Sewing?!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not crafty or creative! Well I decided to change that!  Luckily I have an amazing friend, Kelsey.  She let me borrow her sewing machine and taught me how to use it! I made two quilts! I have never sewed before! I was nervous, but determined since I actually had some time on my hands!

First baby quilt! (The practice quilt!)

Second baby quilt!  It is actually for my first nephew who was born a couple of weeks ago! (this one is flannel!  Really soft!)

They aren't perfect, but I enjoyed learning something new!  Maybe someday I'll actually get a sewing machine!

Our short, but successful weekend trip!

We went on a weekend trip!  We started Saturday morning at 9am and got back Sunday at 7pm!  Even though it was short I think we accomplished a ton!  It was fun to go to new places!  First we went to Palmyra!  We went to the visitors center, Moroni Memorial on Hill Cumorah, Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, two of Joseph's Smith's families houses, Alvin's house, the printing place of the first 5,000 Book of Mormons, Peter Whitmer's house and visitor center, and we even had time to go to outlet malls before the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night!  :)  Plus it was 92 degree and very hot!  We were exhausted by the end of the night, but it was totally worth it!  The Pageant exceeded every expectation I had!  The special effects were amazing!

Moroni Memorial

 The pageant seating from the top of the Hill Cumorah!  It can hold 9,000 people!

The palmyra temple!  The lady that took this picture thought we were from Canada...?!  People usually notice our accent, but they think we are from the south!

One of Joseph's Smith's houses.

Joseph Smith hid the plates under these bricks.

I thought this site was going to be boring, but it turned out to be my favorite!  Very good tour and amazing how much work went into each Book of Mormon.  The first Book of Mormon's were sold at $1.75!  It was two days of wages!  I can't believe saving two days of wages for the Book of Mormon!  We are so lucky!

 This is the original paining!  It was HUGE!

Peter Whitmer's house!  Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were recieved here!

The Peter Whitmer Visitor's Center!  It was beautiful and is an actual church building on Sundays!

The pageant stage!  I couldn't believe all the special effects they could do on this simple stage! 

Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Niagara Falls!  Another very cool experience!  We went on Maid of the Mist.  It is a boat that brings you right up to the falls!  We got soaked!  The falls are huge!  The pictures we got don't do justice!

Looking silly with ponchos!  Somehow I still got soaked!

We got closer to the falls than this, but I wouldn't allow any pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera!

Canada!  The closest I've ever been!  I could have jumped out and swam over!  haha! jk

I would say it was a very successful and fun weekend!  We got to experience new things together!

Hiking

Saturday we went hiking!  Due to the high temperature of 91 we did a short 2 mile hike!  We walked the perimeter of an island!  The whole island is a state park!  It was so cool and beautiful!  I'm such a horrible wife though!  As we are looking at the waterfall I pull out our camera and it wouldn't turn on!  I forgot to charge it :(  We will definitely go back though!  Then I'll get pictures!

Afterwards we went swimming!  It was nice to cool off!  :)

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  :)

Strawberry Picking

Our most recent activity was strawberry picking!  They were they BEST strawberries I've ever tasted!  They were super sweet!  No need for sugar on top!

We finished all the strawberries in 2 days!  I guess we need to go again!  :)

Soccer

Jacob will probably hate me for posting this, but it is crazy! Jacob has been playing in a indoor soccer league for a couple of weeks now. He loves it and I love to watch him play! A couple of weeks ago Jacob blocked a ball by stepping in front of the ball.  He stopped the ball with his stomach! It looked like it hurt sooooo bad! He got home and this is what was on his stomach!

CRAZY! 

Tulip Festival

My favorite flower is tulips.  We moved to the right city!  Every year there is a Tulip Festival!  It was so much fun!  Lots of good food, activities, bands and of course tulips!  It will be a yearly activity for us!

I didn't realize there are so many different types of tulips!

