NY Yankees

Joseph and I went to a Yankees game last weekend to celebrate our 7th anniversary! I've been wanting to go to a game for so long, and I was so excited about it! The stadium is HUGE and our seats were pretty high up, but I thought it was awesome. The weather couldn't have been better and we had a blast watching the game and talking. The Yankees lost, but it was still a great night.

I gave Joseph a USU Aggies baseball hat for our wedding present, and this year I gave him a NY Yankees hat for our anniversary. Kind of fun. Go Yankees!!

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Anna turned two last week! She got her first real doll, which she has been playing with and sleeping with ever since. We had cake at a friend's house, played at the playground and went on a long walk.

We love all 21 pounds of her so much! She is so much like Matthew, but has her own little spunk that makes her so fun. She can talk so well and really loves to be outside. It was a fun day and we really love our best little girl!!

The List

I knew I did not want to be left with a really long "to do in New York" list for our last year here. We really tried to spread it out and experience a lot of things during the first couple of years. And we did pretty well: we've seen the museums, all the popular tourist spots, traveled to Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C., been to a handful of Broadway shows, and walked through Manhattan countless times.

But, I still have a list of things we'd like to do before we leave next Summer. Who knows if we'll do them all, but we'll hopefully be able to cross some of these off the list:

1. Visit Palmyra and Niagara Falls
2. Go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
3. See a NY Yankees game

4. Go to the top of the Rockefeller Building

5. See some US Open tennis matches
6. See more of Long Island and upstate NY
7. Ride in a taxi

There are more items on the list, like places to eat and neighborhoods/areas to check out, but these are the big ones. And actually, I'd rather spend our last year here doing our favorite things and spending time with our friends rather than running around checking stuff off a list.

If anyone wants to come visit and help us do some of these things, you are more than welcome. :) And if anyone has any suggestions of their favorite NYC places that we should try, let me know!

(top two pictures by sis Robin)

Tourists

I don't know how many times I've led family and friends around Manhattan, showing them our favorite places and checking out new places we've never been. And even though we've lived here for three years, I still feel like a tourist when I pull out my map to find the nearest subway station or have my camera out snapping pictures of anything and everything. I don't think I'll ever get tired of taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty no matter how many times we pass by it on the ferry. It never gets old.

I love that when visitors come I have a reason to pack up the kids and spend a day in the city. Even though it is not always easy, it is nice to get out and explore. Joseph's sister, Mary, came to visit last week and we did lots of fun things.

We walked along the Highline parkway in Chelsea, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, played at the Rainbow playground, spent the 4th of July at the beach, and visited the Museum of Natural History.

She was a great guest and we had such a fun time with her!

Best of June

June is my favorite month, and we've had a pretty great June so far. Beach trips, my 27th birthday, Father's Day BBQ, walks at the park, and beautiful (but quite humid) weather.

Next up we've got some visitors, swimming lessons, soccer clinic, and summer cleaning. Joseph starts his 4th and last year of dental school this week, and we are looking forward to spending a little more time with him now that he will just be working in the clinic for the summer.

Two Thousand Miles From Here

Matthew, Anna, and I spent the last couple of weeks in Utah. We had such a fun time playing with cousins, going on walks, eating good food, shopping, and spending time with our wonderful family and friends. The kids were angels on the plane rides, spent as much time as they could outside, and missed their dad like crazy.

It was great to be there, and now it is great to be back home.

The Good and The Bad

GOOD: Surprising Katie with a final Girl's Night Out in Manhattan. We ate delicious food and dessert at Max Brenner and ended the night singing karaoke at the top of our lungs. It was so so fun.
BAD: Having to watch our great friends pack up and move yesterday. The kids soaked up every last minute of play time together and I tried to not be too emotional. :) We'll miss them every day.

GOOD: We get to go to Utah this week! I can't wait to see family & friends that we haven't seen for a long time. We are really looking forward to the vacation!
BAD: Joseph gets no break from school until August, so I am taking the kids on the red-eye flights all by myself. Yikes.

May Showers

It is not fun to look at the 10-day forecast and see rain clouds on every single day. But thankfully the weather man is not always right, and we've had some beautiful spring days mixed in. On the few non-rainy days we've had this month, we've been outside playing with sidewalk chalk and having BBQs.

Mother's Day was beautiful and I'm so thankful for these two little redheads. Our Relief Society presidency is being released, and I'm so grateful I could serve with these wonderful women. Robin & friends came to visit for a few days and I'm so glad they could come and spend some time with us. May has been pretty good despite the rain. And the grass sure is green!