Upstate New York Trip

Months ago Ryan had planned a work trip to Rochester, NY for mid July.  A few weeks before the trip he said that he may have enough frequent flyer miles to get me up there too, but Cannon would have to stay here.  I wrestled with the idea in my head for a long time.  I really dislike leaving Cannon overnight, but I also felt strongly that Ryan and I needed this trip together.  My good friend Yvonne was able to watch Cannon and my heart felt at peace.  She has two boys, one just older and just younger than Cannon, so it worked out perfectly.  He fit right in with their family and didn't miss a beat! 


Emerson, Cannon, and Everest

I flew in on a Thursday late afternoon, so as soon as Ryan picked me up from the airport we went straight to dinner.  On the way to our hotel we detoured a bit so that I could see what Rochester and the surrounding areas looked like.  We even passed their old house in Fairport!  I could just imagine Sugar dog running around and visiting the neighbors!  We passed Ryan's high school and some other places of interest to him.  I LOVED being able to finally see all the places that I have been hearing stories about.  For eight years now I've been hearing how great Fairport is, and this restaurant, and that store, and this pizza...and the list goes on!  It was a trip down memory lane for Ryan and it brought us closer together to listen to old and new stories and to share in his happiness. 

Our hotel was in Victor, fairly close to his old hood.  Once we got settled in, Ryan asked me on a whim if I wanted to go to the movies.  Sure, why not!  I don't even remember what we saw, but we ate raisinets.  On Friday he only had to work in the morning and he was back before noon.  That gave me enough time to sleep in, get ready, and finish the book I was reading.  We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, eating, and just enjoying being together. 

I got to experience Wegmans, which Ryan and his family claims is the greatest grocery store ever.  I have to say it did not disappoint! 

And we went to Lombardi's which is Ryan's mom's favorite store.  It's a darling little Italian store in the Village of Fairport, that has more varieties of pasta than I have ever seen in my life!  Not to mention their selections of olive oils!

We also started our Church History tour with a trip to Fayette to see the Peter Whitmer Farm.  We got a nice tour in the church and the house.  It was a little busy, which Ryan warned me of because of it being pageant weekend.  Outside of Utah, I haven't experienced any church history sites so this was something I was really looking forward to during this trip. 

On Saturday we spent pretty much the whole day touring the church sites.  This was the highlight of the trip for me.  Everything strengthened my testimony and deepened my faith.  I left with feelings of humility and gratitude for all those who sacrificed and paved the way.  Being at these sites and seeing them with my own eyes, I relived these sacred moments and I'll never forget what I felt.  I can't wait to take Cannon and our future children back here someday!  I was a bad at remembering to take pictures, so the Grandin Building was left out.  Which is so sad because that ended up being one of my favorite places we visited.  When Ryan was living here as a teenager, he was able to be a part of some special experiences. 

During that time, the Palmyra Temple was just being built.  Ryan showed me the spot where he helped to lay in the new grass and worked to get the temple grounds ready.  During the dedication of this temple, Ryan's family was in attendance.  It was a chilly day and President Hinckley wasn't wearing a coat, so Ryan's dad leant him his coat!  It's a famous coat in our family now and Ryan's parents still have it somewhere. 

Palmyra Temple

The Hill Cumorah Monument

The Smith Home

The Smith Farm overlooking the Sacred Grove

Inside the Sacred Grove

I love this picture and I'm so sad that it turned out blurry

The day was topped off with watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant!  I've heard lots of stories from Ryan's family about pageant and now it was finally my turn to experience it!  The youth from our stake were here in Palmyra for the weekend too, so we met up with them at pageant.  The pageant itself was pretty awesome!  I am in awe of the magnitude of talent that is put into this program.  Again, I can't wait to take Cannon here when he's older!

On Sunday we went to the church that Ryan and his family went to when they lived here.  It was fun for him to see some people he hasn't seen in years and it was fun for me to finally have a face for a name!  After church we drove up to Niagara Falls, another first for me!

