December 2014

I really do LOVE from about the end of October through the beginning of the New Year. This December we did a couple of new things: the Festival of Trees and Ogden’s Nativity.

I kinda wish just Mason and I would have gone to the Festival of Trees. We loved it; Rob and Morgan I think may have enjoyed being somewhere else a little more, but they didn’t complain. The trees were incredible! Everything there was incredible. The boys had a lot of fun being inside a giant bubble; watching the performers; looking at the trees and wreaths, and for some reason Mason LOVED the quilts. haha!

The Ogden Nativity was AWESOME! Mason and I watched the live nativity outside while Morgan and Rob went inside and played games and ate treats. After the live nativity Mason got to pet the camel and other animals. Then we met the other two inside and dressed up in Nativity outfits. I asked the people in charge if Cameron could play the part of baby Jesus. It made me feel special

We also went and saw the lights at Temple Square. It was perfect weather! Unfortunately though, we happened to choose a night the MOTAB was having their Christmas concert, so it was CROWDED! There was nowhere to park…so Rob dropped us off and then had to park several blocks away…in a not awesome part of town…which put him in the not best of moods. haha!

Cameron had another Cardio appt at Primary’s. The doctor said the murmur was sounding louder-which means the hole is getting smaller- but was not making the noise to signal it was ready to close. Because the hole had gotten smaller and he was doing ok growing, Dr. Pinto smiled at me and said I didn’t need to bring him in again until June. YAY!

And now for Christmas. Christmas is always a lot of fun when you have little kids…well…except for the part where you wonder if “Santa” should really make a stop or not. I’m not going to go in to great detail. We got started about  7am or so, and pretty much just sat around playing with toys all day long. Rob’s family stopped by later that evening; other than that- pretty uneventful…which means pretty perfect (and these are in no particular order…I’m just going to dump a bunch of pics and vids now..and I couldn’t get the noise to work on a couple of them, so hopefully you all can!).

 

A couple days after Christmas, Rob’s dad and his friend Jean were kind enough to take us out to dinner at Maddox. YUM! Oh my goodness I love the rolls and the seafood cocktail.

And now for a little bit of randomness…the following happens quite a bit in our neck of the woods:

Hundreds of these little guys (shown here- ) will decide to come and nest in our yard…and all yards within a block’s radius. Seriously- there are HUNDREDS of them (these pics show maybe 1/3 of them). It is my hope and dream to one day be dressed as a witch when they come through so I can stand on my back deck and cackle loudly while throwing my arms in the air, “Fly my pretties! Fly!”. heh heh.

New Year’s Eve was pretty standard. Rob had to work (although he was able to get off a little bit early). Earlier in the day I took a couple random pictures of Cameron to mark his 5 months:

Being the party poopers that we are, Rob and I cheated and turned on the Julien from Madagascar count down thing on Netflix about 8:00pm, and had a tiny party with the boys before putting them to bed. We had some ice cream and got out all our pots and pans to bang on. It was fun. What was really awesome, though, was Rob and I walking out on our front porch as the clock struck the new year, and seeing fireworks lighting up the sky in every direction! Seriously, every where we turned (except for directly north of us) there were people letting off the big fireworks. It was beautiful! And fun! And gave us time to pause and think back on what a big year it had been for us. Both of us had been to NY and WA and other places in between; we’d replaced the carpet in our house; boy #2 had ear surgery; we had baby boy #3; our oldest started school; we took the kids to Disneyland…it was a big year; full of change but all for the good. It was wonderful!

New York: Take 2

Looking back at my blog entries I realized I never posted about New York Trip 2014…which is a complete travesty since it was so much fun; and so much of an adventure. I don’t want to take too much time because I have all of December from this past year to blog, but here’s a brief sketch:

Tiffany H and Lindsay H were my buddies on this trip. I could go anywhere with them! We flew out red-eye the last Wednesday of March. It’s kinda hard to do, because you lose a couple hours going over, plus who can really sleep well on a plane? Anyway- we did get to watch the beginning of the sunrise coming in to the east, and see all the lights of New York just before that. We stopped at a café in the train/tram station and got a little breakfast before making our way to the apartment we’d be staying in. It was really cold…and wet…

After securing our belongings in our apartment we got right to work. First stop was the Museum of Natural History. I have to admit, this was not near the experience it was when I went with Lyd and Sav. Probably because we were so tired. In fact, at one point we stopped to sit on a bench (I was about 18 weeks pregnant and had been sick all the week before…but anyway). We stopped to sit for a minute inside the museum…and woke up half an hour later. HAHAHAHA!!!! I can just imagine what the people walking by us were thinking-“why are there three adult women sleeping sitting up on a bench???”. haha! Needless to say, we didn’t stick around for long. We did get a few pictures though. We decided afterwards that perhaps we should take a real nap…in beds…so back to the apartment we went for a nice, long refresher.

