Memorial Day Trip to St. George

Because Daniel's parents and 2 of his siblings are all leaving on missions in May and June, we took one last trip all together to St. George. (This was the plan since Mark and Anne Marie got their call last November. Once Amy got her call, she ended up leaving just a couple weeks before, so she wasn't with us.)

Wednesday...all loaded up...ready for the drive!

Wednesday night dinner: Graydon and Uncle Stu at Texas Roadhouse...Yum!

Thursday, we headed over to Fiesta Fun Center with the kids.

The next few pictures are from Zions National Park, where we took the kids on a fun hike on Friday morning! It was perfect weather!  Not Hot...almost even cold, which is crazy for St. George end of May.

Tucker loves anything Uncle Stu loves, so when Stu asked him to come skim boarding with him Friday night...he was soooo excited!  Here they are replicating a pose Stu did once before that makes him look nude...so silly! And a video Grandpa took.

On Saturday morning, Nate and Brooke took us on a little hike into Snow Canyon, to some Sand Dunes that were so fun to climb up, and run or jump down in the sand...that came up to your knees! So fun!!

On Sunday we took the kids over to see the St. George Temple...and tried to get a picture...

Then after dinner we took off and drove home, to miss the crowd on Monday.

Tucker Soccer

I finally remembered to sign Tucker up for soccer this Spring.  Here he is after the last game with his team, and Tristan and Jack, his friends.

Amy Goes to the MTC!!

Daniel's sister Amy has been called on a mission to the Norway Oslo Mission.  She left for the MTC on Wednesday May 16th.  Here's a picture with her and the kids having lunch at Cafe Rio, just before she headed for Provo.

She's going to be awesome!

Tucker's 6th Birthday

For Tucker's birthday, we invited his friends, Jack and Madi to go to Kangaroo Zoo!

His Birthday this year was on Mother's Day!  So that evening we did Cake and ice cream and presents with Grandma and Grandpa Pace and Amy and Stu, and Nate and Brooke.

New York City!!

In March Daniel bid on and won a trip to NYC to see Lady Antebellum at Radio City Music Hall.  This was for a fundraiser for the Granite Education Foundation, that Daniel's Mom has run for the last 7 or 8 years.

We decided to have this be our 10 year anniversary trip!

We flew in Thursday, got settled in our hotel, then walked down 5th Ave and shopped in Saks a bit.  Then we walked over to Rosa's Mexicano for dinner...it was a long walk....but worth it!!

Chicken Poblano at Rosa's

Friday we did some serious shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue (they were having a pre-sale) then went to the concert that night.

Here we are on a pedi-cab ride to dinner before the concert.  That's Grand Central Terminal right next to us, and our hotel (the Grand Hyatt) behind us.

There was a line for cabs when we came out of our hotel, so when the pedi-cab driver asked us if we wanted a ride we said sure.  It was a 10 minute ride to the "Shake Shack" in the theater district, but for future reference, they charge by the hour...per person.  So it was a $35 - 10 minute ride. OOPS!  Oh well...it was a fun experience.

This is the "swack" of the pedi-cab driver that we got to enjoy the wafting scent of as we rode.

The Lady Antebellum Concert!!!

Saturday we took the subway to SoHo, shopped around and ate at Lombardi's.  On the way back, stopped off at "Max Brenner's Chocolate"...and almost died...its a very rich bitter chocolate.

Lombardi's Margarita Pizza in SoHo:

Then flew home on Sunday through Dallas.

Monte Cristo Sandwich at Bennigan's in the Dallas Airport!!!

Sidenote: while in NYC I saw on Facebook that one of my closest HS friends, UnKyong, was being "checked in" in places all over manhattan.  She lives in North Carolina, but was in NYC the same weekend.  We tried so hard to meet up Sunday morning at the airport.  She was at the 'D' gate waiting for her flight, and we were flying out of the 'D' gate.  I got through security and called her...and we're frantically trying to find each other, only to find out there are multiple 'D' gate at LaGuardia Airport. We were both sooooo bummed.  So close!!

Baseball

Tucker started playing baseball this Spring...and is really enjoying it. (we are too, more than we thought we would.)

Bowling for Gage

Nora Jane has been telling us all about her "boyfriend" this year from preschool.  His name is Gage Thompson.  Around Christmas time, she was telling us how the made "get well" cards for him at school.  So I asked her teacher one day, when I was picking her up from school, and she told me that around Thanksgiving Gage, had to have surgery for a brain tumor.  Then I made the connection that Gage actually lives right here in our neighborhood.

In February, Gage had to have surgery again on the brain tumor, and this time I was able to help a friend take dinner to his family, and meet his parents.  As soon as I said I was Nora Jane's mom, they both knew exactly who Nora Jane was.  Evidently she's very mothering (or smothering) to Gage at preschool.

At the end of April, there was a fundraiser for Gage's family that we were able to go to and "Bowl for Gage".  Such a sweet little boy!

Tea time at the Grand America for Nora Jane's Birthday

For Nora Jane's 4th birthday we invited Jane and Ava and their moms, (AJ and Kristin) to Tea time at the Grand America.  We got all dressed up fancy, and had a really fun time.  The Grand America was so sweet and accommodating, they good the cake that I brought, and put candles in it and brought it out and a pretty stand, with a knife to cut it and plates to serve it on.  The harpist played "Happy Birthday" and then lots of Disney Princess music, that the girls got to dance to.  It was a perfect way to make her feel like a princess for the day.  We're so grateful to have such cute friends in the neighborhood to do this with!

Nora Jane, Jane and Ava

Nora Jane's 4th birthday and Uncle Stu's 18th!!

Started off with birthday pancakes.

Then we took pizza a cupcakes to school for Stu and his friends. Grandma and Grandpa were in Australia, so we thought we'd help Stu celebrate some.

Then we had a family party at Grandma & Grandpa's...

Nora Jane's new swing for the swing set...

Nora Jane's cute new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Olson.