Wednesday in NYC: No one mourns the WICKED

Friday was all about shopping and getting ready to see WICKED! Jason came in from Brooklyn early to go running with Jo, Car, Kris, & Fern, while Mom & I got ready for the day. No way were we going to burn our lungs walking in the freezing cold. (It was 38 degrees in NYC. Meanwhile, back in our good 'ole hometown it was a rockin' 70 degrees!)

Ground Zero & Battery Park. Jo, Mom, & Carly beneath the Cross Monument

Jo, Car, Kris; & Jason & Norman. Headed to Century 21 for shopping

Designer dresses...?

After shopping all morning & afternoon - Kristie, Jo, & Car showing off their new hats

We love Jason & Fern!

Look at this fabulous library - upstairs in the loft

Kris & Jo, dressed for our WICKED evening!

My mom is so lucky! She has 4 daughters and 2 sons
(but Josh wasn't able to make the "all girls trip")

The handsome couple, Jason & Norman

Love, love, LOVE these pictures snapped by Jason & Norman. We're waltzing down Canal Street to catch the subway for dinner. Mom commented that we looked like Sex in the City-with out the sex.

We're here!!! The catch line for WICKED says, "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in" and it is true!

Jo in the fabulous gold-leaf chair; Jo, Me, Sue excited to get to our seats!
We were in the mezzanine - all 7 of us were seated together. It was awesome, and WICKED was THE BEST SHOW I'VE EVER SEEN.
(Better than Chicago, Les Miserables, and even better than my all-time favorite, Phantom of the Opera).

Subway ride home. It's almost midnight, and I just bolted out a song from WICKED.
(I forgot we were on the subway with other passengers. Oops!)

Jason, Kristie, & Norman

Thursday in New York City

Thursday morning came early. I thought it was already 7am, and ran to the upstairs bedroom to wake Kristie & Jo...they frustratingly told me it was only 5 am! Sorry sisters.

Beautiful tulips Jason got for us all

Carly, Jo, & Fern on an early morning walk around City Hall; Brooklyn Bridge in background

Kristie snapped a picture from the loft's overlook upstairs

Me, Jo, & Car crammed in the elevator - poor Norman got squished in the back!

Leaving the loft and heading for breakfast @ Petite Abeille. We had several entrees and shared. Delicious!

Waltzing down Museum Mile headed to The Metropolitan Museum

Jo & Norman waiting on me. The Met added a "new" display of American Decorative Art, which was my favorite exhibit by far. (Click on the Collection Highlights link and scroll through the pieces of the beautiful collection).

We visited the New Greek & Roman Galleries, & saw a newly added Greek Chariot - in superb condition!

Raining & Cold. Outside The Metropolitan Museum

F.A.O. Schwartz! Carly & Me in front of a giant candy Toy Soldier; and my pic with the real FAO Schwartz Soldier

Dinner @ Vynl. THE BEST French Toast ever!

I ordered their Brioche French Toast. Yummy!

Subway pictures - gotta have 'em!

On-set!

We walked through a Law & Order set on our way home, and a member

of the filming crew took a picture for us!

Look for us on a future episode!

2 vacations in 2 weeks?!

These last 2 weeks have been crazy busy with packing & traveling, & packing & traveling some more. I'm finally home (for a while anyways) and ready to catch up on my activities. Here goes...

My Mom, my three sisters, and I took an all girl's trip to New York City to visit my brother Jason for 4 days. Jason has lived in NY for almost 15 years, and although we've all visited him at one time or another, this was the first time that we were all able to visit him together. Talk about fun!!! Lots of laughter; lots of walking; freezing cold & blistering wind; breakfast, lunch, dinner @ fabulous places; seeing WICKED on Broadway (I burst out in song on the subway ride home!); shopping; almost fighting over cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery; a fabulous trip to DC; and being with our brother and Norman, who both took time off work to spend with us. Thank you for these wonderful memories!

Waiting for our plane to leave. Carly flew to NYC from Arizona, and met us there with Jason & Norman & Fern - their lovable rescue dog.

Kristie, Fern, Me, & Jo. It was well after midnight. I was so wired and couldn't sleep, and I begged Kristie & Jo & Carly to take a picture with me. They're ready to pass out!

Things that should never end...

Holding hands with Daddy; holding hands with sister

& a love for ice cream cones

Lovey & I took the Kuties to Cabelas for an adventure (on March 2nd). Rebecca & Mary-Gail love seeing the ginormous fish tanks with all the fish "Swimming!" (as Rebecca screams it in excitement). Mary-Gail likes to make a mad-dash for the animals, and then screech to a stop, inches before the glass barriers. Rebecca & Mary-Gail held Daddy's hand as they walked through the store. So tender. And, they held each other's hands (we've been working on the "Buddy System.

