Not flesh of my flesh, nor bone of my bone, yet still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute You didn't grow under my heart, but in it. -Fleur Conkling Heylinger
I decided we couldn't miss out on all of the fun with our families so I bought last minute plane tickets to Montana. We loved every minute except we missed Dad and awful lot! He had to stay behind for his clinical rotations. The boys were very well behaved for the trip including the plane ride there. However, on our way home we encountered several problems (like being stuck on the runway for two hours). That made it a really long day but it was still worth the trip! The boys played non-stop with their cousins. They got to see all of their Haynes cousins and a lot of the Weishaar cousins. We spent six days of our trip boating and playing at the lake. The other days were full of parades, swimming, 4-wheeling, campfires, archery and bb guns, and exploring outdoors. Both boys said their favorite part of the trip was playing with their cousins.
This is a video of when I told the boys we were going on a trip.
4th of July at our house before our trip
Plane ride there. Look at that face!
Brig, Addy, Macy and Dylan all played really well together!
Talking to the cows with Papa
I also happened to have my ten year high school reunion. Go Eagles!
Waiting for the Fairfield Swim Days parade to start.
Brig was so great to clap and cheer for every float and vehicle. All the kids came home with buckets of candy and prizes.
Worn out from all of the fun!
Raspberry picking at Great grandma and grandpa Heagy's
I got to meet up with two of my close friends. Maren showed me her new house.
We spent a couple of days at Lake Mary Ronan again this year. Jake and Rachel were awesome enough to rent it for all of us, even with their basement flooded the weekend before! Thanks Jake and Rach! We had a great time tubing, skiing, going off the rope swing, and catching lots of fish and turtles.
Brig loved riding in the very back of the tube where it is the bounciest.
Benson liked riding in the boat even though he thought it was loud. He even went on a slow kid tube ride. Picture below.
Grandma Weishaar had 40 pounds of Flathead cherries for us to eat. I am not sure if Benson got any in his mouth?
The Kelly cousins brought their new puppy Bentley with them to Shelby. Benson was in heaven and Bentley kept trying to hide from Benson. Haha
Dance party at the cabin!
Paddle boating cousins. Grandma held on to the rope and would pull them in
Chocolate goatee cousins!
Keeping an eye on our "aquarium"
Benson claimed uncle Jake as his honorary dad for the trip. Jake nicknamed him night-hawk because he comes alive in the evenings when everyone else is settling down.
Papa on the rope swing
Rachel
Me
Waiting for more candy at the Shelby parade. Gotta love small town parades!
Well, we made it to Rhode Island! We are mostly unpacked and settled in. The first two weeks of moving to a new place are always the hardest. Both boys were very emotional about everything. But now they love it here. We had lots of help loading and unloading the truck and my friends Barbara and Sun helped me scrub our apartment from top to bottom. Rhode Island is similar to Connecticut, except a little more crowded. We've also noticed the people are more easy-going and not as snobby. We are excited to explore new places and make new friends. Jared is enjoying his clinical phase at Memorial hospital. He has started working with the patients this week doing pre-operating assessments.
Brig cruisin' on the power wheels we scored at a yard sale.
Benson petting a snake at the Plainville family festival.
Some of the primary kids lining up to do a 3 legged race for Memorial Day.
Brig and his friend Charlotte racing. She was heartbroken when we moved!
It was hard saying goodbye to our friend Dexter.
This is our house we are renting. It's a 1941 Cape Cod style house. It's 4 bedrooms (2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 on the main floor that we are using as a play room and dining room), 1.5 baths and has an unfinished basement and a great secluded back yard. It's cute on the outside, but hasn't been updated much on the inside.
Kitchen
dining room/office
Benson thought the marshmallows would make good face paint
play room
living room
living room looking into kitchen. play room, dining room and bathroom are through the open door
Hot dog roast in our backyard, scary makeshift fire pit.
We attended a fun colonial days parade. It was in celebration of the Rhode Island patriots sinking the British schooner "Gaspee" in 1772. It's known as the first blow of the American Revolution. The parade was an impressive hour and a half long, one direction. It was mostly marching bands and drum and fife corps. Our favorites were the bands dressed as colonial Americans that shot their rifles. Wow, were they loud! Benson did not enjoy any of it. He hid in Jared's shoulder almost the whole time.
Jared finished his first phase of crna school with flying colors. Before he starts phase two in June we decided to take a quick trip to Palmyra, NY. The boys and I had never been before, but Jared had been there about 20 years ago. We first stopped at the Hill Cumorah visitor center. The boys enjoyed the interactive displays and videos of Joseph Smith. We then hiked to to the top of the hill, which is steep but not very tall. Brig was sure he was going to find the place where the gold plates used to be buried. There was a storm rolling in but we made it back down the hill right when it started raining and sleeting. We then made our way to the hotel where we had a great time swimming and eating cookies and milk (Hilton's are the best!) The next day we took turns going inside the temple and touring the Sacred Grove and Smith farm. My favorite part was having a family prayer in the Sacred Grove and then having the boys each pick out a leaf to put in their scriptures to remember our special trip.
The boy's in the visitor center. I like this Christus statue because Christ is smiling.
The area of the hill where the Hill Cumorah pageant takes place.
This is a view about 2/3 of the way up the hill. It's steeper than it looks.
The angel Moroni statue at the top of the hill.
Palmyra temple
Brig pushing Benson through the sacred grove
The apple orchard on the farm
Joseph Smith Sr.'s cooper shop
The plates were hidden up in the loft one night while a mob searched under the floor boards.
The barn
The frame house Alvin was building before he died. This house was gorgeous!
The farm house
Brig was so tired on our way home he fell asleep eating his hamburger!
