New York, Days 2 and 3

Day 2, which was a Thursday, was the day Michael had a meeting with Norm. We thought it would be all day and perhaps into the night, but truthfully, it was just the afternoon. Anyway, so I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Molly all morning and then to the fabric district in the afternoon. I was very good and only bought two pieces of fabric and a few beads for bracelets. Molly was astonished, since she spent just a little more than I did. You can't take pictures inside the Met, and I forgot to take one outside. And I didn't think you would want to see pictures of any of the fabric stores. Even Jill -- they're not that thrilling. It's just blocks and blocks of little hole-in-the wall places stuffed FULL.

Anyway, Molly had to go have dinner with her in-laws, so that left Michael and I to do whatever. We walked up Broadway, took some pics in Times Square. (This is for those of you who doubted that Michael came with me!) = )

On Day 3, Friday, we wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but we slept too long, and by the time we got there, it was late and there were no tickets left for that day. Plus the line was insane. We decided to try again REALLY early the next morning. So instead, we walked around downtown, which is right by Battery Park (which is where the ferry for the islands is located).

Michael in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

The other side of the NYSE.

A look down Wall Street -- you can see it's blocked off -- no traffic allowed.

Looking back the other way -- the Trinity Church is at the top end of Wall Street. It is beautiful! It has a small cemetery on the premises, and there are so many famous names with gravestones there. I don't know if that means they're actually buried there, though. Someone told me that some of them are just monuments to great statesmen (Alexander Henry's is the one name I can remember right now.) We didn't go to the cemetery this time -- maybe next. The stones were crumbling and moss-covered. I love those historic things. Wall Street was definitely for Michael.

The Hall of Justice

I don't know that this building is used as a courthouse now or not. I must confess that I don't even know if you can go in. The only building we went into was Tiffany's, and we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. Of course.

The Trump Building was empty and gutted at the time, but they're planning to put retail shops in there. Michael likes Donald Trump, though, and has watched "The Apprentice" from the beginning. I'm sure he would like to own a piece of New York himself someday.

More to come -- hopefully not another month from now!

Jabberwocky!

Morgan's theater group did a production of Alice in Wonderland: Through the Lookingglass. Last night was the final show. It was very good -- funny and creepy. Alice was a little angry for my taste, but other than that, very good. Because of band conflicts, Morgan wasn't able to be at all the shows, so they gave her a part where there were four of them. Others of the girls were in band too, so they were Jabberwockies with her.

Next up -- Grease!

New York, Baby!

This is just Day One, so I hope you won't begin to be bored with the next few posts. For those of you who don't know, Michael had a business trip to New York in August, and I got to go with him. Our flight was earlier in the day than the hotel expected, so they stored our baggage, upgraded us to a suite on the top floor, and then asked us to come back in a few hours. So we went for a walk.

The pond in Central Park.

That's the Plaza Hotel in the background on the left.

Random people getting their pic taken with "The Statue of Liberty."
(You guys know it's not the real one, right?)



Looking back into the park.
The trees are so old, it looks more like a forest than a park.




Carriage ride around the park, anyone?

Or perhaps a cheap, knockoff purse and a bicycle carriage ride?

Michael just thought this building was cool.

We walked up Avenue of the Americas.

Blurry Radio City Music Hall.

Inside Grand Central Station.

It was a very hot and humid day to be traipsing all over the city.

More Grand Central Station.

It was two blocks from our hotel.

You can catch any subway line from there.

Finally back at the hotel.

My feet were KILLING me.
Can you say, "Blister"?

The "other" room in our suite.

Starbursts instead of mints on the plates that were hidden in the table.

Soup dumplings in Chinatown with Molly.

Yum!

This place was in a tiny, little alleyway, and it was packed! The hostess barely spoke English, and she was very abrupt. We had no idea if we were supposed to wait and or come in or what. We followed her in one time, and she chased us back out -- good-naturedly -- well, somewhat. Anyway, it was worth the wait. The food was EXCELLENT.

Gelato in Little Italy for dessert.

Stay tuned for more New York posts. Or don't. I mean, if it's boring to you, you don't have to check back. We had a blast, though. I would totally go back again!

He's 6!

