Gettysburg Trip

After our heavenly chocolate trip we headed down to Gettysburg. Its only another hour away and was yet another beautiful drive. Now maybe you can all remember everything you learned in history but I can't. I was in 7th grade! I remember the main points of Gettysburg but I found this a great learning experience. I love seeing places you've learned about because it helps you to appreciate it so much more. I realized that I actually really like history. It helps that my hubby is a walking book too.
We met a group who was on the way to pick up their missionary and had stopped here first. Their guide was also a member and told us some very interesting events about the church and the battle of Gettysburg. I can't relay them properly but we bought the book 'The Gettysburg Gospel', by Gabor Boritt, which is so far a great read and one to check out. (we got a copy for you too Grandpa Gold)

They have now built a brand new visitors center at the military park. They offer tours and the building is enormous and beautiful. I wish we could have just had the whole day to read about everything and watch several of the videos but by this time we were basically trying to keep our kids from going crazy. Literally. I had to hold a screaming kid so I couldn't hold the camera but they have all different manor of guns, ammo, cannons, uniforms, maps of camps, and biographies of soldiers.

"What is this mom?" Payton didn't really understand what we tried to tell him about the cemetery and monuments. Or why he shouldn't sing out loud while we were there. I finally gave him the camera and let him take pictures for something to do. This worked out great. In fact, he actually took some really good pictures.



This is what you see when you first walk in the Soldiers National Cemetery. The graves go on and on around the entire cemetery. We didn't have time to look at many up close since we had the kids but I did notice that many of them died very, very young.

If all the world was chocolate.

Ok, so this isn't the best picture I've ever taken but there was a ton of people. Oh well. Andy's Dr. said she needed an emergency vacation and so she gave him 3 days off. Well, we just had to get out of town, (mostly Andy). We decided to head to Hershey, Pennsylvania. I think Pennsylvania is just beautiful. Now, ever since I was a little kid running track I always ran the Hershey track meets. The top 3 runners in each event in the region got to go to Nationals in Hershey Pennsylvania. The great thing was that they paid for everything. My relay actually got chosen to go one year and one of the girls couldn't go so we had to forfeit. I was so sad. (11 yrs old) Anyway, I was pretty excited to go this time. Even though I'm and old fart and not running it was still fun to see the track and the huge park.
We went to Hershey World first. This is a dream for someone like me who loves chocolate. If only my mom, Marie and Shannon were there. (fellow choco lovers) There is a ton of cute memorabilia and then the next room is just piles of chocolate candy everywhere! I've never seen so much chocolate. It's a little overwhelming. The kids chose ice-cream as their treat. We all could have shared one. We even opted out of the whip cream and cherry. They certainly aren't stingy on the topping.
I ate a little and then Halle took my spoon and just dug in. It was so funny to see her eating from one spoon to the other. She pretty much ate the whole thing herself. Well, I mostly ate the chocolate topping and left her the rest. :)
Andy and Payton went on a tour of how they make chocolate which was pretty interesting. We then headed to the park since it was half off after 5pm. We didn't realize how big the park was and how much they actually had for little kids or we probably would've waited and gone another time when we could go the whole day. Sorry mom I didn't take pictures cause I had to hold Halle on most of the rides. We only saw one little corner of the park and the kids had a blast. They cried when we had to go. It's only about a 4 hour drive so we'll HAVE to go again. I could easily get my food storage for chocolate there.

Love Thy Neighbor???

