our NYC adventure -- day 4

We went to church with David & Alicia today. The walk to church took us through Fort Tryon Park. Another beautiful park with lots of beautiful flowers. Walking through a park like this, I almost had to remind myself that I was still in the city -- there's so much vegetation around and it is so large that it really becomes rather quiet, and of course you can't see any tall buildings. I didn't take my camera along, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that park. After church, lunch, and some down time, we headed out to explore Central Park. This is one of the "famous" landmarks in the park. This fountain has appeared in lots of movies, but you might remember it from the movie "Enchanted" (I think!) That's Mark, Sarah, Jared, David, & Ryan. When you enter Central Park there are always people who are offering to give you rides around the park in these nifty little carts (for money of course). We declined their many offers, but I couldn't resist snapping a photo.
One of the fun things in the park for the boys was the huge rocks (near a huge playground) that people can climb all over. The boys had a grand time perfecting their rock climbing skills. I liked this photo because it shows the boys on top of one of the rocks with the trees and tall buildings in the background.
When we had had enough climbing on the rocks and playing on the playground we walked through the city to see Times Square. On the way we saw Letterman's theater and several of the Broadway theaters. Below is a picture of Times Square! I tried to take the picture from the view that we see on the TV newscasts. It was everything you think it is going to be -- I was not dissappointed.
I actually enjoyed the busy-ness, but was glad that there was one adult for each child so that no one got left behind in the hub-bub. I have to say that we all really enjoyed walking around the city and trying to soak in all atmosphere that is so new and different from home. We also made a stop at the gigantuan Toys R Us store -- what a place to see! There is a huge ferris wheel inside! We of course had to go to the lego section. Another wow -- they had all the famous NY sites -- like the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty-- made out of legos. Sarah took me over to explore the Barbie House -- yep, a house, with 2 floors that you can explore and all the pink and girly stuff you could ever ask for! The best part about visiting the store was that we went on Sunday and so the kids didn't even mention buying something! After that we headed for the Subway and home. Alicia had put a roast in the crockpot for dinner and the apartment smelled wonderful when we opened the door. Since we had a late dinner, the kids went to bed soon after eating and the rest of us stayed up talking for awhile.

our NYC adventure -- day 3

We started the day pretty early and set out for the Empire State Building. We had to wait in a few lines, and take a couple of different elevators, but we finally made it to the 86th floor observation deck. What a view! We felt like we were on top of the world. The observation deck was a bit windy and chilly, but the views were worth it. This is looking out towards the Chrysler building. This is a picture looking up at the tippy top of the Empire State Building. The 86th floor is the main observation deck, but if you pay more money you can go up a few more floors. We stuck with the 86th floor.
I couldn't resist snapping this photo of a pidgeon. These critters were everywhere in the city.
Next we were off to Battery Park and the Staten Island ferry. Battery Park is beautiful and has a great trail along the river, which we walked. I was infatuated with watching the boats, especially the tug boats! They are so colorful! The State Island Ferry is absolutely huge. To get on the ferry, you wait inside a rather large building and then the mass of people (which we were a part of) rushes the doorway. While waiting for the ferry, one would look around at all the people and think that there is no way that many people could fit on one boat -- wrong! I can't believe how many people were aboard and there was PLENTY of room to spare!

Riding the ferry gave us our first view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We opted not to take the grand tour of these venues, but if we have the chance to go back we'll put it on our to-do list. As a side note, the line to go on the tour was outrageously long!

To the left is Ellis Island. Before we went to NYC Mark and I did a little research to see if my grandparents came through Ellis Island when they immigrated to America. We were able to find their immigration records and photos or pictures of the boats they sailed. Grandpa Hansen came from Denmark and Grandma came here from Germany. They both came as teenagers and didn't speak any English. I wonder what their thoughts were as they caught their first sight of America? I wish they would have written about that experience.

Our next stop was Ground Zero. This is a picture of a little church that is across the street from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Amazingly, this little church only suffered 1 broken window -- I think it was being watched over by a higher power. This little church served as a volunteer headquarters for rescuers. Many would come to this church between shifts to sleep and eat. It became the place where pictures, messages, and flowers were posted of missing people or those who had died. As we looked around inside, along with lots of other people, there was really a feeling of quiet reverence and reflection -- it was a touching experience. Outside the church is a bell -- a symbol of hope and triumph -- and we could feel that too as we visited here. In my opinion, this little church is really the memorial to September 11, 2001.

