Thatcher Blowing Bubbles at Taggy

Auguri!

Four years ago today I came home from my mission! I don't have any of my mission pictures on this computer, so I thought I would post a few pictures of touring with my family at the end of my mission. I can't believe it has been four years! It has flown, and yet so much has happened since then! I am so grateful that I served a mission, I am so grateful that I chose to go. Everything that is good in my life has happened because I served a mission. I love it that Todd and I both served missions (never mind that we served in the SAME mission! ;) ), I hope that ALL our kids will be able to have this great experience!


Here we are at the Colosseum, it was absolutely amazing! I fell in LOVE with Rome. I had heard my whole mission what an amazing city it was, but I didn't believe it till I saw it. We hope to go back someday.


It was so fun to tour around Italy and Malta with my family at the end of the mission.


Waiting at a bus stop. We had some FUN experiences on the buses in Italy while my family and I were touring. One time in Catania the bus was so full they wouldn't let my parents off the bus! I kept yelling, "wait!, wait!". It was pretty funny.



The fam in Florence.


Here I am tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain, supposedly if you toss a coin in it means you will come back to Rome. I want to go back! Mostly for the Cannoli...

Rhode Island Trip 2007

Here are our photos from our Rhode Island trip! We had a blast being with Grandma and Grandpa Monson and Uncle Dave (or Davis). Thatcher loved playing with Grandma, wrestling with Grandpa, and watching and doing card tricks with Uncle Davis. We had fun being all together for three weeks. We are looking forward to July when we all we be at Bear Lake together and this time Todd and Uncle Jon can be there too!

"Papa's House!"

"Papa's house!", this is what Thatcher would yell everytime we came up to the house. He calls Grandma "grunk grunk" (he also calls his hands, "hanks", so he has a problem with d's...no need to judge! :)) and he calls Grandpa "Papa". So funny.



Thatcher running on the lawn, he isn't used to seeing so much grass!

"I often go walking...."

I tried to take lots of walks while I was in Rhode Island. It was spring, the birds were singing, everything was blooming, it was just beautiful. I wanted to take advantage of seeing spring because we all know we do not get seasons here in Tucson. It was really nice.




Typical New Englander's for ya! :)


Something that is so cool about New England, they have all these little cemetaries all over the place. Most of them date back to the 17-1800's. It is really cool.


Cute little local farm.

"Honey...I found our future house...."

These are some of the GORGEOUS homes going in around my old neighborhood. I just had to get pictures of them!

Taggart Court

For those of you wondering where I got the name Taggart...here ya go! This is a street right by my parents home, I used to run on this street every morning and think, "Taggart, that is a cute name for a boy..."

Thatcher at a little pre-school where they have this cute big potato head! Also, I had to take pictures of him by the flowers, so pretty!

Frenchtown Elementary School Playground

We went to the local elementary school and played on the playground one afternoon with Grandma. It was a beautiful day and Thatcher loved being outside.

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"BIG DIG" that is what Thatcher calls sandpits or piles of dirt. He loves to dig. He is all boy I guess.


Thatcher loved this little play house.


Doing the laundry, if only real laundry was so fun!


Bye-bye! See ya!

Meeting Sponge Bob

For those of you who don't know, Thatcher LOVES Sponge Bob. In my parents ward there was a little boy who dressed up as Sponge Bob for Halloween, so my Mom asked if he would dress up for Thatcher. Thatcher was in AWE over this kid dressed like Sponge Bob, it was the funniest thing. It took a little while for Thatcher to warm up to him (obviously, because until then he thought Sponge Bob was a cartoon!) but after he did he had the best time hugging, playing, and holding hands with Sponge Bob. It was so cute!

Providence Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum twice in Rhode Island. It was really a cute museum and they had this wonderful exhibit that the kids could play with water and boats. Thatcher loved it. They also had a room with a slide and cave and Thatcher and Taggart had fun playing in there. It was really fun!


Thatcher loved to watch the water spray straight up in the air, and when you put a ball on it, the water would carry the ball up in the air. He was so fascinated by it!


Thatcher definitely has engineer blood in him. He is always figuring out how things work and putting things together and taking things apart.


Thatcher being sprayed by the water.


Thatcher smiling for the camera...he loves to say, "cheese"...


Thatcher and Taggy playing in the Toddler Tree room. They even had a place for Taggy to play in, it was so fun!


They had all these cute little exhibits at the Children's Museum, one of them had this big cash register that Thatcher loved playing with. He loves pretending to shop and buy things (I guess that is my influence!)


Thatcher going down the tree slide, he loves slides!


Grandma and the boys on the GIANT lady.

These are the beautiful roses that Todd sent me on our Anniversary.

We took lots of rides in the car. Thatcher loves to go for rides and stop off and get popcorn chicken from KFC...his new favorite food!

Out to Lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle David

Here is everyone at dinner at Caraba's just before we got on the plane to come home.

Happy Anniversary!

Three years ago today Todd and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a perfect day. There were some glitches like all weddings, but at the time they didn't even faze me, it was like a dream. Everything was just as I had pictured it in my head and most of all I was so happy to be marrying Todd. It has been a wonderful three years, filled with lots of events and emotions. We have moved three times, graduated from college, started a 'real' job, had two kids, and got a dog. We feel humbled as we see how blessed our little family has been. I am so grateful for Todd and the man that he is. We are apart on our Anniversary, I am in Rhode Island and he is in Idaho for business. Todd sent me the most beautiful bouquet today, three dozen long stemmed roses, he is so sweet! Happy Anniversary Darling...

Update from Rhode Island...

We have been here in Rhode Island a week and a couple days and we are having a great time! We have had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Dave (who Thatcher calls Davis for some odd reason! :) ) We have gone to the Children's Museum and park and lots of drives. One of my absolute favorite things that we have done, and continue to do, is go for long walks in the morning and sometimes evenings. I have forgotten how absolutely beautiful spring is in New England. The trees are budding, and the flowers are blooming. Since there are so many trees our walks are filled with the sounds of singing birds. I love it. I guess that is what happens when you live in the dessert, I appreciate the beauty of spring here so much more then I ever have before! I don't know if I would be willing to give up our great weather in in Tucson in the fall and winter for it, but I do love it. I am not able to post any pictures at this time, but will have lots to post when we get back to Tucson. We are actually extending our stay here another week because Todd was called off on business in Idaho Falls. Todd and I are actually going to be apart on our Anniversary this year, which is sad, but we are looking forward to spending lots of time together and as a family when we get back and Todd is taking some vacation time to do so.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I will be gone with the boys for two weeks. We are leaving tonight for Rhode Island. I don't know if I will have the chance to blog very much over there, but I am going to try!

For Jill...

http://www.myheritage.com

I did one of these a while back, but I did another one tonight for Jill.

Blast From The Past...

This is a good friend of mine, Julie Zaccardi, that I have just recently met back up with. Here we are as kids, I think she was probably 15 and I would be 13 in this picture. Notice the early 90's fashion and don't forget the braces. We lived in Oregon at this time and she was in my ward. We were crazy together. Most of you know that I have a little bit of a crazy side, well she defiantly brings this side out in me. We toilet papered all the time, prank called and basically gave a few grey hairs to our parents and leaders. But don't worry, it was all good clean fun. At girls camp one time we decided that it would be a good idea to light a fire in our tent. My mom just happened to be one of the camp directors that year. While she was talking to some other leaders she found out that some crazy girls lite a fire in their tent. She was appalled... and then she found out it was me, and Julie. We had some fun times together. I am glad that we have reconnected after all these years.

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