The Boston Temple

Last summer I went to the Boston Temple. It's a very special place to me because that's where I got married, and in the years before that happened, I was there for the announcement that it was going to be built, for its construction, and for the open house. It's always a wonderful place to return to, and the grounds are so pretty and peaceful, as is the interior. I try to go at least once a year when I'm back East.

If only it had been this sunny and nice out on my wedding day! 

 

(Click here if you're interested in some frequently asked questions about Mormon temples.)

It's always so nice to be back there again. In a way, it feels like coming home. 

Fourth of July Fun

My mom and my sons in Old Navy's iconic Fourth of July t-shirts. Cute! 

I posted last week about the beautiful sunset that I witnessed last year on the Fourth of July in Rhode Island when we were at my sister Elizabeth's house. Here's the rest of my documentation of that fun day. Elizabeth's family is so lucky to live just a short walk to the beach!

Check out the fireworks barge, gearing up for action for that night!

The beautiful historic town of Newport is just up the coast from here. 

Boys exploring...

  John found a random flip-flop in the water and felt pretty triumphant about that. 

Me, my sisters, and my mother.

It was a great place to spend the holiday! I wonder where we'll be spending the Fourth this year? (Hint, hint Elizabeth. I know you're reading this!)

Five Things for Friday: Five Photos from February

1. Sam is doing really well with potty-training. Here he is with one of the rewards he got by earning five stars for staying dry for five days.

Now we just need to get him to go #2 in the potty. I think it's time to up the ante and make going #2 in the potty a required part of earning a star each day. Time to conquer the poop! (I didn't want to write #2 again. Oops, I just did!)

2. I spend entirely too much time trying to keep this room clean and organized--and that's with only cleaning it once a week. It only looks like this for a few hours after I clean it while the kids are both at school. I have developed a love-hate relationship with the playroom, but it's been a little stronger on the "hate" side lately!

Last week I'd had enough of the mess and I put all of the play-kitchen food and dishes into a box and hid it away, along with a few other things that I'm tired of seeing scattered all over the floor. Yesterday I boxed up more toys that I don't think the kids will even notice are gone. I see a big playroom clean-out and re-organization looming in my future. Yay! (said only with a slight dose of sarcasm)

3. Remember how I said I was going to get a new camera because my Canon DSLR just wasn't cutting it anymore? Well, I did get a new one, and I like it a lot, but I don't really know how to fully use it yet. I wish they'd make excellent-quality compact DSLR cameras for dummies that were as easy to use as an old-fashioned point-and-shoot camera. That would be perfect for me! In any case, this is the first picture I took with my new camera. I was sitting on the family room couch looking through the manual and trying to figure it out.

4. This has been the view out of our kitchen window this winter. It's pretty and it reminds me of New England because of the trees. But it's time for the snow to melt and turn into mud and for the budding greens of spring to show themselves! The boys and I have cabin fever!

5. Today is this boy's 8th birthday.

And tomorrow is his baptism. It's hard for me to believe that John is eight now. My feelings on the matter and about John are very deep and I'm not even going to attempt a blog post about it, so I'll just say that we love him so much, that having him as our son has been and will continue to be a huge learning and growing experience, and we're so thankful that he's the very special part of our family that he is!

Fourth of July Sunset

Last week I did a post about a winter sunset; today I'm doing one about a fantastic sunset I captured last year on the Fourth of July. We were in Rhode Island at my sister's house, which is right near the ocean shore on one side and a big boat dock on the other. I was so impressed by the beauty of the sunset over the water that evening. 

  

 

I think this sunset was even more beautiful than the fireworks that filled up the sky a few hours later!

Things I'm Looking Forward to in March

In keeping with the fun, happy/hoppy nature of March and springtime, these bullet points are littered with exclamation marks. (I mean, " ! ")

• John turns eight on the eighth! My parents and Peter's parents are coming out to visit for the weekend to see him get baptized. It should be a very special and fun weekend!

• The start of spring, with warmer temperatures (hopefully!), buds beginning to appear, and the cheerful tweeting of birds--one of my favorite sounds! 

• St. Patrick's Day, on which lots of people wear my favorite color...green! (Kind of funny that it's highlighted in blue!)

• Spring Break! We'll be going on our first cruise! We're going to spend a week in the Caribbean aboard the Disney Fantasy with stops in the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and Castaway Cay in the Bahamas. We can't wait! I live for tropical vacations and we haven't taken one in almost four years!

• Easter! 

• Reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer and then going to see the movie, which comes out on March 29th. One of my favorite things to do is to read a book and then see the movie. Books are usually a lot better than their movies, but it's fun to see how others have interpreted the story, and to see it on the screen and not just in my mind.

• Seeing the movie Admission, which comes out on March 22nd. I read the book a few years ago and I really liked the story, partly because one of my dream jobs is to be an admissions officer--at an Ivy League university no less!

• The new season of one of my favorite new TV shows, Revolution. It starts again on March 25th!

So March should be a busy, fun month, ranging from the very special (John's birthday and baptism, and Easter) to the very fun (the cruise) to the very everyday (books, TV, movies, and nature). It should be a great month! (!!!)

Five Things for Friday

1. Last weekend was awesome! I flew to Massachusetts to go to my good friend from high-school's wedding. It was a nice break, and it was a treat to be able to sleep in with no one to take care of but myself. I got to see both of my brothers and both of my sisters (a rare feat for a single weekend!), both of my adorable nephews, and my mom.

I love my nephews! Shane, on the right, wouldn't let anyone other than Elizabeth (his mom; my sister) hold him and he screeched in protest whenever I tried. But I will win him over this summer, so watch out, Shane!

I was very well-fed that weekend with all kinds of good food, from lobster tail, beef tenderloin, and clam chowder at the wedding to my favorite home-cooked beef enchiladas made by my mom to fluffy pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. (Insert fun food picture here, which I didn't take.)

Amy's wedding was one of the nicest that I've ever attended. Plus she looked absolutely stunning. It was so nice to see her again and also to see my good friend Stacey, who was a bridesmaid. It was a fabulous wedding and a fabulous weekend! 

Amy looks glamorous and beautiful, and Stacey does too. In contrast to them, I look like the lady's maid. Ha ha!

2. That fabulous weekend was followed by a particularly horrible Monday. There was no school that day and the kids were cagey from being home for days and Sam was incredibly temperamental (still mad at me for leaving?) and I was in a bad mood and was really tired because I got home late on Sunday night and didn't sleep well. It was such a bad day. Peter took pity on me and brought me home these beautiful striped red roses that evening, which improved my mood a bit (that, and the fact that the kids were going to bed). I didn't deserve roses that day, but it was nice to get them!

3. Speaking of gifts from Peter, he got me these absolutely delicious gourmet dark-chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day. I ate them all in less than a day. I probably could have eaten them all in an hour, but I restrained myself. I almost bought some more this week because I was craving them, but the $15 shipping charge turned me off. Maybe for Mother's Day. Or Easter; that comes way sooner this year!

4. And speaking of Valentine's Day, my kids finally had cute, crafty valentines to give out with treats in them (thank you Pinterest!). John was very happy about this! I was too. Those gummy bears were good!

5. I took Sam to the library this week. I love this little house made out of books. So does he!

 

I hope you have a great weekend!