I didn't realize how touristy it is, which is a big turnoff for me.  However, we parked along the side of the river and walked to the falls.  That made it more peaceful and allowed us the time and space to take in the beauty.  We didn't do the Maid of the Mist boat ride, but I was happy to just walk around.

The next morning Ryan took me to the airport and that ended our trip!   He came home later that night on a different flight. This was such a wonderful trip and it replenished me more than I thought I needed, both spiritually and physically.  

The Fourth of July

We have yet to take Cannon to a big fireworks display for the 4th.  Cannon is sensitive to loud noises, particularly fireworks, but he said he was ready this year.  We had planned to go to Largo Central Park near our home, but the rain kept toying with us. 

However, we started the day off right with some red, white, and blue, pancakes!  Cannon is my new flap-jack-flapper.  He tells me it's his job.

We did our own fireworks in our parking lot and smoke balls continue to be Cannon's favorites!  We did them just in time because as soon as we were finished it started to rain. Hard!

 

It rained off and on and we were all getting cooped up in the house so we decided to head to the beach where it doesn't matter if you are wet or dry.  We went to Reddington Shores, one of our favorite beaches.  It was actually really nice there and the clouds kept us from the hot sun.  We wished we had gone earlier because it was so relaxing.  It sprinkled off and on and we left during the major downpour. 

 

 

We decided to just go home because we figured the fireworks would be rained out.  Cannon had a bath and went to bed.  Then all of a sudden all the rain and clouds cleared up and the fireworks began!  Haha, well maybe next year we'll get to see the big show.  But I thought our day turned out pretty well anyway.  



Ryan's Birthday

Ryan's birthday fell on a Monday (July 8) this year and with all of our travelling, we didn't plan any big adventures for him.  However, we had a lovely dinner and evening with him.  I told Ryan he could pick what he wanted me to cook for him for his birthday dinner.  He's not one to get excited over celebrations so I think he just said tacos.  Boring!  That's not even his favorite food!  I know that he LOVES carrot cake and I said I would make him one from scratch.  He suggested that I should just pick up one from the store.  What!  He really didn't think I could make a good one!  That meant challenge on for me and I searched for the best and simple recipe I could find since it was my first time making a carrot cake.  Cannon was so excited to help me make it and he kept telling Ryan it was going to be a surprise. 

Ryan had to work on his birthday and when he got home dinner and dessert were awaiting him!  During dinner a massive thunderstorm came through and the emergency alert on my phone came on saying there was a tornado in the area.  But we continued on with our festivities.  Dinner was good and the cake came out great!  I totally proved him wrong!  I made the cake without nuts and I later came to learn that Ryan prefers nuts in his carrot cake.  After 7.5 years of marriage we are still learning things about each other!

Watching the big rain storm

A good looking cake and a good looking guy (BTW, I love his gray hair!)



Cannon was super excited about the whole evening!

Happy birthday Ryan/Daddy!  We love you! 

Utah

In between Mother's and Father's Day, Cannon and I went to Utah for two weeks (Ryan went to Minnesota and Wisconsin).  We had wonderful adventures and the weather was perfect! 

Before our trip Cannon kept telling me that he was going to play with Kennedi in the snow.  I told him that all the snow may be melted by the time we got there, but he was adamant about it!  Luckily for him, his wish came true!  Our first real day there we drove up the canyon until we found some snow!

Yes you may eat the snow and walk in it barefoot!

I wish we had more time to play in the snow and I wish we had warmer clothes!

We did do lots of other fun things.  Cannon helped Uncle Jesse mow Nana's lawn:

We did smoke balls:

Merci and I took the kids to the zoo one day.  Our favorite part was watching the seals and sea lions!



He loved this elephant because it would unexpectedly shoot out water!



