Free Cone Day!

Today was free cone day at Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shops! We usually go around to all of the scoop shops on this day (Vermont is the home of B & J's so there are three scoop shops around), but since it was rainy today we just went to the one in the mall so we didn't get wet waiting in the long line. The girls really enjoyed their cones. Chloe was supposed to share mine but she ended up eating pretty much all of it! I guess she is like her mom- can't resist good ice cream!! Niah, Addi, and Macie in front of the ice cream shop.
Look at those messy faces!!
Here's Chloe enjoying her Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.
I think she loved it, don't you?!
Macie, Addi May, Niah and Chloe. Thanks Ben and Jerry for making our day!

(Thanks to my friend Miquelle for taking the pictures, I was unprepared!)

To The Best Mom Ever

Yesterday was my mom's birthday! I didn't post until today because she is in San Francisco with my sister McKell, so she will read this tonight when she gets home! My mom is the best mom ever! She is always doing something for someone else. She is funny and has a great karate kyai- I'm not sure how to spell that word! ( Only my family will understand that one!) She is a great grandma to my girls and they love her to death! My mom makes sure that we are taken care of and always seems to call when I want to talk. She's a great example to me and she did a wonderful job raising her family, she is still raising them!!
Growing up, my mom always planned fun outings for us- I remember when she surprised us kids and took us to see The Little Mermaid in theaters. She planned great family vacations every year with my dad and we always had a blast! Some of my favorite places we went were DisneyWorld, Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls, Europe, Cancun, Hawaii- numerous times, and many more. Thanks for all of the fun memories mom!
We love you more than the nation! Thanks for taking care of me and my family. You're the best! We can't wait to see you in a few weeks.

If I Had a Million Dollars...

Lately, I have been really tired of being poor! I know money isn't everything, but sometimes it would be nice to do things on a whim instead of thinking about the budget. Living on student loans doesn't give you many opportunities for doing fun things just for the heck of it. I don't even need a million dollars, maybe just $20,000. I just don't like feeling stressed or guilty for spending money, even groceries. Bryan is working hard at school and someday his hard work will pay off then I won't have to worry about this as much. As for right now, here are a few things I would do if I had more money.
- I would buy tickets to a Boston Red Sox game and take my family over Bryan's summer break.
- I would hire a babysitter to come every Friday night, no matter what, to watch my kids so that Bryan and I could have a date night.
- I would buy a wall cabinet for my bathroom so that the stuff that is being stored on the floor could be up and out of sight.
- I would take myself shopping and buy a summer wardrobe. Now that it's warm I am realizing that I have nothing to wear!
- I would buy a new couch because the one we have is getting beat up and it kind of stinks!
- I want to take the Amtrak train to NYC and take my girls to the Central Park Zoo and the FAO Schwartz toy store. They would have so much fun.
- I would take Bryan to the shoe store and let him pick out any pair(s) of shoes he wanted. He love shoes!
- I have always wanted nice family pictures so I would find a really good photographer and get those done.
I don't want to sound greedy, but that's my list of things I want to do. They will probably never happen, not soon anyway, but I can dream! I guess I am learning patience, right?! I'm not sure why I posted something about this, but it has been on my mind lately so I thought I would write about it for my journaling purposes!

Happy Birthday Kaitie!!

This post is dedicated to my little sister, Kaitlan Ann Forbes. Kaitie is 15 years old today! I am feeling really old, I can't believe that she is 15. I can still remember the day she was born... I was ten years old and in the 4th grade at Altara Elementary. My mom had gone in that morning to be induced and I was sooo excited to have a new sister. My Grandma Saundra was watching us and she was going to come and get us from school when she was born. I remember going to lunch and I was scared that I was going to miss them calling my name over the intercom so I stayed in from recess. I was sitting at my desk and I saw the office lady in the doorway. I jumped up and said, "Is my grandma here?!" She was, so we all went up to the hospital and we made it there about 10 minutes after Kaitie was born. I loved babies and I loved taking care of my little sister! Every day after school I would jump out of the car and run into the house just so I could be the first one to hold her. Kaitie is such a sweet girl! She is fun to hang out with and I love taking her shopping with me because she really has a sense of fashion. She is really good at the guitar and she has a beautiful singing voice! These pictures are of Kaitie last summer on her cruise with my mom and dad and other sister McKell. They went to Rome, Venice, Greece and lots of other places that I can't remember! She is a world traveler.
I hope you have a wonderful day Kaitie Bug! You're a great sister and a wonderful aunt to Niah and Chloe. We love you tons!!

Goodbye Elder Mason!

Bryan's brother, Denton, leaves for the Missionary Training Center (MTC) today. He is going to serve in the Jamaica, Kingston mission. Denton will make a great missionary! (I would post a picture of him but sadly, I don't have one.)I don't think Denton will read this, but just in case... we will miss you D. Thanks for being a good example to my girls and making the decision to serve a mission. You'll do great! We love you very much!!

Sunshine Pictures

Here are some pictures from playing outside today. It's so nice to finally go outside without feeling like you will freeze to death before you reach the car! Niah spinning on the swing...
Niah was talking to my sister, Tamara, on the phone and I think she was telling her about her horse. Niah thinks this horse on the playground is all hers and if she sees anyone else on it she gets very upset. (We are working on this!) The horse's name is Pete, Niah picked the name!
Niah and Gavin (her prince) in the Carlson's (our neighbors/friends) bike trailer. These two are buddies. Thanks Jake for the bike ride, Niah loved it! I am hopeful that the weather will only get warmer-please!- so that we can keep enjoying the sunshine. The girls and I are much happier when we aren't cooped up in our tiny house all day!

Hello Sunshine!

This week there has actually been lots of sunshine! It is still chilly and the wind won't stop blowing, but we can finally go outside and play. The girls have loved playing on the playground that's right outside our back door. The first day we went out to play, Chloe learned to go down the slide all by herself. She has no fear! I taught her to turn around and go feet first on her tummy, but now she thinks she is big and can go down feet first. I filmed her going down today...

Conference Weekend

We had an enjoyable conference weekend. We can't watch conference on TV like in Utah, so we have to go to the church and watch it via church satellite, or we can watch it at home on the Internet. This time, we decided to watch the morning sessions at the church and the afternoon sessions at home on the computer. Yesterday in between sessions, we stopped and got lunch on the way home. Niah picked Wendy's and was very excited to eat chicken nuggets, one of her favorite meals! Today it was nice to get out of the house and get the 'Sunday' feel by going to the church to watch conference. The talks were very good today and I loved listening to President Monson. He told some pretty funny stories! My favorite talk was Elder Ballard's. It was pretty fitting because as he was talking about motherhood, Chloe was thrashing about and throwing a huge fit- it was hard to hear the talk! I loved his talk because I realized that being a mother really is the greatest calling I can have in life. I am grateful for the great weekend I had to spend time with my family and to listen to some of the best talks I have heard.

Belated Easter!

As you all know, we had kind of a lame Easter. Both of the girls were sick so they didn't get to wear their Easter dresses to church. So, on Sunday the girls wore their dresses and it was Easter Sunday for us a week late! Here are some pictures of them all dressed up. Don't they look beautiful?!

Niah saw me curling my hair Sunday morning and she had to have her hair curled. I was actually really excited that she wanted me to do it. I have been wanting to do it for a long time, but didn't think she would go for it since she cries every day when I fix her hair. We had a wonderful Sunday.