New York Trip!

Finally, I can post about our girls trip to New York! I went with Sue, Bethany, and Brook, my mother in-law and 2 sister in-laws. We had a blast!!

Bergdorf Goodman window on 5th Ave! My jacket is a bit big, so I look like a FAT marshmallow next to the manikin...HA! :)

If you look closely, you can see Central Park way off in the distance!

The Plaza Hotel.

Just an example of one of the many window decorations we saw while walking 5th Ave.

The Empire State Building....well, at least the TOP half!

Central Park! I had NO idea how BIG Central Park is....it's HUGE
This is a picture of Times Square!

We went to Rockefeller Center on Wednesday within hours of landing at JFK, before we could check into our hotel. We took the red eye on Tuesday night, so I look haggard in this pic, but oh-well! This is a picture of me in front of "the tree," the one you see on TV all the time! We did an NBC tour while we were here - we saw Conan O'Brien's studio (super small), and SNL's studio (also very small), and the MSNBC news room. We also saw them filming live on the Today show!
We saw the Rockettes on Wednesday night, and the dancers were amazing! This is a picture of Sue and I before the show started. I know it looks like I am sitting on my mother in-law's lap, but I assure you, I was not!

Regis and Kelly Show! It was really fun to see how they run this show. Kelly is so skinny (I'm talking 90 pounds skinny)! I learned that the camera really does add 10 pounds.

The four of us at Regis and Kelly!

This is a picture of Regis and Kelly interviewing Keanu Reeves.

Statue of Liberty! Can you see her off in the foggy distance?! It was so cold and rainy on this day! We wore long underwear everyday, because it was so cold!

The NYSE...there it is folks, located on good ole' Wall Street!

A picture of me on Wall Street. Again, cold and wet!

We went to the 9/11 memorial, and it was so emotional for me. They had 3 walls covered with pictures of those who died that day.

This is a picture of what they are planning to do with the land where the Twin Towers were. They haven't done anything yet, but the work is under way.

This is us at Canal Street, famous for haggling! They sell Knock off purses out of vans - it was pretty crazy! These people stand on the street and just ask wondering tourists if they want to see Louis Vuitton, etc. If you do, they ask you to follow them. The first place we went was down in a basement, and the second was in a van. We decided we were NOT comfortable with the van idea..it was a little too much for us!

Brook and I in the van! The guy kicked us out of the van after Brook decided she was not going to be forced into buying a purse!

The TRUMP TOWER! The door man was not allowed to move from his post, so I grabbed his arm and told him to smile! :)

This is Little Italy, just outside of the restaurant we ate at for lunch.
This is a picture of me on our carriage ride through Central Park! It was seriously FREEZING, so I wrapped my head in my scarf! I look like an idiot, but at least I was warm!

The Empire State Building! It was sooooooooo freakin' cold up there, but the sky was clear, so we were able to see everything! It was really amazing to see Manhattan from the top of the ESB.

This is a picture of Financial District from the Empire State Building. Do you see the hole in the city scape skyline? That is where the Twin Towers were.

Mary Poppins Play! I had to break out the umbrella for this picture!





















The New York Subway! I was just pretending to ride! We took taxis everywhere we went, because we heard there were some serious threats of bombings in the NY subways during the Holidays, and we didn't want to take any chances!

Just outside of the NBC studios before we went in for our tour! I bought Tyler a "Serenity Now" Seinfeld t-shirt, and a "they're real, and they're SPECTACULAR t-shirt for myself while in the NBC gift shop. Ha! I will post a picture of us wearing them in the near future!

Our trip was awesome! My in-laws are so great! I can't wait to go back to NY again. We went to a show/play every night we were there. We saw the Rockettes on Wed., Wicked on Thurs., The Little Mermaid on Fri., and Mary Poppins on Saturday! Wicked was by far my absolute favorite, that's favorite with a FA! :)

Thanksgiving 2008!

We celebrated Turkey Day in Vegas this year at Tyler's parent's house! Trevor, Bethany, Jeff, Alexa, Uncle Jim, Aunt Sherry, Tyler, Madison, and myself joined Richard and Sue for the weekend. Thursday morning, Bethany and I went to the park and watched the boys play football while the kids ran around and played. Unfortunately, the game was cut short, because two guys knocked heads, and both split their heads open. Both of them had to get stitches, but luckily it was no one in our crew. Then, we went home to a wonderful feast prepared by Tyler's mom, and it was so YUMMY!!
Madison fell asleep on her daddy..so cute!

