Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Victorian Christmas in Neveda City

Nothing like strolling the streets with the atmosphere of a Victorian Christmas. Every year Nevada City closes their downtown streets and allow for this old fashioned event. On Sunday after church we headed out...........hoping for some of the white stuff called snow to fall.........

Nothing like a decadent treat :)


Christmas was in the air........

Love the church in the background...........love spending time with the "love of my life"!

Daddy and his "baby" girl!

Sisters!

Fun time looking @ the crafts.............

and laughing at what some try to sell :)

So glad to be together again..........

Thanks for taking our picture Jake

Love this picture

Daddy and one of his girls

The "babies" of the family :)

Love of my life :)

No we didn't have snow...........just rain..........but we were still able to have "Roasted Chestnuts by the Open Fire".............so fun!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Friends

Kate and Ashlie enjoyed getting together with friends that were home for the holidays

Katelynne, Nichole, Jessica, Katie, Alexa and Jessica
All but one of these girls have been together since kindergarten
Amy and Ashlie have been best friends along with Erika (not pictured) since kindergarten

Gifts From North Carolina

We're always a little nervous when Ashlie & Matt try to fly home. They are able to fly free, standby due to the blessings of my job............sounds great, truly it is...........but during Christmas it can be very difficult to find room on the already very full airplanes! They made it in one day and we were so grateful..............5 legs, zigzagging through the country and up for 22 hrs..........our two very tired kids made it home :)...........we were so glad to see them!

Cody & Katelynne anxiously await for their plane to land.

Sisters!!

The babies of the family............can u tell how close they are?

Always, when we pick any of the kids up from the East Coast we MUST go to IN & OUT...........no matter how TIRED they are!
Sooooo glad to have them home :)

Katelynne and Andrew Gingerbread House

Kate and Andrew enjoy making Gingerbread houses every year.
They make it into a competition, dividing the house in half.

It gets a little competitive................

and Kate gets a little aggressive......

but it always looks great in the end.

Cody's Christmas Banquet

Cody's High School Christmas Banquet on the Delta Queen on the Sacramento River
Cody and Elizabeth have been good friends since kindergarten

Making Cookies @ Nana's House

Christmas vacation and Nana had 2 weeks off..............so of course we had to get together and make gingerbread cookies while moms got a chance to do some last minute Christmas shopping and wrapping............

Everyone gets a turn

Making Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Claire ate as much as she decorated.........mmmmmmmmmm!

Everyone has a favorite :)

Claire's was the one with the most candy!

Ready set go.........OFF with their heads!

Yummmmm!

Bringing the men to life!

Even Uncle Cody got in the action :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cody's Production of "Scrooge"

The last time the FCS players performed Scrooge Ashlie was the Angel of Christmas past. This time Cody was the nephew of Scrooge. Once again it was a fun production to watch

Cody and some of his classmates

Cody and Katelynne

Scrooge and his nephew (Cody)

Friday, November 12, 2010

New York City With Hailey and Cody

When I first got my job as a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines I told Hailey that when she studied the United States in 5th grade she could pick a state for us to go visit.............of course her choice was New York City. Sooooo a long time in waiting but we finally got to take our trip. At the last minute we decided to ask Cody to come with us. After his trip to Ireland this past summer we knew that he would be a good navigator for us........and he was!

It was so exciting to be able to share with Hailey on her first plane ride. We left for the airport @ 4:30 am..........when your flying standby you learn to be there early!

We had a layover in Las Vegas...........loved seeing her face as we walked through the airport.

We finally arrived in Long Island, New York @ 6:00 pm

Nana & Hailey after a long days travel

Almost tooo tired to eat :).......but since we love food, we ate at the restaurant at the hotel we were staying in.

Yum, we were starving..........the nachos were the best!

A little TV before going to bed

Finishing dinner and watching TV.........when you get this tire EVERYTHING is funny!

They still have conductors on trains :) How cool is that? Both mornings we took the Long Island Railroad into New York City. It took about an hour & fifteen minutes.........great experience!

OK where do we go from here Cody?

Nothing like a New York Bagel first thing in the morning

After maneuvering our way through the crowds of people @ Penn Station we finally found our way to daylight!

Our first experience had to be the Empire State Building................

and boy was it cold at the top!...................

but the view was breath taking!

Nana & Hailey moment :)

What a view.........wish it would have not been so cloudy :( ..............
but Hailey could still get a feel of how high we were ;0 ...............

and how much higher the building still was above us :)

Then to Macy's! What a awesome experience.................these escalators are all wooden .........sooo cool........if they could have only talked, one could only imagine the history!

The whole 9th floor of Macy's was nothing but CHRISTMAS!

Sooo festive :)

Leaving Penn Station this is how the steps looked.........this was after the morning rush and there weren't so many people. When we were there in the morning you couldn't even see the steps.

You could always find Hailey with the birds and animals

Nothing like a Hot Dog from the vendors in New York City! Absolutely fantastic!!

Autumn in the city...........

Lunch on a park bench @ Battery Park

New York City as were heading to the Statue of Liberty

Now it was time for a Ferry ride :)

Breathtaking..............

and sobering :)

The view from Liberty Island

You could always find Hailey taking pictures

and Cody too :)

and more pictures :)

Loved spending the time with my son too :)

Photographers will do anything for a good picture :)

The ferry we rode is in the background

Arriving @ Liberty Island

Another view of New York City

As you could tell, the sun finally ran most of the clouds away........turned out to be a beautiful day!

Amazing shot of the underside of the Statue of Liberty

Nana & Hailey


Once in a while we would recruit someone to take our picture :)

Ground Zero

The Memeorial Wall @ the Brooklyn Fire Dept.

Very sobering

Day 2.........waiting for our train to go back into the city

Uncle Cody was always a Big help!

Time to catch what was called the Path to take us to New Jersey so we could find "The Cake Boss"

We found it!


Notice the sign on the corner............."Carlos Bakery"


Waiting in line in the freezing cold for @ least a hour!

Hoping it would be worth it!

Almost our turn to go inside :)

You got a number when you went in, that would allow you to purchase something

Sooooo many cool choices..............but no prices :$

Yummmm

We picked the one in the right bottom corner to take all the way back to California..........we soon called it our "million dollar cake"

Here's our number...........when we first got in the were on # 14............so yes, we had to wait a hour inside of the bakery!

But finally we made our purchase............

found a park bench around the corner.................

and savored the moment!

It WAS worth it :0)


Our shopping in Time Square............Hailey found the Sweatshirt she'd been looking for :)

Cody was always taking someones picture for them :)............

then we would ask them to take a picture of us :)

R & R in Times Square

Hailey wanted to visit the Hard Rock Cafe

The city was coming to life as the sun was going down

The Empire State Building turns red @ night


Finally we had to have some authentic Pizza from the true Italians before ending our trip............and it was soooo good :0

We had the time of our life.............yes, Hailey got to experience true Jet-Lag...........but she still didn't sleep on the plane ride home the next day...............she loved watching out the window and I loved watching her...............

Hailey, thanks for the memories that I will always cherish, and Cody, thanks for being such a fantastic tour guide and protector :)

 
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