malia is 2!

Malia's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving.  She is such a little sweetheart and it was so fun to celebrate her cute life and all the joy and happiness she brings to our family.  We love her so much!

Our friends were still at our place, and all the kids were so excited to watch her open her presents.  She felt a little crowded with all the excitement surrounding her and everyone grabbing everything, so on her last present she picked it up and climbed inside the cabinet under the TV to get her own space!

She loved everything!  She kept saying, "Prezints!" So cute.  She got some new books, new clothes, a giraffe headrest for the car, two little purses, and two little dolls.  Heaven!  She carried everything around with her all day.  Everywhere she went.  Her arms full.  So funny!




She loves puppies so I made her a little puppy cake.  My first attempt at fondant!  It was tricky!  I have new respect for all these gorgeous fondant cakes I see everywhere.  She loved her cake and kept patting it's back and head.  It was just so cute.  

She is such a little pixie, so gentle and loving to everyone in our family.  She talks more every day and her cute little words make us smile.  My favorite thing she says is "Peez?" whenever she wants something.  I can't say no to that!  It's the cutest thing ever.  Also whenever I tell her something she says, "otay."  I love it.  She gives the best snuggles, I love when she comes running to me with her arms open and climbs right up into my hug.  Best moments of my day. She has all of us wrapped around her little finger.  Every single one of us.  Oh how we love you sweet Malia! 

Thanksgiving 2012

A new tradition my parents started last year is the Turkey Coloring Contest.  They mail out turkeys to all the grandkids and we color, color, color, and then mail them back.  A few weeks later the kids get prizes in the mail.  It's so fun!  They color like crazy.  Brenner colored 27 this year!  And they get quite creative, here is Porter making his turkey into an elephant.

We had some friends from Washington DC stay with us for Thanksgiving.  We found out a few days before that they were coming, and I went into overdrive cleaning and sorting out all our closets, and wiping down baseboards and walls and closet doors.  There's nothing like unexpected company that makes you look at your living space with new eyes!  We're so glad they came tho, it was so fun to have them!  And the kids were so excited they got to come to the parade with us.

Thanksgiving morning we woke up early to go to the 86th Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  Dave and two friends went at 4:45am to save us a spot.  They are the best husbands ever!  

We had a great spot on Central Park South across from Central Park and in front of Trump Tower.  It was a little cold, but we played Uno and ate pumpkin muffins and banana muffins while we waited.

 The parade is so fun!  The clowns come over and tease the kids, they throw confetti at us, people wave and run by giving high five's to the kids, it's so fun!  The balloons and floats are amazing, and it's fun to see famous people on the floats.  A lot of them I didn't recognize, but a few I did, like Whoopi Goldberg, Trace Atkins, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jimmy Fallon.

Some of the filler groups are funny, like a little group of marching business men carrying brief cases, an 80's dance group with huge hair and leg warmers, and people walking around with Yield signs and stop signs on their heads.  We got quiet a kick out of some of them.  And out of the serious job it is to hold the ropes attached to the big balloons.  The director stands out front and I would guess sometimes 100 people are holding the ropes under the big balloons and they all have matching costumes, matching the balloon, and the director blows the whistle and they wind the ropes a certain way or scurry to get in formation.  It made us laugh how serious some were about it.  And others were more relaxed and some were funny.  Quite entertaining.

Whoopi Goldberg on the pirate ship...

After the parade was over we took a few photos and then walked with the mob to get home to EAT!

Walking back to the air tram we saw Christmas decorations.  Lit up Christmas trees, huge snowflake lights hung over the streets, fun store windows, and these beautiful giant wreaths on the Plaza.  So fun that everywhere is decorated for Christmas!

I cooked for a few hours on Wednesday evening, our feast was nothing fancy.  I made turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing, raspberry pretzel salad, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, a vegetable tray, and chocolate fudge pie.  We also bought pumpkin pie and apple pie.  I think my favorite part of the meal was the homemade stuffing and the sweet potatoes.  I was proud of myself for throwing it together in just a few hours! although it left much to be desired and made us miss the Thanksgiving feast we usually have by one of our dear mothers!

