Bre & Brielle

I have the best friends in the whole world. Since we have moved from Utah visitors have frequented our home and my friends have been among the main crowd. Our family feels very loved and blessed for the wonderful people in our lives.

Last week Breanne said she was going to keep her eye on flights and fly out on stand-by if they looked good. Sure enough, Wednesday rolled around and she was on a red-eye out with Brielle to have another fun Fall visit. She visited this same weekend last October with Taryn and Stellar, and this visit was as perfect as the last. She brought GORGEOUS weather with her and we didn't waste one minute of her 2 1/2 days!

Very first thing Thursday morning, she basically ran "Joyschool" that Thad started with a few boys from the ward. She is an amazing preschool teacher and didn't even skip a beat with these darling little boys. They loved every minute of it and I know it would not have run as smooth without her expertise. Thanks, Teacher Bre!

Like I said, the weather was perfect, so we headed straight up north to check out the fall festivities that are sure to entertain here on the east coast.

Shelton, CT is about 40 minutes away and it didn't disappoint! 

 Pumpkins were the main attraction on this perfect fall day.

But there was plenty more fun to be had on this quaint New England farm...

 We couldn't resist a hayride through the fields of the farm:

Thad loved the tractor with Old Mac Donald driving it and pulling us along our way. ;-)

We ended the day at the farm with a nice hoedown on the dance floor.

Look at them boogie!

Like I said, we didn't waste one minute of these girls' time here and went straight to the mall for some shopping and to a Relief Society dinner that evening. It was so fun to introduce Bre to some of my wonderful friends back here and enjoy some girl time together.

The next morning we got up and going and RAN to the train station to catch a train into NYC to meet Brian for lunch and have some fun exploring the "greatest city in the world!"

The train was luckily 5 minutes late so we even had time to take a couple pictures on the platform.

FLASHBACK: A year sure changes things...all these kiddos are going to be big siblings within the next 5 months! They sure have grown and now look like the big siblings they will be.

 On the train we got to sit in the drink cart. Kids sure know how to use ANYTHING for entertainment!

First stop was to meet Dad in Bryant Park for a delicious lunch to enjoy on the lawn.

Bryant Park has become one of our favorite spots in the city. Even though there is no playground, it has a fun vibe and beautiful scenery.

 The kids loved the fountain at the park and Brielle would have taken a swim if her mom allowed her.

After lunch we took a stroll through Times Square. Before we got there, we ran into this:

Brielle LOVES Buzz and Woody and couldn't take her eyes off of him!

 We got there and Breanne convinced me to take this uber-touristy picture. That's us on the screen above the Forever 21 sign with "big arms" that Breanne forced me to do so we could tell it was us on the screen.

Brian and I make fun of people a lot for doing this. We always wonder why people would want a picture of this. I guess for their blog.

Pinkberry was the next stop on our trek and it was as good as we both remembered! 

Bre said she has thought a lot about this place during the last year, and we were just sad we couldn't get another one the rest of the trip.

 We strolled by the temple and Thad and Brielle loved seeing the Angel Moroni and singing "I Love to See the Temple." Precious.

 Central Park is always a breath of fresh air and the kids loved to stretch their legs...and they did!

After the park we couldn't decide if we wanted to go to the children's museum or experience the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center...What to do??

Maybe not the most child-friendly activity...

but with those views, we couldn't regret our decision!

Our awesome day in the city came to an end and we met Brian at Grand Central to have some pizza on the train and a quick ride home to get these kiddos in bed!

This is the view we got as we approached Grand Central. That never gets old.

We were ALL excited to get off our feet and take a seat on the train.

I wonder why the kids were so good...?

How are these tiny kids so stinkin' smart? They don't even need our help!

We could hardly believe it, but the next day was another perfect, fall day! We couldn't stay cooped up inside and headed to Stamford Nature Center, or the "little zoo" as we told Thad. It was pretty much a stroll through a farm, but both kids and adults enjoyed the scenery and weather.

The wild birds roaming the grounds were the perfect beginning to the day at the little zoo.

We walked up to see the cows and couldn't get enough of the beautiful surroundings.

Thad was a bit scared of the cow, but he held back tears and let Dad get him pretty close!

Brielle has no fear. Of anything.

Thad loved checking out the roosters, and gave Bre his best "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Brielle played a little hard to get throughout the day...

But in the end just couldn't resist him.

I guess she just wants to take things a little slower, so we just kept checking out all the animals.

  

I do have to say I think this pig was the highlight of the "little zoo" adventure. 

Doesn't she just remind you of sweet little Wilbur from Charlotte's Web? ;)

 We had the perfect guests for the perfect fall weekend. 

We couldn't ask for better friends.

Thanks for coming all the way across the country, Bre and Brielle.

We can't wait until the next time you come to play!

A September to Remember

This September was truly a memorable one. Fall in Connecticut can't be beat, and this month was the perfect beginning to a beautiful season back here.

One thing we got to do is watch our friend's darling baby, Bo. They went to a concert in the city and Thad got to have a little taste of what it will be like to have a little brother.

Thad wanted in on the action at all times and of course had to help Bo play with his toys. 

I can't wait to see this boy with his little bro!

There was also lots of time spent at the beach before it got to cold to go down there. It is always so refreshing to be down by the water so we didn't want to waste any of the perfect weather.

We also finished a MAJOR project this month: repainting our table and chairs.

BEFORE

AFTER

We LOVE how the finished product turned out, but it was a rough road getting there. We started clear back in June before we went to Utah and it was dragged out until September. We (I mean Brian) had to strip down the top 2 times before getting it the way we wanted, but in the end it was all worth it. We did learn through this experience that we are not the big project kind of people, but ya live and ya learn, I guess. :) 

We also spray painted the chandelier silver instead of the bright brass it was and it definitely completed the space and its look.

