New York City

So this post is going to have a lot of close-ups of Paul and I taking pictures of ourselves BECAUSE we went to NYC WITHOUT our KIDS for our anniversary! I know. I can hardly believe it myself. This was the first night we have spent away from our kids, so it was pretty crazy. We drove down to Bridgeport, CT and stayed at a hotel overnight. Then we went to NYC the next morning and had a wonderful time! It was a little bit strange, but we definitely needed the small vacation. This first picture is taken in front of a lighthouse in Bridgeport. It was FREEZING and very windy. It felt like we were up on USU campus again. We could hardly move our faces. Our ears were hurting for quite some time after we got back in the car. But it was still fun.


When I went to NYC when I was 17, I had wanted to go inside the public library, but hadn't been able to, so that was the first place we stopped after Grand Central Station. It is BEAUTIFUL in the library. I was so glad we went in. The picture above was taken upstairs in the reading room. Can you imagine studying in a library like this?
This is the front foyer in the library. It was spectacular. The marble was beautiful.
In front of the library.
The picture above was taken in Grand Central Station. The picture below was taken in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It may not look significant, but just notice how intent I am just looking at one thing for perhaps a long period of time. Something that is just not possible when my kids are around. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at what I wanted, for as long as I wanted.

This was one of the few smiling statues.This was us in Central Park. We had such a wonderful time. We realize we need to get out more (without kids, I mean)! It's been a great first six years of marriage, and this was a great way to celebrate it!

Washington DC

We had a fabulous trip to Washington DC. I had never been there before, and it was so exciting to see all of the sights. Although, I must say it is difficult to really ponder the significance of the places when you have two toddlers around, but we did our best. We stayed with our friends the Horner's (pictured above in front of the Capitol), and were able to see some places with them. Samantha and Kaylee became the best of friends - Samantha misses her. We were also able to spend some time with Paul's brother, Howard, who lives in DC, so that was great, too!
A shot from inside the Capitol Building. It was pretty awesome.
A shot of the ceiling inside the Capitol. The round painting on the center circle of the ceiling is more than 5,000 square feet. I thought that was pretty amazing. It looked a lot smaller from 180 feet below.
In front of the Lincoln Memorial. Samantha didn't like being inside of this memorial. Either it was too dark, or the huge statue scared her (hmmm . . .maybe both).
The view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
At the Jefferson Memorial.
Just an added bonus picture of what entertains my kids during the day, as well as myself.

All Wintered Out

I'm not usually one who tires of winter before winter's over, but I must say, I am ready for spring! Maybe it's because this winter has lived up to the bad New England winter reputation and then some (church has been canceled THREE times this year - when is it ever canceled in Utah I ask?), or maybe I'm a little tired of being a shut-in because the snow is too hard to play in, and it's too cold to go play outside anyway, or it could be the fact that my kids have come down with yet another yucky cold. Whatever it is, I'm ready to see the tulips I planted last fall poke their leaves through, and I'm ready to start all of our outside projects, like painting the house, planting the garden, landscaping, etc., etc., etc. Anyway, there you have it. I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow. It's just been one of those long winter days. Here are a few happy pictures to lift the mood!

Anna came out of Samantha's room sporting her latest fashion. She's all about head attire, so of course panties completely qualify as such.

Bubbles always go over anytime of year. They are always my Plan B if Plan A doesn't go well.

I think this picture of Samantha is funny. She was trying on all of the swimsuits in her drawer (there were 3). Somehow Anna's swimsuit got put in her drawer. We tried to convince her not to put it on, but she insisted. As you can tell from the picture, it was not very comfortable for her. She wanted it off directly following this photo.

Anna makes many funny faces. This is one of our favorites, although you don't get the full effect since the hat covers her eyebrows, which are normally furrowing. She furrows her eyebrows and puckers her lips. Then she breaks into a grin.

One of my latest makeover projects. We found this dresser on the side of the road (everyone here leaves stuff they don't want on the curb). I instantly saw potential, so we took it home, and after a little work . . . VOILA! We also found the bed frame (headboard, footboard) that you can see and painted it as well.