April 2022

 April was packed with more fun than we could imagine!  Lots of friends, activities, epic memories to make this a month for the books!

First, it's fun to see Coco come into her own as she watches the rest of the world.  Even her drawings show how much her view is changing.

Bi-annual General Conference Breakfast.  This neighborhood is so much fun when it comes to stuff like this and we enjoy starting General Conference off right!

Exploring and hiking more of our neighborhood...

Our stake had the opportunity to hear Emily Belle Freeman speak and Addy was asked to sing during the meeting as well.  She did such an amazing job and I was so proud of her.  The entire congregation came to tell her what a beautiful voice that she had.  

Primary Easter Activity...

These 2 have been two peas in a pod ever since we moved here.  It was fun to see Tess' best friend make the choice to be baptized a member of the church. 

For a YM/YW activity we hiked up to the hot pots in La Verkin.  It was a pretty cool thing to see and feel how warm the water was.  

Best Friends and playdates never get old...

Matching cuties ready to hike...

Hiking Red Cliffs with friends...

Grandpa Wayment stopped by to pick up Addy for her birthday sleepover and brought the other girls an Easter surprise!

City Easter Egg Hunt.  It's kind of weird that we only have 2 left that still enjoy this stuff!

Coloring Easter Eggs...

Neighborhood Easter Walk.  We spent some time focusing on the week before Christ's death on Easter day.  It really helped us to remember all that he did for us and to focus on Him.  

The Easter Bunny visited our house and hid the girl's Easter baskets.  (Addy was with grandparents for the weekend).  It was fun watching them follow the bunny feet to find their stuff!

Once Addy came home to us she found her own basket!

They also did a small easter egg hunt throughout the house.  Such a wonderful Easter day!

Not sure what is happening here but you never know with these 2.  We had Jathan stay with us for a few days in April.  They are looking to move to St. George and we seriously hope it works out!

More bestie playdates!

St. George always gives the most incredible sunrises and sunsets...

We also had the Olson's stay with us for a few days and got to see Scarlett and Kyler perform at their competition. 

Addy turned 14!  This girl just won't stop growing up!  She is becoming such an amazing little lady.  She is helpful, kind, smart, sings like an angel, adventurous, has her life mostly planned out, and fiercely loyal to those she loves.  She is her hardest critic and wants to be perfect at everything which can be a struggle when things aren't.  Her favorites right now are Stranger Things and the Office, Mt. Dew, Taco Bell, hanging out with friends, and almost anything that contains sugar. She makes parenting easy (for the most part) and is getting to that age where we just get to enjoy hanging out with her!

Quincy's team together for a "last meal" after their final game.

With all our running around sometimes its necessary to sleep in the car. 

The main gift for Addy's birthday was a trip to New York.  She and I took the red eye from Vegas and spent a glorious few days exploring as much of the city as we could.  We wore ourselves out, ate way too much, navigated the subway like pros, and had such an amazing time.  

First stop... Angelica's pastries.  We found this place right around the corner from our hotel and it was amazing.  We ate there a couple more times throughout the trip. 

Addy's first time at Times Square...

Then we checked out Central Park and the zoo.  The zoo was small but had such unique animals and it was fun to just walk around. 

The penguins were her favorite...

She is making fun of me here because it freaks me out to walk on the grates. I will do everything I can to go around them.  She kept teasing me the whole time by walking on them every chance she got.  

The first night there we got to go see Wicked.  Addy loved it and it was so fun enjoying that with her. 

Times Square at night...

Junior's Cheesecake is the absolute best.  We had this several times throughout the trip too!

The next day we took a tour bus around the city.  It took us down to the 9/11 Memorial and Statue of Liberty

The 9/11 Memorial Museum was the most sobering experience and I'm so glad we did it.  Seeing how much damage, hurt, and pain was caused by evil but also seeing how much good was done in the face of so much evil was incredible and a great reminder that good can always win. 

After the memorial we took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty.  It was cool to see it right up close and see the skyline of New York. 

After that we headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral to see the catacombs.  Not exactly what we thought it would be but still cool.  

The next day we started at the Empire State Building.  This has been on my bucket list for a long time and it was fun seeing it together. 

Then we hopped on the subway for the first time.  I was a little nervous for this because I've heard so many scary stories about it but we managed it like we had been doing it for years.  And we never felt unsafe or lost at any point.  

We didn't have time to do the One World Observatory the day before so we decided to head there on this day. It was pretty insane. 

Then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.  We decided to go the whole way into Brooklyn and got a little lost trying to find the subway to get back.  But after lots of extra walking, we found it and made our way back. 

It was amazing to discover that the Manhattan Temple had an appointment open on the day that we needed.  It was such a special experience.  Addy was able to do baptisms and saw a family doing work for their deceased uncle.  I was able to do initiatories and it was so nice being in the temple again.  

That night we got to see Dear Evan Hansen and it was another great night.

We then stopped for some late night ice cream and a walk around Rockefeller Center.

On our last day we only had a little bit of time so we headed back to see more of Central Park.  This is such a beautiful place and it was so peaceful to walk around.  We found a ton of turtles just hanging out on the rocks and we even found the bridge from Enchanted.

Such an amazing trip for Addy and I.  So grateful that we were able to do this and have this 1 on 1 time together.  I sure love this girl and am so grateful and proud to be her mom. 

My sister, Angie, found this picture when she was going through her things.  Such a sweet memory with my grandpa!

April was a fun month with a lot of new experiences and memories.  So grateful for these opportunities that we were able to have.