Bennington, Vermont

A couple of people had recommended that we should explore this cute little town! It was a short, beautiful drive! Some battles of the Revolutionary War happened here.

While exploring the shops we went into this chocolate shop! These are made out of chocolate!  All chocolate!  I wish I had taken a picture of how much they cost but a couple of thousand dollars!

 This is the Bennington Battle Monument.  There is actually an elevator to the top!  We took it up!

Here are the beautiful views from the Monument!

Bennington is also known for these covered bridges.  We went on a drive and and spotted a couple of them.

It was a fun day trip!

Vermont

Over my Spring Break we went to Vergennes, Vermont.  It was our 2011 Christmas present to each other!  We stayed at this cute bed and breakfast! The cute couple recommended us to drive into the mountains. Here are some pictures from the drive (they don't do it justice).

 A very dirty car!  :)

 We made it to the Appalachian Gap!  It was beautiful!

 On our drive we also stopped by the Van Trapp family lodge.  This is where the children lived once arriving in the U.S.  Now it is a lodge.  It is up in the mountains!

The view from the lodge.

We also went to the Ben and Jerry's factory while in Vermont!  This is a lock for your ice cream!  :)  A perfect invention!  Good for roommates or husbands!  ;)

We also went to this AMAZING restaurant called the Black Sheep while in Vergennes.  I would recommend it to anyone!  Easily the best food I've ever eaten!  It was nice to get away for a long weekend!



NYC again!

In January we went back to NYC!  It was very cold!  The family that I nannied during high school was visiting NYC. We decided to go visit them! 

We watched their youngest while they went to broadway shows!

She fell alseep in his arms!  He is going to be a good dad!

We also went to the Museum of Natural History while there.

It was a really short visit, but fun to see old friends!

Updates!

I just finished my 3rd semester of nursing school!  I only have 2 more to go!  I'll be done in May!  Less than a year!  Hurray!  :)  Here is what we have been up to:

Lots of Studying!
NYC again!
A little vacation!  We went to a bed and breakfast in Vermont (over spring break)
Visited Bennington, Vermont
Tulip Festial
Strawberry Picking

I'll update the blog with pictures from each!

October NYC trip...late

Ok! I have been in charge of our first New York City trip blog. Unfortunately… I haven’t written it! So I am finally repenting. Now we can get this wonderful experience.  

I have a super amazing wife… which everyone knows and no one doubts or denies. For my birthday she spoiled me with tickets to a Red Bulls (soccer) game. Now, to be clear, I detest Red Bull and other types of energy drinks. So there is almost no way I would have been a Red Bulls fan. The one way happened, however, and they brought in one of my favorite players after Barcelona let his contract expire. So we decided to spend a weekend in NYC and I would get to watch the Red Bulls and Thierry Henry!

I took off half a day on Friday and we left as soon as Brittany was done with class. We had heard it took up to three and a half hours (my boss must be a slow driver), but we were into Newark, NJ in around 2.5 hrs. Staying in Newark saved hotel costs. We parked by Penn Station (Newark) and took the PATH system into NYC. Got some Metro passes and we were off. It was awesome! We hit time square! Lots of cool things to see there. Lego structures, lights… wow.

Saturday we went back into NYC and went up to Chinatown. Got Brittany a nice purse. Subway system was super-hot… too bad we had our coats… but we were prepared! I mean October in NYC… who woulda thought it would be hot! No luck on food. We kept striking out. We ate at one Mexican place Chevy’s. Super great salsa! We were so excited… but then the food was mediocre at best. Oh well. My highlight was the game of course! The night was perfect! Clear skies and 70 degrees! Stadium is new and super nice. Red Bulls beat the Timbers. Henry didn’t score but it was still a treat! To my surprise and delight Brittany had a good time. That means maybe we’ll get to go back someday! It was a great trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Great Salsa

JACK

Nice new stadium

Henry!!

Beautiful girl!

Star Wars Legos! + random leg