Andy skating AND dancing :0) at Rockefeller Center!

I figured out how to post the videos after the actual post, so if you want to see some pics from our NY trip, just look below :)! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Attempting an anniversary kiss on ice at Rockefeller Center!

Celebrating 9 years in the Big Apple! Happy Early Anniversary, Andy!

So, we had the chance of a lifetime last month. Andy was going to New York for a business conference and our anniversary was coming up, so we decided, thanks to some sweet family members who were willing to help with the kids, that I should join him! I can't believe it has been almost 9 years!?! Whether we're in New York City, or just hanging out at home, it has been an amazing ride and I wouldn't trade it for anything! We have learned so much together and I feel so blessed to you in my life, Andy! You are a kind, thoughtful husband, always helping me to enjoy life's ups and helping to lift me through the downs. I have so much fun watching you help raise our children. Thank you for inviting me to come along, not only on this little trip, but on this eternal trip! Thank you for making every day a "beautiful day." (Andy was just teasing me for calling today a "beautiful day" in our dinner prayer since it is rainy, snowy, and slushy outside.) But, every day I get to spend with you and the kids is a BEAUTIFUL day in my book! I love you!!! Here are a few pictures from our trip to the big city. I had planned on reading a good book and swimming in the hotel pool while Andy was in meetings the first day, but the pool we had heard about wasn't there anymore and I just couldn't resist the urge to try out the subway on my own and begin some exploring! I had to go up to our room for about an hour after talking to the consierge, to talk myself into it, but it really wasn't bad and I got to know all kinds of nice people, many from other countries. I think one lady would say I got to know her a little too well. She was helping me to know where to go when the subway suddenly started moving and somehow she managed to not drench herself with her coffee when I totally flew into her! I guess I thought the subway driver would at least wait until we were all seated?!? I learned quickly that the bars in the subway are there for a reason! As soon as the doors close, that thing is off quick! There were so many things to do and see that a few days hardly did New York justice. But, we had a blast running around together and seeing as much as we could see. I have to admit I spent way too much time in the Scholastic book store picking out the perfect Christmas books for my kids. I won't mention how long I was in there. But, here are some pictures of some of the more noteworthy places we visited: Andy works with Investments, so we had to get a couple pictures on Wall Street with the Bull and the New York Stock Exchange!I was tempted to post a picture taken right after we got off of the ferry, but I might have to rate this post PG-13 if I did that. Ha ha. We got talked into having someone draw a caricature of us and lets just say I had to ask the guy to cover "me" up a little!!! He had drawn Andy without a shirt on - somehow he could just tell how extremely buff Andy was without asking him to take his shirt off. :0) Maybe someday I'll finish the "covering up" job on myself and hang it with the kids caricatures in the basement because I probably should have asked him to cover me ALL up!?! Ice skating at Rockefeller Center. I wish I could have uploaded a couple videos of Andy dancing while skating, and this guy that was cracking us up all night. He was quite the dancer, singer, and skater combined, but you just couldn't appreciate it without seeing it! I'll try again later! He was hillarious! Andy had planned on taking me ice skating because he knows I love it - what a great sport! We skated until midnight and didn't get back to our hotel until 2:00am. We tried to pretend like we were young again on this trip! Andy with the Yankee Parade confetti. It was everywhere! Andy was in meetings during the parade, so I was on the outskirts for a little bit before I braved the subway alone for the first time! The LDS New York Temple. Andy and I took advantage of the opportunity to keep up our tradition of visiting a new temple for our anniversary. It is always wonderful to reflect upon the promises that we have made to each other and to our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful to know that if we keep those promises, we can be together forever! Outside of St. Paul's (where George Washington was inaugurated) and inside of St. Patrick's Cathedrals. I wish we could have visited all of the cathedrals. The architecture is absolutely amazing! Inside the Egyptian portion of the Metropolitan Museum. It was amazing! Just outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art when we had to leave. I'm sad to say we got kicked out way too soon, not realizing they closed early that day! But we got to see some amazing things in the Egyptian and Greek sections. It was absolutely incredible. I'd definitely recommend spending a whole day, or maybe even a week there! Despite the kiddos having SO much fun with their aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, we were grateful that they were still happy to have us back!!! This picture was taken on our ride home together - it was a little bit of a tight squeeze in the car we took to the airport, but we somehow managed to squeeze 3 carseats back there!!! I wish I had a video of Jesi holding up her little statue of liberty souvenir, saying, "BEHOLD, a giant statue!" Andy thinks she got the idea from Charlie Brown's Christmas?!? I'm still not sure! As much as we hate to leave our kids for more than a few hours, it is always good for them and for us and we are all the happier to be all together again! Thank you SO much Darren and Cari, Jason and Heather, and Mom, Kim and Nicole for making this anniversary trip possible! And, thank you Andy for putting up with me all these years and for loving me despite all my imperfections! I love you so much and look forward to spending the rest of eternity together! Happy early anniversary!
Okay, so I think I got the video uploaded! This is the one of the guy who entertained us all night - along with Andy and another guy who was twirling around out of control all night and ran into me several times - including the first part of this video! He is skating backwards towards me at the beginning. The other guy - who was absoltuley hillarious will be skating right in front of Andy on the other side of the rink!