Columbus Day 2012

Since Daniel had off from school on Columbus Day, we headed to NYC!  We had not been back to New York since we moved to Phoenix in 2006.  We left as a young married couple and came back with 2 kids:)

New York was a lot different with kids than when it was just Brendon and I going in for a fun date!  However, it was SO fun to experience some of our favorite spots through our kids eyes:)

Central Park!

Columbus Day Parade!

Took a picture of this banner as I loved the quote: 

"Welcome to NYC... Where you can be pretty & powerful!"

F.A.O. Schwartz

Newborn Nursery @ F.A.O

We took her to the American Girl Store on Times Square and this is what she did to us on the way there:)

Doll Salon

 She finally woke up and her favorite floor was the "Itty Bitty" Baby Floor

Staten Island Ferry

NYC, we love you!!!!

October 2012

I think this might have been one of Katelyn's 1st ponytails:)

I think she found these from moving.... cuteness!

Next up... Columbus Day meant trip to NYC!

End of September 2012

The first few weeks of school Brendon dropped Daniel off at school on his way into the church then I would pick him up.... however, Daniel started asking to ride the bus so we agreed on the way home.  It was our favorite time of the day to take our walk to the bus stop to get "our brother."

I love our library here... they do some awesome programs for kids... like having "The Balloon Man" come in and do a magic show for the kids one night.

We were in full soccer season this time of year.... something else that we did that was a lot of fun is that the city of Ocean City had a CITY WIDE YARD SALE.  I have never been to one of these but basically everyone sets up a table at a local site and you get to walk and rummage tons and tons of tables... the weather was so perfect... it was a really fun way to spend a Saturday morning followed by soccer.

Good Bye September 2012 and Hello October 2013... which will go down as one of the craziest months in our life!

Daniel's 5th Birthday PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!  I have waited a while to blog about this day... it was probably one of the hardest days of our move!  I am sure many tears will come back just looking through these pictures and reflecting back on what THIS specific day represented to me!

Let me start from the beginning... the first week we moved from Long Island to Arizona I became pregnant!  It was my dream come true!  It was like our move to Arizona represented the next chapter in our life.  It was a fresh start in so many ways!  I had just moved back to family... we purchased a house with our ever expanding family in mind... you know thinking about things like a playroom, a good backyard, a pool, the master bedroom on the same floor as the "kid's" rooms, a big kitchen, an open floor plan so I can be in the kitchen and be with my babies at the same time..... 9 months later I have my first baby!  I was in a new season of life so I started connecting with other women starting their new season of life.... not in my wildest imagination or craziest dreams would I ever think I would meet some of the most amazing women of my life... women I would call dear and precious friends!

We DID life together for 5 years!  We did breakfast, pool play dates to make the heat more bearable, park playdates, walked around the mall together, ice cream play dates, house play dates where we would loose track of time bonding over coffee, pizza or whatever other deliciousness was available.... we would celebrate every single holiday together... sometimes we made up holidays because we needed something to celebrate, we would do crafts with our kids no matter how old they were... we did parties... birthday parties, baby showers, college graduations... any major life event that required celebration, well.... we celebrated!

We got on the airplane for New Jersey 3 days after Daniel's 5th birthday.... so, 1 week before our moving truck came we had a going away party/ birthday party for him and we invited our very special friends to help us celebrate.

This was a closing of a chapter.... it was 5 years of living with my 2 precious babies in a community that supported us more than anything I could have ever wished for.  In some ways, that chapter had ended in a weird way as all of our 5 year old's were starting their own chapters... called Kindergarten!   Almost every mom there was going through their own unique end of a chapter/ beginning of a new chapter season as well... except mine... well, I felt the book was being slammed shut on my chapter.... I was going to leave this community that had helped me raise my children from birth all the way through the pre-school years.

It. was. a. tough. day.

 This group of friends met as newborns at the hospital where us mom started meeting up weekly... one mom made Daniel the special frame below to hang in his new room so that he would never forget his "birth" friends from AZ.

 Yeah... that candle we bring out at every birthday for Daniel and we burn it down to the age he is turning until he is 18!

 Yes!  Before he blew out his candle... I gave a speech!  Why!  Oh why did I do that?  Because I almost lost it... like sobbing uncontrollable as I looked in the faces of those friends!!!!  I didn't loose it though but as I looked at the face of my son who saw all of those incredibly special people standing around him... I thought 2 things... he is SO blessed, I am so blessed!  2nd.... God, please send us the right people to be in our life to fill this massive void we are going to face when we get to NJ!

 OUR COMMUNITY!

 Snow Cones!

 Our new nephew... Luke the dog!

Some of Daniel's friends bought him presents that he could take on the plane ride to NJ with him.... because it is a 5 hour flight or 4.5 hour flight... depending which way you are going:)

Jacq specifically put together a huge basket full of super fun things to take to NJ... she wanted to see Daniel open it but we knew it would get crazy to open gifts at the party so we specifically took pics of Daniel opening this gift so Jacq could see it:)

Arizona... we love you!  Thank you for making it THE BEST PLACE in the world for me to raise my son Daniel for all of his pre school years.  We had a blast and we miss you terribly!