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! 

NYC Holiday Update

My parents officially arrived on Monday (for anyone who hasn't heard me giddily babbling on about it)!! Not much to say except that I'm so incredibly happy that they are here and we have already had so much fun! So, I'm just going to post the few pictures we've taken already. Enjoy! 

They flew in on such a beautiful sunny day! After a quick nap (they took a red eye here, which can be difficult) we headed off for a walk through Central Park before dropping me off at work. It seriously was just a perfect day. 

At the turtle pond. Sadly, the turtles must go somewhere for the winter. But there was this awesome look out tower/observatory in the background. 

At the Great Lawn. We were happy that some of the trees still had leaves on them! 

Their adventures began today at Ground Zero, brought them to Grand Central Station (pictured above), then to the Rockefeller Center, and ended with an amazing show! 

Mom at the Top of the Rock (the Rockefeller Center) before the rain really started to come down. 

That storm came in . 

While they were on top, we hung out at the bottom watching the ice skaters (so excited to go!). That construction in the background is for the Christmas Tree! 

Dad with Indiana Jones at FAO Swartz. (Random stop on 5th Avenue before making it back for the show)

Best decision so far, tickets to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall!! (If you don't know what that is, look it up. It seriously was amazing)

I don't really know how to explain it even. It really is a Christmas Spectacular and just such a great way to start out the Holidays! I'm already getting SO excited for Christmas!

More pictures to come as the week progresses! 

Walk Through the Park

Wes and I have been dying to bring our camera up to the park and take pictures of the beautiful fall leaves. Every time we've been up there we haven't had our cameras and have been forced to try and describe the amazing view across the river. Today we decided to walk through the upper part of the park on our way home from church and snap some shots. Sadly, the trees dropped half, if not more, of their leaves in the last week. Luckily, it was a beautiful sunny day out and a few trees are holding onto their colorful leaves! Here are a few random pictures for your enjoyment.

(this is our church building through the trees)

There is New Jersey. That whole hill side was filled with amazing red and yellows last Sunday. I'm sad that the leaves are falling and the weather is getting colder...

George Washington Bridge

Wonderful Sunday walk home!

Now we are just counting the hours until my parents come!!! T-minus 10 hours! Have a wonderful fall Sunday. 

Just Monkeying Around

Wes and I went to the Bronx Zoo two weekends ago. I have to admit that I LOVE zoo's!! My co-workers laughed that I was still doing "touristy" things but little did they know that a zoo to me is not touristy. I'd go to the Zoo any day no matter how long I've lived somewhere!

I don't have much to say about it except that I had soooo much fun! The animals were actually awake and interactive and the Zoo was a lot bigger than I had originally imagined. I guess I was just assuming it would be like most things in NYC- smashed into a tiny area. We were shockingly surprised with how spread out the zoo actually was and how secluded from the city you felt. It was a great Saturday activity. 

I will try and refrain myself from posting too many pictures. Most of them only contain the animals anyways. Here is to our fun Saturday at the Zoo!!

I was so happy the Lions were actually awake!

These peacocks were just wondering throughout the entire zoo. Made me think of Old Lake Grove area. 

The Giraffes were a little shy, but if you look closely there is a baby with them! 

There were a TON of Tigers. Sadly it was too cold to see the new cubs. 

This baby Zebra was SOOOO hyper. It was hilarious. 

We tried to root this calm bear to jump into the water. He was just enjoying the mist from the waterfall. 

I LOVED the sea lions!!!! They were so hyper and just hilarious. There was one who kept throwing seaweed back and forth to himself. 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?

Wes took this....I was not too excited to be in the reptile house.... Esepcially since a snake had recently been "lost" (luckily was found). 

Possibly the ugliest animal at the zoo.....

But pretty closely tied with this guy....

The Lemurs!! The Lemurs and Monkeys were by far the COOLEST part of the zoo. They were just so interactive and hilarious! They have such human behaviors and it made us laugh for so long!!

And for my family here is the awesome picture we really struggled to get, "Baby monkey riding backwards on a pig baby monkey!" 

These monkeys kept fighting over this piece of cardboard. Seriously, I was transfixed with the monkeys!

I liked this guys hair. 

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL day at the Zoo! 

Happy Halloween!

I know I've been really bad about posting. I have a half written post about our awesome trip to the Bronx Zoo sitting in my draft file. I had to post these Halloween pictures when they were the most applicable.

For the first time since being a couple Wes and I actually got into Halloween. We dressed up as something besides basketball players or hippies (which don't really count as they are really just who we are). This year Wes had the best idea come to him about an hour before our ward party. I'll show the pictures before explaining.

Yes, we went as NYC Tourists! Everyone loved it! We actually won the best "Newcomers" award for our costume. We were told that the only thing we were missing was a subway map that we stopped to read in the middle of traffic. We did have our cameras on hand to whip out and photograph our victory (too bad we moved too much and the picture didn't really come out well). It was also funny traveling to the church in our costumes. We had some very funny looks. 

It ended up being a good thing that Wes had our umbrella on hand though since this was what we had to travel to and from the party in: 

It isn't even November!!! The oddest thing about this random snow storm was the destruction. We have seen more destruction from this storm than we did with Hurricane Irene! There are trees broken in half everywhere (you can see some of them in the second photo. That is usually this cute little area full of benches)! The trees were just too heavy since the leaves haven't started to fall yet. Where did these amazing east coast falls I'm always hearing about go?? Luckily, the snow stopped last night and has been melting all day. I'm hoping it'll stay that way for a long time. I'm not ready for winter yet. It is only Halloween. Snow can't be an option until Thanksgiving. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!!

Haircuts

I can't remember the last time I had a professional haircut. I think it was probably before senior year when I cut off 14 inches to donate. I usually just have whoever is willing cut my hair. Since being married that obligation has fallen to Wes. Not a big deal really since once my hair is dried it is whatever length it wants to be. So Wes cuts my hair and we never have to pay for it to be cut.

Since moving to New York and realizing hair cuts for Wes cost WAY too much money, we had the same idea that if I can cut Wes' hair we could save even more. Neither of us would ever have to pay for professional haircuts again! So, we finally went to Costco and bought a hair cutting kit. I've always thought that cutting boys hair can't be THAT hard. Right? Wrong!

If you haven't already guessed, this first hair cutting experience didn't go as planned... But I have learned some lessons for the next time (and surprisingly there will be a next time!).

1. Don't cut your husbands hair if he actually cares what it ends up looking like. (Which really is the number one reason I'm SHOCKED he ever suggested that I should cut his hair. I think he loves me too much to realize it probably wasn't a good idea...)
2. Don't use the length the barber does. ("I always have a 4 on top, so don't worry. That is the length I want it." WRONG!)
3. Don't let your husband grab the razor and "fix" your "uneven" cutting.
4. Don't look down to see your husbands hair in the tub.... It only makes you realize how much you screwed up.
5. Don't put a mirror in front of your husband while cutting his hair. Just make it a fun surprise!
6. DO cut your husbands hair soon after a co-worker buzzed his head and your husband came home and said, "I want to buzz my head." It is easier to convince him you really didn't mess up!
7. DO follow the instructions and cut little bits of hair when you are first learning...

Oddly enough, we are going to try again once he needs a haircut again (which wont be for a long time...). Here are a before and after picture for your enjoyment.

The Before:

The After: 

(Found out his hair gets soooooo blonde the shorter it is)

So it turned out a LOT shorter than intended... But he has been a wonderful husband and seen the good in it. He no longer has to style it in the morning!! Thats more time to sleep! I'm just glad he hasn't screwed up this bad with my hair :)