Another family, Dave and Debora Feist, joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner as well, we found out the night before they had no where to go so we invited them to join us.  If I would have known a week or two ahead of time we were having these nice families at our house for Thanksgiving I would have planned much better and maybe tried a few new recipes.  Here's the crowd:

We are so thankful for our family and friends and all of our many blessings this Thanksgiving!

thankful tree

i love the night we put up our thankful tree.  we started this tradition with the intent to write one a day during november, but we always end up getting so excited we can't stop writing until we fill up the whole tree.  it's such a great heart building night.  it's so good to slow down and let our hearts feel grateful.

My favorite leaf was Brenner's leaf where he spelled 'Jesus.'  And my second favorite was of course Dave's first leaf that said, 'Mommy.'  Love him!

columbus circle

Columbus Circle is on the southwest corner of Central Park.  A 13-foot tall statue of Christopher Columbus has stood on it's 75-foot tall marble column since 1892, when it was placed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage to the Americas.  

Recently a temporary exhibit room was built 6 stories high around the statue.  It's an 800 square foot room around the statue, supported by scaffolding.  

My friend, Corinna, had extra tickets a couple weeks ago.  Klarissa and I were visiting teaching her and she mentioned she was going so I invited myself to go along.  It was really fun.  We actually took a taxi, my first time in a taxi in Manhattan!  

We climbed the stairs into the room and could see the statue up close and personal, where for 120 years people have only been able to view it from the ground, far below.  It's such a funny, random thing to me.

There were beautiful views of the city and Central Park from the windows.

We also walked across the street to the Time Warner Building where there were some ice sculptures being carved.  The boys were mesmerized! And we saw the big Christmas stars that change colors in the Time Warner building, so cool!  As we walked through Central Park on our way back to the subway we shared some roasted chesnuts from a street vendor.  A fun outing!

little helper

i cannot wait to have my own washer and dryer again. although everyone here who knows we have one on our own floor is jealous, as most apartment buildings just have one big laundry room in the basement.  it's all a matter of perspective isn't it.  i guess i am grateful i only have to wander down the hall.  most days i try to rush down when no one is looking to throw in a few loads, because it takes so long when little hands are pulling the laundry in and out while i sort.  but malia loves to come with me.  so much.  and when i look over and see her disappear into the washer to pull out a little sock stuck way at the back my heart melts and i change my mind and i'm so glad she likes to come with me. how thankful i am for my sweet little helper!

wonton soup

A couple weeks ago my dear friend, Yukari, came over to teach me how to make Japanese Wonton Soup.  It is so delicious!  Yukari says 'so dericious.'  So cute!  Her son, Hiiragi, is one of Porter's best friends.  What I want to remember most is how cute Brenner was helping make the wontons.  He sure seemed to enjoy it.  He sat by us and spooned out the pork mixture onto each wonton and then carefully folded it up and put it on the pan.  I sure love my Brenner.  And we LOVE Wonton Soup!

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

Sunday is a great day for family walks.  It was a warm evening so we strolled down to the end of our island to see the new memorial.  We live on Roosevelt Island in the East River, and this memorial, recently finished and opened to the public, is to honor Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Dave said he read this was the largest granite undertaking ever to be built.  I guess the granite blocks are the largest ever transported and built into something.

Such a neat huge sculpture of FDR's face.  Can you imagine having a sculpture of your own face that big?  Ha!  Malia missed her nap because of church, so fell asleep in the stroller.

Oh, and speaking of church I have to say - Sunday was the Primary Program and my kids did such a GREAT job!  I was especially proud of Brenner, who dared sit up on the stand the whole time, sing the songs, and give his part into the microphone!  I was astounded!  If you know his history you will know why I was so surprised and felt like singing Hallelujah!

It was just getting dark so we were able to see the sunset and the lights of the city start to sparkle.

