Happy Thanksgiving!

(Warning: long post. Lots of pictures though if you want to skip the writing and just look at our fun adventures)

I was rereading my old posts recently and came across last years thanksgiving post. What a difference one year has made!! Last year we were in Layton with the Collett's. We had a wonderfully big thanksgiving dinner made by Stacey and her mother. It was exciting and full of bitter cold weather and family. 

Fast forward a year and somehow we find ourselves in New York!! Who would've thought back then??

This year we were blessed to have my parents join us for Thanksgiving (as you can see from previous posts). I have to say that I'm SO glad my mom was here. Before we knew they would be here I told Wes I would make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and well....I'm SO glad they were here because I don't know if I'll ever be able to cook a turkey. Granted, the cooking isn't the hard part rather it is the touching! 

Anyways, we have so much to be thankful for. Before I launch into the end of my parents trip I just want to reflect on a few things we are extremely thankful for. I'll be quick, but we mainly are so incredibly thankful for our families and friends. We receive so much support and love from both. Moving cross country has been a difficult thing made so much easier by our loving family and friends. We are also forever thankful for the gospel in our lives. We are so thankful for the blessings we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father. We could not be more thankful for the jobs we both have and the new life we are beginning out here in NY. Thank you all for being a part of our lives. 

After our eventful Tuesday night, Wes took Mom and Dad to the Metropolitan Museum of Art! I heard it was amazing. After the Museum they went to look at all Macey's Day Parade balloons being blown up!! The crowds around the balloons were almost as bad as if the real parade was going on. Here is one picture of Buzz (and the crowd). 

Since they had seen the balloons the night before, we decided waking up at 4 am to battle massive crowds in the cold didn't sound as good as watching it our warm apartment. Mom and I started our preparations (like I said before...Mom did the turkey while I squealed a little). Somehow we survived the tiny space and blazing hot oven (Mom wasn't too excited to have to use the sink as counter space so we finally got the idea to take the appliances off the countertop!). Either way, it was delicious!! 

Friday morning we woke up from our turkey coma and picked up a car to drive to Palmyra, NY (this website gives brief explanations of the church sites we went to see: http://www.hillcumorah.org/index.php). It is funny how being in a car is weird to me now. The trip was an amazing success. It was so nice to get out of the city and enjoy the openness of upstate NY. We also got completely spoiled with wonderful weather. There are a lot of pictures so I'll just vaguely go over what they are of. Enjoy! 

Got there with enough time to watch some football, eat, venture out to the beautiful temple, and even make it to some outlets for black friday!! 

Like I said, spoiled with the weather. The next day we went to the Sacred Grove. It was the perfect time to visit Palmyra because we honestly had the grove to ourselves. 

Smith log home in the top left corner. 

Smith Frame home, barn, and Cooper shed in the back.

Mom and Dad outside the Smith Log Home (11 people lived in that home. It was soo small!)

We then went to the Hill Cumorah. The sister told us that during the pageant there are 7,000-9,000 people a night! This is at the top of the Hill. 

We then drove out to see the Peter Whitmer farm. This is the log cabin where the church was reorganized and the first meeting of the church was held. 

I couldn't believe that the 60 original members all fit into this room. 

We then went to the Granden Printing Shop where the first Books of Mormon were printed and sold. If you are ever in Palmyra do not look over this site. We learned so much and it was inspiring. 

The process to print was so crazy and long!! I would never have been patient enough to live in this time period. 

Sunday we headed back into the city. Monday Wes finally had to go back to work so we sent Mom and Dad out into the city by themselves!! I was very nervous.... Luckily, they had a gorgeous day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. 

This is Mom on the boat to the Statue of Liberty with the new World Trade Center behind her. 

Beautiful Statue of Liberty. Look at the weather!

This might be the best picture of my parents ever taken... Mom still looks pretty as she always does, but my Dad... words cannot describe the look... Oh how I love them. 

Entrance to Ellis Island! 

Sadly, we didn't get to go with them but we heard that they had an amazing day and learned a lot with their audio tours. 

Tuesday. The last day. Mom and Dad started their day with "The Dead Sea Scrolls" at Discovery in Times Square. We had only heard a little bit about this, but luckily Dad knew enough about it to know they wanted to see it. They reported it was an amazing exhibit. Not flashy or eye grabbing, but interesting. 

They then hurried up to Columbus Circle to meet me to go to the Museum of Natural History! We may have been a little too tired for this museum, but overall we did enjoy it. 

Taking a break. 

Can you spot Mom and I? 

The finale: WICKED!! That is right, Tuesday night we went to the most amazing broadway show ever. I have struggled to even tell people what I thought of it because all I can say is amazing. It seriously was amazing. None of us knew the whole plot line which made it even more exciting. I advise everyone to listen to the music and someday see the play. Wes and I have continued to listen to the music and I keep telling him I don't want to forget anything from the play. We weren't allowed to take pictures but...here is one from before the play started. 

Having Mom and Dad here was such a blessing and so much fun! For our first real visitors, I would call the whole trip a success! It was really sad to see them go, but I think we did a good enough job entertaining them that maybe they'll come back again... and hopefully this looked fun enough that we'll convince others to come and visit as well! Our apartment is always open. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!