Girls Trip in NYC!!

We had one of the best trips ever in New York this past September, it was such a blast in a great city with great company. We've got all the Young girls, including the newest of the bunch- Brenna- who we are so excited to have in the family, and the Monson girls minus the Aly's (we missed you guys!!) I have a million pictures I'd love to put up here, but I will try to condense. We all flew in from different states and arrived at our three bedroom practically free apartment (thanks to Kristi for the hook-ups!) after a near death ride through the ghetto. (thanks to Kristi again....the girl can drive.) We shared one bathroom between all nine of us for four days and had so much fun.

The highlights:

lots and lots of food from yummy places like:

Crumbs

Shake Shack

Carnegie Deli

Grimaldi's

Thai and Indian food (don't remember what they were called)

lots of gyros and candied nuts from street vendors...delish!

-Trying to get a good jumping pic of the whole group. First in Time Square--where we all shed our shirts and put on our I heart NY shirts. This didn't cause a scene at all. Then again by the Statue of Liberty. I was the one with issues. Everyone would be in the air in a perfect pose and I'd be the dumb one on the ground getting ready to jump. And of course, Stacy's frigging hilarious faces in all of them. So so funny.
-Mom passing all of her stuff onto others to carry and then sprinting across Brooklyn Bridge.
-Being so tired on the way home each day but then staying up late talking.
-Eating all day then coming home and immediately breaking open the candy.
-Meeting my new sister-in-law! (Kris is engaged!)

(In case this sounds familiar I was too lazy to write this part of highlights so I stole from Marianne muahahahahh... don't judge I'm tired and I only have a few moments of silence in my life and I should be in bed. I'll try not to plagiarize the WHOLE thing. But it would be a whole heck of a lot faster...)

Ground Zero

This is an overload of jumping pictures, but they were so funny!

Check out those awesome faces!

Brenna and her new bf... looks like Kris has some competition... This guy was really talented though, he could just sing and rhyme all day off the top of his head.

Fashion week was the week previous and all the windows had awesome displays- these dresses are made out of candy.

This was so funny- jumping pics right in the middle of time square. Thank you Kristi for making us take so many pictures!!

Wicked: Best. Show. Ever.

What was the name of this pizza place? We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get here and waited in line for an eternity... but it was so yummy! And the owner (?) loved us b/c Kristi had her baby. Thank you Jacobson.

Brooklyn Bridge

Sorry Aud, I just thought the look on your face was priceless.

Carnegie Deli, best cheesecake. Yum, I'm drooling right now.

Love your buns Aud... ha ha ha

What is a girls trip with no candy??? Thanks goes to Aunt Susan for remembering the goods. This was one of the best trips I have ever taken, we just saw the sites, ate good food, laughed til we cried, stayed up late, took too long getting ready, shopped, saw shows, and chatted for hours. I'm already looking forward to the next one!! Love you girls!!

Reunion

I am so lame. I am so lame. I am so lame. My whole ENTIRE family was here and together for the first time in 3 years and I only snapped a few shots. I am so lame. And mad at myself. Oh well, that's why we have Marianne and dad around. Send me some? We did gather up for a big family shot and here are a few I did snag in between fighting the 2 year old stinker ; ).

This pretty much sums up how well Connor was for our pictures. Hard to get mad at that cute little devil.

Dustin sneaking into my one shot with my baby where he is actually smiling. What a little stinker.

These guys are real gangsters.

BJ and Kat. How cute.

This is the best we got- I guess I'll have to take 3 out of 5 smiles.

Audrie and Craig clan- all smiling perfect I might add

The 5 Young boys, I smell trouble... (or is that b.o.???)

Grandma and grandpa trying their hardest to get everyone to smile for the birdie, but it's just not happening with Connor's wailing distracting everyone.

Nick being weird

We spent hours just hanging around and eating lots of food, I'm so mad I didn't capture more of the fun!!

Kenedi, she is a hoot!!

Doesn't Chance look thrilled??? Kinsey adores Chance, but then who doesn't?

Adi, I can't believe this was the first time I met you!

Kinsey and Connor helping me cook

Kindergarten

My little Kinsey (or I guess I should say big) started kindergarten this year, and I just can't believe it. I have thought of this day with dread since the day she was born. I always knew I would be one of those moms crying and hugging not wanting to leave the classroom when the time came and I was right. I cried all the way home. What a baby!! I am happy for her to see her grow and learn, but it is so bittersweet to watch her become more and more independent. She, however, is so ready for this new stage in her life and has done fantastic in class so far. I am one proud mommy.

I hate coming up with titles

You know when you have two or three or four little kids at home all day and life gets pretty taxing and exhausting? But you also know those two or three moments each day that melt your heart make you think how much you love your kiddies and it is so worth the pain? I just had one of those with Kinsey, and I just had to write about it. For some odd reason both of the boys fell asleep early tonight so Kinsey and I got to spend some one on one time, and she was so delightful. She helped me wash the dishes, clean the floor, make brownies (and eat them and the batter, so yummy), take them to a neighbor, and she was so happy the whole time just chatting away. She kept asking, "What else can I help with mom?" I just love that she is growing up and when it is just us we have really fun "girl time". Then, we went and got ready for bed and she said the sweetest prayer I have ever heard. "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for my mom, dad, Connor, and Gage. I am thankful for this beautiful life. I am grateful for this home. I am grateful for the spirit. Please help me be a good girl and be helpful. And to always choose the right. Please help my family to be true. (not quite sure what this means but she likes to say this in her prayers and it's pretty dang cute). Help us to have the spirit..." Her prayers are always very sweet and she always prays for someone outside of our immediate family. She hasn't gotten into the repetition thing too much yet, so it's fun to hear what she says each night as she prays to her Father in Heaven. This is definitely one of the moments I look forward to each day that melts my heart and gives me the strength to keep on trucking. Sometimes I think I'm totally failing my kids, but then there are little times when I get a small glimpse of what they are learning and it gives me so much hope. Hope that all of this hard work will eventually pay off and my kids will turn into actual decent adults. Hopefully. : )

Mother's Day

So I realize this isn't a great picture, but Connor looked so sweet when he brought me this flower after church. It melted my heart and I had to capture it the best I could.

This is small, but funny if you can actually read it.

And... I did my first sprint triathlon last Saturday with Marianne!! It was really fun, can't wait to do it again when I'm in better shape!!

RaNdOm Pictures

Kinsey and Connor "helping" feed Gage his first bowl of rice cereal!! YAY!!

Connor LOVES fruit, and I always find him like this- he has to have one in each hand. I find half eaten apples all over my house. Pretty gross.

I found Kinsey with her first very own lemonade stand

Dylon

Easter Pics