A passerby took our family photo.  Love the lighting.  The city.  And my wonderful sweet family.

a day in central park

Monday was Veteran's Day and the kids had no school so we spent the day in Central Park. I am amazed at how many gorgeous Fall leaves were still on the trees after the hurricane.  It was beautiful!  And I am so grateful for these two friends and their kids.  I sure love them!

We had a picnic at a playground and the kids played for a long time, swinging, climbing, sliding, and digging. Then we walked a little and saw the Conservatory Pond.

At the north end of the Pond is this Alice in Wonderland statue = more climbing.



The kids had such fun in the leaves.  It was such warm and beautiful Fall day.  Loved, loved, loved being in it.

The rocks in Central Park are one of my favorite things.  How fun to gather the kids on one for a photo.  We all especially love the huge ones that the kids can climb on.  That is the first thing they want to do whenever we go to Central Park!  Such a cute group of kids.

Then we meandered to Bethesda Fountain.

There are always so many people performing in Central Park.  Musicians, dancers, acrobats, you name it. There happened to be a bubble blower at Bethesda Fountain that was so fun to watch!  

And then the kids got to try too!  It was awesome!  They each made some huge bubbles!  I think we were there for an hour or more.  We couldn't tear them away.  Or ourselves.  It was so fun.

All the kids did such a great job making so many gigantic bubbles.  Kyler, especially, was a pro from the get go.  Look at this cool shaped bubble he did!

I think this is my favorite picture of the day.   Look at Brenner's face.  i LOVE it!  He was frustrated most of the time because the strings on his sticks kept getting tangled, so I'm glad he did have a moment of joy!



Such neat things to do in NYC.  We feel so lucky!  Aside from the wickedness, it is a neat place to live for a little while.

first snowfall

it snowed yesterday!  first snowfall of the season. it rained all morning and towards late afternoon it turned into snow.  my boys were so excited after school they dug into our winter box as soon as their homework was done, pulling out snowpants and gloves, boots and hats.  all over the house. 

after their bundle of energy was out the door, malia and i watched them from the balcony.

then we joined them outside.  malia loved wearing her hat.  and loved walking around in the snow.  the boys were having a snowball fight which chased us back inside with a few tears from the littlest.  the boys followed us in and dug out the sleds.  then it was back outside to sled at the park with friends.  

they came back in cold and drenched and in need of hot chocolate.  welcome winter!

Field Station Dinosaurs

The kids had no school on Tuesday, November 6, Election Day. So we took advantage of a sunny day and went to Field Station Dinosaurs in New Jersey. It is closing for the winter this weekend and we didn't want to miss it, even though it was super freezing cold.  It wasn't crowded.  At all.  As in we were like one of three families there.  

The dinosaurs were amazing!  They roared and moved, and even blinked their eyes. And they scared Brenner and Malia to death. They wouldn't get out of the stroller for a long time, but finally they warmed up to them, poor things.

There were lots of interactive stations along the way.  Because it was Election Day the kids got to fill out a ballot and vote for their favorite dinosaur.  Porter voted for the T-Rex!  Love this picture of my Porter with his cute freckles. They got to inspect fossils with magnifying glasses and even bring some home.  They also got to be paleontologists and dig for dinosaur bones.  This was their very favoritest part.  We went back twice so they could dig more! They also got brushes to dust the sand off the bones.

Lexi's favorite dinosaur was the Parasaurolophus. Brenner liked the Triceratops.

We went to a "Meet the Dinosaurs" show in the ampitheater.  After a few minutes a 'kid' dinosaur came out to play.  It was hilarious!  You can see the legs of the operator in the photo, but it seemed so real!  So funny!



The kids also got to pet a baby dinosaur that tried to snap at them. Brenner finally dared to touch it's head. And the boys were brave enough to go up and put their head inside the dinosaurs mouth!

The T-Rex.  Ahhh!  Did you know that a T-Rex could lift 400 pounds with each little front arm?

The Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur at the park.

We played an archeologist tool matching game with another family, it was pretty funny.  First team to 5 matches.  We won!  The kids thought that was pretty great.  Here is Kyler and Lexi talking over our next move.

