Lighthouse Festival

No pictures of the Little Red Lighthouse, but we did in fact venture down to the festival again this year.  Once again, we missed the celebrity reading of the tale, and missed the chance to climb the lighthouse (but that's fine since we've done it before!).  We did get to enjoy all the other activities going on this year- I think this was the best festival yet!  Hay rides, face painting, crafts, food, live music, free giveaways, clowns, live animals, & fishing gear to fish in the Hudson!

Mmmmmm, Donuts!

Headed down to the Lower East Side to check out the Doughnut Plant with our friends Malesa & Aubrey.  These donuts are so delicious- way way better than your average Dunkin' Donut.  They are all made fresh daily, and all jams & fillings are made from scratch at the Plant.  They have seasonal donuts, as well as several regulars.  My personal favorite: The Peanut Butter & Jelly Donut.

Don't those donuts look awesome?

PB&J!- chopped peanuts on top, and filled with homemade jam- not too much, not too little!  It is square shaped, too (with a hole in the middle) and the jam is evenly distributed throughout the donut instead of just in one giant glop in the middle.

Aubrey & Ella- they opted for wheat thins and goldfish over donuts!  More for us! :)

We also picked up some awesome kosher pickles from the Pickle Guy.  And then walked through some of SoHo where we ended up at Balthazar's and purchased some of their delicious bakery treats as well (potato-zucchini foccacia, anyone?)

First Day of School! Kindergarten edition

Alexis started Kindergarten this year.  She's in a full day program (because there isn't really anything less than a full day program around here) and is in a Gifted and Talented program.  I don't really know exactly what that means, except that she had to test into it, so I'm fairly confident that all the other kids in her class are bright, too, and that she might actually be challenged by them as well.  I really felt that last year school was very easy for her and that she was way ahead of many of the kids.  I do find it a little crazy that they are so focused on academics- they are reading and writing most of the time.  But she also gets a good dose of the arts- she's learning to play the cello in orchestra!  And she has a drama class, art class & chorus class as well.

Shame on me for not taking an official first day photo.  I forgot the camera.  And then on day 2, I forgot the camera.  On day 3, I only had my cell phone with me, but felt I couldn't keep putting off her first day photo.  So here she is just outside her classroom:

And then sitting on the mat in the classroom:

Annual Chili Cook-off

Last month we had our ward's annual chili cook off again.  I have entered it several times before (but only blogged about it last year), and placed every time, but the title of Best Chili has always eluded me.  I decided to try out a new recipe this year, which I thought was pretty good.  But then, it doesn't matter much what I think, does it now?

I'll admit that I might be a bit more competitive than is healthy for a church event.  But I really enjoy winning.  I'm a bit of a sore loser, in fact.  Anyway, there were several awards- like for the spiciest (congrats Hannah!), and the most original (congrats, Heather!) and for the Youth's favorite- oh, that went to me!  It was exciting to get an award, but part of me, admittedly, was a little sad that it was only the Youth's favorite, and not everyone's favorite.  

 

Anticipating the announcement of winners:

But.... wait for it..... turns out it was everyone's favorite!  And I won First Place as well!  And got to take home The Golden Spoon (which is a new tradition they started this year- I have to bring it back next year and defend my title- so don't think I'm sharing my recipe with you.)  Alexis was so excited that I won!  She jumped up on me and latched onto my neck.  She couldn't wait to get her hands on my golden spoon and just kept shouting "You won, Mommy! You won!"  Nice to have a cheering section.

(some of Lexi's facepaint came off on my nose&chin, in case you were wondering)

HONESTLY, I did NOT expect to win two prizes! Aren't those kitchen towels great?!

I'd like to thank my mother, for teaching me how to cook and blessing me with good-cook-genes.  And my sister for eating/testing out my recipes.  And Matt (not pictured) for putting up with my ambitions. Oh, and eating my food on a daily basis.  Thanks for the love and support!

The New Yankee Stadium

My mother won a pair of tickets to a Yankee game a few weeks ago.  She gifted them to my sister and I, but since Allie had school the night of the game, Matt was able to come with me.  (Actually, I was going to let him go with Allie, so I guess I was the one that got to go in her place).  It was a re-scheduled game that had been rained out earlier in the season- Yankees v. Angels.