Sue Hammond, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Sherry. Jim is Sue's brother, and they live in So. Cal.

The tryptophan kicking in - Tyler and Jeff were both napping within an hour of eating!

Madison and Alexa had a blast together!

Candy bingo - a Hammond tradition! We each get 2 treats for our movie night!

Madison selected her choice of candy before the game even started! We went to see "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" this year - it was really good, but very sad! We all left the theater very somber!!

It was so great to be with family this weekend. We are so blessed, and I am so grateful for my life and the comforts that I enjoy! Mostly, this year I am thankful for family. Although I was not able to be with my side of the family this year, it was sure great to be with Tyler's family. We are lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Question?

How do I set up my side bar so I can see when my friends have created a new post on their blog? I am feeling a little slow because I can usually figure these things out, but I can't figure this one out....I'm such a loser! HELP!

Props to the husband!

Ok, so I ordered these curtains a few weeks back, and we love them, but they were missing a little something. Tyler thought of the idea to tie them back, so we bought ties and love the look. Then, tonight I came home from school, and he had draped the curtains with this cream swag his sister gave us a while back. I was like, "WOW honey, did you think of that all by yourself?!" I think it looks really good. Who knew my husband had a designer side?! I am seriously impressed!

Christmas shopping....

WISH LIST!! I love it all!

These under shirts can be found at http://www.putsomethingon.com/. $40 for a 3 pack.

This dress says "simple perfection," and that's what I love about it! I know, I have an obsession with black...it's a problem!

I have had my eye on these for a few months now. I want them in black!

This jacket is on sale for $99 - that's a good price!!

Sexy gladiator sandal heels...love em'!

pretty much everything on my list can be found at http://www.victoriasecret.com/ I love these UGG boots, but they are $200...yikes!! If I could afford it, I would buy them in camel and in black!!

Quotes of the week!!

Madison had a few good ones this week, so I thought I would blog about it for journal keeping purposes, but also for your entertainment!!

Road rage moment. "Whoa guy, slow down!!" This said after a driver sped up and cut us off.

Another road rage moment: "Go lady, GOOOSH!!" This said after the lady in front of me sat at a green light!

Madison to mom: "You are seriously bugging me!"

Madison talking about her toy: "Goosh, stupid thing!" Followed by, "we don't say stupid, huh mom?!" Well, at least I know she gets it, so time out is fair game!

Just a few classic expressions from my 2 year old!! It's a good thing I don't use naughty language!! OK, so I say oh crap a lot, but we have worked on it, and Madison no longer uses this expression...lol!! : )

A haircut, a dancing/singing 2 yr. old, and Lovell Canyon

Do you think that someday Madison will be mad at me for posting all these nostril pics...lol?!!

Ok, so you might remember the pics I posted of Madison's first haircut a few months back at the salon. Well, we didn't quite take enough off - something about her paranoid mom...anyways! So, I bought a pair of scissors, and cut another inch or so off myself. Lets just say that I was bribing her with candy and stuff the whole time because she decided she did NOT want to sit still for me. She really is a stinker!!


She sat still for a minute, and I just went for it. I am sure that this cut would not pass the Paul Mitchell hair salon standards, but it definitely passes for Supercuts!! :) Hey, it's all about saving a buck or two, and this saved us 10!!


OMG, WHOSE CHILD IS THIS? This is just so SAD...lol!! Last week, Madison woke up, put on her socks and new shoes, and this is what she said as she walked down the hall, "hey mom, I'm ready to go walking!" I just started laughing hysterically!!


This is her dancing and singing in her nerdy, orphan outfit!! She was singing, "I wanna get physical!" Isn't that a Jane Fonda song?! It was the first song that popped into my head when I saw her like this. All she needs now is a headband and a leotard...lol!!


This is her singing like Hantana (Hanna Montana....she calls her Hantana)! She decided to use my suitcase as her stage! She can really belt it out!!


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Our ward camp out! The Turkey Shoot out at Lovell Canyon!

This is Caroline with her new puppy Lilly getting ready to shoot!!


This is Madison wearing my sunglasses because the sun was hurting her eyes.


This is Madison in the car with her ear protection, because she did not want to be outside anymore.


Our little stinker butt, hiding out!!