Porter in front of another T-Rex.

The T-Rex with the Empire State Building in the background.

A fun day with the dinosaurs! We were so cold when we got in the car we couldn't wait to get home for hot chocolate.

On the way home we got stuck in traffic.  Again.  It took us 3 hours to get home instead of 30 minutes.  Why do I drive here? Insane!  

halloween with a hurricane

we have had a bazillion things going on. i am going to just jumble a few of them into one gigantic post. it may not be coherent, but i feel like i'm usually not either! ha!

on thursday we went to a free pumpkin patch at the Intrepid for playgroup.  had the funniest ride with Klarissa.  love her!  the Intrepid is a cool air force and navy museum on a docked submarine.  we got to walk through a little corn maze and the kids each got a free pumpkin (after a long wait). some australians took our picture.  so fun to hear their accent!


last Friday brenner and malia and i met dave for lunch. we drove to morningside and played at a fun park for a minute. then walked to meet Daddy.  walking by this duck pond was so pretty. brenner and malia loved those ducks.

this was such a gorgeous park.  love that weeping willow tree by the pond! and the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous Fall colors.

 we enjoyed the fall leaves along the way. and carried the stroller up a million stairs.

we met Dave in front of the Chapel of St. John the Divine. 



the largest Gothic Cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. love love love all the details and beautiful architecture.
Brenner wanted hamburgers so we went to 5 Guys, and on the way we saw the restaurant from Seinfeld. We used to watch Seinfeld all the time.Such a fun lunch with Dave.  Then we zoomed back to meet the kids as they got out of school. Just in time for their after-school Halloween Party.



There was a Fire Truck on display for the kids to climb on.  I didn't get pictures inside the party, but I did get plenty of this fire truck.  Malia wanted so badly to sit up on the hoses like her brothers.  her face cracks me up! 


kyler the rubics cube. lexi the cheerleader. porter the ninja. brenner the pirate. who wouldn't wear his pirate hat. or pose for a picture.


walking home from the party. our 2nd halloween in NYC. isn't that a great backdrop for a photo.

the next morning, Saturday, we knew Hurricane Sandy was coming, so after stocking up on food and water at Costco we went to a park near Costco to play.  I'm glad we did because all parks are now closed until further notice because of fallen trees, etc. but we didn't know that was going to happen. 

it had a fun spinny chair.

a super fun long slide.

it went super fast and the kids loved it.

a fun seat, and a rock wall.


i am in love with autumn leaves and on the walk home i had to take a few pictures of my kids in the leaves.

there is a new memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt that just opened on the end of our island. last week Bill Clinton and Tom Brokaw, among others, were at the grand opening.  i rode the scooter down to check it out.  no one else wanted to come.  you can see the storm clouds brewing over the skyline. it's a nice memorial, i'm going to make my husband and kids walk back with me sometime.


kyler's rubics cube was such a hit at the school party that Porter wanted a costume from one of our moving boxes too.  so we made him into an x-ray machine. it was cumbersome to be a box so kyler decided to be a ragae dude. our ward Halloween party was Saturday night and we took a few photos while waiting for the subway.  after eating yummy chili the kids got to trick or treat with the Primary around the church.



On Sunday church got out early so people could prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Many in our ward were evacuated, including our Bishop. On Sunday night all subways and MTA buses were suspended.

i was so panicked that the fall leaves were going to end with the hurricane and this is our last Fall living in New England and I didn't want to miss seeing all the beautiful colors. so it probably wasn't the wisest decision, but i went for a drive to see the leaves. by myself. to see the last of the gorgeous fall colors. my family didn't want to come. i was sad none of them wanted to come with me. i guess i've dragged them too many places the last 17 months. Dave is such an awesome Husband and Dad to keep them all with him so I could go.

i walked on the Walkway Over the Hudson. it's an old train bridge they've made into a walking path. it is 1.28 miles long and 212 feet above the Hudson River. it is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.  a nice mom and daughter offered to take my photo. i felt a little silly since i was alone.


