Heart Smiles

Have you ever seen something where there are no words to describe what you see except that it made your heart smile? Well, I walked into Addison's room tonight and saw this......

Yes, when I left, my heart was smiling!!

Wow!!!

This weekend was one beautiful weekend. The weather started off freezing. Friday, I went on a field trip with Addison's class and I truly think I was frozen to the bone. We went to the High Line (an old train track now converted to a "park"....much like the Silver Comet). The wind there went right through you. Even though the weather was chilly, the trip was nice. Here class is a great mix of children.

So Saturday, we woke up (Brad was on a retreat with his classmates in Connecticut) and walked to see the USS New York. What I did not know is that they were commissioning the ship when we arrived. So, there were secret service men everywhere (Ms. Hilary Clinton was the guest speaker). Addison and Parker (esp Parker) loved seeing all of this. I was able to get a few pictures of them in front of the ship. It was actually amazing of how few people (for NYC standards) were there. After we saw the ship, we went to a water park and played. I have a few shots of the kids here too. At 12:00, we saw two Off-Spray helicopter/ planes and four fighter jets fly right up the Hudson River. It was definitely awesome!

Sunday proved to be even better. The temperature reached in the high 60's. We ventured up to Central Park to enjoy the spectacular weather. We saw Belvadeers Castle (the highest point in the park) and played on the Great Lawn (where all the big concerts play). Addison climbed trees and Parker played with his friend. It was great. Being out in the weather and surrounded by grass and trees made us miss home. It smelled and felt like fall. The grass under our feet felt good. It is funny how it is the simple pleasures you miss...things that you don't realize you are going to miss. But how fortunate we are to be able to go to this place in the city and enjoy the great outdoors. It was beautiful!!!!

Trick- or- Treat

Halloween was such a blast. At the seminary, we had a pizza party and went Tick-or-Treating around the Close on Friday night. It was such a fun community event. Every child had a blast. And I must say how cute they all were! On Saturday, we had the Halloween party. The kids played games, made crafts, and walked down the "Cat Walk". They loved it!!

After all the "hoop-la", our family was tired!!!! So we decided just to walk around 20th through 23rd street to see how a NYC Halloween works. It is amazing. People go all out. They decorate there stoops in the most amazing ways. Smoke machines, strobe lights, spider webs, and even a real coffin on the steps with a zombie looking guy that would jump up and scare the crowd. I have never seen our streets so crowded as they were on Halloween. It was neat because the children saw some of their friends from school during the night.

We ended the night by eating at a place called The Trailer Park. To be honest, it felt sort of like Home Sweet Home. You walk in and it has velvet Elvis on the wall, Dolly Pardon stuff every where, Duke's of Hazard.....you know all the things one might see in a souvenir place on the way to Helen or Gatlinburg. You know what I am talking about.....great stuff that we really appreciated seeing. Plus, they serve tator tots.....the real deal!!

It was a great night... definitely different... but one that we will remember!