2001-2011

It is hard to believe that I graduated from high school 10 years ago!  It has been a great 10 years - some things have gone as planned and others not so much.  All of it has been an adventure with lots learned.  I had the opportunity to see a handful of my classmates this summer at our high school reunion.  It has fun to catch up with everyone that attended!

ZOO!

In July, Aunt Elizabeth came to stay with me in North Carolina. She actually came and watched the kids for me for a couple days so that I could go to New York City with a few friends.  I am ever so grateful for her help.  Once I got back, she stayed a few more days and during her visit we went to the Asheboro Zoo for the day.  It was so much fun.  It is a very nice zoo with lots of fun animals to see. 

One of our favorites from the day: polar bear

 Climbing the spider web!

 A special exhibit: albino alligator

 Aunt Elizabeth with the kids

 The kids pretending to be asleep at the end of a long, enjoyable day!

New York City

Over Fourth of July weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 4 days in New York City with a few of my friends from here in North Carolina. We had a blast and packed in a bunch of site over the four days. A friend is doing a rotation in Connecticut so we stayed with her each night and traveled into the city via the train. I meant to take a picture of my luggage - a backpack. I think that may the be lightest I have ever packed for a trip. We got to attend a Mets Baseball game, walk around Central Park, see Ground Zero, ride the Staten Island Ferry, walk around Little Italy and China Town, see NYU and Columbia, Times Square, watch a fireworks show over the Hudson River on the 4th of July, see some art at the Metropolitan Museum, and visit several different national monuments/parks in the city.

I recently purchased a book that tells you about all the national parks/monuments across the United States. There happens to be 11 in Manhattan and we got to visit 6 of them - African Burial Ground National Monument (an estimated 15,000 African Americans are buried in a 6 acre area in Manhattan), Castle Clinton National Monument (originally a fort to protect the southern tip of the island), Federal Hall National Memorial (the location of George Washington's inaugural speech) , General Grant National Memorial (largest mausoleum in the United States), Hamilton Grange National Memorial, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. The sites were all very interesting. It was tons of fun and I look forward to my next NYC trip!! =)

Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace

Lacee and I standing with an estimated 3 million people waiting for the fireworks show to begin!

Enjoying our deli sandwich at Carnegie Deli

Cannoli in Little Italy - so so so good!

I decided to be a little daring and wade out into a public fountain - I know, I am so rebellious!

James, Lacee and me riding the metro - my hair is out of control.

Our view of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry - I liked the red tug boat.

Ground Zero under construction.

View of the Mets/Yankee's game. The Yankees won.

Central Park - I really enjoyed walking around the grounds. It is huge!

James, Tom, and me in Times Square. So Fun!Hopefully you can get a small idea of the fireworks show from the video. It lasted about 30 minutes and was a great way to celebrate the day. We then made our trek back to Grand Central Station with millions of other people. This was probably the largest crowd I have ever been in!

The BEACH!

This summer my mom and Elizabeth came down to go to the beach with me and the kids. We had alot of fun. The weather was perfect that day and the beach was not too crowded. The kids had a great time playing in the sand, building a sand castle with my mom, looking for sea shells, and spending hours jumping over the waves. We look forward to our next beach trip.

Going West!!

This summer I had a chance to go out west with my family to deliver my little brother to BYU to start his freshman year. The trip was alot of fun. We got to see some sights on the way out and on the way back plus we turned it into a family reunion. Everyone, except Steve and the kids, were able to meet up at Jamie's house in Utah. I enjoyed my first real steak dinner, visited Arches National Park, Canyonland National Park, saw my first MLS soccer game, moved Christopher into his dorm, visited Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Badlands National Park, saw some LDS Church history sites in Nauvoo, and enjoyed the company of my mom, dad, and little sister. It was a great trip and we had lots of fun. Enjoy a picture tour of our trip.

The back seat sitters on the drive out: me, Elizabeth, Mama

The Norrod's in Cheyenne, WY. This is who took good care of me while I lived there.
Ruth's Chris Steak House: the anticipation was almost to much

Marianne and I enjoyed the "Windows" in Arches

Finishing our hike out to Landscape Arch

Jamie and I accidently wore the same shirt

Sitting in front of Delicate Arch.

The whole family!!

This view is in Canyonlands National Park. It was really windy, a storm was moving in.

You can't go to Provo, UT and not get some Cafe Rio!

This is the day we ALL moved Christopher into his dorm room.

Christopher is all grown up. This is right before we left him to start his own new adventure!!

MLS Soccer Game: it ended in a tie.

Father's Day Breakfast in bed.

This is the beginning of our trip home. First stop, Yellowstone and Old Faithful

I got to see my friend Marisa while we were in the park. So fun!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Up close and personal with the bison.

On our rafting trip down the river - we saw 5 bald eagles!

Part of the Grand Teton Mountain range

Mt. Rushmore

A cave we happened upon while driving to Mt. Rushmore.

Nauvoo Temple