Whitney Point Lake

Shortly after we arrived in New York we went on a hike around Whitney Point Lake with Burkley, Jenni, Marshall, and Johann. It was a lot of fun, and the lake was beautiful! The kids had to, of course, catch lots of bugs and frogs while on the hike.

Fourth of July

For the Fourth we wen tot a city celebration at a park in a nearby town, then went to our friends', the Rowes, house for dessert and games, then drove over to a spot to view the fireworks. The kids had fun playing the games, riding the carousel, and bouncing in the bounce house. It rained off and on all day, and when we were getting ready to leave the park it really started coming down!

Cole Park

There are some neat parks here next to lakes, and they have a beach entry and lifeguards so you can swim. (There are lakes everywhere!) We went to one park two days in a row and *still* didn't get to see the whole park! One day we went with new friends in our ward, and the next day we went with friends from the podiatry dept, including our friend Nate from school who was here for the month on a clerkship. I didn't get any pics from the BBQ either day (rats!), but here are a few pics of the kids swimming in the lake.

BU Trail

The local university, Binghamton University, has a nature trail on campus, so my friend Jenni invited the kids & I to join her and another friend, Julia, to walk the trail. We were originally going to do this awesome trail at another park, but it was closed, so we ended up at BU instead. It was a beautiful day, although pretty humid.    It's a cool place, with winding trails that meet up with each other. We even saw some deer!

At the Park

A few weeks ago I decided to bike to the park with the kids. It's only about half a mile away, so it was no problem to ride over there. We were used to riding to school every day, which was one mile.

While we were there I saw a guy smoking a joint!! I'm not even kidding! I was just sitting on the bench, then I smelled this weird smell. I turned around and there he was! The kids were already starting to complain anyway, so I decided that it was definitely time for us to leave!

Update

Sorry I am SOOOO behind in posting! We've done a bunch of fun things, I just haven't gotten them blogged! I start to think about posting, then get distracted, or think "I have so much to post I'd hate to not give the posts justice!" But, posting *something* is better than not posting anything at all. SO, I think I will post a few posts right now and get some fun pictures up here for you guys. :)

 Not a lot going on here, really. We've gone on a couple of trips, the kids start school in a few weeks, we've been playing with the 'neighbor' kids, etc. I'm still working on getting settled into our new place. It is definitely hard going from a house to an apartment. For one, our kitchen is tiny. We thought the kitchen in our AZ house was small!! Compared to our kitchen now it was great!

 Scott & I have callings in our ward now. Scott was called as a Ward Missionary, and I was called as the Activity Days leader. We're both excited about our callings. I've always been in music callings, so I'm excited for this one! I like planning activities, and the 8-11 year old girls are so sweet! 

That's about all I can think of right now. Hope you are doing great!

Getting Settled, One Box at a Time

Been working on getting settled into our new apartment. It's definitely a transition! There are a lot of funny little things to get used to, like taking the trash and laundry downstairs, having less space, and not being able to let the kids go in the backyard alone.

Here are a few pics of things set up in the living room. More pics to come as I get the rest of the house in order!