New York

We went to New York this summer with the Stoddard family. My sister Amy was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, so we met up with them there. It was fun to see the pageant again. My whole family had been in it together two summers ago so it brought back a lot of fun memories. After the pageant we headed for New York City. We were able to fit a lot in for the few days that we were there. There is a new 9/11 museum that is definitely worth going through. There were a lot of items that had been recovered from the twin towers and as you went through you got to hear or read about people who had been there that day. Chris and I got to be in the audience for the Late Show with David Letterman. They had David Duchovny from the X-Files on as their guest that day, how appropriate beings as we own all the seasons of the X-Files. They also did a toy demonstration on the latest toys on the market. It was neat to see how the show is done and to be a part of it. We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After that we saw The Lion King on broadway. I was quite impressed with the music and the costumes. Then we went to the LDS temple there in New York. It's crazy to me that it is just in amongst all those huge buildings. What a contrast though when you walk in to the temple from the New York City atmosphere. It was a nice break from the noise and chaos of the city. We went on a boat tour around New York City and got to see the waterfall exhibit that was going on. It was a limited time event where they had 4 manmade waterfalls out in the harbor. One of the waterfalls was directly under the Brooklyn Bridge. We went to the top of the Empire State Building one night and had to wait in the longest line ever! The funny part was Chris had told my mom that we were going to have to walk to the top once we got to a certain point. Ironically, the elevators that took you from the 80th to the 86th floor observation deck had stopped working and we did end up having to climb 6 flights of stairs to get there. We did get in some shopping too while in New York. We spent many hours bargaining in Chinatown and also made it to H&M, which I had really been looking forward too. We had such a great time!

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls was one of our stops on our way to New York City. Chris had surprised me by booking us a room at the Hilton in Canada that overlooked both Niagara Falls and the American Falls. It had a great view! Chris had also made arrangements for us to have dinner at the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. We had an amazing view of the falls and just happened to be there on a night that they did fireworks over the falls.

The next day we got to go on the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat that takes you up by the base of the waterfalls. It was so much fun! You get to wear these really attractive ponchos so you don't get soaked. When we got up really close it felt like we were in a downpour.

Boston Trip

We took a trip to Boston in July with Chris' parents. I had no idea there was so much to do there. We even ended up staying longer than we had planned to try and fit in more. We took the red-eye flight in and started touring just as soon as we got there. Unfortunately that first day is a bit of a blur as a result of getting very little sleep that night. We went on the Duck tours which takes you on a tour of the city in an amphibious vehicle that goes both on land and water. Marlene and I really struggled staying awake during it though. There are so many historical sites in Boston. We got to see Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung), the USS Constitution, the Old State House, the Boston Massacre site, several burying grounds, and the John F. Kennedy museum. We went on a whale watch which was so much fun. I was surprised by how many whales we were actually able to see. One of the other activities I really enjoyed was riding on the Swan Boats in the park there. We had some really wonderful food while in Boston. We found a place in the Little Italy part of town called Giovanni's. It was amazing! If you're ever in Boston I would definately reccommend it. We had the best Boston Cream Pie at Legal Seafoods on Larry's birthday. I have never seen so many Dunkin' Donuts in my life. It seems like they have one on every block there in Boston. We went up to Salem to see the Witch Museum, which just so happened to close early that day. It was quite the disappointment. We did however get to see the House of the Seven Gables. On our way out of the city we stopped by Fenway Park for the boys. Then Chris and I went and spent a few hours at Six Flags. We had such a great time in Boston and from there we drove to New York.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been two years since Chris and I got married! What a wonderful two years it has been. We have had so much fun together and it just keeps getting better. Here's a little flashback of our wedding day...

Catching Up...

I know I haven't posted anything for a while, so I'll try to play some catch up. We've had a lot of changes in the last few months. We moved to Orem in May because Chris will be going to Utah Valley University starting this fall. He is looking forward to not having such a commute to get to school. (He was driving up to Weber State three times a week when we lived in Murray which was close to an hour drive each way.) He should be able to apply to the Respiratory Therapy program this year. I transferred to American Fork Hospital and am working on a Medical/Surgical unit now. It's been a nice change and so far I am enjoying my new job. We have had a wonderful summer so far. I'll post some pictures of a few of our activities...

We had a fun campout in our backyard with our nephews Ethan and Tanner. The next day we went on a hike with them to see a waterfall.

My sister Amy and I took our mom to get her first pedicure for Mother's Day. We had a great time and our toes turned out pretty cute.

In July we celebrated my Grandma Stoddard's 87th birthday. It was a lot of fun to see and catch up with many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. My grandma said she was so happy because everyone that lived close was able to come. We even had a few of the out-of-staters that were able to come. We missed those who couldn't be there.

Chris' parents are putting an addition onto their home. When they are finished they will have a laundry room that is upstairs, a mud room, a pantry, a few more rooms in the basement and a much larger kitchen /dining/living room area. It will be so nice and we can't wait to have family get-togethers there. This picture was the ground breaking ceremony we had at their house.

My Cute Husband

I came home late from work the other night to this...

Chris had cleaned our room, there was a wrapped present on the bed (I took the pic after I opened it), and there were two dozen of my favorite color of roses. The present was a docking station and speakers for my iPod. It was a nice surprise to come home to and the best part was there was no special occasion for it all. I am so grateful for Chris and the wonderful husband he is. I love him so much and am so glad that I married him!

A Night with our Nephews

We were able to take our nephews Ethan and Tanner out for a night of fun, so that their parents could enjoy an evening alone for Brian’s birthday. We had such a great time with them! We started out the night by going to the Dollar Store and letting each of the boys pick out a toy. Ethan found himself a ninja and Tanner got a police car with a siren. Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for dinner and played there for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. We came back home and watched Star Wars while the boys played with their new light sabers (aka glow sticks). I attached a video clip, but the lighting is not great since it had to be dark for the light sabers to glow. We sure had fun with them and were glad that we both happened to have the night off.