here  is a post with gorgeous pictures from someone else's visit to the Walkway Over the Hudson.

i saw the most gorgeous fall leaves as I was driving home. it made me cry. honestly and truly.we live in such a beautiful word.



and I got home to this cute little pumpkin.



then on monday the hurricane hit.  school was cancelled, and no subways were working so Dave got to stay home.  we sat around waiting for the storm, i baked all day in case we lost power.  we had pumpkin bread, banana bread, rolls, etc coming out our ears.kyler, porter and i went outside on Monday afternoon before it got too bad.  the river was super high.  an hour later it was flooding over the sidewalk.  hurricane irene last summer wasn't too bad.  so we were thinking it would be similar. the wind and rain became more intense and we got soaked. it hurt as it pelted our hands and face.  as we neared our apartment building the water was coming over the side walk and the boys jumped over the waves as they came washing up.  made for a memory!

 it raged all night. we didn't know what to expect. the next morning we still had power. the river was down. we were thankful we made it through it safely. we felt like everything was okay.  then we went outside. some of these pictures are at the park across the street from our apartment. so many tree branches knocked down all over the ground.  the one with the tree over the car we drove by in downtown Queens.

It was crazy to see what it had done. and that was only the beginning. we don't have TV so i had no idea. i was facebooking and instagraming that all was relatively well. and then i went downstairs and saw the news in the exercise room. it makes me so sad to see the devastation everywhere. my heart aches for all the people who lost their homes, who lost everything.  people in our ward are still without power. school has been out the entire week.

Dave went back to rotations on Wednesday and the transportation situation is hard.  Subways aren't up and running fully yet so they are super crowded.  Hoards of people walk the bridges everyday trying to get into the city.  Traffic is backed up for hours as they check cars only allowing them in if they hold more than 3 people.  Gas stations have run out of gas and are closed down still.  People without power are hungry and cold.  I feel helpless.

i am so thankful we still have power. our home and all our possessions weren't washed away.we feel so blessed. but i wish i could help somehow. i feel guilty that we were able to go on with our Halloween. we carved pumpkins on Tuesday night at Pinegar's house. it was comforting to reconnect with friends. the Dallings had been without power too for a few days.  such a fun pumpkin carving night!

We had a spur of the moment Halloween party at our house on Wednesday. We invited 3 of our favoritest families. My kids were out of school so we worked hard all day getting everything ready. They did such a great job and set up some games to play like Pumpkin Bowling, the Mummy Wrap, Bobbing for Apples, and Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin.malia, in the photo above by the pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin, in her ladybug costume.  she loved this costume and wore it everyday leading up to Halloween. but she had her own ideas of what to wear with it, not the black leggings and shirt she was supposed to wear. she is at the stage where she changes her clothes 14 times a day, and is very stubborn. but we love her dearly. love that she chose pajama pants and galoshes.

 After dinner it was time for these cute little spooks to trick-or-treat up and down the 16 floors of our building.

And it wore this little lady bug right out.

The sunrise the next morning with the full moon.My prayers are with all those that are struggling right now in the wake of all that has happened this week.


My cousin is teaching a lesson on Sunday on Spiritual and Temporal Preparedness so she asked for my thoughts.  I want to include a few snippets to remember.