Upon awakening from the beauty sleep, we three princesses went exploring. We found a big, plastic wall that had an apple on it. Once we reached the clear wall we saw stairs descending mysteriously into the ground. I noticed right away there were two kinds of people down there; those in blue shirts…and the rest of us.   haha! It was fun going to the apple store. Above ground, and adjacent to said underground store was FOA Schwartz. I had always wanted to go to a big toy store, so that is where we went. An extremely friendly soldier greeted us at the door. After realizing I couldn’t actually afford any of the fun things in the store, we found our way down to the busy part of town- TIMES SQUARE! Got ourselves some Olive Garden, and then Tiffany and I had an immensely grand time watching our tall friend Lindsay get asked by every other person she walked by if she was a model, or pro baller, and if they could get pictures with her. It was awesome! I reveled in her glory. I love Times Square though; it is truly a metaphorical melting pot of people!

Friday was a BLAST! The very first thing we did was run into a giant candy store. I had never seen such wonders!!! And they were passing out free samples of hot chocolate with popcorn or something floating in it. I was literally and figuratively as happy as a fat kid eating candy…or is it cake? Anyway- the place is called Dylans’; there is candy in the floors, on the walls, in bins every which way you turn; you can’t escape it! It is a little bit of paradise. We then walked across the street to Bloomingdales. As with Times Square; Lindsay grabbed attention. I don’t know if it was her height, her perfect posture and rhythm when walking or what, but we got asked by a lot of people if we wanted to try things. So we got some free perfume and free make-overs! I loved it. We then headed upstairs to the fancy dresses and tried on a few each. I felt like a princess! And I’m really ticked because I can’t find the good picture of all three of us…it’s on facebook though. You can find it there. Anyway- we were there for quite a while.

We went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral next. They were in the middle of remodeling. It was very interesting; there were absolutely beautiful and intricate carvings and rockwork and wood work everywhere you looked; but the Spirit was not there.

After that was a little venture in to Sach’s on 5th Ave. We may have been a little immature…because we could not stop from giggling at the audacity of the prices on some of those purses…well, and everything in the store. I mean $2600 for a clutch?! HAHAHAHA!!! We hit up Radio City and then all the expensive places that night; Trump towers, more expensive stores whose names elude me right at this moment; a Ray ban store where I accidentally knocked over a pair of $200 sunglasses and subsequently had to run for my life. You know, those kind of places. It was quite the eye opener to see these stores where (I’m sure mostly tourists) throw away so much money. But to each his own and there are WAAAYYYYY too many selfies in this Friday collage; but that’s all the pics I could find right off hand. I apologize.

At this point in the vacation I had a bit of a rough spell. I tend to be quite swollen while I am pregnant; and this third time was no exception. Problem is, on top of that I had walked literally ALL DAY, and upon retrospect realized I had decided to replenish myself solely with Diet Coke; because heaven forbid I drink any water. I was awake all night Friday night and in to Saturday morning with sore, swollen…arms; not legs- arms. I can’t really describe the pain, but it was unbearable. Tylenol did nothing for it. Around 2:00am I got up and went to the bathroom and filled up the half-sized tub. (No really, it was only like two-thirds of a tub. ) I somehow squished myself in to it and sat there submerged in water because it was the only thing that gave any kind of relief (I was also drinking water). We were supposed to be hopping on a boat first thing the next morning to go see Lady Liberty, but when Tiff and LIndsay woke up I broke down in tears. They were calm and nice…and told me that they had only seen me drink diet coke the day before. It was then I started chugging water like there was no tomorrow. I finally started feeling better about 30 minutes and 64 oz later… yes I am a dumb, dumb poopy-head.