There is a bridge/tunnel that you walk over to get a view of ground zero. There are lots of banners "advertising" the memorial and new building that they are constructing there. I particularly liked this banner -- reflecting absence. Absence of 2 buildings, absence of loved ones who died, absence of the "secure" feeling we once had, absence of discouragement, absence of defeat, absence of taking life for granted.
Ground Zero construction zone.

Our next stop was Chinatown. I loved this place. There were masses of people, a wedding parade, a chinese dragon, fresh fish market, restaurants, shopping, cheap t-shirts, weird looking meats, and fresh fruits and vegetables for sale. We ate at a very yummy restaurant, which the boys declared was the worst thing about NYC -- silly boys! I wish we could have spent a little more time here, just taking everything in... and shopping. I would have bought the bracelet I was admiring, and I would have bought the huge bag of fortune cookies too!

Our final adventure of the day was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Very cool!! The bridge was celebrating its 125th birthday on the very day that we walked across. We got ice cream cones to celebrate when we reached the Brooklyn side. That's me, Sarah, and Ryan on our way across.

The arches are incredible!
We were pretty tired of walking when we got home around 9:30ish that night, but it was worth it!

our NYC adventure -- day 1 & 2

Day 1 --Our first day of adventure was spent traveling out to NY. This was the Jared & Ryan's first time flying, so everything was extra exciting to them. We didn't have to wait in any lines at the airport, so we ended up with plenty of time waiting for departure. The flight was on time, but the ride was pretty choppy due to yucky weather. We changed planes at Dulles and got on a much smaller plane to take us to NY. JFK airport is so incredibly busy, that we had to wait on the tarmack at Dulles for half an hour while JFK found room for us to fly in. Since we had a small plane we got to exit the plane outside the airport, walk across the cement and into the airport to claim our luggage. Our bags made it and we headed out to get in the taxi line. Riding in a taxi is always an adventure -- no matter where you are! We had a pretty new jeep and the driver spoke broken English, but was clean cut and polite. He did his best to avoid rush hour traffic, if that's possible, and I think we drove all over the city before getting to Dave & Alicia's neighborhood -- good thing it was a flat fare. Mark got to sit in the front with the driver and experience the crazy driving first hand as we weaved in and out of traffic, squeezed through places not meant for vehicles, and cut a few drivers off. He drove with one foot on the gas, the other on the brake, and a hand on the horn -- occasionally. Whew -- we made it to Dave & Alicia's in one piece! We ate dinner at their apartment and spent the evening relaxing and talking.

Day 2 -- What a day! One of the things we saw today was the Manhattan Temple. It is really in one of the busy parts of the city and I like this picture because it shows a sampling of the traffic that is right outside. The temple has the Angel Moroni statue on top, but 1/2 of it got cut off in the picture. As we stared up at the temple, I kept thinking how wonderful it must feel to be inside and away from the world, especially in that temple because it is so busy and noisy on the outside. Definitely a bit of heaven on earth.

Today was our first NY subway experience. The kids loved it! This car was pretty empty, but other rides we took were standing room only.

A few thoughts about the subway -- it really takes awhile to figure out which train is going where and what direction you show be going. Alicia is a pro at this! Sometimes there were performers on the train -- one guy in particular was quite good, playing the saxophone. Sarah even got to put a dollar in his cup. Sometimes there are performers in the subway stations -- I have to say most of those that we saw, weren't very good. One group was mimicking Michael Jackson -- flashback from the 80's. We also saw a couple of homeless people wandering the subways begging or like one guy, crashed out on the bench. The subways always seemed dirty and smelly, but I never felt unsafe. We were always on the lookout for rats, but we never saw any -- some of us were disappointed, others of us were just glad!

Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History. You may recognize it from the movie "Night at the Museum". Wow -- this place was incredible. Dave & Alicia have a membership there and I can understand why -- the place is huge, and you could spend days exploring all the wonderful things they have there. We only spent a couple of hours. A particular favorite part was the dinosaurs.

Our next stop -- FAO Schwartz! The toy store! It was a huge store with lots of fun toys to look at. We headed for the legos of course. They had lots of Star Wars characters and Harry Potter characters built out of legos. This is Ryan standing by R2D2. The boys each got to choose a small lego set to buy and bring home.
FAO Schwartz is know for the big floor piano. You might remember it from the movie "Big". We got a chance to play it -- very fun! This is me & Ryan (in the brown & white striped shirt). They let about 4 to 5 people run around on it at a time.
Our next stop was the Museum of Modern Art. It has free Friday nights -- that's definitely a bargain!! We spent a couple hours here, and we could have spent another, but the boys were rioting, as you can imagine. This of course is an Andy Warhol -- which I really like, probably because it's so realistic and everydayish, although maybe not considered so "creative".
We also saw Picasso, Seurat, Jackson Pollack, Van Gogh, etc. etc. There are rooms devoted to each artistic style. The boys recognized some of the paintings from their Art Start classes at school. There is also a floor of the museum that does some different things with lighting -- you recognize this floor by the flood of yellow light, which makes everyone look like zombies. Then you can go to rooms where you experience spotlights, shadows, and colored lights. This was also a very fun museum to visit!

