Halloween 2012

Halloween always ends up being so much fun. We had a great time tonight. We got the kids ready and headed over to Chipotle for $2 burritos (or tacos or bowls). The line was long and it took a while, but the cheap food was worth it! Then we came back and trick-or-treated on our street. The houses around us are far from each other, the driveways are really long, and there are no streetlights, so after we finished up here, we headed over to our friends' house. They live in a tighter neighborhood with lighted sidewalks. The kids hit the jackpot and had fun with their friends.

Other festivities from Halloween season:

Parker at Storybook Character Day at school. The kids can dress up as long as they have a book to base their costume on. Parker wanted to be a hippie, so we thought a good John Lennon biography would fit the bill. He ended up winning a prize for best boys' costume at the ward trunk or treat that night.

Audrey and her bestie, Julia, who was dressed as her pet chameleon!

Audrey painting faces for the kidlets at the trunk or treat.

The crew that night. Miles is a gold power ranger.

Parker' full ensemble after his piano performance on Saturday. The jeans were my favorite find. Size 10 girls' Justice jeans from the second hand shop. We superglued a couple of patches on them and he was good to go!

Miles picking out his pumpkin. I love that he always chooses cute, little ones.

On the way to dinner tonight, Miles' long day at school caught up with him.

And on the way home, he made his "sad baby" face, which I love.

Our first stop was the next door neighbors' house! Mrs. W had a great reaction to the kids' costumes. :)

Dusk photo!

 Fun times. Until next year!

Audrey as Merida from Brave

We had so much fun getting this costume together for Halloween! As soon as we saw Brave earlier this year, we knew that Audrey just had to be Merida for Halloween! I started looking for dress patterns once the costume pattern books showed up at the fabric store. We chose some fabric, made some modifications, and voila! Merida! I asked my friend, Sunny, who did such a great job on our family photos, to come snap some pictures of Audrey in our wooded backyard one evening. I love how these turned out! Numbers 3 and 6 are my favorites!

Family Pictures Fall 2012

Piano Performances

Audrey and Parker had nice opportunities to play the piano last weekend. Parker played in costume at a retirement center, and Audrey played some traditional hymns at our teacher's church. They were having a Children's Service and she played the prelude (two songs) and the postlude (one song). I love these talented kiddos!

Grateful Sunday

I just love these two pictures of Parker and his unconventional ways. He was doing his homework, on the left, and eating breakfast, on the right. Can't just sit in his chair like a normal person.

Today, I am grateful for:

• fun times with Mike and Steph. They were here for a few days last week. Mike came into town for a conference, and Stephanie came along. We had so much fun. Oh how I wish they lived closer to us! Mike even fixed up our computer and we are loving its new speed and ability! Thank you, Mike!
• cooler weather. It has been downright chilly this week. A nice change of pace.
• the end of the boys' baseball seasons. Although I love watching them play, I am looking forward to more nights at home. Now that the time is changing and it will be dark earlier, I always feel like hunkering down and cuddling up with everyone. Time for Neal to build some fires and for the tea kettle to live on the stove again!

New York II

Just after the clouds cleared on Friday, and after we had come to the hotel in Midtown, we spotted the Empire State Building. Audrey had been looking for it all day, but the clouds were just too much. It was so fun to see it, it is so beautiful.

The next morning, she and I woke up bright and early to head to the top. We practically had the place to ourselves, and despite the cloud cover, we had some pretty awesome views.

We met Mom and Dad back at the hotel room and headed to the Upper West Side for some cookies at Levain. They were so very yummy. So was the brioche! It was just a quick walk from there to the American Museum of Natural History. I had never been there before, but Audrey was excited to check out an exhibit on bioluminescence that we had heard about the day before from Thelma. 

Of course, first we had to see all the birds. After our experience at the Natural History Museum in London last year, this museum just didn't have quite the punch, but it was still fun to see. It felt just like walking into Night at the Museum!

After the museum, it was back into the park. We took the long way around to find the Balto statue and to let Audrey roam a bit. And I finally got a picture of Toni!

We went up to 91st street for lunch at a little pink Italian place, and then Audrey and I went back into the park. This time with her sketch book. All the poor girl wanted to do was park herself on a rock with a view and sketch. I let her go off a bit (still within my sight), but with a sense of aloneness that I knew she wanted. I think it's so important for any child to have moments like this. Where they can evaluate the world and their place in it. Or just people watch and sketch some ducks. It was a sweet way to spend an early evening.

From there, Audrey and I walked back over to the West Side. I wanted to show her the Manhattan Temple, and then we kept going south, ending up on Eighth Avenue, just south of Columbus Circle for dinner at Goodburger. We went another dozen blocks further down to the theater on 51st street where we saw Wicked! It was an amazing show; I had heard about it for so long! We loved it.

We arrived back at the apartment that night with tired legs and music in our ears. A quick hug for Toni and Julianne and we were off in dreamland. The next morning, we took our time getting up and went to church with Julianne, Toni, Mom and Dad. Toni walked us back to the apartment after Sacrament Meeting, where he made us lunch. We hailed a cab and headed back to the airport. Toni snapped this photo of us on Park Avenue. What a beautiful trip; October is such a wonderful time to visit the city! Next time, we'll take the boys and see the Statue of Liberty. We had to save something for them!

New York!

Earlier this summer, I found out that Julianne and Toni would be in New York for the month of October, doing research for their doctorate degrees and staying with a friend of my parents. Then, it turned out that my mom and dad would be in New York for a week in October to go to Macy's meetings. And they had an extra bed in their hotel room! I thought it would be so fun if Audrey and I could go to the city for a few days, and Neal was on board. (Thanks, Neal!) I booked flights and bought theater tickets, and away we went!

We flew to LaGuardia in the afternoon on Thursday and went to Julianne and Toni's temporary home on E 88th Street, about three doors down from the Guggenheim and about fifty feet from Central Park. The location couldn't have been more ideal. Julianne met us there, and we quickly set out for a sunset walk through the park! We enjoyed the views around the reservoir and ended up at Belvedere Castle to take in the view.

We met Toni for dinner on the West Side, at a tiny little Italian place called Celeste. Audrey couldn't believe that it was so small! She quickly got used to the cramped quarters of just about everything in New York, though. After some yummy food and gelato, we took the cross town bus back to the apartment and went to sleep.

The next morning, it was quite rainy, so we took a quick walk down Fifth Avenue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we spent some nice, quiet moments with some of the world's treasures.

Audrey really wanted her picture taken with this statue of Artemis, her favorite Greek Goddess.

After the museum, we hopped onto the subway and went downtown a bit to Grand Central Station. I think it's such a beautiful place and a must-see for any first timer!

After lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, we headed back out into the rain and walked over to the Public Library. Audrey knew that the lions outside were named Patience and Fortitude. Did you?

And since we couldn't actually get any books at the library, we next went to the Strand, a bookstore that is endless. Audrey picked out a couple of books and we said a quick hello to Julianne's friend, Thelma. We went across the way to Fish's Eddy, one of my favorite shops, before heading over to meet my parents at their hotel on 37th Street, very near Herald Square.

We went a few blocks away to Koreatown for dinner, then strolled through Times Square looking for Haagen Dazs. It was so fun to see Audrey hand-in-hand with my Dad in New York. The first few times I went to the city, it was to tag along with Dad on one of his many trips to his New York office. Once, he took Stephanie and me all the way to New York to see Cirque du Soleil, and another time, we came for a quick stopover after a trip to Bermuda. Needless to say, New York reminds me of my dad, and I love that he got to share it with Audrey, too.