We just found out the the neighbors who live below us are moving out. They have lived here for a very long time so most likely they are moving out because of us and our 'kids'. They are a couple in their probably late 60's and from the moment we moved in they have given us the evil eye. We've tried to talk to them and the lady has been a little friendly but one day I was babysitting for a friend and the kids had not been playing more than a few minutes before he knocks on the door complaining about the noise. Now I understand if it's early or late but at 6 pm when I'm trying to get dinner ready give me a break! It's not our fault that this place has no insulation and you can here everything. They sit home all day and I cannot keep my kids quite ALL Day! Besides the fact that we have been gone almost the entire summer. I can here them too ya know. So now they don't talk to us at all even though we continue to smile and say hi, while they continue to give a nod and walk on. It's not like we purposely stomp our feet to tick them off. We have noticed that they have been gone a lot lately. In fact most of the time as soon as we get here, they leave. I feel kind of bad but we pay money to live here too.
There is a lady who lives to the right of us and she is very nice. She has lived in her house 52 years. I want to get to know her better. There is a two family house on the left of us also. The one family looks very nice but is rarely home. We hope to get to know them soon too. And then there is the guy who also lives there. We refer to him as the dude. We haven't gone to talk to him yet, not really sure if we dare. He sits outside in a chair for about 16/24 hours. He actually freeks me out. He goes through packs of cigarettes and drinks exactly two bottles of I don't know what every time he goes out. He has some very interesting conversations with the wall. He literally sits his chair facing the wall about a two feet behind it. I don't know if he's trying to smoke himself to death or what but he has a terrible gagging cough.
Now I have to admit this isn't as interesting and the naked guy my aunt Cheryl always had across her window but it's definitely not boring.
It will be interesting to see who moves in underneath us next month.

Driving miss Nana

After trekking all over Central Park we needed a day to rest. We thought it would be fun to go the the Aquarium since it's also on my zoo pass and therefore free. Yahoo! Well, I am so smart I didn't realize there are two aquariums and we drove to the wrong one, clear on the other side of the island. They wouldn't let us in for free, (jerks) JK so we decided to take my mom to see Montauk. We've been there a few times and mile wise it's not far but because you go on a two lane country road through the Hamptons, it takes forever! Luckily there is nice scenery to look at. We were actually in a long car line when just our luck we felt a big bump. Yep, a man we now refer to as the 'crazy old man' ran into the back of our car. Now granted the trunk doesn't shut since someone else hit it but hey, doesn't mean we have a free hit me sign there either. Thankfully it didn't do any recognizable damage but when Andy went to talk to the guy he said, and I quote.
"An 84 year old man thinking about a 24 year old woman."
That's all he said. Not sorry or anything. Andy said it's fine and no harm done but to quit day dreaming and watch where he was going. Payton kept saying all day, "what happened to our car?" We of course say, "some crazy old man ran into it."
The next day we did find the right aquarium and it was actually in Coney Island. It was small and had way too many 'save the earth, don't do anything' speeches for us country people but the kids had fun.
The Astro World and carnival is right next to it, which is also located on the beach. I believe they are tearing parts of it down after this summer so at least we got to see it. I didn't think it was too bad. Definitely not as clean as say BYU campus but we had a good time.
The kids had a great time and were sad to have Nana leave. Luckily we had a lot of fun while she was here.

Central Park

So every time my mom comes to visit, it rains. She has the best luck I tell ya. Actually it only kept us in two days so it was all good. The Olympics were on so it's not like we were stuck indoors. The kids had fun pretending to be swimmers and gymnasts. I'm sure the neighbors below us didn't but hey, that's how the next athletes are inspired right.
We hopped the train and went to Central Park. We have a zoo pass and hadn't been to the zoo there yet so it was something new. It's a small zoo but that's a good thing sometimes. I didn't know much about the zoo except for like most things in NY, what I've seen in the movies. Don't listen do what the Disney people say, there are no lions, zebra's or hippos. There are monkey's turtles and penguins though so the kids were satisfied.
The park was huge to say the least but we came across a few interesting things. They were filming a movie at the bridge but were basically clearing up when we got there so I didn't see much. My kids were excited to see this fountain. Mostly because it's on Enchanted but to the rest of the world, it's the Bethesda Fountain.
This is Halle's 3rd snow cone. The were pretty hard mashed so all she had to do was barely move and it would fall out of the cone. They cry and then I feel bad and get them another.
I actually really like Central Park. I enjoy people watching and you always see interesting things in NY. We had walked there from Penn Station so we stuck to the southern part of the park. It's pretty big and a double stroller eventually gets tiresome. It was fun though and we'll surely go again.
We got home in time for my mom and I to hit the late movie. It was fun for just her and I to get out. She hadn't seen the Dark Knight and once again, it was awesome. We got home about midnight but the dang Olympics were on so I had no choice but to stay up and watch! Luckily the kids slept late the next day.