We were also introduced to Central Park today. It is huge. Hard to imagine such a beautiful green place in the middle of such a big city. There were a group of street performers doing break dancing near the entrance of the park today. They were really fun to watch. I bet they made a good chunk of change today!

home from nyc

Our trip to NYC was awesome! NYC is everything you think it's going to be and a few things you don't think it will be. NYC is huge, busy, dirty, culturally diverse, and never sleeps. At the same time, the parks are gorgeous and well kept and a quiet respite from the busy city streets. I was also surprised to find a bazillion planter boxes around light posts or trees on the city streets. We did so many things and yet we barely scratched the surface of all the neat things the city has to offer. We got home around 9:30 last night and headed straight to bed. Today I'm busy trying to get caught up on things --like laundry, mail, grocery shopping and that sort of hum drum stuff. Many thanks to G&G Vawdrey for taking care of Jacob & Matthew while we were away. Many many thanks to Dave & Alicia for being such super hosts -- we enjoyed spending time with them and would have been lost (literally) without them!!

preschool grad

Jacob is officially graduated from preschool!! He did an awesome job at his graduation program --speaking, singing, and dancing! Way to go Jacob -- we love you!

5k followup

That's me in the parking lot ready to go home after the 5k -- notice my "halo" -- it's the Finish Line in the background. The race was well organized and plenty of people were there to support a good cause. There were lots of goodies in the race bags as well as at the finish line. There was music blaring to get you pumped up and ready to run and they even did chip timing! The first part of the course was along the road and had two out and back loops, then the course wound around and through all the gardens before finishing in the parking lot. The gardens had lots of green grass and flowers, but I didn't notice them too much since the path was kind of crowded with runners and I was trying not to trip over people. The race started at 8:00 a.m., but it was already quite warm -- a very summer-like day. My goals for the race were simply to finish and run the entire course. I dedicated the first mile to Jordan. The first mile was easy and went by quickly. As I noticed the 1 mile marker, I shed a few tears for Jordan -- wow, it's been 12 years. Mile two went relatively quickly, but this mile had some uphill in it. Mile two was dedicated to Cole and again I shed a few tears -- it's been 6 years. Mile 3 was my mile. This mile was the hardest because it was last AND because the very end had some short steep hills. I'm used to running one long gradual hill in the middle of a run, rather than short steep at the end! I must admit that there was one point in this mile when I thought I might puke, so I slowed a bit and kept going. Running is 80% mental (at least) and I kept telling myself that I couldn't walk because I would be disappointed in myself because I know I can run 3 miles, and besides, this mile was my mile to show that I have kept going and survived a couple of very difficult times in my life. I sprinted the last 20 yards to the finish line. Wahoo! My chip time was 31:48 -- I was way excited about that!! Here is a picture of me showing off my Angel babies t-shirt. I am pointing to Jordan and Coles names. Heidi is the Mom behind the Angel Babies website and the designer of the t-shirt. There were a group of about 8 of us wearing these t-shirts on race day. Heidi's website tells her story of her daughter, Elizabeth, and provides links and information about infant loss. She has written a pamphlet that is available to anyone -- it's very good. She is a parent as well as an RN. Check out her website, and if you know anyone that could benefit from this information, please pass it on.

spare time musings

So awhile ago, Alicia recommended this book -- Hungry Planet. I thought it looked interesting and checked it out from the library. Wow -- I loved it! A giant nonfiction picture book. It is filled with pictures and little biographies about families all over the world and what they eat for a week -- a real eye opener in my opinion. I came away with two thoughts: 1)what would our family portrait look like and how much do we really spend per week? and 2)if I knew of some way to put $1.23 straight into the hands of the refugees from Chad so that they could eat double what they usually are able to have each week, I would do it forever. I think everyone in our family found a few interesting things to look at or read in this book --especially Ryan!!

Our family really does not watch TV much in the evenings because we are either too busy doing other things or there's nothing good to watch. However, I have been sucked in by American Idol lately. I'm amazed at myself. However, I'm not sucked in enough to vote though, so I can't complain about who wins. I am thrilled to see that the finale will come down to the 2 Davids. That's what I was hoping for and I think both of them are really good, for different reasons, but that's enough of that.

