nervous giggle and exclaimed, "I am SO brave!" The boys did awesome on the flight to SLC. We had a three hour layover there but we kept busy riding the "excavators" as Brigham called them. The flight to Boston was a little rough because we didn't get to sit together and nobody would switch seats with us, even after I explained that they would be happier if the kids weren't climbing all over them. The boys did remarkably well considering the circumstances. We were all exhausted when we finally landed and were so happy to see Daddy and tell him Happy Birthday! 

We really like Plainville so far. It has a small town feel to it but is close to everything. Jared can get to school in under ten minutes. We are within walking distance to a park, and the library is down the street along with a brand new YMCA where Brig is taking swimming lessons. 

Before we left Jared's co-workers through him a going-away luncheon and we were invited. They were all sad to see him go and played lots of pranks on him.

Benson's last time down the slide.

Brig's last day of gymnastics he learned to do a handstand.

Brig has amazing balance and coordination.

Bens loves to sit on his trike.

Here's our moving truck. I didn't take a picture of it loaded but it was pretty full. We had so many friends come by to help and to say goodbye.

Here is Brig with the Olsen's. Brother Olsen is the LDSFS caseworker in Helena and just loves our boys.

Brig driving Blue Thunder while Papa throws off the hay bales to the cows. Brig has to sit in the cab due to his hay allergies. He doesn't mind though :)

Papa and Brig going for a quick motorbike ride.

I thought I would take a few snapshots of the farm equipment for the boys to look at later :)

We got to meet the new bulls, BJ and AJ.

We took the boat out to Willow Creek for its first run of the year.

Benson's first haircut!!! He had some hair on the top of his head that was four inches long! He was a big boy and didn't cry once. His hair is still soft like a duckling.

After shot. He has the cutest smiles!

Our last family picture in front our house.

Us checking out CCSU campus. CCSU was founded in 1849. Photo bomber in the pink shorts. HA

We've decided every Saturday to do some exploring of New England. Here we are at the Dinosaur museum that is close by. There are thousands of fossils at the museum.

Here is our new place. It's a townhouse so we don't have any neighbors above or below us. And yes, my location setting on my phone are always turned off when I take pictures around the house to be safe.

Our dining room...

The screened-in porch. I like to call it the cage because the boys can be outside but can't really escape. We park our cars right by the porch door.

living room...

Our "one bum" kitchen.

The unfinished basement makes a great play room/storage area.

The boys had lots of fun making roads, forts, and slides out of boxes.

The boys' room. They enjoy sharing a room together. It works out great since Brig is such a deep sleeper and doesn't notice if Benson wakes up.

Our room

We celebrated our 8th anniversary as a family. We went to the movies and ate ice cream afterwards.

Benson loves using utensils to eat.

There is a fun amusement park close by with a great area for toddlers. We've gone a couple of times and Brig loves the kid rides.

There are even a few rides Benson can go on with big brother.

Mother's day with my handsome boys!

Benson loves to color.

Brig is such a big helper around the house.

The Hartford temple is being built in Farmington, which is about ten minutes from our house. They are still working on the exterior and are hoping to be finished Spring of 2016. 

Here's an interesting fact: Did you know Wilford Woodruff was born in Farmington, CT? The same town they are building the temple? We walked through a really old cemetery the other day (they are everywhere) and ran into several Woodruffs. Probably distant cousins to the prophet. Anyways, this cemetery overlooks the Farmington river where Wilford Woodruff baptized many of his family members.