Dave and Kara

Good Times with a Good Friend

>> Monday, January 4, 2010 – Travel

In the middle of October, (I am still trying to play catch up, but I am almost back up to speed) I had the opportunity to go visit my good friend Jennifer in New Jersey. She recently moved there from Little Rock and her husband surprised her with a visit from me! We had an amazing time shopping, playing, talking, shopping some more, enjoying good food, and of course...more shopping!

Jennifer and I at Rice to Riches in SOHO

(they have almost every flavor of rice pudding imaginable along with one of the best marketing schemes I have ever seen! I enjoyed pina colada)

On one of our days in New York, Jennifer wanted to get an eye brow waxing in China Town. They coincidentally were filming a news report on the new spa that day and asked Jennifer if they could film her for Chinese news that evening! We were cracking up about the whole thing!

Jennifer on Chinese News

While there, I had more of a locals perceptive of the big city (and suburbs) rather than a tourist approach. We enjoyed doing things that the locals would do, including taking the train several times between New Jersey and New York. It was a fun experience watching the TV monitors for the posting of what corridor our train was departing from in Penn station.There would be large group of people all staring at the monitors waiting in anticipation for their destination to come on screen with the door number posted next to it, then simultaneously there would be a mad dash for that door as everyone rushed to get to their train. It was like nothing I had ever seen or experienced before...so fun!

Double Decker Train

We also fit in several of the typical tourist sites such as Rockefeller Plaza, Grand Central Station, Times Square, and China Town. We loved shopping in SOHO (one of the fashion shopping hot spots in NY).

One of the highlights of my trip was going to see Wicked (the untold story of the witches of OZ) on Broadway! We had great seats down on the orchestra level. It was an amazing musical, one that everyone should see if they have the chance.

Wicked the Musical

The part of New Jersey they moved to is very "New England" like. The communities are all very charming, stacked one one top of the other. Each one with a quaint down town filled with beautiful architecture, great food, old fashioned candy stores, and fun boutique shopping. It was a wonderful time to be there as the fall colors were in full force.

For one of our many adventures, we took all the kids to a Pumpkin Patch. We all had a great time picking our pumpkins, taking hay rides, digging for Indian corn, and enjoying caramel apples. The scenery was beautiful and I, of course, enjoyed taking lots of pictures!

Me with my pumpkin (I brought it all the way home with me on the plane)

Lindsey handing a pumpkin to Austin

To sum it all up, I had a wonderful time! There was so much more I wanted to fit in to our already packed schedule. Tons of pictures I wanted to capture that I didn't (I had a little camera malfunction...actually it was more of an operator malfunction as I had accidentally changed a setting on my camera that I was unaware of, making my camera operate strangely and thus missing lots of good shots *sigh*). But I guess that is all the more reason for me to make another trip back to New York/New Jersey soon!

Thanks Jenn for the amazing time!

Merry Christmas

Family Blankets

I am proud to admit that I still sleep with a blanket. On occasion, Dave does get a little jealous, claiming that I cuddle with it more than him, and will throw it off the bed or hide it from me.

The blanket is really more of a family tradition than anything else. It was started by my Great Aunt Grace who could quilt beautifully. She would make us each a blanket at birth...from then on we were all hooked (including the boys, although I am sure they wouldn't admit it)! They are always made of this special silky material called Tricot that makes them perfect to wrap yourself in.

Our baby blankets would eventually wear out, requiring a new blanket. We often were able to choose what design and color we wanted on our "replacement " blanket. I remember my neon pink (early 90's if you couldn't tell) with bunnies on it blanket. My last blanket was a soft pink with Winnie the Pooh on it. Just picture this... a 25 year old caring around a pink Winnie the Pooh blanket! I even took with me during my many hospital stays this year. It was finally falling apart at the seams and it looked very tarted and well-loved!

Unfortunately, my Great Aunt Grace has lost her vision. But thankful she has passed her quilting skills down to many member in my family, including my grandma. I drew out the pattern that I was wanting for my new quilt and found the tricot fabric color I wanted. She brought it to Nauvoo when I saw her in September to give me her beautiful master piece. It turned out perfect. I love it and I love this family tradition!

Carthage Jail

>> Monday, December 21, 2009 – Travel

Carthage Jail, located in Carthage Illinois, is the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is only about 20 minutes from Nauvoo. While visiting the area, we had the opportunity to visit the jail as well. It is a somber experience, one that is hard to leave from without tears in your eyes. To learn more about the history of Carthage jail, please click here.

Chestnuts...who knew?

>> Sunday, December 20, 2009 – Travel

While in Nauvoo, we were walking around the church grounds when we came across several tree's with spiky balls. We couldn't figure out exactly what they were, so after a guided tour through Brigham Young's home was asked the sweet Sister Missionary if she could identify a few of the unique plants we had seen around the area. She pointed out the window towards some of the tree's we had looked at and told us they were chestnut tree's. She told us that we could go gather some of the nuts and informed us of the best way to roast them.

We later went outside to further investigate and sure enough, once you broke open the prickly ball of thorns (which was not an easy task to do) there sat a clump of several chestnuts. Some balls only contained one or two chestnuts and others had three or four.

Dave and my Grandma broke open several of the spiky balls that were laying on the ground and gathered as many chestnuts as their hands could hold. Maybe I have live a sheltered life, but I had no idea chestnuts grew in prickly balls like this! Fascinating...

Dave and my Grandma showing off their loot!

Historic Nauvoo

>> – Travel

Details and pictures from a few of our adventures around

Historic Nauvoo (from our trip in mid-September)...

Downtown Nauvoo

Of all the things to buy in Nauvoo, I bought fabric to make a cute Christmas apron (picture to come soon).

Yes, the Browning's (maker of Browning guns) was Mormon too!

(Inside the Browning Gunsmith Shop)

The Brick Yard-Old Nauvoo

The Brick yard was my favorite tour as they teach you the techniques of how they made the bricks over 160 years ago. I am not sure if it was because of my field of study or that I am simple minded but I was so fascinated by the whole process. It was such an elaborate task for what seams like such a simple object. Not to mention they give you a replica of the bricks made in Old Nauvoo around the 1840's.

The upper meeting room of the Red Brick Store

(Where the Relief Society was organized)

Joseph Smith's Home in Nauvoo

The Nauvoo Temple

After the saints were driven from their homes in Nauvoo, the temple was vacated. Eventually the structure was partially destroyed by arson's and a Tornado. The temple was rebuilt in 2002. For more information, click here.

The Turtles on the Mississippi

One afternoon we were able to walk along the banks of the Mississippi river. Almost every piece of driftwood that was found in the river was literally covered in turtles. I wanted to get a picture so bad, but every time I got within 200 feet of a log the turtles would all go barreling into the water. I finally sat very still and quiet, as close to one log as I could get...and eventually, three measly turtles climbed back on the log. It's not quite the same effect as them all piled on there, but it's the best that I could get!

Sunset on the Mississippi

One evening as we were leaving Nauvoo (which is right on the banks of the Mississippi river) headed back to the hotel, we caught a glimpse of a gorgeous sunset over the Mississippi. We were short on time and couldn't stop, but I simply couldn't resist capturing it's beauty. I rolled down my window, put the camera strap around my neck (to avoid potential disaster), and snapped as many shots as I could in hopes that I would get a few decent ones. Every time there was a break in the tree's I would take a few images. There were several images with a flash of a tree or a branch of leaves smeared across the sunset, but I was able to capture a few shots. The result is the image above.