Aunt Laura Part 1

Aunt Laura comes to town! We were so happy to have Aunt Laura come and visit over the holidays. She stayed for a couple of days with us, and so we tried to get out and do a few New York Christmas-y things. We headed down to Macy's to meet Santa- but first we looked at their holiday window displays.

We also saw a puppet show (based on Miracle on 34th Street) which the girls totally loved. Then we waited in line (for only about 30 minutes through the enchanted forest display) to see Santa.

As we entered Santa's room, one of the elves helping there said to me, "Is your last name Cope?" I was quite surprised (why, am I on the naughty list or something?) but responded Yes. She then said she was in our ward (well, the singles ward that Matt helps preside over- which is why she recognized me but I didn't recognize her).

As you can see, Ella wanted nothing to do with the man in the red suit. But when I sat down next to him, she somewhat cautiously came and sat on my lap. (Aunt Laura has that photo- if she ever sends it to me, I'll post it).

First Snow

The view from our living room window:

up close of the tree branches:Out on our fire escape. That's the little bird house Lexi made with Pop-pop a few months ago- all covered with snow. I'm not sure that there are any residents right now. We haven't noticed any.

View from our kitchen window of Lexi & Daddy heading off to ballet class the next morning.

Bela Fleck & the Addams

On Dec 19th, we were able to spend the evening with Lee & Emma to celebrate Lee's birthday. We went to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Blue Note Jazz Club. The music was great and the company was fabulous! Happy Birthday, Lee! Thanks for thinking of spending it with us!

As with all reports musical, I here defer to Matt for a critique of the performance.

A long time ago the best place to find live music on TV, outside of Austin City Limits and the late night shows, was TNN- The Nashville Network. Somewhere along the line it was converted to a middle of the road cable station when CMT cut into its business. TNN was really dedicated to country music and not just the mainstream. They often profiled the session players and songwriters who really make Nashville go. TNN brought my attention to the likes of Allison Krauss, Ricky Scaggs, Chet Atkins, Lyle Lovett, Danny Gatton, Mark O'Conner, Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, all the old guard country musicians, and a bunch of forgettable country musicians as well. The best of the shows were Live at the Ryman and another show that I think was called Crossroads (maybe a predecessor of CMT's Crossroads). If you really wanted to find fringe country, folk, singer-songwriter artists this was the show. On this show I discovered Shawn Colvin, saw The Band for the first time (sans Robbie Robertson of course), and became acquainted with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. All I really remember from that performance was watching a dude in a pirate hat play some synthesized drum guitar (he is still in the band with the drum guitar) and a banjo player with the audacity to play music like no one else. I thought these guys were nuts. Great but nuts. Looking back I am amazed these guys got on TV because they were so flat out different.

Catching them live was a wonderful experience. It is not a usual event for me to catch world class musicians play 20 feet in front of me for close to two hours. And because the Blue Note is one of the cities most venerated Jazz clubs everyone there knew when to be quiet and when to make some noise. Very respectful. What a treat to hear Bela and a surprising treat to hear the bassist Victor Wooten. I had seen him in my Guitar Player magizine and heard him profiled on public radio (go NPR and WFUV) but had no idea I would see him play live with Bela. What a treat. To put the whole thing in perspective; I am not a big fan of Christmas music but I loved hearing them play Christmas music. Take some time and check out Bela and the Flecktones. It definitely won't be boring. And hey, they seem to be nice guys. They took a lot of time to sign merchandise and chat after playing two full sets. Very fun. Thanks Emma and Lee. Love you guys (and not just for this).

We headed up to the gift shop after the show and got up close & personal with the band.

Lee, here you are with Victor Wooten right behind you- he practically has his head on your shoulder.

8 Years

Los Angeles, CA then:

New York, NY now:

Santa Baby

Saturday night was our ward Christmas party, also known as the Christmas Cabaret. The fondue and chocolate fountains were flowing freely and the musical numbers were entertaining. At the end there was artificial snow (since for some reason it doesn't know how to snow in New York City) and then a visit from Santa Claus. Alexis was a bit nervous, but in the end decided to sit on his lap. Ella, on the other hand, freaked out, screamed and squirmed her way right off his lap and eyed him very carefully from the safety of dad's arms.

Ang!