So anyway- we went down to Battery Park, caught a ferry, and headed over to the Statue of Liberty. It was one bitterly cold, wet, rainy day, but she was still beautiful to see. We were able to climb up to the base and look around inside. I really enjoyed it. We caught some lunch and then waited in line for a very long time to get on another ferry to go to Ellis Island. It was rainy and windy and there was this little family with little, tiny kids just getting soaked to the bone. Being the kind people that they are, Lindsay went and stood with the family so they could use her umbrella, and Tiffany shared with me. They were smart and bought umbrellas for $5 in battery park. Not me. I can spend over a hundred on a Broadway ticket, but $5 on an umbrella? No way Hurricane Sandy had beaten up Ellis Island quite badly, and it was not all up and going still. We got to read and listen to several stories about those who came over. It’s interesting…we think of America as this grand place people came to for freedom; but many of the people who came here were indentured servants or slaves or oppressed in other ways. I had learned this in history…kinda…but it was definitely an eye opener to be there and read all the personal accounts. It was quite sobering.

By the time we got back on the ferry to go back to Manhattan it wasn’t raining anymore. We decided to take a walk down to Rockefeller Center. It was awesome! It was so fun to see the ice rink and the building I had seen so often on tv. There was a lego place…with a lot of cool lego buildings; and a great big lego dragon! We wanted to go on an NBC tour, but they were renovating and not doing them at the time. That didn’t mean we couldn’t spend a nice chunk of day looking at NBC merchandise though; like The Office t-shirts with famous Dwight quotes on it. haha!

That night we made it to Broadway! BROADWAY! YAY!!!! We saw Newsies. It. Was. AWESOME!!! I love the music and the dancing and the story. All three of us had perma-grins the entire show. And…I hate to admit this…but we stood around afterwards with a bunch of teenage girls so I could get my playbook signed. haha! Yes. Yes I am a nerd. We took a taxi back to the apartment that night. It was a ride I’ll always remember… No but seriously; it was just like what you would see on a movie. We had a foreign driver with a thick accent. He told us not to worry because he was the best driver/very good driver. It was pouring rain and he would take off like a shot from a standstill and zip around the corners. We were getting a little thrown around in the back but laughing our heads off. It was awesome.

 

Sunday was a really nice day. We went to church…at the temple…where everybody in attendance was a law student, or attending Julliard or some other brilliant bloke (my self-esteem would never survive in that ward). We ran in to the niece of a friend from back in Roy which was kinda fun.

After church we went to Ground Zero. I had a lot of emotions while there; sadness for what happened; gratitude for those who came in and helped; pride for American not sinking; but also a little bit of regret for what some Americans have become…and some of the directions it has taken. The pools/fountains were beautiful though. I loved watching the water sink lower and lower to where the buildings stood. I think my very favorite part of the place though was the Survivor Tree. Almost thirteen years later in the early spring it was still blooming…like America it does not take a fall. But anyway-moving on…

At some point during the day we were the only ones on the subway…so we did some pole dancing and took lots of pictures. heh heh- jk.

We did something  naughty next…we went to Madison Square Gardens and watched an NCAA playoff game; Michigan St vs UConn!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!! It was seriously SO MUCH FUN!!! It was fun to feel all the energy in the room from the fans of both teams. We ended up with the UConn fans and made instant friends. It was fun to be in that atmosphere again. Some of my favorite times and memories come from being in the Spectrum at USU cheering for our basketball team. The place was packed and it was an intense game…and it’s a lot of fun watching and cheering for the team that would become the future champs.

That night we stayed in and watch Pirates of the Caribbean and other shows on TV. It was relaxing and a great end to a great day.

And now we come to Monday (are you all breathing a sigh of relief?). I always feel a sort of downer when it’s the last day of a vacation. Like there’s a little black rain cloud hanging over me. First order of business was going to China town. I got my butt handed to me by those guys; not a good negotiator. Tiffany though? Tiffany is good…

We went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It is beautiful. It is covered in locks much like the Pont des Arts and other bridges in Paris and Russia. A cute idea for the romantic in me; kinda silly for the cheap-skate in me; and not a good one for the engineer that’s in me through osmosis from my husband. Also, I realized that in the Bull picture below I am wearing the clothes I was wearing Sunday, so we must have visited Wall St on Sunday…not Monday. Upon coming back across the bridge we saw a bunch of street performers. I would post a video, but that just takes way too dang long on my computer. The last thing we did before parting ways (Linds had a different flight home than Tiff and I) was to eat lunch at one of the little Metro Café s…which is the first place I had lunch with my sisters the year before when I went with them.

