Back to School

The way year round school works the kids each take turns going off track. We got C track this year which means we go to school for 3 weeks starting July 25th and then go off track for 3 weeks...which is actually kind of nice because we can fit one last St. George trip in and then all the other children are back in school so all of the fun stuff is usually not crowded at all. The last couple days before Elle and Cash went back to school we tried really hard to fill with as much FUN as soaking up the sun as possible. We did St. George, Station Park, the Gateway, Blackridge Reservoir, West Jordan Park, and Gardner Village. Tate's so good to just go with the flow and has a great time watching his bro and sister run around. Won't be long before he's there with him. Elle and Cash are such good buddies. Nothing does my heart more good then seeing these two laugh and take care of each other. I need time to slow down.

Avalie Marie Downs!

A new member of the Downs family has arrived! Joel and Tessa were blessed with a darling baby girl and we couldn't be happier for them. She is such a doll. And she loves us already too! She smiled when her uncle Toby held her for the first time:) Poor Elle and Cash couldn't hold her at the hospital so they just had to look through the window but their faces sure lit up seeing her. I seriously have the cutest Nieces and Nephews every. For real. Ayson and Tory just came and stayed with us for a couple of days and what a stud he is. It was his birthday and he was just super cute and excited the whole day. And then there's Hadler....no words for this adorable crazy kid, and Brooklyn and Makayla, and Macey and Ruby. We just need to get those last two to move closer somehow. My cousins were my closest friends growing up and I hope my kids are blessed with the same. Love my fam.

ST. GEORGE

No. We will never get tired of this place. Ever. Which is why we bought a second home there. And why we're eternally grateful our best friends live there. Who would ever get tired of the Egg and I, and Swimming, and jogging in the warm sun, and more swimming, and swigs, and Camilles Cafe, and the Kelschs, and more swimming again. This was Tates first time wearing Floaties and he LOVED them. It actually helped him start walking which is probably good seeing how he was 14 or 15 months at the time.  St. George totally help me rejuvenate and head back home with an attitude to do and be better. Love it there. And yes all of my pictures seem to be of Tate. I really like him.

NEW YORK CITY!!!!

NEW YORK CITY!!! COULD I LOVE THIS PLACE MORE?! A long time ago Toby and I decided that this is one of the places we really wanted to visit together. It's funny because both of us are really more of beach people...if we are making the effort to actually get on a plane and go somewhere lying around a pool with palm trees is usually what we'd opt for. But I felt like we needed to branch out and experience something different and NYC really is on my bucket list and so we started planning a trip. It was SO difficult to leave my kids. In fact I almost backed out like 10 times...and we really only booked it about a week and half before we were supposed to leave because I kept thinking we couldn't REALLY make it happen, but everything came together in the end. My amazing Mother kept all three kids for the first couple of days and then my incredible cousin came to our house and stayed with the kids the rest of the time. Honestly I was so nervous that everything was going to fall apart when I left but my mom and Lindzee did an amazing job.  Elle and Cash were in heaven and got spoiled rotten and little Taters did SO great with Lindz. HE LOVES HER!! She even had all 3 of them up and ready for church on time at 9:00 am! For reals I think she makes a better mother than I do. They all had so much fun together and I was so grateful that everything was okay back home so that I could enjoy our time in NEW YORK CITY!!!

So honestly the first day I was there I kept thinking...what are we doing here? We made a mistake. I should be in Hawaii right now sipping a pina colada on the beach. We took the red eye and I was exhausted and it the streets were dirty and it was muggy.  Just not what I was picturing at all. We ate at Bubbys the first morning and had the most delicious sourdough blueberry pancakes and from there...we hit up a METS game later in the day and then finally was able to check into our hotel at the WALDORF ASTORIA and take a little nap. My first time to Central Park was when everything started to change for me.  I couldn't even wrap my mind around how amazingly gorgeous and incredible that place was. Jogging through it was a dream to me. I kept feeling like I was in the movie ENCHANTED. Oh how I LOVE that Park! The next day we went to the TOP of the Rockefeller center and overlooked Central Park and the whole city. What a view! We then went to the American Girl doll store where we thought about Elle and may or may not have picked her up a few things and then went home to get ready for our night out at Broadway. Toby and I had no idea what was in store for us. WICKED was....actually there are no words. It was like nothing we had imagined. Both of us were blown away. Tob had tears in his eyes as we left. We are now IN LOVE with the play and can't stop singing it or listening to the CD all the time. The next day we did Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge and then that night we did the top of the Empire State Building. All of these places were so surreal to me. Just places I had seen in books and in the movies or saw on TV. Such an incredible feeling to see it in PERSON. Ground Zero was so humbling and there was such a somber feeling there. It was all just too good to even be true.

Sunday we looked up where to go to church and the place that the Manhattan 1st ward met was in the TEMPLE. How neat is that. So we went to church in the temple and then just walked around the city for a while.  We went to Eataly and Times Square and then Monday we did Central Park again and then went to eat at the darling little restaurant SERENDIPITY. LOVE that place so much. Then we went home to get ready for the YANKEES game. Toby was in 7th heaven and honestly not sure I've ever seen him quite so excited. We were in the front row out by 3rd base and the guys was acting like a 12 year old boy. I LOVED watching him and being there in that beautiful baseball field together.

The whole trip was like a dream to me. SO hard to be without my kids but so amazing to experience all those things with Toby. The subways, restaurants, buildings, taxis, everything about it I'm just in LOVE. It will definitely not be last time we go there. Coming home to my kids was such a great feeling  too. Little Tate just cried when he saw us and it melted me. Couldn't love those three more. I'm sure I'm missing lots of things but theres a brief synopsis of our "10th anniversary trip" together. Honestly could not have been more perfect. What a blessed life I have and couldn't be more thrilled to share it with my sweetheart.