Family Reunion

So the Olympics are almost over and most of my favorite events are over so I can get back to normal life. Whatever that means. Mostly just not being glued to the tv and making dinner again. :) The Olympics have been amazing, well, except for the USA track team. But I've still seen some great moments. Luckily they weren't on all day so when my mom came to visit a week ago we were able to do a few things in between. The day before we came home, however, we had a little reunion on the Huntsman side. My great grandparent's family. It wasn't a huge turnout but for those of us who went it was nice to visit and play. I had some fireworks left over from the 24th so I took them out and it ended up being a big hit. The kids were all getting wild and this sat them down for a bit. They clapped and yelled in joy. Well, most of them anyway. Payton doesn't like the loud noise.
Belle was such a cutie. She kept trying to hold Halle to take a picture but she wouldn't hold still. I told her I could just take her picture and she instantly smiled and struck a pose.
Jenny and Shane, Nate and Starlie
I love reunions because you get to see family you haven't seen in a long time. Most of my family lives in Utah, yet it's still hard to get together even when I lived there. I miss being a kid sometimes and your whole life is just playing with cousins. It was fun to just sit and chat. Thanks to blogging it's easier to keep in touch. Great job Nicki on all your hard work.

Count to 10

We've done a few fun and interesting things lately but instead I just gotta vent first. It's been one of those weeks where you gotta sing the Doodlebops-"count to 10". This is a song when you're feeling frustrated or angry and need to count before you blow your top. It has actually helped to try counting to ten. Helps the urge to want to smack your kid upside the head. If I'd had to stop at 9 I may not have made it though. :)
I haven't calculated the exact number of minutes Payton has been in time out but I have counted the number of times and I believe it to be approximately 15 times since Wednesday. And the day is not over yet. Yesterday it took both Andy and I about 17 times putting him back before he would stay in time out. Last year I had a record of 27 times but I wouldn't brag about that. I tell him something he looks at me and still keeps doing it. He hits, kicks, pushes and tackles Halle till I've about decided to send him to RedCliffs Accent. When he's by himself he is a great kid but the two of them together cannot get along. Everyone keeps telling me he's just a normal boy but he was such a sweet boy when he was younger and certainly never acted like this. This full-on 4 year old bit is really giving me the ugly wrinkles. And I'm way too young for Botox.

Olympic Fever

I realize that for me I haven't posted in a while. Gotta admit that we've been addicted to the Olympics. Ideally I should be inspired to exercise the entire time while watching but nope, I'm lazily sitting on my couch, staring at the tv. I decided I'm very into swimming this year, especially with the whole Michael Phelps scenerio going on. WOW! Gymnastics has also been amazing and Track and Field started yesterday, double yahoo!! So while other exciting things have been going on while my mom has been visiting, it's just gonna have to wait cause there is still two more hours of Olympics. pathetic I know, but if I'm being honest....(Simon Cowell)
If you aren't watching then I don't know what in the world is wrong with you.
The things these athletes can do is just crazy. Makes me wish I was an Olympian. Don't know exactly what I could do this late in life but still one can wish. Andy thinks he could possibly do log rolling, however I don't think it's an Olympic event. They do have world championships though. ??? Most likely as fun as it would be, we probably won't be in the next Olympics. (Sigh) Till then, I'll just live vicariously through my TV. Go USA!

Home Again

Well, happy to report that we made it back to the Big Apple with no dramatic incidents. That's has been a rarity in our other summer trips so it's a big deal I suppose. Our home teacher was kind enough to pick us up at the airport since our little car wouldn't fit us all and our luggage. My mom came back with us to play a little. Every other time she's been out here it's either rained the whole time or we got sick or were moving. Hopefully this trip can be a site seeing one for her.
The kids were very excited to see their dad and their toys. Payton gave us another tour of the house incase we had forgotten.
It will take us a few days to adjust to the time change again but we did manage to get to our 9 am church on time. Last time I was here they released me from my primary teacher calling and put me as the primary pianist. Today, Bishop also gave me the calling of ward music director. I said sure, even though I don't really know exactly what that job contains. I know I have to learn to play the organ and get to call on people (Andy) to sing in church. Hopefully it will be a good learning experience. My father in law plays the organ, maybe he can give me some helpfull info.
Now, to the most important bit of info... I think our bug problem is gone. Don't want to jinx anything but I haven't seen anything so hopefully we have all that behind us. Maybe now I can put up some pics of our place. Apparently some of you were worried about our living conditions. :)
We had a great time in Utah and it was so fun to see all the family. We miss Boo the most though. The weather is great here though and we're excited to see our friends again. However at the moment, almost all of them are out of town. Everyone and their vacations. :)

