Photo Dump Spring/Summer 2022

This post is a photo dump, like the title says. Each of these things don't warrant their own post so let's get scrolling!

(4/19/22) Eden loves her Kit Kats. Notice how she holds them.

(5/8/22) We were taking photos of Joseph and someone in our ward offered to take a family photo. Good thing we were all dressed up!

They really became better friends as they got older.

💕

(5/13/22) Really shows how much Noah loves Eli.

(5/14/22) Noah at the beach. Baby legs all day.

Sam went to the "8th Annual Duke Fellows Advanced Vitreous Surgery (fAVS) Course" end of May in Durham, North Carolina:

Trying out a virtual reality simulator to practice a new surgical technique.

Spending time with prior co-resident, Grant Justin

Grant and Sam both presented surgical cases at the podium during the conference.

The gym at the hotel where Sam stayed - getting inspiration for a home gym when we get back to Texas! Unfortunately he didn't get any photos of his favorite activity, axe throwing with all the other fellows and retina faculty from around the country.

(5/22/22) Eden's self portrait.

95/27/22) Went to open the passenger door in Sam's car to come face to face with this little buddy.

(6/2/22) So it begins!

(6/3/22) Eli's Kindergarten party/performance.
 Here he is standing next to his best friend waiting to sing to us!

They hired a group to put together some sports for the kids.

Elijah with his Kindergarten teacher. We loved her!

 

They had face painting. Eden asked me to paint a butterfly.

Magic show, Eli was chosen for an act!

(6/6/22) Eden in dance.

After Dance dance party!

(6/11/22) Eli made a mosh pit with Legos.

(6/16/22) I don't know the context for this photo but it was pretty cute, so here it is!

My sister Heidi told the family she and her family were getting sealed in June, and Sam and I did everything we could so that I could make it. In order to make it work, I had to leave Friday night and return Sunday morning. I also took Noah with me (he was still nursing and wanted to ease Sam's burden too), and Sam had to fight to make sure he didn't have to go in when he happened to be on call that weekend. The fellows really didn't want to help out, but we managed to get one of them to help if needed. Luckily no one had to go in that weekend. 

It was so great to see my family, even if it was for only one day. I really wanted to be there and this was the first time I ever took a trip and left the kids with Sam. Noah did alright on the flight on the way over and was babysat by my cousin during the sealing. It was a beautiful ceremony. We then ate at El Patron for some New Mexico cuisine. It really got pricy, and they had a surcharge due to inflation, not to mention before tax, so it was a little disheartening, but it was still nice to eat with family. The flight home was a little harder as Noah was super fussy. My fussiest child on a plane for sure. Thank you everyone for making it possible to spend that day with my family!

(6/18/22) Families are Forever.

Oh, this was a good group!

(6/18/22) Sam took the kids to Universal while Noah and I were in Albuquerque for the weekend. Here is the Secret Life of Pets ride.

The animatronic pets were so cute! This one enjoyed the mixer a little too much.

"Look at all these strays! They need homes!" The kids love this ride.

I have yet to go on the Jurassic World ride, but Sam really enjoyed it. I'll eventually go on it!!

(6/20/22) Elijah took a spill on the spray park concrete and managed to get this doozy of a scrape.
He still has the scar from this fall...

(7/9/22) Elijah's second test. He got his first yellow stripe.

Good job, little man!

(7/26/22) Playing with a new kitten at the Primary president's house.

Overall fun summer! The best part is yet to come: a Hobbs family reunion in Utah! Stay tuned!

Sequoia National Park

The last Labor Day Sam and I were looking to see if we could go visit Yosemite, but I didn't realize we needed reservations quite ahead of time. So I set my eyes on Memorial Day. Well, it turns out Sequoia National Park is a few hours closer and holds the biggest tree in the world, so we booked a cabin a few months ahead and had a wonderful weekend at the national park.

The cabin was super nice! And you can tell the people who rent it out are super sweet people. There was even a pool we could swim in. Another thing that was nice was Sam's active duty status that allowed us to enter the park for free! 

I'll try to remember details as we take a look at the photos!

Moro Rock: we hiked up to the top to see the incredible views. While it was steep at took a little bit, the kids did great!

One of our nice camera lens fell out of the camera bag and fell down a ledge on the rock. A nice man jumped down to get it for us, but sadly it could not be saved. The view was worth it though.

We drove by Tunnel Rock to take pictures.

 

There are some beautiful rivers in the park that we played in for a little bit. Noah happened to chuck one of his brand new shoes in the river and we watched it flow down helplessly. Good thing he's super cute.

Hospital Rock Pictographs from hundreds of years ago by the local tribes.

It takes a little bit to get to the sequoias once you enter the park, but it is worth it! Here are our first few pictures by the sequoias.

Snapped a picture while driving by. 

The iconic tunnel tree. A fallen sequoia didn't stop people!

Now enjoy the extra nature shots that don't necessarily have a story behind them.

 

 

Crescent Meadow

Lots of chipmunks!

Black bear!

This girl did great walking all the way!

We hiked to Tharp's Log, a home a man built in the 1850's. He made a home from a hollow sequoia tree, and was considered the first non-native man to enter into the park. It still stands today!

Helping Noah learn how to walk, even if he no longer has shoes.

There were shuttles that take you to areas in the park as the parking lots fill up.
We took this shuttle to see General Sherman, the largest living organism in the world.

General Sherman!

You can tell how long these trees live based on the sheer number of rings!

There was a line to go see the tree up close.

We were all pretty tired and slightly crabby by this point, but this little man doesn't show it.

We bought Joseph a giant sequoia seedling as a souvenir he called General Sherman Jr. Here is Jr. with General Sherman himself.

There were other things to do outside the park in Three Rivers, CA. We bought souvenirs, ate ice cream, and swam. Here is the result of eating some yummy ice cream:

One snag we ran into in Los Angeles was the lack of swimming options for our family. Turns out to swim in any public pool you have to have a one on one adult/child ratio for kids under 7. Our family is too big I guess. So it was a treat to be able to swim here.

 

Beautiful cactus outside the cabin.

It was overall a great trip, with lots of pictures for memories. The cabin was pricy, but it was very nice. California is really a special place with so many things to discover. :)