We recently were lucky to have Angie visit us! Lexi remembered her (and the Littlest Pet Shop toys she brought were a reminder of just how cool Angie is, since even I didn't know those are the *in* toys right now), and Ella warmed up to her in about, oh, 2 seconds. When she first arrived, she gave Matt & I some movie tickets and babysat the girls so we could go see Twilight (except that the projector died 3 times in the first 30 minutes of the movie, so we left- but got our $$ back and free tickets to boot). She spent lots of time playing with the girls, reading books and such. She took me to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (Sosa Borella) and every evening when she came back from her NYC adventures, we just sat around eating cupcakes and chatting. We love you, Angie! You are welcome here anytime!

Cinnamon Ornaments

I love this blog called the Crafty Crow- there are lots of wonderful kid-friendly crafts. I found this one for cinnamon-applesauce ornaments, so the girls and I made some the other day. It took about 3 days for them all to dry thoroughly, but combined with the scent of the Christmas tree, they sure are wonderful!

iPod baby

Ella loves to fiddle around with the iPod. Takes after her music-loving father.

O Christmas Tree

On our way home from Chuck E Cheese, we stopped to get a Christmas tree. We were in New Jersey (because we had my mother's car) where trees are much less expensive than Manhattan. The nice high school boy tied the tree to our luggage rack and off we went to cross the George Washington Bridge. As we're speeding down the highway, I turn around to look at the girls for a minute as we're belting out Christmas songs only to see some branches hanging off the side of the car. I think that's sort of weird since the tree was all bundled together and tied in the middle of the luggage rack. I slide open the sunroof to check things out only to see the tree is falling off the car! We pull onto the shoulder, but Matt can't get out because the shoulder is too narrow and he'll get hit by a car for sure. So I open the sunroof all the way and stick out and try to rearrange the tree and re-tie it (with not too much luck). We decide that we'll have to keep the sunroof open and hold onto the tree trunk for the rest of the trip home (which is only a few more miles at this point). Since neither of us have gloves, we have to take turns sticking our hands up to hold the tree (it's 26 degrees and we're driving at least 60 mph making the wind chill factor about 3 degrees).

Here's Matt multi-tasking: driving the car and saving our Christmas tree from sudden death on Interstate 80.

This photo came out quite dark, but maybe you can see another aspect of life in the big city as Matt hauls the tree from our parking spot a couple blocks from home back to our apartment building.

Chuck E. Cheese

We took our first family trip to Chuck E Cheese's! Alexis has been wanting to go for quite some time, so we made a deal that if when she filled up her chore chart with stickers (meaning she had done all her chores) every week for 4 weeks, then we could go to Chuck E Cheese. (She did get smaller rewards each week in the meantime). It was so much fun, that we might just be convinced to go whether she's done her chores or not! Matt & I had just as much fun as the kids and with the coupons we had, we were able to get a whole evening of fun & food for less than $25!

Jump!

This video is from Thanksgiving at the lake house. Ella is trying to figure out how to jump... (warning: there's A LOT going on in this video)

Thanksgiving at the Lake

We were able to go upstate to be with my family this year for Thanksgiving. Auntie B cooked a fabulous meal (my favorites being the hot crab dip & the creamed onions). We stayed with Nanny and Pop-pop and Lexi didn't want to even step foot out of their house- so many fun toys to play with, assisting Pop-pop in the basement workshop, and exploring the extensive property & gardens (now mostly sleeping for the winter). It was so great to see family, do a little shopping (no, we did not get up at 4 AM), and enjoy *upstate*. We have so much to be thankful for.

Matt, Allie, Zac

Liz, Alexis, Grandma, Buddy, Phyllis

Doug, Barbara, Nanny, Pop-pop, Me

Ella missed out on the big feast... too pooped!

Thanksgiving Eve

I've always wanted to venture to the Upper West Side on the night before Thanksgiving to see the big balloons that will fly in the parade being inflated. So this year we did it. We rode the C train down to 81st street and the moment we exited the station we were corralled like cattle. But it was awesome! We strolled down 81st street and saw these balloons (they were held down with sandbags and netting):

This photo has Matt with Lexi on his shoulders:

Followed by a break for dinner at the Shake Shack where Ella thoroughly enjoyed some ketchup:

And then more balloons down 77th Street where the press of people was so intense, we felt like sardines and were only able to move via the wave of people moving around us. Kind of scary, actually, but since we weren't trampled, we can sort of laugh about it.

She's Done It Again....

Melissa Bitter Photography, that is. She's relocating to Los Angeles, so if you need a photographer (she specializes in weddings), tell her I sent you! (She travels, too.)