Almost Perfect

It's rained the last few days, mostly because everyone around here keeps praying for it. No staying inside for us though. The clouds were again perfect for playing outside in the nice cool air. I put aside all the things I should be doing and just played with the kids. We had such a great time. We played on the swing set, and the kids didn't fight!!! Yahoo.
This is the type of day my hubby would love to have. We then just sat under the tree, eating popsicles and petting Boo. I am really gonna miss her when we head back Sat. She is the best dog and is obviously very lonely since Sherlock died. She follows me everywhere and sits right next to me. She would put her head on my lap so the kids would also have to lay all over me, as not to be left out of course. We just sat and made shapes in the clouds.
After our treat we played "ba-ball" as Halle says, otherwise known to everyone else as basketball. Now, basketball is surely not my forte but I gotta say that playing against a 1 and 4 yr old definately boosted my confidence. I was making shots over and over again. And after each one the kids would yell, clap and get very excited. My own little fan club. Even when I missed he'd say, "good try." I could easily make the little tykes hoop championships. (the basket is only 3 ft tall) So that was fun and Payton is slowly starting to dribble better.
We then gulped some water and threw the ball with Boo. The kids had a blast teasing her and trying to fake her out. It will be hard for all of them when we leave her. If my hubby had been here it would have been the perfect day. Well, and if I'd had some chocolate CheeseFactory cheesecake!

You weren't raised in a barn.

Today was a nice cloudy day so we spent most of it outside playing. I was pulling some weeds when I turned around to see Payton with his pants down, peeing on the grass.
Now last week we had to pull over while driving and I told him to pick a rock and go cause he couldn't make it home. But today he clearly could have just walked inside the house. So we had a little talk about going in the potty when we are home. I thought he had understood until later this afternoon I heard the front door open. I went to see what it was and he had opened the door, dropped his pants and was literally peeing out the door! The neighbors across the street were outside but I don't think they saw. Hope I can get this fixed before we go back to NY. Our neighbors may not be as understanding, especially since they live below us.

Love our dad

The kids and dad miss each other so much. Dad loves seeing new pictures. I thought this was cute.

Oh Happy Day

Starley, Nathan, their daughter Emma, and Heidi (Mike's new bride)

My cousin Joe got married yesterday to a wonderful girl named Misha. We met her at Christmas time and I instantly liked her because we quickly realized that she was one of the missionaries who took us around when we went to Palmyra last fall. She of course couldn't remember us but we remembered her. They are such a cute couple and we are so happy for them. The wedding was so nice and it's always great to catch up with friends and family.
My cuz Sarah is due in about 3weeks. She is so dang cute preggers. If you ever feel down look to her for inspiration. She is finishing her law degree and masters at the same time. School starts again the day she's due. She is amazing. I just love her. Kenze, me and Jesse. Ahh Jesse, Jesse, Jesse...He's a funny guy and though he's crazy at times he just cracks me up. Some kids had decorated Joe and Misha's car, which they parked right near the front door! Poor trusting newlyweds. He took one look and said, "amateurs!" He ran to the store and got some stuff to beautify their ride. He was pretty nice cause I've seen a lot worse.

