"I love you more!"

That was a very common phrase heard this break by my adorable nephew, Ryker.  When he was younger (well, younger than he is now) he would barely let me hug him.  This break he let us tickle him, kiss him, hold him, cuddle him, take him to the store/ice skating/car rides, hug him.... He actually wanted to go anywhere and everywhere that someone was going. It was so so so much fun.  And he is talking SO much.  It is so fun to hear your nephew who you thought may hate you say he loves you more.  Yes, he probably doesn't really know what it means but it makes an aunt feel so good! Also, he would put "too!" on the end of every single sentence. hah When someone was leaving he would say, "I go too!" or when someone got apple cider, "I have apple juice too!" Ahh it was so cute. And I am pretty sure one of his favorite things to do is make milkshakes.  I feel like he doesn't care too much about the end product like he does the licking ice cream off the spoon, dipping the spoon in the chocolate then licking it and putting it back in so the chocolate will stick, and pushing the lever to make the milkshake come out the smoothie spigot.

Rock as a three (almost 4 year old) is so much fun!! He says the cutest most random things!
He was dressed up as Santa and sitting on the floor so I sat next to him and swung my legs over him and starting asking him stuff for Christmas. He started pushing me off and said, "I don't have time for this!" and walked away.

I was playing with Rock and this conversation happened.. haha

Me: Rock, I'm gonna miss you when I leave.
Rock: Where are you going?
Me: I have to go back to school.
Rock: Why do you have to go back to school?
Me: Because I have to learn.
Rock: Why do you have to learn?
Me: So I can have a job
Rock: hah You don't  need to go to school!
Me: Why??
Rock: I'll teach you all you need to know!


How can you NOT love these two?!

Summer Is Officially Over...

[This was typed a while ago] We are back on the West Coast. Just a little sad considering we did so much during this trip but there was still more to do and see! The trip was so fun and I cannot thank my parents enough for letting us tag along.  During this trip I entered 8 new states (if you call D.C. a state)(New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C.), tried Lobster (lobster roll) and crab (crab cakes) for the first time.  I liked both of them! But after Marissa gagged when she tried the lobster I lost my appetite and couldn't enjoy the clam chowder I had. Thanks Riss. I also finished the Hunger Game series (see below).  We were in airports and planes for way too long, obviously.  And spent way too many hours in the car together... Marissa and I drove our parents crazy, I'm sure of it.  But they miss and love us so it's okay, right?  We are happy they tolerated us. :)

We tried to occupy ourselves in the car at least...

Here are some pictures of us at Plymouth! 

 The Fudge Lady.  She gave us tons of fudge so I thought she deserved a picture on this oh so popular blog. 

 On pretty much every vacation we went on Marissa and I would get these rocks. Please don't ask why, because I wouldn't know an answer.

 Through the fence I saw a tail flip.  I freaked out thinking it was a horse...

On our last day we went to Boston. I loved it! And we ate at America's Oldest Running Restaurant! Super cool. Mom and I got a sweet tour about the Boston Massacre. Super interesting!

When we got back to Washington we went to Les Miz. I loved it! I didn't read the book or see the movie and there wasn't a synopsis in the book but I still knew what was going on! Second row tickets are amazing! Thank you SO much mom for dragging us along :)  When we made it home we spent as much time as possible at the lake and we even made it up to Stehekin for a few hours.  Dad let us drive the boat (even though a stupid tiny piece of wood made its way and we were delayed a few hours).  It was awesome to get some bakery goodies and drink out of Rainbow Falls.  I even got to see Ben Barnes up there! Going with Rock made the trip even more enjoyable.

I miss those boys!

I am now back in Utah... So much fun. I finished American Heritage, forever! But I do have to say I enjoyed reading about the events that happened at the places we visited. But that stress is gone and I am starting a new one, Chemistry 105. Yippee!! I am finishing up at the shack (we close at the end of Sept) and I have a new job as an aide.  I am also taking ZUMBA! We will see how that goes, first day wasn't the best.. haha I am definitely not a dancer. It will be an interesting class for Stacey and I. 

Working our way up the East Coast!

Well, we have made it to our final destination! Cape Cod! I have realized how much I miss the ocean.  When we were growing up a lot of our vacations were to the coast.  I have been to a few sunny beaches in the past few years but there is something about the cooler temperatures and the ocean that I just love.  We drove around today after church to look around at all the different beaches and houses (and many Dunkin' Donuts, Bank of  Americas and Post Offices).

Since my last post Marissa and mom caught you up on most of it. Also, if you got my dad's email, they all three cover what has happened pretty well.  So check them out.

I do want to tell a little story that happened at our first condo.
So while everyone else is in their rooms Marissa and I are laying out in the living room. Me trying to sleep and Marissa reading. All of a sudden she says, "Ohhhh gosh.... that is huge!!!!" in a freaked out voice.  I immediately know that she has seen some kind of bug.  It's a spider. And it has made it's way under the bed. Perfect. So we freak out a bit, pick up our bags off the ground. I sit there well awake now and Marissa is telling me to just go to bed.  I hate spiders.  No way.  Mom comes out to read for a bit and we tell her about the spider.  A few minutes later she says in a semi calm voice, "Oh, there's your spider."  We tell her to kill it and she says she wants to kill it just as much as we do.  She tries to get it with the trash can (Marissa won't lend her super heavy nursing books) and the spider takes off.  All of us freaking out once more.  We tell mom to turn off the light as she makes her way back into the bedroom so we don't have to get out of bed.  She stands in the doorway and gives a slight good luck-so long-I'm going to protect myself first wave and shuts her door.  Thanks mom.  We never did kill that spider, we only saw it once in a while the next couple nights.

When mom first planned this trip she didn't think that Washington D.C. would fit  in, but I was happy that it did.  Besides New York (which we also got to drive through) this is a place I have always wanted to go that is on the east coast.  We got to see the Lincoln Memorial (but the hot security officer wouldn't take his picture with us) and we got to see three of the memorial sites.  Going and seeing the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials was very nice.  I have always really wanted to see was the National Law Enforcement Memorial one.  It's very different knowing a family that has a loved one engraved in the stone.  There were a lot less people here so it was easier to have a more private experience.  We were able to sketch over names and hear my dad talk about a few that I didn't get a chance to know.  Washington D.C. was definitely one of my favorite stops so far.

Like I said before we were able to drive through NY, more specifically... Queens. Where Zachary Scoffield is serving! It was really exciting for Marissa and I, even though we didn't seen him... It was the closest we will be to him for the next year and a half.

While at Philly we were able to have some Philly Cheese Steaks. Cheese Whiz makes them just that much better! We got to walk around with dad at night and go to LOVE park and hold some snakes :)  Marissa and I went out a little later to get some food.  There is a curfew for teens and some cops came in to the diner and saw me, stared at me, and kinda smiled before taking their seats. Obviously I didn't look old enough to them or something.. haha

We still have a week left and that means many more stories to tell!!