Boston Temple and Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains

 Boston Massachusetts Temple

 Hike on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains, NH. Since Elaine had the kids in Utah and we had two days free we decided to take a quick trip up to the White Mountains. The temple was wonderful, and the camping and hike was really fun. We tried to find one of the harder mountains and found Cannon Mountain looked like a lot of fun. We climbed the backside which was absolutely beautiful. It was rough bouldering with my damaged hand but we managed. We were really excited to be at the top and figured we were pretty secluded. But as we sat at the top all the sudden we started hearing all these people. We went around the peak and there is this huge lift taking people up and down! I will be honest that I resented they were just riding to the top to enjoy what we worked so hard for. But it was nice to be able to ride the lift back down in the major down pour that started right when we got to the top. It was a great getaway with my sweetheart.

Sailing with Anne Lane our dear RI friend

 Sailing with our dear friend Anne Lane. Anne is one of those rare people you meet in the world who truly cares about each individual and would do anything for even a stranger. She took us in from the moment we met her. I felt an instant bond with her and hope to always enjoy a dear relationship with her. She allowed us to use her sail boat and we made some wonderful memories.

 This trip out was quite a dramatic one. We were coming in close to the docks in Jamestown and it was low tide. There was an unmarked boulder. Right as I was climbing below to get something from the hull the boat crashed into the boulder. My left hand was on the slide board and it slid open hard and fast when we hit. My four fingers were crushed. It immediately knocked me off my feet from the pain. I could hardly breathe. After x-rays the doctor said that miraculously nothing was broken but that I just had a lot of tissue damage. I couldn't move my fingers for three months, and they were grotesquely gray. Here I am a year later and my fingers still ache when I am typing more than ten minutes, or playing my violin. Very disheartening. Hopefully with time it will get better. There was also extensive damage done to the boat. Thankfully insurance paid for it but it was heartbreaking to Anne as well. Grateful that Anne was driving at the time, and that she cares more about people than things.

FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE (RI to UT)

 FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE!!! At the last minute we decided (and Elaine graciously offered) to have the kids fly home with her so Ryan and I could finish cleaning and packing our house; and work a few days together at the hospital before our trip to Utah. The kids were overjoyed. They couldn't believe that they got to go to Utah without Mom and Dad, and that they got to ride on an airplane. It was a momentous day. We of course were very nervous the whole time hoping all would go well. But there was no need to worry. Of course the kids were fantastic for Elaine and had a blast flying with Grandma.

Grandma Hare visit to Rhode Island

 What a wonderful time we had with Grandma Hare! She came for three weeks and we loved every minute. She told us that this visit she didn't want to go around visiting every spot, but just wanted to spend time with us. We still managed to show her some of the great highlights in RI.

 Welcome to the Ocean State!

 Watch Hill Beach

 Bike ride on Jamestown Island

 Grandma wanted lobster for her birthday. We had a lot of fun getting messy, and digging into the great food. The kids were great and ran up when the entertainer at the restaurant asked if anyone wanted to do karaoke. The kids sang Happy Birthday and told everyone how much they loved their Grandma.

 This is the Gluten Free birthday cake we made. I must say it was not very good tasting.

 Visiting Newport, and all the mansions. On a side note Elaine told me as we were walking out the door that morning that she was embarrassed to be seen with me wearing my outfit! Can you believe it. It's a good thing I love her or I would have been offended. But it was funny that as we were walking around Newport she said, "that's strange, everyone else has the same kind of outfit as you." I thought it was very cute. Glad she recognized it in the end.

Favorite thing we did while she visited: just being with Grandma. We love you.

Fourth of July 2012

 For the Fourth of July we decided to go to a Patriotic Band Festival in Bristol RI. I'm not sure what we expected but it turned out to be an all high school band competition. Although it was a little funny to be there we were pleased with how well the bands did, and the kids liked watching all the manuevering of the members. Afterwards there were fireworks so that was fun.
Then we camped at Bristol State Park. It was beautiful.

Raiyah slept in the "one man show" the first night Ryan bought it. He still has yet to sleep in it, and it is Raiyah's tent of choice for our camp outs. She thinks she is pretty cool to sleep in her own tent (which she is since I don't think I would sleep in my own tent, even now). 

 We attended the Bristol Parade for the 4th. This is the longest running parade in the country. It had a lot of fun things like era dressed soldiers firing guns, horses, floats, etc. The only thing it was missing was candy :) I would recommend anyone going but it was VERY long. You could be waiting for a new act to show up for about five minutes. We left before it was over, and still had been watching the parade for about 1.5hrs. Did I mention that the street is painted like this all year round to identify the parade route. And a majority of the houses are completely decked out in patriotic stuff. It felt really neat to walk through the city.

We hung out with our friends the Mease's. We have loved becoming great friends with these guys. Brandon, Lindsay, Brandon II, Ian, Easton, and Grayson

 Later that night we had a party at Chris and Kelly Thompson's house. There was shirt tiedying, sparklers, and slip and slide. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend the 4th. Oh, and I can't forget that Ryan spent the last hour and a half of the night teaching everyone how to play rugby while we waited for fireworks. He was in heaven.

I wish I could have caught it on camera: we saw our first fireflies. It was so much fun to watch. We were watching the fireworks in a glen which was surrounded by bushes, and they literally were on fire with the lights. They were everywhere. I felt like a little kid I was so giddy with excitement.