The new stadium is pretty nice.  We didn't get to see too much of the "nice" stuff that they have improved since the last stadium.  We noticed there is a Yankee musuem, and Monument Park is out near the bleacher seats.  We paid $9 for french fries and $5 for a fountain Pepsi.  So it seems that the seats aren't the only prices that have skyrocketed with the new stadium. 

Yankees win!  Everyone's a good sport, though, and gives their high-fives (just like I always had to do in high school sports).

 

Sure hope the Yankees win against the Angels again TONIGHT (to win the ACLS & head to the World Series- first time since we've lived in NYC).

One More Friend

We also got to visit with one of my BYU roommates, Natalyn & her family. We haven't seen them in a few years, and never met either of their kids, so it was extra wonderful to see her&Jeff again. She just happened to be in Southern California one weekend while we were there. Yay!

It's Like Riding a Bike

While in California, Alexis learned to ride a bike without training wheels. She's never ridden one with training wheels, but I sort of wanted to skip that step. She's been riding a scooter for about 2 years now and has the balance on that completely figured out, so I was hoping that would sort of transfer to the bike. Matt took her out to the street and worked with her for a little while. Before she knew it (literally) she was riding! She couldn't really figure out how to stop, so that made her nervous. And I think she surprised herself at her ability and then psyched herself out- because she rode it several times that day, but then didn't want to do it again. And still hasn't wanted to try and ride the cool bike Grandma Susan got for her that now sits in our entry hall waiting for the day when she's ready to try again.

Matt was a little sentimental when he mentioned that he really enjoyed teaching her to ride a bike in the same driveway and street where he learned to ride.

Family Reunion and Other Utah Stuff

Mid-August we packed up my in-laws minivan and drove up to Utah to attend a family reunion for Matt's family.  They try to do it every 2 years- and for the past few reunions we've been able to spend time at this amazing ranch in Altamont (east of Salt Lake, but west of Vernal).  It's huge and sleeps over 100 people (which is good since Matt's family is quite large).  There's a pool, pond, basketball/volleyball area, rock-climbing wall, shooting range, horseback riding, & cattle roaming free.  Not to mention the lodge itself with a huge main room & a game room in the basement.  Shame on me for taking only 3 photos.  If I get more from someone a little more photo-responsible than myself, I'll post them.

Lexi riding a horse with cousin Paige leading:

Ella & mom riding:

Alexis helping Jennifer make pizza dough during our meal preparation shift.

On our way home from the reunion, we drove through Salt Lake and decided to stop & spend some time in the Church History Museum and Temple Square.

Holding onto the Iron Rod

A replica of the  pulpit in the Conference Center. Can you see Lexi's head?

Examining a replica of the Gold Plates

I was also able to get in touch with a dear friend, Sister Pilz.  I was very close with three of her children during high school (Karl, Heidi, & Katrina) and spent many many many afternoons & evenings in their home.  If I wasn't playing volleyball or at the church or at my house, I was probably at their place.  She met up with us and my kids loved her from the moment they met her.

After the reunion, we headed back to Provo for a few days.  We stayed with Matt's brother & family in their beautiful home.  Here, Ella took some time to brush up on her drum skills:

Matt helped prep some of Lari's campaign signs:

And I planned a backyard barbeque party so that we could see many of the wonderful people we have known- we were only in Provo for about 2 days, and so many of our friends came to see us!  I wish we could have visited all night.  I definitely did not have enough time to talk to everyone like I wanted to.  But I hope you know how much we love you- and that I felt your love that night, too.  And if you come to NYC, you will have our undivided attention.

The Browns!

Alexis, Anna B & Ella

My mission friends: Lisha, Kari & Nici

The Campbells!  B-dog and his band The Neon Trees have an album coming out in January.

The Graves! Jennifer, one of my roomies at BYU, introduced me to Matt.

Emily! A friend from our ward in Provo- I was in YW with her daughters.

Sheridan! She lived in the same building as us here in NYC (but has relocated to UT).

The Johnsons!  Carrington & Matt were close friends growing up.  I don't think we've seen them since their wedding day!

The Greeners! Lance was my boss at Ellis, my first job out of college.  At a cool $8.25 an hour.

The Beemans! We met Corrie in the singles ward here when Matt was called to the bishopric.  They have also relocated to UT.

The Taylers!  Rebecca was a college roommate of mine for a couple of years.

Angie!  How did I miss getting a photo with you?!  We met Angie here in NY and she has also relocated to UT.

After dealing with a horrible bout of the flu (it hit every single one of us!), we headed back to California for a few more days until our flight home to NYC.