Back from NY city!!!

We are back from our FUN trip to NY city! We had such a great time!! I have taken about 2 hours getting my favorite pictures together in a slide show for you!

THANK YOU MOM AND GRANDMA! They were so kind and watched the kids for us so Scott and I could have a fun mom and dad trip!

I think I will let the pictures do most of the talking (especially since I have taken 2 hours of my day already on this!) But just a fast run down of the trip for you!

Day 1. flew in and had just enough time to check into our Hotel before dinner. Se stayed in the Desmond Tutu Center. VERY BEAUTIFUL! It is a seminary that they have opened part of it up as a hotel! We had dinner with the other employees on Times Square and then walked around after dinner. I have seen Times Square a hundred times in the movies... but it was JAW DROPPING! No amount of pictures can do it justice!

Day 2. Scott had to go into the office along with some of the other employees so I spent the day with two of the 'office wifes'. we had a BLAST!!! We spent the whole day seeing sights on 5th avenue! Shopping at street vendors was fun too! We went into Versace... and felt like the BIGGEST RED NECKS!! HAHA. A scarf was only $350!!!! We saw the public library, St Patrick's Cathedral, Tiffany's, FAO Swartz, the Plaza Hotel, and ate at Micky Mantels sports bar! (we even got to sit in HIS booth! It had a sign saying that it was the booth where he always sat!). We were SO worn out by the end of the day! Had dinner at an all you can eat Sushi bar and YES I had SUSHI! I even liked it.... a little... lol. After dinner we went to Grand Central Station.

Day 3. All the employees has to go into the NY office today so there were 7 of us 'wifes' that went out together for the day! We walked around HALF of Central Park... talk about a big park!!! Then we ate lunch at Serendipity (yes, the one in the movie Serendipity!) that was a really fun girls activity! After that we took the subway to the Ferry. We saw that Statue of liberty and NY sky line from the ferry. That night was Scotts office party. I was SOOOO TIRED by then! It was still a nice evening even though my heels were KILLING me!! Scott won an award for the second year in a row which was really fun!

Day 4. this was the day that Scott and I got to spend together. I was SO TIRED thought that I let him set the pace and choose the activities. We went to Ripley's Believe it or Not on Times Square. That was REALLY fun and we both liked it a lot! After that I took him to FAO Swartz. Then he took me to Carnegie Deli for some YUMMY NY cheese cake! We came back to the Hotel at about 3:00 for a nap and the plan was to go to the top of the Rockefeller Center later that evening... but we both crashed so hard we didn't wake up in time. lol.

Day 5. Our flight left EARLY in the morning... (we had to leave the hotel at 5:00 NY time - 3:00 am our time) The flight was nice and uneventful and we spent the rest of the day sleeping in our OWN bed!!! My Dad was kind enough to bring the kids back from Idaho for us that night.

The trip was totally amazing and I took a TON of pictures!!! I had SUCH a great time! I hope I get to go back to NY some day! Which is really saying a lot since that was one city I never cared to visit, and now I want to go back!!!!!!

NEW (used) CAR!

Well here are some pictures of our new, used mini van! Some of you may know that our Gold Camry bit the dust on my way home from Idaho last Thursday. Died on me in Brigham City where I got to sit at a gas station for 3 hours with the kids, while we waited for dad to get off his plane and come rescue us. Here is a picture of the kids waiting patiently for Daddy to come. (well... they did really good for kids stuck in a gas station for 3 hours) Lucky for us the Gas station had a nice restaurant that they let us claim a corner booth of for a while so we didn't have to stay out on the side walk the whole time. {notice in the picture the 2 car seats and luggage that I had to haul around with me after the tow truck came for the car} Oh and a picture of Braden trying out for the 'Blue Man Group.' I gave them suckers to keep them quite for a while and his got a bit messy!





What a night. Anyway... after getting home at midnight.... we found out the next day that the gold Camry had thrown an engine rod.... yeah... we ain't fixing that! The car isn't worth what a used engine would cost... let alone paying to have it put in! So we decided to do the sensible thing... and buy a MINI VAN! (I know you are jealous Marie!!!) We spent the weekend (excluding Sunday of course) test driving used Toyota Siennas and we found a beauty on Monday morning! 2001 with 83000 miles on it, in fantastic condition! We got the loan (small gratefully) on Tuesday and drove her home that night! It has been really fun to be a 'van mom' and drive around town in it! The kids love it because it has an automatic door. So they fight over who gets to push the button! I have told them it is getting turned off the first time someone gets smashed in it!






So there she is! The beautiful Mini Van that we now own (via the bank)! WOOT! Come on over and I will take you for a spin in my new ride! You know you want to!!!

Guess it is that time again!!

How did a whole month go by!?? I really feel like I blogged last week! LOL. Guess it has been a bit longer than that though. I will be brief this go round. My arm has been having issues with random numbness lately and it is really bugging me tonight. Makes it hard to type! lol. I am seeing a chiropractor for it now so I hope that it will go away soon. My first appt. with him was on Monday and I have another one tomorrow. So I guess we will keep our fingers crossed! I may even let him do acupuncture on me!! YIKES! Ok... I am not really scared of it... in fact I am kind of curious and hope he DOES do it! LOL. we will see though. ANYWAY.....