It was a FANTASTIC trip!!! Tiffany and Lindsay are so easy and fun to travel with. I kept saying that after I went on this last trip I would not need to go to NYC again…but that was a lie. I will still need to go many times; to see Broadway; to actually see Central Park because I’ve been to Manhattan twice now and still haven’t really been in to the park; to actually see Wall St in action on a week day; see where the Yankees play; and so I can take my mom. So long New York! I <3 NY

Thanksgiving 2014

This year we were very blessed to have the opportunity to go to Disneyland/CA for very little cost to us. THANK YOU FOREVER! to those who made this possible. It was a BLAST! We loved the company, and the weather was perfection.
We got to Cali Wednesday night and immediately went swimming in the hotel’s pool/hot tub. The sun was setting, baby was napping, and it was just. perfect; absolute relaxation.
Thursday we spent at Disneyland. Morgan had a little bit of a hard time, but the rest of us loved it. At one point we were in a little sit-down area called..,.I can’t remember, but it was Arabia something. Anyway. We were about the only ones there, and Genie was there. He played duck, duck goose with the kids. It was awesome! We also got front row seats to the parade. whoo-hoo!!!! So cool! A couple of our party needed to use the restroom, and the rest of us happened to stop and wait by for them by some people who were saving a bench but changed plans. They said “take it”, and we did…along with some cotton candy and lemonade freezies. Yum! We left in the early evening to take a little break and get some Thanksgiving dinner at our restaurant- haha! As seen in the movie below.- We came back for a submarine Nemo ride (note: I could NEVER really live in a submarine) and watch the firework show.
Friday we met up at the beach in Oceanside. The weather was gorgeous; the beach was pretty empty; there were some good waves and we could watch surfers. The beach went out forever in to the ocean so was perfect for the little kids. I could have honestly stayed there all day. At one point Rob and I ditched the kids on the beach and took our fat selves out a ways to do some body surfing…hahaha! Just he and I. It was so much fun. It was probably my favorite part of the vacation…well, one of a couple…
Saturday was California Adventure Park. If you ask my kids, this was their favorite part of the vacation. They LOVED Cars Land. It was so much less crowded; not as overwhelming as Disneyland; and was just a lot more accessible. There were a lot of rides the entire family could go on, where as in Disney (at least the rides we did) somebody always had to stay behind with Morgan and the baby. The entire park is just so well done. Especially Cars land and the Midway with the ferris wheel; arcade rides, and rollercoaster. Our family treated us to dinner at “Ariel’s Grotto” which is a restaurant right on the water. The lights came on after it got dark and the place was just fantastic! I LOVED it! And I got to eat the best fish…and crème brulee. To die for.  Plus we got to meet a lot of princesses This dinner was my other favorite part of the trip.
Unfortunately Sunday was not so magical. After spending an hour in Vegas to let the kids run around, eat some lunch, and GO TO THE BATHROOM; we weren’t twenty minutes up the road and the kids say they need to go again. So we had to stop at the scary Indian Reservation place just off the freeway. Another twenty minutes later we were on the road again; only to get stopped just north of Mesquite. The holiday traffic was so bad it took 2.5 hrs to get from there to St. George! And then there were more bathroom stops and…good grief! haha! But that’s ok. Nothing could break our spirits after the fun we’d had. Plus the weather was good
Now, if you take the time to watch the movie, please note a few things:
1) I am not a movie maker. I have no idea how to use the program I used to put this together and so the songs kinda just cut off randomly and… ya…keeps you on your toes..heh heh
2) Many people contributed to the picture pile- thank you!
3) I had to just use what music Rob had on the computer…which was a lot of random stuff to weed through, and quite frankly it was just taking too long. And yes, I realize that Christmas music would have gone much better with the Parade part of the video than “Footloose”, but we just didn’t have one single Christmas song in the ba-jillion songs. Plus I am a little special, so I had already re-done all the music several times, and I still didn’t love it, but…it was all just taking too long. (sigh)
4) You get what you pay for. Pretty much this is the worst movie ever made, but it was the most fun way to put all the pictures together.
Anyway- it was fun. I want to do it again…but not until Cam is about 4; so he can remember it and so he is tall enough to go on all the rides. Also, when we go again I want to take more days to do it in.  Again, thank you for the vacation-SUCH A BLAST!!!!