How Do I Get Down There???

Earlier tonight Andrew and Ally were downstairs playing and watching TV. Vanessa had been with them for a while but wanted upstairs with me so the kids brought her up. She hadn't been upstairs long when I caught her standing at the gate yelling downstairs. I watched her for a while and had to laugh when she tried to climb under the gate...



I got really nervous when she started putting her feet up on the gate trying to climb over. The game ended very quickly after that.

New York Take Two (I just realized I never did this post)

I was putting off sleep one night looking at old blog posts when I realized that I never blogged about our trip to New York Memorial Day weekend. Wow! How that got past me, I'm not quite sure. Since this is my journal/scrapbook of sorts I decided to blog about it late rather than never. This time we went with our friends Chris and Stacie Lewis. Stacie had never been to New York and Chris had been there once, many years ago. We had a great trip filled with many fun activities and once again, yummy food!

We got there late at night and after dropping our bags off at the hotel we were off to Empire Pizza. Once again it didn't disappoint. Since it was late we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night. The next day we slept in for a bit and then were off for a day of adventure.


Stacie and I ready to get the day started

We spent the day at Grand Central Station,




(Jim's teaching Stacie how to read the subway map, doesn't she seem so intent on learning?!?!)


Battery Park (we chose to not ride the ferry to the Statue of Liberty this trip)






Ground Zero,





I love how patriotic the site still is with American flags everywhere, even on the cranes and other equipment.





Katz's Deli,



shopping and that night we went and saw the broadway play Next to Normal,



and hung out in Times Square.



The next day we got up and headed to Yankee stadium for a baseball game.





We were extremely lucky to get to sit up in a suite with our friends' the Freedmans.



It's really amazing watching a game up in a suite and the new stadium is great.





We even got to go into the conference room where George Steinbrenner held meetings.



We had so much fun!

That night we had dinner at a yummy pizza place (no, not Empire) and then went for even yummier dessert. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and went to Times Square for some more shopping. We then went to see the temple





It's amazing how it's just right there looking like the majority of the buildings but you can still feel the Spirit of the building. We walked around Central Park for a bit and then were off to the airport heading home. It was another fabulous trip to a city I love to visit!!!

War!

Tonight Jim and Andrew played a game of War (cards). It lasted over an hour and ended up being the 'longest game of War ever.' (according to the two of them) Andrew said it would probably beat the Guinness World Record for the longest game of War. It was really funny to hear Andrew say 'pay the man' every time her put a card down. Ally watched for a while and then got bored and sick of asking if she could play so she pulled out her own cards. Vanessa decided she wanted in on the fun too so the two of them 'played' cards too.





In the end, Andrew won and was very happy!

Flag Retirement Ceremony

Last night I took Andrew (after MUCH begging on his part) to the flag retirement ceremony here in town. I have to say that even though I really wasn't looking forward to it at the beginning, it was an extremely amazing, patriotic experience (although very hot) and I'm very grateful I took him. The evening started out rough since Ally wanted to come with us but then didn't like the fact that we had to sit kind of high up on the bleachers. I finally got her calmed down and entertained taking pictures with my camera when she noticed cannons out on the grounds and heard someone say they would be lighting the cannons sometime during the ceremony. The panic hit and there was no calming her down after that. She was leaving and heading home whether I took her or not. Luckily we were sitting with some people from our ward so I left Andrew and ran her home to be with Jim and Vanessa. I missed the majority of the talks but got there just in time to hear the last talk and see the retiring of the flags. This experience made me so proud to be an American and you couldn't help but feel patriotic. In the talk I heard the gentleman talked about the flag and what it means to the many people that have and currently serve in the military when they see it flying in the foreign country they are fighting in, it means they are safe. I couldn't help but feel the same way looking at the flag. We are safe here in our country because of the many men and women who leave their families and go and fight so we can have the freedoms we enjoy and many times take for granted. It made me remember being at Ground Zero in New York and seeing all the flags hanging everywhere, from buildings and every single crane working on the sight. I am so thankful for the many families that sacrifice so I can have the freedoms I have and the safety my family and I enjoy each and every day.

They called all the Scouts down on the grounds and started the ceremony. The first flag they retired was the large flag that hangs at the rodeo grounds where the ceremony took place.







Then they retired one more large flag and started handing flags to all the scouts that were in line.



The scouts then took the flag to one of the guardsmen standing by the fire and handed it to him.



(these pictures look grainy but that's seriously how smoky it was)

Then the guardsmen all turned at once and put them on the fire. The scouts would then race back to the line for another chance. It was so fun to see the excitement on their faces and also see the respect and reverence they had for the flags they were carrying.

In the end, this is what you got...



They then raised a new flag at the rodeo grounds,



everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance and then they shot off the cannons.



I was really glad Ally had gone home before that, they were very loud. It was an amazing experience that I won't forget for a very long time. I hope Andrew remembers it and the feelings he had there too.

Summer with Vanessa

We are having a very uneventful summer this year which hasn't created much to blog about. Because of this, I have started creating my own events to use as blog posts. The good news is that my sister will be in town soon and Andrew's baptism is coming up, so is Vanessa's first birthday (wow, how quickly time flies!). For now, you get see the things Vanessa has been up to.

She already has a temper and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way or things don't do what she wants them to, like being able to reach things on the table.



She still loves food and getting very messy while eating it.



She has a new found love for her blanket and not just any blanket, the blanket Aunt Dorothy bought her after Vanessa puked all over her and me in the movies. It's a really cute, very soft blanket so I can see why it's becoming her favorite. The other day I pulled it out of the dryer and put it on the floor and she ATTACKED it. She kept hugging it and rolling all over with it.




The other night she was even willing to share her blanket with Jim.





I'm trying to get her used to drinking out of a sippy cup which she has been struggling with just because she doesn't want to hold it herself. She doesn't hold her own bottle 'cause she always wants to play with her hair while drinking, especially when she's tired so I'm trying to force her to hold her own sippy cup. Today while she was eating lunch I gave her a sippy cut of apple juice and here is how she was trying to drink it...





then she got mad



and then she figured it out



Happy day!!! Hopefully she will continue to enjoy holding it and it will continue once it's milk. She is such a fun little girl that has made life so fun!!!

Fun in Floaties

Today Vanessa was having fun crawling around the living room floor and crawled into the swim floaty which she thought was fabulous!




Now if I can just get her to like them in the pool our swim trips might be a little more enjoyable.

Phin's 2nd Birthday

Last Saturday was mt nephew Phin's 2nd birthday. The kids and I met Kelly, her kids and my parents at my parents' house for pizza and cake and ice cream. The kids had fun running around the backyard playing together...







singing Happy Birthday to Phin and watching him blow out his candles,



which he'd practiced for...



eating the cake and Grandpa and Grandma's homemade raspberry ice cream





Vanessa learned to beg


and found that it works if you beg the right person


She also learned that bees sting. She was crawling and put her hand down right on the bee's stinger.



She enjoyed sucking on the ice we gave her to help with the sting



The kids had fun 'helping' Phin open his presents



and even more fun 'helping' him play with them



I'm sure the poor kid was very happy to go home and be able to play with his own toys all by himself.