Winter Break Part 1

They get a lot of breaks here in the city from school.  Hence the reason they go until June 29th.  BUT we'll enjoy the breaks while we can!

Monday was presidents day so we had Taylor to help celebrate our time off.

 We finally got our family pass to the Natural History Museum.  We got to see the space show which was pretty cool and Taylor and I both took one of the best naps we've had here in the city. :)  The boys loved it though.

 I don't know what it is, but my boys can sled EVERYDAY of the year.  I keep trying to convince them to do something different and they keep begging to go sledding.  No injuries so far... fingers crossed.

 They are so cute together when they can all be outside and active.  Hardly any fighting. :)

After serious persuasion, I convinced them to go to the intrepid museum with me yesterday.  They loved it and we bought family passes there too.

 The highlight was walking through the submarine....

 Jake tried to sneak a little nap on the spacious beds they have in the submarine. I was getting claustrophobic just walking through it and marines stay out to sea for up to 3 months at a time.  Not my cup of tea.

 Seeing the space shuttle the Enterprise was pretty cool too.

 The boys got to sit in cockpits and try out a real airplane simulator.

 Sam and Nate getting ready for lift off.

 It's kids-week this week at the museum and they had all sorts of cool things for the kids to do.  Make robots, watch broadway singers, face painting, free spiderman gloves and candy... what more do kids want!

 The scenery was so pretty this night at the park, but the lighting and the camera where not as great as capturing it.

 We are down 1 month and really enjoying our adventures so far.  It will be an experience we all will remember for a life-time.

Happy Love day!

 Our first visitor.  Well, actually Annie came the first week we were here, but I was a little bit in a blur and didn't even get a picture!  But, Robb came when we were a little more settled.  He of course gets credit for beating any family out here for a visit.  However, my boys treated him like their long lost uncle. So, maybe he CAN be our first family to visit.  Thanks for stopping by Robb!  Next time bring Jenn.

 BROADWAY night with my big boys.  They had a fundraiser at their school and all the parents and friends of parents that were in/on broadway performed.  It was AWESOME.  Some of the benefits of living in such a talented city.  I was worried the boys would think it was lame, but it was super funny and fun with the Frozen sing a long to end off the night.  Thank you PS87 for showing us Utah folk a good time!
A little clip of the funny MC ... he's the crab on Little Mermaid (oh shoot it must have been too large and wouldn't download), we also got to see the monkey voice from Jungle Book.  Hopefully will work.

I finally made my trek to Target and Costco and Aldi.  I WAS IN HEAVEN.  I couldn't stop smiling.  Oh, the simple pleasures of life.  It wasn't crowded and I was around familiar everything.  I had to take a picture of my lovely day shopping. :)

 Of course when you go to Costco you always buy things you don't need... this trip was swim stuff for the boys.  Wishful thinking since it's still snowing outside!

 And now on to Valentines day..... We did a fun little heart hat at story time at the library and I decided to copy the idea for the co-op preschool I taught this week.

 They are so cute!  I love 4 and 5 year olds. They are big enough to listen and to tell you awesome stories about their families. :)  I am not the craftiest of people, so having week 1 of 3 weeks (my turn hosting) down is quite a relief.  I'm sure glad for the other weeks though, when Sam has a place to go to preschool.  SO worth it!

 Cute little preschool kids, Sam, Vivi, Grace and Nate (not pictured: Talmage who didn't want to be in our picture - on the far left :)

 The 5 loves of my life.  I tried to make a fun valentines dinner, but they had eaten so much candy from the day that they didn't even enjoy the ice cream sundays. :)  Oh well, it's the thought that counts. 

We got spoiled for valentines.  We got fun candy and treat packages from our friends the whites and from Steve and Stacy.  Grammie and Grandpa also never fail to send a fun treat to spoil the kids on holidys.  We are a happy loved bunch for sure!

I got some beautiful flowers from Taylor and the 2 of us went to dinner at Scalletta's  one of NYC's fine dining restaurants.  We reserved our dining during restaurant week and enjoyed our first date night while here in the city.  Thank you Jacob for babysitting! (the simple pleasures of having your kids grow up).

Here comes the snow.... AGAIN!

 this is the pick up spot for school... All these parents who walk to pick up their kids from school each day.  The snow in the court yard was crazy.  The kids were in Heaven. 

 So, we decided to buy a couple sleds and head over to the park for some after-school fun. 

 As much as I hate the cold.  I can't deny how pretty it is when it covers all the trees.

 My snow angel, Luke....

 I love this with the city in the background.  The boys played for 2 hours and I had to drag them home.  They could have stayed all day.  After Taylor got home, he took them back for another hour.

who knew we had to come to NYC to find a good sledding hill.

Belvedere Castle

 Some Saturday fun at the park.  This is a cool free structure that is pretty cool to explore.  It was built in 1867 as a look out tower over the park.  It's just a few blocks from our house.

 I love these days that aren't QUITE so frigged.  We love getting out. 

