12 Degrees

 

There is this moment where I have been home from work for some kind of break for about a day, when the boredom sets in. 

It actually didn't even take a day this time. 

Yesterday I did dishes, laundry, cleaned the table off, did yoga, watched a movie and did genealogy work for a few hours and then didn't know what else to do. 

Today I did more genealogy work,switched out laundry, am blogging (currently), cleaned off my printer, scanned documents and uploaded them, started to decorate the tree but Moroni is too tall so I abandoned that, and then decided that I should go take a walk.

It is gorgeous outside, but really cold. 

Although, if you stand facing the sun you don't get cold on the front of your body. 

Anyway, it was beautiful out and I stayed out for about 20 minutes and listened to the crunch of the snow under my feet and then stood still and listened to the quiet world. 

It's so quiet out here. 

 

Hale Thanksgiving

 

For some reason, I did not get a picture of all of us at the table eating this year. 

But I did get a picture of me with four of our five grands. 

We had such a good day eating together and playing games. 

I love this cute family of mine and I am so grateful for the times that we still get to spend together. 

This year I am most grateful for living prophets.

We live in crazy times but it is comforting and brings me peace to know that God has prophets that can see around the corners. 

 

Me and Makenna

 

Makenna had gotten ready for church and put on a dress that I have the same one of. 

When I came down in a different dress she mentioned that I shoul dgo change so we could match.

She is almost 20 years and she wants to match her mom!

I think that might be a win :)

We went to Vintage Market together to do some shopping. 

We had to have Sweetie Pies and Soda Jerk. 

We also had some really good biscuits and gravy. 

I love this girl of mine. 

I am going to miss her when she heads down to Arizona in a little over a month now. 

But I am so excited for her and the adventures that lie ahead. 

 

All Dried In

 

I am ridiculously excited about this!

I have no idea what it will be used for when Matt's aunt Margie is not visiting, but I am so excited that it is finally dried in. 

We need to get a door and two windows, but there are two other windows to cut out that will have to wait until spring. 

The view is the most incredible of the lake. 

I look forward to summer when it will be all green again. 

Right now it's not bad either.

Sam and the boys checked it out with me. 

 

Hayes Thanksgiving

 

We were missing quite a few family members tonight because of sickness, but it was so good to be together with those who could come. 

And as a bonus, Shawna and Joaquin came from Arizona! 

We all ate WAY too much food and just enjoyed each other tonight. 

I am so grateful this season for family and those relationships. 

It's kind of awesome to be part of this family!

 

New York Day 2

 

Our first order of business this morning was New York bagels and then walking by the temple. 

It was crazy how low key the temple is in New York.

If Moroni was not on top of that building we would have never known it was a temple. 

It looks just like an office building right in the middle of the city. 

I'm glad we got to see it though. 

I have now visited 33 temples in the US. 

I think there are 123 temples in the US right now. 

I'm not sure I will get to visit all of them, but I am going to try every chance I get.

Then I had to mark off another bucket list item by going to the top floor of the Empire State Building and kiss Matt!

There was no view because it was so cloudy but I accomplished my goal.

 It was a whirlwind after that. 

We met our friend Jared Meek at Grand Central Station and had lunch.

Then we explored the Met, walked through Central Park and then explored the Natural History Museum. 

 At that point, we needed a rest before heading out to our Broadway show of The Music Man.

We took a break in the hotel and then met Jared and his family for some real New York pizza and then went to our show.

Seriously, though.

That Broadway show was AMAZING!!!

I am so glad we did it. 

When they started singing, the excitement in the room was palpable. 

We loved every minute of it. 

We were not allowed to take pictures of the show, but after it was over I snuck one of Hugh Jackman.

Worth it!

 We ended the evening with a rickshaw ride after the show back to our hotel. 

We fit a lot of stuff in a very short amount of time, but I am so glad that we did. 

We totaled the amount of miles we walked in two days and it was 19.5 miles. 

No wonder my feet hurt. 

 

New York Day 1

 

We got up early this morning and headed out to find some food before going to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. 

We found a little diner and ate and then walked around until we got a cab to go to our destination. 

We walked through Times Square.

That was kind of cool. 

One thing I noticed was that bicycles use the same lanes as cars and most people do not own their own cars but walk everywhere. 

It was amazing how thin people were and I think that is the reason why. 

The Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island were so incredible. 

I felt so connected to my great great grandmother Isabella Dunn.

She came to New York on a ship from England and I saw the same things today that she saw in 1892.

I walked in the same building she was in when they got to Ellis Island. 

I am grateful for her bravery to travel alone with three little kids to a new land.

I look forward to talking to her face to face one day. 

 After that we walked a little ways and got a cannoli in Little Italy. 

We were also right next to Chinatown, even walked through it, but I didn't remember that I had a bucket list item of getting food in Chinatown and we didn't stop. 

It's okay.

Maybe someday in the future. 

As we walked around the city we noticed this incredible looking church and decided to explore it. 

It is called St. Andrews. 

We went inside and even lit two prayer candles. 

It was very ornate and there was some like gregorian chants that were playing over a loud speaker.

It was an interesting experience and it gave us a minute to rest our feet. 

We logged 8.79 miles of walking today.

That's a lot. 

We actually stopped at Target and got some epsom salts so I could soak my feet.

We stayed in my hotel for the night by around 5 pm. 

It's Halloween today we don't really want to be out among the crazy.