We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in New York City. James has a kind friend from college who offered to let us stay at her apartment while she was out of town for the holiday. We arrived in the city Wednesday night and Thursday morning we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Seeing the parade in person is something I'd wanted to do since I was little because I loved watching the parade on TV every year. However, we actually didn't see too much of the parade besides the big balloons going by. We went to the start of the parade route where it is supposedly less crowded, but still the streets were packed with people. The girls were a little cold and grumpy until they were spoiled with inflatable Dora dolls on a stick. Addy was obsessed with her "Dora baby" for the next few days until we finally deflated it for our drive home.











After the parade we walked through Central Park to the famous FAO Schwarz Toy Store.














James laughing as Akasha and Geoff were stopped by the rapper "Mo-Pain" trying to sell them his CD.
















This toy store really is huge and impressive. Addy and Aspen were quite mesmerized. After a while it became a little overwhelming so we took them upstairs to see the Big Piano. They watched a little show ( similar to the one below) and then we waited in a 20 minute line for a two minute turn. It was worth the wait because the girls loved it. The only problem was that they were so sad when their turn was over and Addy refused to put her shoes back on. If she's a good girl maybe Santa will bring her own big piano mat for Christmas...Just not that big. :)












We ended the day by walking over to the New York Temple.

Christmas lights at the Temple

Here are some photos taken last week at our Stake's annual Priest/Laurel tree lighting activity. Addy loved helping the girls put up the lights, Torah had a great time exploring the visitor center, James enjoyed a temple session, and I had fun just watching the girls and taking pictures. After debating whether to bring Addy and Torah along or leave them home with James, I'm glad we all went together. We told Addy we'd be back soon to see the lights on and she was pretty excited.

This summer the girls and I spent a couple days in Utah and Idaho. My wisdom teeth were bothering me and I made a last minute decision to have them removed in SLC. If I had known how miserable I'd feel afterwards and how tough the recovery was, I definitely would have booked the trip for a different time when we could have stayed longer. Plus it was sad to leave family after such a short visit. We flew in late on a Wed night and then drove to Provo and stayed at my grandma's house. Thursday morning we woke up early and drove to SLC where I had my oral surgery. We returned to Provo and I slept most of the day. Friday morning we went to a nearby park with my sister-in-law and her cute boys. Saturday we drove to Malad Idaho. Sunday my grandparents from Spokane, WA, came to visit. Monday we returned to Provo and we flew back early Tuesday morning. I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would, but here are a few. Looking back I'm actually surprised I took any! I knew that if I didn't take any photos it'd regret it. It was Torah's first time meeting my grandparents who live in Malad and also first time meeting the ones who drove down from Spokane.



Torah with grandma Sherel.


Torah with grandpa Ray.


The girls with grandpa Ed and grandma Pat




The girls with cousins Nelson and Clive

Renaissance Festival 2011

Last year my wonderful mom made Adelaide a beautiful princess gown to wear at the Maryland Renaissance festival. I entered the festival's photo contest and won 4 tickets to this year's renfest. My mom went all out again and made 4 fairy costumes. The girls looked so cute as little fairies and we were flattered by all the people who stopped us to ask if they could their picture. Addy and Aspen both enjoyed the extra attention. I also think they were quite impressed being surrounded by so many kings, queens, and princesses.



















Watching the jousting.











I thought these two little girls were so cute.



Addy investigating what they were looking at in the bushes and why I was taking their picture and not hers. :)


Although this guy looks a little scary he was very friendly and gave us free game tokens.