Christmastime in NYC

I'm catching up here a bit with an old post. A little while ago we took probably our last trip down to New York City as a family before we move. We actually hadn't been all together since we moved here so it was our one and only time. Jared has always been so busy with work that when he had an extra day off we took advantage of it and went to the city. It's always been a dream of mine to see New York City during the holidays. It was one of the last things I had on my bucket list before we move. I knew my husband and his "love" of New York City meant we probably wouldn't ever come back just for a vacation to go at the holidays. I'm actually really glad we got to go, because while I loved seeing New York at this time of year I actually prefer other times better. It was definitely more crowded and difficult to get around with our kids. It was beautiful, though, and I'm so grateful I got to go! It was even better to have extra help there to help out with my boys. It was a nice treat from going by myself. :)

Waiting for our train to come:

The start of the window displays walking down 5th Avenue:

The hubby pushing the kids

The window displays were beautiful! At Lord & Taylor:

We explored the Macy's Flagship store off 34th street:

Inside Macy's:

While Parker slept Brody wrote a letter to Santa. :)

"Dear Santa, I would like Christmas Legos, Jungle Lego Station, and Lego Police Station. From, Brody"

Off to the North Pole!

View of the Empire State Building as you depart Macy's.

Chrysler Building

Off to Rockefeller Center!

Our little family with the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. It was oh so beautiful!

Proof that Grammy was with us!

A rare picture of the hubby and I:

This picture cracks me up because it shows just how much my sweet husband was enjoying this trip. He was a good sport and didn't complain at all, but I'm pretty sure someone had just run into him and then told him off a bit so he wasn't a happy guy. He just loves New York so much. :) Thank you for being such a good sport and enduring my enthusiasm dear!

Skatin Rink. For some reason it wasn't open yet, but that was okay with me because the wait would've been hours and I wasn't quite up for that!

Just some pictures of some decorations around the city that we passed:

Versace:

We stopped for a break and dinner for a while and then headed back to Rockefeller Center. The boys loved the tree even more at night. Aside from the crowds of people, it was a magical place I'd always wanted to see! This is Parker man getting a better view:

Heading back into Grand Central with the Chrysler Building in the back. So many of the buildings were decorated in Christmas colors. My boys loved it!

Waiting for our train home:

Daddy is so funny :) So glad he joined us for this trip!

The boys got a hold of my camera while we were in the train and I love the pictures through their eyes. From Brody:

From Parker:

His self-portrait cracks me up!

A little video I took for Parker since he loved the show on the side of the Saks 5th Avenue store across from Rockefeller Center. They were quite entertained and Parker wanted to watch it over and over! (excuse the poor photography skills and the tree in the way....if you saw how many people were around us you would know how difficult it would've been to move a few feet in either direction. :) ) Hope you're all enjoying your December! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful day. We had a little bit of an unusual Thanksgiving, just because it's the first time we haven't been with family since our very first Thanksgiving being married. It was especially strange because on both sides of our families, we were the only ones missing from their festivities. Made us pretty sad, but we were really lucky to still get to spend Thanksgiving with some great friends. We had planned on going to the Macy's Thanskgiving Day parade this morning, but due to quite a few of our family members being under the weather, we decided not to go. I was pretty bummed, but we'll just have to see if we can come back someday. The boys woke up bright and early, so we decided to make some turkeys for my little turkeys. If you look closely, Brody's has a little nose between the eyes and a smile right along the bottom. Parker is actually getting better at drawing also and under those eye stickers who drew two circles within circles for eyes. I was pretty proud of him! They both really enjoy doing these types of activities, so they were so excited!

I feel like right now I have so much to be grateful for. Since I use this as my journal, I'd like to write down a few of the things I'm thankful for:

*I'm thankful for my husband. He is such a great Dad and teammate for me. He really does know me better than anyone else and constantly tries to make me laugh.

*I'm thankful for my sweet Brody. I love his funny jokes he tells and the love he has for learning. He is such a wonderful big brother and always tries to keep his brother in line. One of my favorite Brody stories lately: Before bed one night he asked, "Mom, what smells worse than a skunk?" The next morning the first thing out of his mouth was, "Hey, I know what smells worse than a skunk! Morning breath!"
*I'm thankful for Mr. Parker and the random, funny little brain he has. He is so full of life and keeps me on my toes.
*I'm grateful to have such a wonderful extended family on both sides. I miss all of our family very much and am grateful for things like blogs that can help them to know my kids and skype so my boys can get to know them.
*I really have the best friends a person could ask for. I'm so thankful for their love, support, and encouragement. I am so so blessed! 
Just one more because they are just so silly :) 

Snow Bunnies

 Well, we have had quite the weather around here! 10 days after Hurricane Sandy came through we had a Nor'easter hit us. Prior to when it hit they had just forecast rain and wind for our area.....we ended up with 8 inches of snow! It was crazy and so fun for my boys. I'm so glad they got to play in the snow. This wet, heavy New England snow is perfect for snow balls, sledding, and snow men! I remember last year being a little disappointed in Boise because the snow was so light and fluffy that you couldn't really even make a snowball. My boys loved throwing it at each other and Mom! It was one of my favorite days we've had in a while!

 Cold noses:

 They aren't having fun, are they?!

 Parker's version of a snow angel:

 Brody got the idea!

 We made their very first snow man. It was a small one because they were getting cold, but I still thought it was pretty cute. If only I had had a carrot.... Parker is mid-bite of snow. They both discovered that eating it was pretty tasty!

 Sledding was by far the biggest hit of the day! Behind our neighbors' house there is a little hill that was perfect for my age of boys. We did this for about an hour before I had to take Brody to school. I have a couple other great action shots, but you'll have to wait for your Christmas Cards for those! Preview:

Parker's wipeout: (may have something to do with his fist full of snow he didn't eat before trying to hold on to a sled!)

A compilation video of the boys sledding. Sorry it's a little shaky at the beginning, but you get the idea of the fun that was had! I'm actually really, really dreaming of a white Christmas. It may be the last one I can ever hope for! (I'm pretty sure it doesn't snow in Texas on Christmas) I would settle for at least one more snow storm. Come on mother nature.... (excuse the shortness of breathe from the photographer. We'd been out here for quite a while and guess who got to run the sled to the top of the hill every time? I got some extra exercise that's for sure!)

Just for recording purposes: Brody has been so funny with his requests for when we move. Recently he asked if he could have his own dresser so he didn't have to go into Parker's room to get his underwear. Today he asked that when we move to Texas we get a house with it's own mailbox that stands by itself. I love the things he notices that I would never think twice about. Hopefully we can make all his mailbox dreams come true! Oh, to be 5 again. :)