Of course we are still Jazz fans and hope they can get another win in Utah this week. I realized how much I have been hooked on watching the Jazz play this year when I went out to run this morning and halfway down the street I realized that I forgot to check the paper to see who won before I left. I even considered turning around or snagging someone's paper from the driveway to check it out! It was the first thing I did when I walked in the door! I would be better off if I just stuck to reading nonfiction!

duct tape

Monday after school, Ryan says, "Mom, can I have some duct tape?"
Me: "Why?"
Ryan: "I have a hole in my shoe and I need to duct tape it."
Me: "Are you serious? We just bought those, they're Nike. Let me see your shoe."
Upon examination, he certainly had a hole in the underside of his shoe where the big toe is. So much for name brand shoes! He's been walking around feeling the cement, dirt, wet, etc. with his toe, for who knows how long! Of course I gave the kid the duct tape and let him have at it since I didn't have time to go buy new shoes right then. Of course he has a field trip the next day too, which requires extra walking around. So anyway, he happily duct tapes the shoe and heads out to play basketball. Tuesday before school, I notice the duct tape job was kinda scrunchy on the top, so I grabbed the shoe to give it a good sturdy duct tape job as well as improve the looks for the school day. As I'm peeling off the old stuff on the top of the toe, I realize that the bottom pieces of duct tape have been worn clean through and there's the lovely hole in all its glory again! I gave the shoe an extra dose of duct tape and sent him on his merry way for the day. What must his teacher think -- parents letting a kid run wild with duct taped shoes? Oh well, it was probably better than the alternative -- flip flops or bare feet. Sunday shoes would never be tolerated, by Ryan, of course, so that's not even an option. I finally made it to the store on Wednesday morning and now Ryan has 2 new pairs of shoes -- one for now and one pair waiting for the next shoe emergency. I honestly cannot believe how fast that kid goes through shoes (literally).

running with angels

I have finally officially registered to run the Running With Angels 5k next weekend. I've wanted to do this run for a couple of years now, so I'm not sure what took me so long, but I paid extra to register late --dumb -- even though it is a fund raiser for Women's Services at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and a cause I believe in and support. I'm doing this run in memory of my boys, Jordan and Cole. This 5k came about because of a book that was written by Pamela Hansen. She wrote about her experience overcoming obesity and infant loss and fulfilling a dream when she was able to run the 24th of July marathon in SLC. To me, this book was very inspiring, but also close to my heart because as she described her experiences, struggles, and emotions about losing her babies, it was as if she were putting into words the emotions that I experienced with Jordan and Cole, but could never express or write myself. I would say that reading this book has played a large part in getting Mark and I to take up running. I am proud of Mark for completing his first marathon a couple of years ago -- an emotional and physical triumph. I have no desire to run 26.2 miles, but I'm certainly a cheerleader for anyone who wants to. Someday, I would like to do this 5k with Mark and all my boys -- maybe next year, since the timing just doesn't work this time around.

$116,805

Apparently that's what I'm worth, according to a Deseret News article that says if stay-at-home moms were actually paid that's what they'd get. The article acknowledged overtime hours, but I think the list of stuff we actually do was grossly underrepresented.

school days

Tuesday I went to Jacob's preschool for his "pretend" birthday. I picked out some photos for him to show to his class about himself and his family. He also got to pass out treats to everyone -- Kool-aid Jammers and Airheads. He got to wear a birthday hat and was the special person of the day. I think he had a good time. As I was searching through photos for him, I realized that I don't have as many of him as I thought I had -- poor kid. I'll have to do better. I also went on a short field trip with Ryan's class to learn about horses. Matthew went with me in the stroller. His class has been doing a cowboy unit and so they visited a guy who has some horses about a block away from the school. The guy has been doing horse stuff all his life and knows about all there is to know I think. Unfortunately, I don't think he presented it simply enough to a group of kids who don't really know anything about horses to begin with. However, the kids were very well behaved and paid attention anyway. A couple of them even asked some very good questions. It was fun to spend some time with the boys at school.

