Niagara Falls

I know I am MONTHS late in posting this, but we had an awesome four day trip over Memorial Day weekend to see Niagara Falls and the LDS church history sites in upstate New York and Ohio.

First stop- Niagara Falls!!

We started our trip by driving through Ontario to get to Niagara Falls (it is quite a bit shorter than going the US side, and since we have enhanced drivers' licenses . . . ). I think it was the first time our kids were in another country! We had a blast seeing the Canadian side of the falls first. It is a very touristy district with lots of fun things to see and do. Since everything was fairly expensive, we told the kids we could choose ONE fun touristy thing to do as a family, and everyone agreed on the sky wheel. $40 something later we enjoyed some awesome views of the falls!










We enjoyed browsing the gift shops and of course Jon had to do his "raptor" impression in front of the dinosaur mini golf place. . . The canadian side of the falls definitely has an arcade/ casino/ tourist feel which adds to the fun.






The falls, of course, are spectacular from the canada side because you get a full frontal view of both sets of falls. Even though it rained that day, we loved seeing the falls and walking the entire length down to the end where we enjoyed the visitor center.









Can't beat a cotton candy break and some awesome views of the falls!!





We headed over the the US side where we spent the night and came back the next day to see the US side of the falls. Jon and Marcus did the "Cave of the Winds" tour, where you take and elevator down to some walkways at the base of the American Falls and have fun getting really wet! They give you a complimentary poncho and set of sandals to wear, and even though Jon rolled up his pants, he was soaked! One of the walkways is called the "Hurricane Deck" for obvious reasons . . .





view from above:



Funny story as we were waiting for Marcus and Jon to be done with their tour - - a whole group of Chinese women saw us and started taking pictures of us. One snuck up really quiet close to Cynthia and took a picture from the side, and a few more came up seeming to not want to spook her and started taking pictures. As soon as Cynthia noticed what was happening she started smiling and posing, and of course Lillian wanted in on that action too. Those Chinese women started tittering and snapping pictures, all excited to see such blonde children and clearly siblings- - and wanted pictures with all of us including me and Tyler. It would have been even better if Jon and Marcus had been there. Wow- I haven't posed for so many pictures since my wedding! Ha Ha- we are famous now among a group of Chinese tourists!

There is a nice state park to walk around in and pathways seriously RIGHT up to where the falls drop off. It kind of made me queasy, though having my children that close to the raging water dropping of the edge, even though they were perfectly safe. The curse of a mother, I guess! It was spectacular though!

Jon's trip to Spokane in May

I just wanted to post some of the pictures from Jon's trip back to Spokane for his Grandpa's Funeral. There were some wonderful family group photos taken and others I think are very important.

It was a beautiful funeral for Grandpa Marsh. He touched many people in his life!



The Wilson family group in front of the fire truck (Grandpa Marsh was a fireman)



Happy Birthday to Jon's dad!


Jon's parents and siblings:


The whole family group with spouses and children- making silly faces!


Besides being able to be with his family during this time, he took a few extra days to do some face to face meetings with possible job opportunities in the area. This turned out to be a very good move because within a few days of getting home he got an interview offer with Providence Health- for several of their salaried positions, and a couple of private practice opportunities. They flew both Jon and me out in June . . . which turned in to two job offers (both private practice options- both which were Jon's first choice anyway) . . . and he accepted one of them- the one in Deer Park (just outside of Spokane). More to follow on all that. Needless to say, Jon's few extra days in WA paid off. Again, most of all, it was wonderful for him to be with his family at this time- - and a huge THANKS to Grandma Marsh for helping us out with the really expensive airline ticket- it meant so much for Jon to get to be there.

Spring finally came . . .

It seemed to take forever, but spring DID finally come in the State of Michigan, and it was beautiful, despite the rain. Now that we are in the heat of summer, and things are a bit crispy, I am appreciating the cool wetness our spring was. I do have to admit, though, that after a really long winter, I was super anxious for that sun to break through, and to see leaves on the trees- it seemed to take forever! It wasn't until the beginning of MAY that we finally saw those buds break open in to leaves. It seems like we had a few weeks of spring, and then as soon as June hit- it turned to steamy summer weather! Can't complain, though- the summer here has been for the most part awesome. Not too hot (though we do have some hot days), just a little humid (NOTHING like Iowa) and sunshine in the green, green forest!







The above pictures were actually taken in May - - although Easter was the end of April this year- it still wasn't that great out yet- - but we did have a wonderful Easter anyway remembering our savior and new life.

The ward Easter Egg hunt - - "Tyler" guessed the right about of eggs in this jar so we got to take it home! I don't have pictures of the older kids - - they were off and running around with the other kids in the ward!



Just look at that chocolate face. We saw a lot of faces like this in our family over this weekend . . .


The kids all dressed up for Easter Sunday:

Marcus just can't resist being silly, the 10 year old boy that he is . . .



My beautiful girls!!






Tyler wouldn't hold still unless he had his sippy cup!


All together now



Coloring Easter Eggs- always fun: