Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Slip and Slide

This is for the Hawks family. Well and anyone else who needs a good laugh. I have to apologize for the witches cackle that you will hear through this video. I didn't realize you would hear me so well when I was videoing (I thank my mother for passing that cackle down to me). So if nothing else you can laugh at my laugh. We went out to Roosevelt to visit my sister in law Autumn and her family. We had so much fun while we were out there. Uncle Ben pulled out the slip and slide for all the kids. We tried to get Josh to go, but he wouldn't give in. Finally he said he would go if Grandma went. Grandma April.......



We love you April!!! Thanks for letting us come play Autumn and Ben, we had a great time!! Can't wait to come out again!
Here are a few pictures from our visit.
This was the hiking group who headed up the mountain behind them.


Here are the happy hikers almost to the top.


Josh and Kiersten enjoying some watermelon! Hang in there Kierst!!!


This is just a personal high point for me watching my hubby go down the slip and slide with the kids.


All of us playing "Capture the Flag".


E-bear and Grandma April playing horsey.


The boys in blue! Ian, Dylan, and Bowdy


All the cutie kiddos before we had to leave.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

New York, London, and Paris

Okay so four years later, I'm blogging again. Mainly for the purpose of family and friends who haven't heard about my trip or seen pictures. We took over 800 pictures so I did the very minimum highlights. Josh and I were given the opportunity to go with his sister, Monica, her husband Danny, their two oldest boys, Daniel and Derrik, a couple, Chris and Linda (Danny and Monica's friends) and my incredible traveling father in law, Monty, on a 5 day trip. Our trip started out Monday night at midnight flying from Salt Lake to New York City. Below is all of us at JFK airport at 7am. We had to be back to the airport by 4pm to catch our flight to London.



This was me first stepping out of the subway station onto 42nd Street. Also known as Times Square. It truly was one of the most amazing places I have ever been. I really don't know how anyone looks strait ahead, there is so much above you to look at.


Here is the whole crew in Times Square. We had met up with some missionaries headed to the Manhattan Temple. They told us it was just a few blocks down. 29 blocks later, we saw the temple.


Monica and I were so excited to see the Wicked billboard. One day Mon's we will go see it! One day!

So we lost quite a few of our New York pictures which I am so sad about. We stopped in Central Park and had a hot dog for lunch. (Thanks Danny for this picture). We also got to see Radio City Music Hall, Rockafeller Center, and of course the Avenue which I feel like I should have been born on...5th Avenue. I got to see my top favorite designer stores and was drooling worse than my teething son.


Once back at the airport our flight left at 6pm. We arrived Tuesday morning at 7am in London England. It was nice and rainy for us. Nothing new as it had poured on us in New York. We got some breakfast and headed off to see the sights of London.

I had been wanting to see the red phone booth and was so excited when I found one, until I opened it and it smelled of urine. Well so much for that.

After wandering around, everyone went into the museum at Trafalgar Square while Josh and I sat outside on the steps and fell asleep. Afterwards we hopped on a bus that took us on a tour of London.


Unfortunately below is what happened to most of us once we got on the bus. I think jet lag kicked in. Sadly for me I really don't remember the rest of London. Luckily Josh got some good shots so I was able to see pictures of what I missed.


After the bus breaking down and us having to catch another bus, then getting wrong directions from a few of the Brits we climbed into taxi's and headed to our hotel. I remember my bed and my pillow. :-) The next morning we got up at 4am and headed to the train station to catch the 5am train headed to Paris, France.

Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Paris! I had such an amazing time there. We spent two days in Paris. Starting out getting lost in the ghetto of St. Denis which is a (GHETTO) suburb of Paris. Then walked for about an hour to our hotel. We finally got to set our backpacks down! YAY! Then we were off to the heart of Paris. We started out at the Arc De Triomphe.

Next we headed to the Eiffel Tower. We got to climb that big ol' tower. What was it Mon's, 500 flights???? :-) So I found out that the first flight of stairs totaled 38. The second set that we climbed totaled 19. Yeah that's pretty close to 500. :-) It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen at the top. Well you can't climb to the very top, but the top meaning as high as they let you go, which is about in the middle of the tower.




The second day of our trip we headed over to the Louvre. I have to admit the first hour that I spent there was I was pretty bored. All Josh wanted to see was the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo statue. All I really wanted to see was the Napolean Apartments (which are inside the Louvre). We ended up going a second time that day to the Louvre and I have to say that I became much more fasinated with it. I could go again and really spend a day there. You really can't imagine how much there really is to see.
Us just taking a breather at the Louvre.