continuation

Since Mom stayed overnight Thursday night, we got to spend Friday together. We spent the morning shopping at Kohl's, Costco, and a boutique. I had to return an item at Kohl's and then Mom treated me to a new shirt. Next we headed over to Costco to get gas and pick up some items for Mom because she doesn't have a Costco close by home. We picked up a slice of pizza for Jacob and Mom & I split a sandwich for lunch while we were there. Costco doesn't have much sampling going on in the morning-- Darn! Then we headed over to a little boutique that has tons of cute vinyl words and crafty stuff to pick up a little gift for Mom for Mother's Day. After that we headed home to whip up some cinnamon rolls for Mom to take home to Katey -- it was her birthday and that was her cake request. We let the rolls rise while we went up to the school to hear Jared's grade sing the last two songs from their program that accompanied a slide show (when they performed the program, the slide show never worked right, so they finally got the bugs worked out and invited everyone to hear them sing the last two songs and watch the slides.) When we got home we finished up the cinnamon rolls, relaxed, and visited for awhile until Karen and Alisa came to pick Mom up to go home. I enjoyed spending some time with my Mom.

womens conference

I got to go to a day of women's conference at BYU last week. Mark "stayed home" to take care of the kids so I could go. On Wednesday evening Karen, Alisa, and my mom came and stayed overnight so we could get up early Thursday and head to Provo. We left here around 7:00 a.m. and drove to Michelle's in Orem. Then Mom & I headed over to the Marriott Center to save seats for the others. Sister Sheri Dew gave the opening address. I always like listening to her because she has a delightful sense of humor and just says things like they are. She counseled us to awake to who we are (daughters of God), arise (make our lives like Christ), and come unto Christ by walking away from the things of the world.

The next class I went to was for mothers with young children. I found it ironic that of the four presenters in this class, only one was currently a mother of young children. I guess the moral of the story is to learn from others who were there once and survived to tell about it! A couple of things I needed to hear:

• Sit down in the middle of the mess (toys) and just play with your kids, instead of getting everything on your to-do list crossed off.
• Is what I'm spending my time doing consistent with what I really want?
• This is the time to be with my kids -- there will be another time to do other things later, or else the desire for those things will leave.

The next class was the one I really wanted to attend most of all -- Raising Boys. That's me! The Nadauld's (parents of 7 boys) talked about teaching these 5 things to boys:

1. Work -- work hard, give boys jobs that use big muscles (like mowing the lawn) and involve machines (vacuum). Work with them and make sure the work they do is meaningful.
2. Responsibility -- boys need to be responsible for something and to be responsible to someone.
3. Respect -- for mothers and women (be courteous); I should speak in kind tones because harsh words will be echoed back by my sons; body part should be discussed with dignity and respect, remembering they are a gift from Heavenly Father.
4. Expectations --these need to be made chrystal clear, no subtlety (sp?) allowed! Expect college education or training.
5. Reverence -- unfortunately I can't remember exactly what was discussed here except that by having consistent family prayer and scripture study, they will learn!

The last speakers of the day were President & Sister Bateman. Sadly, I didn't get much out of the first part of their talk, but the end was quite good. They counseled us to use quiet voices in our homes, teach our children, begin every day with family prayer, treat our families kindly, and keep our homes in order (clean too!) -- this will help our homes be more like the temple (House of the Lord).

After all this, we headed over to Michelle's for a yummy enchilada dinner, which I couldn't enjoy because I developed a migraine! Lovely! After resting for awhile and taking some tylenol, things got under control so I could drive home. Mom came with me and spent the night. When we got home we were greeted by Mark trying to install a new toilet in our bathroom because the tank had cracked earlier that day! Needless to say, he wasn't very happy. The boys had cleaned up the house though, so that was a nice surprise!

b-day boys

Matthew had a birthday last week! The celebration was pretty simple -- presents and cake. He had lots of presents to open and that kept him busy and happy for a long time! He got clothes, books, and sandbox toys. He loved the chocolate cupcake and didn't even make a huge mess. I think the pictures below pretty much say it all!

We are so glad Matthew is part of our family. He is a happy little guy who loves to chase after his brothers and wants so much to do everything they do. He has a husky laugh, bright happy eyes, and an adorable smile. We love him very much!

Jared also had a birthday last week! His celebration was a little more complex -- presents, party, and ice cream sandwiches (he doesn't like cake, you know!) Jared got clothes (sorely needed), an ipod shuffle, squirt guns and money. He invited 3 friends to go to the rec center to swim. Mark and Ryan went with them too, but they played a little raquetball first. After swimming, the starving boys ate pizza, soda, and ice cream and watched the Jazz game -- till half time. By then it was 10:00 p.m., so we took the kids home and called it a night! His friends brought him some fun gifts -- remote control truck, legos, and a flag football set.

Jared is a fabulous big brother and all around good kid. He tries his best at everything he does. He's smart, responsible, happy, and the best helper anyone could ask for. We love him very much!

what a week!

Last week was a busy one and definitely a little out of the ordinary. I'll post more about it throughout the week.