I have been waiting on his birthday post, because I wanted to put a baby pic on here too. Apparently the discs with all my pictures are lost, and I'm going to have to go burn them again. Anyway, you can see what he looks like now. He's an old soul, this one.

But full of mischief nonetheless. Cade, when he learned to walk, ran everywhere instead of walking, and he still does. He is not afraid to try anything (although he does get shy around grownups at first). He is a perfectionist -- truly. He has great desires to do everything right. He's very distractable, so he forgets a lot, but he always responds when you ask him to do something. He is not defiant at all. He can do flips on the trampoline and hand stands against the wall. He is an excellent reader and good at math. He is a good big brother. He is always willing to give things up to his younger brothers if they want something he has. He has a testimony and wants to do what's right. He has very sweet and tender feelings. He told me that sometimes he gets so excited that his eyes get watery -- like when you bear your testimony. He is all boy. He loves lightsabers, dart guns, legos, pizza, wrestling, making noise, Star Wars, Bionicles -- you get the idea. He's kind of afraid of dogs, but he wants one. I think he needs one. A dog is about the only thing that can keep up with my him. Look out world, because he's going to make his mark on you. Can't slow HIM down. Love you, buddy!

Pre-season scrimmage

Brandon has wanted to play football for as long as I can remember, but I told him he had to wait till he was in 7th grade. Well, that day has arrived.

He wanted to be quarterback, and he got to play that position. There are three teams -- A, B, C, and then there are 1st and 2nd stringers, and that's it. He is 2nd string on the C team, which makes him very happy. He has never played before, so we didn't really expect a higher team, but he's just happy to be getting to play what he wanted to.

Ready for the snap.

Calling the play.

They also put him at inside linebacker for defense, and nobody can get past him. He's focused, that's for sure.

Brandon's 13!

I have been holding off on this post, because I wanted to post a picture of him when he was little too. However, I cannot find the disks that contain all the pictures off my old hard drive. Anyway, here he is -- a teenager . . .

But still with the same joyous smile he had as a little boy! Brandon is and has always been just so fun. Kids would flock to him (and still do), because he was always having fun. He is a very nice kid too, so people always feel safe around him. He doesn't make fun or mock. He just is fun.

Brandon is very diligent about his homework, about his priesthood and scouting duties, even about organization. He keeps getting the "Most Organized" award at the end of the school year. He is an excellent big brother to all those little boys -- especially Kellen and Liam. He is setting such a good example to them of how a young man should be. I am so proud of him and who he is growing into. I can't wait to see more of him as he matures and grows. He still has not gotten too cool to like his mother, and he treats me with great respect and love. He has a testimony of the Gospel and the Savior and is always trying to do what is right. I could not have asked for a better oldest son. He is an excellent student, musician, scouter, athlete (quarterback and inside linebacker), son, brother, friend. And what a great smile! Love you, Buddy!

First Day of School, 2009

He's way too little to go to school in my mind, but at the same time, he's perfectly ready. I can't believe how big he's getting. I asked him how school was after the first day, and he shrugged his shoulders and said it was fine. No big deal, Mom. That's what he was telling me. However, he is thrilled each day to show me that he got a green face in his folder -- still, and we're in week four here.

Morgan left far too early for me to get a picture of her. It's Cade's first year of school, Brandon's first year of junior high, and Morgan's first year of high school. Lots of firsts!

Box

Oh, the joys of a big box. Better than a big box of toys for sure.

Play that funky music, white boy . . .

Summer fun

I didn't think to take pictures until we were getting ready to go home. The kids love the pool. It's really about all you can do outside when it's 107. Alice thought it was hot when she was here, and admittedly, it was a warmer June than last year, but I think the high was 97. Still -- wish you guys were all here to hang out with us at the pool.

This is becoming epidemic!

Okay, so this time it was because I didn't put him down for a nap before church, but this is getting ridiculous. I guess he must be growing. Once he got some food in him after church, he was out like a light.

Dad finally thought we could stop taking pictures and get the poor child up. It was too early to put him to bed for the night (like 6:00), so he wanted to keep him up a little longer.

Dad took him to the living room where we were watching AFV. Liam promptly grabbed his lovey, and you can see the result.

Dad took pity on the child and carried him up to bed -- for the night, yes. And he didn't wake up until the next morning. Poor kid. All I can say is he's going to be one gigantic kid with all this sleeping!