Twilight Addict

We headed to Provo for a quick trip this weekend. My cousin Heidi had her baby and she was kind enough to let us come stay with her. She wouldn't let me do anything to help her though. I told her I was going to get up and clean in the night and do laundry just to spite her but everything was already nice and neat. Her baby is so cute and we had a really good time just being lazy and visiting.
We then headed to Shannons to see her new place. It is so nice and she was kind enough to take us swimming in their club house pool. The kids had a great time and we were sad to leave. Shannon and I have been best buds since we were little and it was so great to spend time with her. She came down for the 24th and we just stayed up late talking about the old days and having "relief society" has her hubby would tease. I'm sad she lives so far away cause she's the closest thing to a sis that I have. Thank goodness for cell phones and computers.
We left pretty late and I think my mom did it on purpose because we managed to get to Cedar at exactly midnight so that she could go to the bookstore and get the new Twilight book.

My cousin Kenze rode back with us and we teased mom the entire time. She's proud to say that she got it at exactly 12:04 AM. Now, I personally haven't read the books and therefore I don't understand the big hoopLah about it. I'm sure I'll eventually get around to it but in the mean time it's more fun to annoy my mother. We told her we were going to hide her book or tear out the last pages. We were kidding of course but she kept it in her arms the entire time we unpacked the car. I even think she hid it when she went to sleep at 5:15am. In fact, she's still reading as I write. Her and her friends have all bought T-shirts and watches and are going to some midnight movie thing when it comes out. She is not a Jacob fan for all you other addicts. But good for her for still being a cool and fun mom.

This is what happens when you are lazy and don't put your laundry away after washing.

Early Christmas Gift??

Yesterday I was looking at the news. Yes I have to look at the news because Payton had to watch Hannah Montana???? So anyway, I came across an article about a Mormon Missionaries Calendar. I'm not going to add the link, you can read about it yourself, but I found it completely crazy yet funny at the same time. The guy who did it got ex-communicated and the participants given some type of probation or firm talking to.
I wonder how they planned it? Can you imagine this guy asking missionaries to come do this? How did they 'audition'? They are all shirtless and then supposedly they also give their testimoney and tell about themselves. Now I'm all for spreading the gospel but this is surely a new approach. They have sold about 10,000 copies so far. I wonder if they included free pass along cards with it?
It's a crazy world out there. Maybe I'll start a moms calendar? Anyone?? JUST KIDDING!!

Cute times

Nothing particularly exciting happened today but hey, we can't be exciting all the time here. My aunt invited us over for rootbeer floats. (that explains the messy faces) I thought these pictures were still pretty cute. The kids love their dog, and though they keep calling it Boo, it's name is Lady.
Daddy called and she was so excited. Halle loves to talk on the phone. She especially loves that his picture shows up when it rings. She did NOT want to give the phone back.
The kids are having a great time at Nana's. First thing when they wake up they want to go outside and play with Boo. This particular morning they were nice enough to finally share after fighting over the push toy. This was their compromise. They are having so much fun that I hope we don't all go crazy when we head home next week.

Mark, Get Set, Gitty Up

Check it out, I have my own celebrity blogger here. Yes she's a relative and only for $$ will I get you her autograph. For all you dedicated bloggers...Katie in Real Life and my other cuz, Naomi. Katie is a few years younger than me and sadly I've never 'really' hung out with her enough. She is a blast. We had a great time playing games and she is a fierce competitor to keep up with the cheating Richmond boys. :)
Ah, how cute. Payton and Brandon heading to the races. Here in small town they have little races for the kids. From the crawlers the the caners (grandpops) you line up and go! You basically only run maybe 30 yds but the winner gets a dollar and everyone gets a treat. Payton would NOT run, even with coaxing but cheered on as Brandon won his race.
This time around, Halle pulled the stop and look. But she eventually finished and still got her treat. Hey, she's still the cutest little thing and always a stand out with her beautiful red curls. FYI, number of "where did she come froms?" on this particular day, 6. Cracks me up.
The day wouldn't be complete without going to the rodeo. Didn't get a lot of pictures but these two are classic. Halle got so excited seeing the cows and horses run around. Halle loves aunt Karen too. I was gonna save this for her wedding day but I knew dad would crack up. Do I have perfect timing or what?
Payton was more interested in eating his snacks and playing with the kids but we did enjoy the bull-riding. We would count to 8 and see how long they could stay on. If they made it, he would scream and yell excitedly. No picture cause Payton was doing the picture taking. Most were of the fence, his shoes and an empty nacho dish, but he did get the lighting just right.