THE BIG APPLE

Now that Christmas is almost over, I thought I would post some pics from our trip to New York. We had a blast! We stayed 4 days, which of course was not nearly enough time, and came home Thanksgiving Day.Nate had never been, and it's been a long time since my mom and I have been back...So we did all the touristy things back to back. Needless to say, it was a jam-packed vacation. Damon has turned out to be quit the traveler, and the grandparents are always eager to play and hold Damon, so life was good.

Day 1
Our first real day there, no traveling involved, we decided to hit the Statue of Liberty, or Lady Liberty as Nick calls it, and Ellis Island first. Not a good decision on our part, I think it was the coldest and wettest day of our whole trip. Ellis Island was really interesting, and we could have spent half a day there, but not on this trip...on to the next. We survived the bitter cold and hopped on the subway to go see Ground Zero. It was such an amazing site, it really blows you away how huge those towers really were and the event that took place there.

Day 2
We went to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectular at Rockefeller Center. We ate at Carneige Deli, where we all ate sandwiches that were as thick as us, played at FAO Schwartz, and strolled through Central Park.

Day 3
Nate and I woke up early and went over to the Today's show. We saw Elaine's boss(Seinfield), Al and the gang, but most importantly we saw Natalie up close and personal. I think she gave a wink in Nate's direction or maybe it was the other way around? We had some front row spots, and I was all ready to get my 5 seconds of TV fame, and then some ladies pull out the signs and I couldn't see anything but white posterboard. Brian was back at the hotel and said he could see Nate though-Lucky. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the Museum of Natural History, which was amazing and needed a week per floor to see everything. Off to The Garden we went to see Wintuk by Cirque de Sole. We headed to the Empire State building afterwards, and then walked around forever and ever and ever.

Day 4

Thanksgiving Day! My mom and I are the die-hard parade goers of the family, as for our husbands, not so much. So my mom and I wake up early and are down on the streets by 6:30 saving a seat for the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! We got a great front row view of the whole thing. I don't know about my mom, but my legs were aching so bad after standing for 4-5 hours during the whole saving seat/watching the parade event, but well worth it. We were sad to leave NY and the hotel. We stayed right in times square, the hotel was great! They had chocolate and Figi waters at the front desk, which I made Nate confiscate on multiple occasions, and the king size bed was oh so comfortable...we were in no hurry to get back to our queen bed that we usually end up sharing with our two 40lb dogs. I heart NY!

NPR

YES, I do listen to NPR and I'm not ashamed anymore to admit it. I found myself listening to it on the way to work, and then end up driving to lunch, everyone would be all "What are you listening to Grandma?" As most young people probably have a little JT (Justin Timberlake) or Spice Girls bumb'in in their car...(let's hope not). Nope, not I. N8 and I went to see Ira Glass from 'This American Life,' one of our favorites on NPR last weekend at Kingsbury. The man is brilliant and the best storyteller ever! I promise you'll be addicted once you start listening. It's funny how anytime you go see someone live, you fall in love with them even more, at least I do. Any concert I've ever gone to, afterwards all I listen to is their CD for the next month and totally overload and then hide the CD for another year until I decide to bust it out yet again. After seeing Ira, I got the same high. I'm like "Dude- he rocks, This American Life rocks, NPR rocks!" Yeah Bro! HAHA

HALLOWEEN

I love this month, well last month I guess. Halloween is great! I love all the decorations, the costumes, and especially the candy! Every year I promise myself and threaten N8 that we're going to dress up and so far we haven't, booo! I love those people who go all out...they dress up and deck-out their house with scary decore and spooky music. One day. So we had a great time passing out candy to the treaters down at Grandma's. Damon was Dr. McDreamy. He was so handsome in his scrub uniform!

OCTOBER FUN

We had a great time going on the Heepie Creepie, Cornbelly's maze, taking a drive up the canyon to Sundance to see the leaves change, and chowing down on some smores in our backyard.

7 MONTHS

I know it's cliche, but I can't believe how fast our little guy is growing up. He's 7 months now! It's truely amazing how many milestones they accomplish before age 1. Damon has been crawling and standing up to things for months now. He loves to hold onto your hands and jump, no kidding he could do it for hours. The dogs love that he now eats baby food, but their not picky they'll eat anything that falls on the floor, even Damon's vomit. I know it's great I never have to mop...Just kidding. Damon's working on tooth number 8...bring on the steak! What a fun stage, but I guess isn't every stage the best...I love to hear him laugh and could listen to him babble for hours.

It's funny now that I'm a parent...I've developed this new language skill. I have founded my own language! The old English, as I refer to it, is slowly slipping away. For example, it's not "Damon it's time for bed so let's go and get your pajamas on." Now it's, "Hey Mamma let's get your jammers on and put you to nigh-nigh." I know it's crazy! Does everyone else have nicknames for their kids? So far we have Mamma Jamma, Mallow (marshmallow), Mister, and many forms of Bubba (Bubbers, Bubbacon,...). It's really getting out of hand.

SLIDESHOW

DISNEYLAND

While N8, Brian, and the older boys went river rafting down in Moab, my Mom and I went with the younger kids to Disneyland for Nick's (my brother) seventh b-day. Wow he sure is growing up fast. We had a great time! We ate ice cream everyday and watched fireworks everynight...life doesn't get much better than that! Damon even went on a few rides such as the Haunted House and every ride in a bug's land, but was mostly happy to be pushed around in the stroller while he slept. It's such a fun place and I can't wait to go back when Damon's older. The flight home was a different story which started with us waiting on the plane for 2 hrs while they called the pilots in from their hotel, I know minor detail, and us making an emergency stop in Vegas so we could reboard the plane 3 times before taking off to Utah. Damon did a great job though and we finally made it home. My mom is the great event planner of the family whether she likes it or not, so thanks again mom for another great trip!

The Andersen Visit

Josh, Jill and Dominic flew down for a visit a couple of weeks ago, man has Dominic grown. We were all excited to see them after so long a long time had passed since we'd seen them. Nike seems to be treating Josh well, keep sending the discout golf balls and vintage Jordan's. I was kind of surprised how well Dominic can sing, he's prepping to be the family vocal specialist (figaroooo!). Not to mention that he's ginormous and super fast in his new nike shoes and shirt! We can't wait to see them again -

PGA Championship

Here are some pictures from the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK that Chad and I went to in August. Good times!

Update

Well, where to start. We (Britany, Damon, Phoenix, Kaya and myself) are all doing great! Damon keeps us busy and sleep deprived pretty much constantly. Well,okay, Britany a little bit more so than myself. Britany is a great mom and has already developed such a tight bond with Damon that Daddy's definitely second in line. Kaya and Phoenix, our two Viszla dogs, have way too much energy during the day and are all too excited to cuddle at night. But they're part of the Family and we don't know what we'd do without them. Our fence was just put in so now the dogs have free, unabated roam of the backyard and are taking full advantage. They love the freedom and we love not having to follow them around in the dark at night to find just the perfect spot to do their business hoping we don't step in their previous night's business. So good for everyone involved I would say. That's all for now,

Peace out!