This month I was also able to attend my first Broadway show, and what a memory that will always be!

Angie and Vess took a trip to NYC and we of course had to meet up with them!

This was the perfect show to see for the first time and it definitely got me hooked on Broadway.

 I took all these pictures before I was told you can't take pictures in the theater. 

Classic rookie mistake.

We got a SMOKING deal on our tickets because we purchased "partial view" tickets the day of the show.

We were on the balcony that you can see in this picture (just on the opposite side obviously) and a small corner of the stage was hidden from our view. Totally worth $30/ticket.

Daniel Radcliffe was amazing and the night was just totally perfect with 2 good friends we hadn't seen in a while. The city truly is an amazing place!

Of course this boy makes any month a memorable one.

Our little Indiana Jones

And in between there was lots of this from all the fun we were having.

Vermont

Our family was invited to join some other families from our ward to head up to Vermont for a weekend in the mountains. On this trip we decided Vermont is one of our favorite places and we hope to frequent it over the years of our lives on the east coast!

Here is the awesome cabin and beautiful view we were able to enjoy the entire weekend.

The first morning everyone but us went off to run either a 5k or the half marathon that was taking place...

We knew better and stuck behind to enjoy the mountains.

We went on a walk and did Dad and Thad's favorite thing...throwing rocks, of course!

Dad decided to see if he could peg the yellow sign from where we were standing. 

Thad had a better idea. :)

Playing in the "backyard" of the cabin.

After our forest tour we decided to head to town and check out a cheese farm.

Apparently VT is famous for its cheeses, so we couldn't pass it up. We ended up only checking out the gift shop and front area because, like everything else on the east coast, it cost WAY too much to go out back and check out the actual farm. We'll do that another day.

We HAD to stop here as soon as we saw it!

The rest of the day was spent shopping and hanging out with everyone at the cabin. The next and last day, we decided to head to the ski resort that our cabin was very close to and enjoy the afternoon there.

The Jensens.The Jensens.The Monsens.The Elmores.The Johnsons.

The Jensons.

What a fun group of people to vacay with!

Everyone hopped on the gondola to go to the top of the mountain.

We thought Thad might be scared, but he loved riding in it!

At the Top

Camille and I headed back to the cabin with the kiddos while everyone else went on a hike to check out the Appalachian Trail. They love history.

Brian at the top of a rickety tower.

Good thing I wasn't there. I don't know that I would have let him climb it.

Looks like the view was worth it, though!

The trip was an ABSOLUTE blast and we're so glad we had the opportunity to go and spend a relaxing weekend in the mountains with some wonderful friends. Brian and I both said it felt a little bit like being back in Utah with the mountains. It was great to discover a place that can make us feel at home that is a few hours drive rather than a few hours flight!

Big Boy and Big Brother

Thad is growing up right before our eyes, and though it can be bittersweet at times, the sweet usually outweighs the bitter.

Right before the Henries cames to visit, Thad asked to go pee on the potty. When he said it, I didn't believe that he would actually do it, but Brian sat in with him for several minutes and before you know it he said "It's coming!" and sure enough it did! We couldn't believe it, but decided we would wait until Brigitte left to hit it hard and get him potty trained. Through the next week and a half he didn't lose interest and would go any time I put him on the potty...well #1 at least. :) The day after Brig left, I put him in training underwear and haven't looked back! The first couple days he had a few pee accidents and was terrified to go poop in the potty, so had a couple of those accidents too. But by the time it had been a week, I could easily take him to the store or the gym and not worry about him having an accident.

We did have to bribe him a bit to get him to go poop on the potty, so we took him to Toys 'R' Us and let him pick out whatever he wanted...

And the giant T-Rex is what he chose.

Is anybody surprised here?

Didn't think so, but Brian and I thought it was hilarious that he carted around this toy that is 3/4 his size and loved it so much!

We put it high on a shelf where he could see it to remind him that he "wanted" to go poop in the potty, and it worked! What a big boy!

Like I mentioned at the beginning, he is getting so big, but it is such a great feeling, especially with Baby #2 on the way, to have a big boy on my hands. Thad is so independent and sweet and I'm so glad to have potty training taken care of before the baby comes.

Speaking of Baby #2...

We got to see this little one today, AND...

It's another little BOY!

We could not be more excited about this news and can't believe Thad is going to be a big brother to a little brother. Thad is surrounded mostly by girls his age, so it will be so nice to have a guaranteed male friend for the rest of his life. 

Thad loved seeing the baby on the TV since we had been talking about it for several weeks, and although I don't think it lived up to all of his expectations, he was excited nonetheless. When we asked him what we should name him, he said "BabyontheTVatthedoctor." Don't know that we'll take his advice on that one, but we're glad he can feel involved anyways. ;-) 

As soon as we left the ultrasound, we hustled to the train station to catch a train to NYC to hang out with "Tan Tan" and Uncle Doug who were on vacation. We met them in Times Square, checked out their hotel at the Marriott right in Times Square and then had a delicious pizza dinner with them before they headed to Wicked. They are so much fun to be with and it was a perfect way to celebrate the news of another Monsen boy. Thad was such a big boy, and even though we put a diaper on him to avoid the trouble of finding NYC bathrooms, he held it in and just used bathroom at the hotel. What a trooper!

On the way home we stopped at Bryant Park because I had never been and it was PERFECT night! What a fun place to be with a beautiful view of the city!