NY

My post will be the first of the families about New York but probably the most boring because all the pictures are just places we went but most without people in them. New York has frankly always scared me a bit because everything I had heard about it was that it was a dangerous place to be. I loved New York so much I wish I could go back. I never felt uncomfortable or scared and there are always a zillion people around.

This is the statue in Rockefellar Center, The ice skating arena in the winter is just below the waterfall. The today show does there concert series in this area and while we were there Taylor Swift performed however it was raining and I didn't want to get up early enough to get a decent spot to see her. However while we were in New York Katie did get to go to the Taylor Swift concert here in SLC with Kays mom. Taylor Swift even walked right by her and said Hi to her. Katie was in heaven.

One day while Sarah and Kellie were sick me ,mom, brent and cindy walked all around SOHO and walked the Brooklyn Bridge. That night we went to Stomp! We were on the first row and it was incredible. We also made it to Wicked while we were there and I thought it was so amazing how well they sang and how funny it was, I recommend it to anyone who has the chance to see it.

This is the NYSE, they closed it to visitors after 9-11 unless you are invited in by someone so we just walked down Wall Street and saw all the huste and bustle.

This is Times Square my favorite spot. I didnt get that great of a picture but if you look really close you can see the ball they drop on New Years Eve. I had no idea that it stays there year round and even changes colors. While we were there the city shut down the area to cars and set up beach chairs in the middle of the road. You could just hang out in the middle of Broadway on beach chairs it was pretty cool. it also made walking in Times Square much easier. I cant imagine all those people smooshed onto the sidewalks. This is also where I picked up my knock off Coach and Kate Spade bags which I love.

The two pictures above are the Guggenhiem Museum. the architecture is pretty amazing.

This picture is for Bradley. Night at the Museum is his favorite movie and this is the Natural History Museum the movie is based off of.

The Statue of Liberty is also pretty amazing close up.

This is Ellis Island. I thought the statue was on Ellis Island however it is on Liberty Island. While on Ellis Island I was able to look up Marys husbands Johns father. He came to the US by boat in 1913. We were able to find the ships manifest with his own handwriting on it and print them off to give them to John. I cant wait to give it to him.

This is the site where the twin towers use to be they have since begun building the Freedom Tower so the area is really blocked off now and hard to see anything.

After 9-11 children began coming to the hospital right by the towers looking for loved ones lost in the buildings. They wrote on these little tiles thoughts of hope and peace and they have now hung all the tiles on these fences.

The Empire State Building. This is about all we saw because we saved going up in it until the last two days and then it was cloudy and rainy. At the top of the building on the observation deck the visibility was zero and they told us not to waste our money. But now we have something to go back for right?

The three pictures above are of central park. I had no Idea how big this park was or how pretty it was. In the middle of this huge city is this incredibly big park with small lakes and playgrounds, baseball fields and huge areas of lawn.
We walked around the park for several hours and were in awe of how wonderful it was. It was one week full of walking and walking and walking but so worth it and I cant wait to go back.

Busy , Busy, Busy

This month has started our super busy and shows no signs of slowing down. I thought I would give a quick update of whats been going on. The first weekend in May Kaylans dad and his wife Linda were down for his fathers 80th birthday party. It was a surprise party and I think everyone made it but 2-3 cousins. His family is so big that the party is always at a church because no one has enough room to accommodate that many people. It is always so much fun to get together with the Mechams. At the party we ate way more than we should have, played some fun games and of course with the Mechams no party would be complete with out Karaoke. Kay has a cousin that married a DJ and he always brings all his equipment. Katie and her cousins even got into the Karaoke doing every Taylor Swift song available. My camera of course had problems so I have no video but it was so funny.

Kaylans Grandpa telling everyone thanks for the big surprise.
The next weekend we headed down to Marys for mothers day. Grandpa gave the kids a ride around the yard with the four wheeler with all four of them yelling faster.


We decorated pots and then planted flowers. Katie painted the stripes. I put the white shapes on and then when we were all finished Bradley came and wrote. FROM BRAD ont the side. We then went hunting for our Mountain property. This is 40 acres for sale near Salina. Kay keeps telling me that the snow has barely melted and it will get greener and I keep telling him I really want a meadow with wild flowers. He tells me unless we have one million dollars the meadow is out of the question. DarnIt !!

On Sunday before we left Katie insisted on having a lemonade stand. Mary helped out by making the lemonade and getting it all set up for her. The funny thing is is that Mary lives in a very rural town where you maybe get one car every hour. So Mary called the neighbors to tell them that Katie was selling lemonade and everyone of them came over. It was so cute, she even ended up making 3 bucks. Which of course is already spent.

On Monday we headed to Tooele for Grandpa Murrays burial. It was a small service with the Navy colorguard present to present my Grandma with a flag. It was really neat and an honor to see them present my Grandma the flag. Grandpa Murray will be missed.

This weekend is probably more property searching and then next weekend off to NY!