My favorite part of the whole Louvre. The Napolean Apartments. Everything has been left the same since Napolean the 3rd (Napolean Bonaparte's nephew) lived here. It truly was an incredible sight.

Below was our boat we took a tour on. It took us up and down the Seine River where we saw everything over and over again, it was nice to relax our feet.

And finally for our most favorite place... Notre Dame. Yep we ended up back here 6 different times. Mainly because we loved watching the Gypsies try to get money from anyone that spoke english, as well as the crepe stand down the street where we stuffed our faces. Yes my husband did walk around with his back hunched calling out "Sanctuary". My nephew Derrik really got into the action by tying his sweatshirt around his head and walking up to each member of our group with a white note asking us if we spoke english. Yeah......we had FUN!

Saturday morning we were up at 5am to head to the airport to catch our flight. We had crossiants for breakfast and they were truly amazing! I ate 3 and still could have had more. Even though it was a short trip it was the coolest trip of my entire life. Thank you Danny, Monica, and Monty for the best trip EVER! I can't wait for our next adventure! "This way Cosmo's, this way!!!!"

Below are some really cool pictures Josh took, so I played with the coloring to make them look professional. Hope you like. :-)


Times Square-New York

Trafalgar Square-London

Eiffel Tower

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Louvre

Notre Dame

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Spring Break

So I have received a few requests for pictures of my Ian Bear, they are random pictures from out trip. This last week we spent Josh's spring break down in St. George. It was such a nice relaxed vacation. I enjoyed every minute. Momma Hawks and I bonded over a sewing machine where she taught me how to sew a skirt. I am so excited to sew some more, I loved it. We didn't have time to finish it, so I am thinking about going back in April to spend some more time with her sewing machine. Josh and I decided to go to Vegas for a day and stay a night in Circus Circus. I was in cheesy game heaven there, I wanted to play everything. I loved winning all the stuffed animals for Ian (which between Josh and I were a ton). Josh and I had a blast, it felt like being a kid again. The best part was going to Fremont Street for my Deep Fried Twinkies. Yes that is my new obsession. Who knew you could clog an artery with one bite. Well if I die from eating one, it was worth it. ;-) We had so much fun and really appreciate Momma Hawks coming with us to watch Ian so we could play. Thanks Momma Hawks for everything, we had such a great time visiting with you and just relaxing. I can't wait to come again and spend more time with everyone. While I was down there I turned Momma Hawks kitchen into a salon. My sister in law Monica came over with her 6 kids, and I did all of their hair except for 2 of my nephews. We talked about getting before and after pictures, but we forgot. Oh well. Another time I suppose. It was so nice to get to do so much hair, I loved it! We also went to the fiesta fun park in St. George and had a great time playing mini-golf with the kids. Okay well Monica, Bryce and I all talked as we walked to each hole the kids played. I got to visit with family, go to lunch with old friends, and just relax. It was a fabulous spring break. Next my travels take me back to Washington at the end of this month. I can't wait to see my family and friends up there.

Fiesta Fun Park


Vegas! I love the Night Life, I love to Boogey! Oh and the M&M factory too!

Me and Ian Bear in Grandma's backyard

Ian and his cousin Macey
Our little pot-bellied stallion (Josh's nickname)
Family portrait at the Fiesta Fun Park
My favorite picture of Ian, it just makes me laugh
Ian sitting in the high chair at Grandmas. He's getting to be so big.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Photoshoot

So this last week I was able to fly up to Spokane to see my family (shout out to Monica...thanks again, it meant a lot to me). It was definitely an interesting week. My sisters basement flooded from all the rain melting the 5 feet of snow they had. Thanks to the property management company that runs my sisters townhouse we were able to enjoy a sleepless night at a local hotel, thanks Gabe ;-) I do have to say the highlight of my trip was watching my sister run across the street with perm rods in her hair to get the maintainence man as the downstairs began to flood. Okay well that wasn't the main highlight, but it sure makes for an awesome memory. Love ya kell!

While I was up there my Aunt Lori, did a photo shoot with my sister and I and our kids. It was such a blast, she is such an amazing photographer. These were my favorite shots. I have some favorites that she took of my sisters kids too, but I thought I would let her post them first if she wants to. I have always always wanted a photo of me and my sister and now I have such an awesome one. Thanks Jell for being one of my best friends. I love you sis!