 We got Jake to take a quick one of me and Taylor.  It looks cold huh?  It is. :)

Super Bowl XLVIII boulevard... NYC

There are definitely perks about living in a VERY popular city.  We lucked out that the super bowl was played right here in NJ this year.  The Superbowl Boulevard was in the city though, so we made a Friday afternoon of it.  The weather was GREAT! funny how 40 degrees feels warm after these last few weeks.

 A picture of the boys above in Times Square.

 I'm always a sucker for the the great street vendors.  This was a statue of liberty live manikin and the kids thought I should take a picture.

 Above is a picture of some famous football player giving autographs. (too bad the boys are in school, because I can't remember his name).

 My favorite Bronco Players.....

 I even got in on the action.

 It only took 3 weeks but we finally took Sam to EMPIRE STATE BUILDING!!!  He has been asking every day if he can go.  When the weather gets nicer we'll actually go to the top, but all he wanted was to see it.  Look how happy he is... That is so sincere.  He was thrilled!

 Another VERY CROWED subway ride.  Luke squoze (amber) right inbetween these people and smiled for the picture!  Love it.

 

This was an amazing subway performer.  He was just 10 years old.

Love to stop to watch all the talent in the streets and subways.  It's awesome!

Happy Chinese New Year!

So, a friend (Heather) in the ward here is very adventurous.  I am SOO GLAD to have met her.  She has a boy Sam's age, and one just younger than Nate.  I get to go and do fun things all week because she plans them. :)

We decided to take the little boys down to China Town for the new years celebration.  Great Idea right?

Uhhh... it was FREEZING cold and after about an hour of waiting around to see the show (it was delayed of course), my boys lost it and both started crying and wanting to go home.  This is supposed to be fun, dang it!  Enjoy it! haha

Anyway -- ya win some, and you loose some.  We lost, but a couple fun pictures anyway.

You can see the start of the melt down in this picture.  First Nate, but Sam soon followed!

 

We went to Roosevelt park, but there were so many people and not a good stage, so we couldn't see a thing.  My new friend (also served a mission in Taiwan) wanted to get some Chinese groceries to make pot stickers.  I thought, if she can do it, I can... so I followed her around the town to find a few things.  Which made the kids even MORE UPSET.

 While we were just getting ready to leave, the show ended and we saw all the dragon dancers leaving.  It was the best view we got of the whole show. :)

 

Then we actually heard and saw the firecrackers which was the best part for the little boys. :)  Maybe this video will work???

 And Voila!  This is the first time since my mission I've attempted dumplings.  They were SUPER yummy.  I don't know if they are more yummy than just buying a bag at costco, but I definitely have a sense of accomplishment now! :)  The kids loved them and Taylor was a very artistic cook's helper, if you can imagine.

Cute class pictures of the boys...

So all my boys's teachers wanted them to send some pictures and some experiences to their classes back in Utah.  Here is what Luke's class sent back.  Cute huh?  I love Sage Creek and his teachers there.  Such a great school. :)

This is what Luke sent (looking out our window).

 The class wrote this letter back....

 Cute huh?  He was so happy.  He hasn't made quite as many friends as Jake and it was so good for him to get this. 

Sam was jealous, so we sent a letter to his preschool class too. Miss Ettie's class reply is below:

Dear Sam. 
We miss you really bad.
You have an awesome bed and an awesome bathroom.
You have a cool view. 
We wish you were just here.
What do you do in New York?
You have cool hair.
We like your hair. 
We love you!! We can't wait to see you again. 
Love, 
Jane, Wesley, Livya, Naynay, Carson, Garrett, North, Beckam, Macy, Sammy, Allie, Keegan, and Ettie

A look at our apartment.

Our Apartment is quite huge for NYC.  Not huge, but really good size.  And the best part is that it has tons of windows and views and high ceiling.  This is the master bedroom

 This is Sam and Nates room.

 It has big french doors that enter from the hall.  The bathroom is jack and jill with the master.

 Jack and Luke's room is not so big....

 And their bathroom is even smaller.  But it's great. I love the half sink. :)

 

this is my kitchen.  It really is a lot more functional than it looks.  It has lots of cabinets and as long as I'm the only one in there.  We are good. :)

 My favorite part of teh kitchen is the view!  Isn't that amazing!  I love looking out while I'm cooking.

 And the living room... the double doors go into the master bedroom.  Our friends just moved and they left us the awesome floor matts.  We covered our landlord's nice rug and moved out the coffee table, and now the kids jump and play and wrestle on soft matts.

 You can see down the hall to the kitchen and the other boys rooms.

 I wish my camera would show you the cool view at night.  The little point on the left top of the picture is the empire state building.  It looks cool at night, and not really that small as this picture makes it look!

So, there you have it.  1200 square feet of glory! Come visit. 105w 72nd street.  The heart of the upper west side!

SAM IS OFFICIALLY 5

So, if you look back a few posts, you'll see our cool Birthday party for Sam.  But, we still did breakfast in bed for our newest 5 year old.  The bed, was a fort Jake and Luke built for Sam.  About 30 seconds after we gave him breakfast, he had spilled the apple juice all over the floor.  OF COURSE!

 Happy birthday little man.  We love you!