We knew the hurricane was approaching, and because we didn't bring our food storage to NY with us because of limited space, I went to Costco early Saturday morning, and it was crazy.   There was no room to park, right after it opened!  Traffic was backed up for blocks with people trying to pull into the parking lot. It's kind of a scary feeling not to be prepared.  To fight crowds to buy water, and realize that if the shelves are empty there is nothing you can do. And it's crazy how fast the supplies do go!  Many shelves were empty of certain items. Especially having kids, and being afraid you aren't prepared to help them if something really bad were to happen.  There are lots of analogies to compare this to our spirituality, and being spiritually prepared.  So much better to do the things NOW to be spiritually prepared.  Ways we can increase our testimony daily, to strengthen our homes and families now, before it's too late.  Because you can't cram in preparedness, temporally or spiritually, it's something that needs to be done little by little, otherwise it's too hard, or it's logistically impossible, just like the empty shelves at the grocery store.  We need to read our scriptures daily, have meaningful daily prayer, break bad habits before they become too much a part of who we are, serve and do something nice for someone else everyday.  Just the little things make a huge difference in the long run, a huge difference when the storms do hit, because they will continue to come at us.  It's just a part of the days we live in. The only thing we can control is how prepared we are, temporarily, and most importantly, how spiritually prepared we are.  Those storms hit us everyday. Temptations hit us everyday.  We never know what is going to happen. Are we prepared?  Are we putting on our armor everyday to help us combat what pelts us daily, like a spiritual hurricane?  My boys and I went storm chasing on Monday night, before it got too bad, we went outside to look at the raging river, and feel the pelting rain.  It stung as it hit our faces and hands, and was a little scary as the waves rushed over the railing onto the sidewalk.  And when you think about spiritually, a lot of temptations are the same way, pelting us from every angle.  Things we see on TV, things we hear while we're walking down the street (we certainly get an earful every time we walk anywhere.)  We were drenched when we came inside.  It was nice to get out of the weather, to get back into the warmth of home.  Are we helping our homes to be a haven like that, a safe place from the storm?  And also, how nice it is to get to the temple often, to remove ourselves from the world, and feel the peace and safety and comfort.  We need to try and make our homes feel the same way. Mayor Bloomberg came on TV and said he doesn't know why these things are happening, maybe global warming? he didn't know. And I wanted to tell him it's the signs of the times!  It's the latter days.  It's the calamities that ancient and modern prophets have been prophesying about.  Wickedness is increasing, and so are natural disasters all over the world.  We have to have faith, and pray that we can be safe in an increasingly wicked world.  It's  going to keep getting worse, the gulf between the righteous and wicked will continue to increase, we need to make sure we stay on the Lord's side of the line.  It's much safer, much more happy, and we'll feel much more peace, in spite of everything that rages on around us.

I googled a few images around NYC.  I can't believe how the subways filled up.  So crazy.  And how cars came floating out of parking garages.HERE is a link to a blog post from a lady who has lived in Brooklyn for 60 years. I enjoyed reading what she learned from Hurricane Sandy.

Our ward has also sent around an email of things those families without power for days wished they had. The most common thing they all said was they wished they had more flashlights, one or two for each person in their family. And headlamps to wear on your head as your prepare food, walk around, etc. so you can use your hands and aren't always having to hold the flashlight to see where you are going or what you are doing. And a battery powered lantern that can light a whole room a few said were really nice to have.  Paper plates, lots and lots of paper plates and cups and plastic utensils because without running water it is hard to do dishes. Lots of water. They were amazed how fast the water they did store was gone. Not only for drinking, but for flushing toilets, etc.  If you know a natural disaster is coming, fill up your car and extra containers with gas. The lines to get gas at the few gas stations that are still open wrap around blocks and blocks. People wait hours in line for gas. It's important to have extra gas too, for generators to keep you warm if the power is out. Who knows how long it will be until gas stations are open again?  How long will people have to wait hours in line to fill up their cars at the few gas stations that are still open?  They also said a battery powered radio was their only link to the outside world to know what was going on, because without being able to charge cell phones or watch TV they had no idea what was happening. And the moms said games or play dough, or anything to help entertain the kids. The days were long with no power and no where to go. Someone also said they have adult sized sweatshirts in their 72-hour kits for their kids, which makes it so they don't have to be updated as often as kids grow, just roll up the sleeves, and it also provides more warmth because they can sit and pull it down around their legs.  Just a few great tips I wanted to remember for when we get back to Idaho and can re-do our 72 hour kits and food storage.

We've survived 2 hurricanes now in NYC that thankfully weren't too bad for our family, but I'm afraid when we get back to Idaho there is going to be an earthquake or something. I think that scares me more! I guess that's why it's always important to be prepared.

Anyhow, that was our wild and crazy week.