I have a bunch of pictures I have been meaning to upload and just haven't taken the time. First I want to show off a cute page I did of Braden. The weeds in our yard were getting REALLY HIGH so I couldn't resist!


Now I REALLY want to show these off!! I made these for Scott's fathers day present! I got the idea to take the pictures from a magazine... but I couldnt choose just one to give to him! LOL. So this was my solution! I got some nice black frames at the dollar store. They turned out so great! Scott really liked them!




Well I suppose this is a short post but I am tired and my arm is numb... so I am going to go cuddle up with my ice pack and hope that the chiropractor will just break my arm off tomorrow! lol

INCREDIBLE DINNER!

So I have to show off the fancy pants place Scott and I got to eat at on Tuesday night! Scotts company had a managers dinner and invited wifes. (now... Scott is NOT a manager.. lol... but he was invited!) So the company was paying for dinner... which is always a bonus no matter where you go! LOL.

The dinner was because a 'higher up' in the company was in from Pennsylvania visiting. They wanted to go somewhere unique to Utah... and BOY DID THEY EVER!!! They took us to this restaurant called Log Haven. Now if you haven't heard of it.... just go check out this web page to get the WOW factor!!

http://www.log-haven.com/parties.html

So yeah... I was excited!!!! The restaurant is located up Mill Creek Canyon and the drive up is beautiful. Then when you get there it is this beautiful Log structure across the street from a large water fall!! The grounds are breathtaking. You walk in and it doesn't have a 'lodge' feel at all. There are twinkly lights and beautiful furniture and floral arrangements all around!! There is a beautiful out door patio with its own little water fall! It was a few degrees to cold out so we ate inside.

Now to the menu. Now I never claimed to be a master chef... but I feel confident in the kitchen. I open the menu and start reading... and I think about EVERY OTHER WORD I didn't understand!!!!! LOL. Our waiter came out and did a menu 'interpretation' for us! LOL. After we all ordered the brought us out an..... horderve? We each got a plate with one TEENY TINY specialty tortilla chip with a bean mixture over it. It was literally not bigger than a quarter. OH YUM!! One bite... and OH YUM!!! LOL. Then we got the fresh bread which was also amazing. My First course was the Crab cake.... Hands down the best food I have EVER eaten in my life!!! That alone was the crowning point of the meal!!! After that I had a spinach salad and then onto the Entree. Scott and I both had the Cornish Game Hen. It was SO YUMMY... and it was served on a bed of 'parmesan polenta' which is apparently like grits... only finer... Scott LOVED them! Who knew he liked grits!?? I only took a picture of this course... since I didn't want to embarrass myself or Scott TOO MUCH! Then for desert I got to fulfil a life long dream!!!!

I LOVE the scent of Creme Brulee, like in candles and potpourri and stuff. I have never had a chance to eat it..... Until Tuesday!!!! Oh HELLO YUMMY!!!!! It was like a dream come true!! So now I can say that I have eaten Creme Brulee AND that I have eaten at a truly fancy restaurant!!!

Twice in one week!!! Nobody faint!!!

HAHA... How rare is it that I blog TWICE in one week!?? NEVER! Thought I would share with you how 'proud' of my two beautiful children today though!

Amalyssa graduated preschool!!!! WOOT! I am really excited to see her growing up so much. But it is a bit scary to think that she will officially start public school next year!! YIKES!!! Not so sure I am ready for that step!!! Here are some picts of her during her program and with her 'cap'!

This is her in 'the three little pigs' in her house of straw! Scott just looked at this picture and mentioned that this mask looks SO perfect on her because it TOTALY matches her true smile!!! I was so glad he had said that because I couldn't figure out WHY I liked this picture so much!!!! Now I know!!! It is What she would look like if she had been born one of the three little pigs!! HAHA


She was a sheep during a farm animals song

Here she is with her teacher and her 'all about me' book that they made

And here she is in her cap at home showing off her candy necklace! The necklace had a tag with a 'title' Mrs Laura had given specifically to each child. Amalyssa's was "Love of Capitol Letters" she never writes anything lower case... she just likes the capitols better! lol

And last I would like to show off my brilliant son. Today he made a new recipe all on his own... (TRUST ME... Mom was completely OBLIVIOUS to what he was up to!) The future 'Braden Crocker' Decided he would make a new breakfast soup! We are going to be rich by selling his secret recipe!!! I was thinking I would make you each pay for the recipe with a 10% discount but then I decided... Hey... you are family.... so I will let you have it for free! So without further adieu

Maple Syrup Soup
Take one pre-cut... mostly eaten Eggo waffle in a bowl. Pour in half a bottle of 'Log Cabin' maple syrup.... and VOILA... A sugar high to keep you going through the day!