Bike Riding with Salah

75 degrees in January??

The other weekend we had such beautiful weather. It was crazy to have the windows and doors open, Jalen outside sweating playing with the dogs, and grilling out hamburgers and hot dogs! We enjoyed every minute of it and realized how much we miss Spring and are ready for it. We went down to the lake on Sunday and did some fishing with Grandpa. The catfish we caught were huge. We're excited to know that the fish are still in there and growing. Last year and the year before last, we were just catching little fish and now they're getting up there in size. By the end of the time, it was just Dad and I fishing and the boys were playing with worms and having them race, but it was fun. These are the times we will remember forever!

Bowling with Cousins!

It is so much fun to see all the cousins together and having a blast doing so. I hope they grow up and continue to be the best of friends.

Trip to Grandma's

The first weekend in Janaury, Lindsay and I took the kids to Grandma's for the weekend. What a blast we had. For the most part the kids did great, but it was so much fun to be with them and around them. Being at work during the week, I feel like I miss moments with everyone. I would do a lot of things to be able to go back to the days where it was just the sisters and the kids. Those were the absolute best days of my life. We went to the aquarium and just hung out. Brooklyn and Jalen slept in their sleeping bags together on the floor in my room. It was a lot of fun. Love my little ones and my big sis!

NYC Adventure

Wow. I have to say that if you take a country girl and put her in the city, she will learn a lot! What a great time we had. New York is a totally different world. Being able to walk out of your house and just walk everywhere is amazing. We would wake up and walk to the bakery and then go to the pizza place across the street. We would just walk to the grocery store and there are fresh flower shops on every corner. Obviously this is out of the City, but it was so neat. New York has the craziest drivers though! Holy moly, I was nauseous! They pull out of no where, will run you over in the cross walk if it is their green light, they hit cars like no tomorrow. When we pulled into Auntie's place, we had to wait for a spot on the side of the street. A car was pulling out and it backed up and hit the car behind and in front of it like 10 times! Here you would've called the police. The trains are wow. You can get any and every where, but watch out for the crawling rats that are HUGE! In the City, it is just people everywhere and characters. At one point we had 3 Elmos asking if we wanted pictures. You have to pay them. There was a naked cowgirl posing for pictures. Of course, that's the one Jalen remembers. Totally different world. One of the best parts of the trip was Ground Zero. It is a tear-jerker for sure. Security is just like being at the airport. Shoes off, everything. I only shed a few tears while at the memorial until we walked through the memorial store and they had a video playing of family members talking about their loved ones. Everyone lost it at that point. It was especially difficult because Auntie was there. She was at the Trade Center. She was one of the lucky ones. It was eye-opening to hear her story and I will say, you realize how blessed you are. In addition, we went and visited their Grandma. It has been about 16 years since Nicholas saw her. It was a great reunion and something we ha been thinking about. It was a great trip, we were so thankful to all that showed us around and for the experience. New York, I will be back. You are one of my favorite places!