Cannon and Kennedi got to spend lots of time together!  Everyday they played a make believe game about going to work and school.  Her name was Blonde and his name was Splodge.  It was so much fun to watch them play together! 



There was time for friends, although I didn't get a picture of everyone!

Ryan and Cannon at the splash park

And time for family...

My Mimi is 90 years old!

Cannon always has so much fun with my Uncle Dave's boys, Ben and Alex.  I was surprised that he remembered them from last year!  

Eddy, he's old

 Kennedi, being the only girl, was feeling a little left out so Jill spent some one-on-one time with her



It's always so difficult to get a decent picture of these boys!

 While in Park City, Cannon and I did the Alpine Slide!  He was a little nervous at first, but I talked him through everything and showed him how we can control our speed.  As soon as it was over he was ready to go again!

We did other things too, like:



Nature walks and finding tree stumps (he's very interested in tree stumps)

We found these cool wind turbines in Spanish Fork!

 We also took Trax down to Temple Square, another one of Cannon's requests.  Why is this boy unhappy you ask?  He was quite disappointed to not see the prophet!  Oh sweet boy.  We did, however, take a tour of the Church Office Building and saw where the prophet and apostles have their offices.  And we did get to see all of the apostle's wives at their special weekly luncheon.  He wasn't impressed, but I thought it was neat. 

The main reason we went out there was to attend my friend Stacey's wedding open house.  Sadly, I didn't even take any pictures!  We stayed afterwards and had hamburgers with the family.  It was fun being with them again.  Cannon felt right at home and bonded with Stacey's dad and uncle.  Her dad was such a good sport and pushed Cannon around in the wheelbarrow at his request and Stacey snapped a great picture!

We sure love Utah and its beauty!  It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends.  





Happy Mother's Day and Happy Father's Day!

This is another catch up post, starting with Mother's Day!

I had a lovely day!  First, I had no meetings at church so I got to sleep in a little.  Ryan made me breakfast and then we went to church.  Cannon brought home all sorts of goodies for me from his primary class.  The best part of church was to see Cannon sing on the stand with the other primary children.  Well, he didn't exactly sing.  He was pretty much a big goofball, but I was still proud!  I also got a cupcake from church. 

For Father's Day we all celebrated because I didn't have any morning meetings at church.  So we made Ryan breakfast and then headed off to church.  I spoke in church, but I'm not sure how much of a treat it was for Ryan since he had to sit with Cannon by himself the whole time (but from the look of things he seemed to be pretty even tempered that morning).  Cannon also sang on the stand with the other primary children, but it was kind of a repeat of Mother's Day.  I could only see him from behind, but I could tell from the giggles in the congregation that he was probably making some great faces!  Ryan later confirmed that.  Still, I was proud of my son!  After church I was going to make one of Ryan's favorite dinners (chicken crescent roll ups), but the Spanish branch invited us to their potluck.  We accepted their invitation and later on that evening I made strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Cannon made a really cute book for Ryan.  Earlier that week I had asked Cannon what he though were some of daddy's favorite things (color, food, entertainment, etc).  He ended up making a story out of it and I was so impressed with his creativity!  Cannon came up with all the words himself and drew the pictures.  I transcribed it for him and stapled it together.  Here's what he wrote:

A Story About My Daddy
by Cannon Rees

Once upon a time there was a daddy named Ryan.
His favorite color was orange and his favorite animal was a dog.
He had a dog named Blue. 
Ryan liked to read books, clean, brush his teeth, and go potty.
He went to work at Raymond James and did post audits.
He didn't want to drive the Florida car, he drove the black rental car.
At work he talked with his friends and ate chile.
He came home and ate his favorite dinner: macaroni and cheese and tilapia.
Then he read book and read Book of Mormon and went to bed.

The End

I just love his little story!  It's such an insight into his mind and what he pays attention to. I have to say that much of that story is true and accurate. 

Oh how I love my guys!

Reading the comics