Then we went to the "M Store" for some lunch. I found out that McDonald's has tiny ice cream cones for 49 cents! I couldn't pass that up, so we four indulged on tiny vanilla ice cream cones - a first for the girls. Love the pic of Rebecca's eyes rolling to the back of her head as she licks her cone. I feel the same way!

Broken Things to Mend

A book by Elder Jeffrey R Holland.

I picked up this book the first part of February, but had been too "afraid" to open it and begin reading. This book stared me in the face each morning and night as it continued to sit, unopened, on my nightstand beside the bed. Today I opened it.

The dedication page reads,

"To all who feel that someone - or something - they love is

irreparably broken or irretrievably lost.

It is not."

Perhaps it's because I saw Elder Jeffrey R Holland and (now) President Thomas S Monson speak at a church youth conference in Juneau, Alaska, when I was 18; perhaps it's because Elder Holland spoke in our church's Stake Conference in October 2007; or perhaps it's because Elder Holland's words always pierce my soul. I truly feel something when he talks, like he's talking to me directly. I know that Elder Jeffrey R Holland is a true & faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. And, after reading & sobbing from the dedication page, I believe that Elder Holland knows that "Broken" can be "Mended."

Might I share an excerpt from the first pages of this book. I haven't been able to move beyond these pages yet - I keep reading & re-reading them, soaking in each word.

"Many people are facing personal trials and family struggles, enduring conflicts fought in the lonely foxholes of the heart, trying to hold back flood waters of despair that sometimes wash over us like a tsunami of the soul. What follows is especially for those who feel their lives are broken, seemingly beyond repair.

"To all such I offer the surest and sweetest remedy that I know. It is found in the clarion call the Savior of the world Himself gave. He said it in the beginning of His ministry, and He said it in the end. He said it to believers, and He said it to those who were not so sure. He said to everyone, whatever their personal problems might be:

'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and

I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for

I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls'
Matthew 11:28-29)."

"...I know of no other way for us to succeed or to be safe amid life's many pitfalls and problems. I know of no other way for us to carry our burdens or find what Jacob, in the Book of Mormon, called "that happiness which is prepared for the saints" (2 Nephi 9:43)."

And so the mending begins.

Small Enough (Draft dated: 3/14/09)

There is this song called, Small Enough, by Mindy Gledhill. She came to an Enrichment event in January and spoke & sang for us. I was so moved by her songs that the following week I dragged Tony with me to two stores to find Mindy's CD. I'm glad I did. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music and words.

The song, Small Enough, really touched me. Most of the time I feel so small, so complelely inadequate and unable to complete the taks ahead of me, and I feel that I am alone in this.

Broken

That is how I would describe the first 3 months of this new year - broken. Hearts broken; minds broken; families broken; dreams & blessings...all broken. Being broken is a terrible feeling. I have pushed, neglected, refused all of my friends and family. I haven't been able to cope with the brokenness. For these last few months I have been paralyzed, some days being unable to function. Being broken is a terrible feeling. I have tried to see how my "broken" can be fixed. Regardless of what is used to mend it, there will always be evidence of it being broken.

I have been reverting back to my sewing days (I used to love to sew!) and remembered this particular jacket I made for my sis-in-law. It was of the most beautiful deep, rich, purple wool, lined with a complementing purple polyester lining. I put a double-pleat in the lining, something I was so proud of then. The jacket was a perfectly fitted, smart-looking jacket: waist-high with exagerrated rounded front ends, two-button closure, long, pointed lapels, and back tie. It had detachable french cuffs and a detachable over-sized french collar, which could either lay on the jacket's lapels or stand on its own. I loved this jacket and was so excited to give it away. My sis-in-law graciously thanked me and then tried it on. Remember that fabulous double-pleat in the lining? I had some trouble with it when I attached it to the inside of the jacket. Nothing much, but there was a tiny bit of evidence that showed my struggle. Above everything else fabulous about this jacket, my sis-in-law noticed the flaw...And that's when I saw the value of my creation fall in her eyes. I suppose that's what has happened. The flaws are too apparent and noticeable, and the brokenness is all anyone notices.

I'm mending what's been broken now, hoping my patch-work can repair it. Patches are OK, right? And hopefully the patches can fix the broken.

Now just how old are you?

My girls - they are growing up so fast! I can't believe that they're only 2 - their manners, abilities, speech, though-processes all speak to an older age than 2.

• Singing their alphabet
• Making the sounds of the letters of the alphabet - what the?

Two funny stories I have to interject here. We were getting ready for church and I was dressing Rebecca. I was saying something like, "D, D, D says "da" like Dad-dy." Rebecca is our little Mocking Bird and copied me. Then she said, "D, D, D, da...church!" Almost Rebecca :)

Here's another one: Mary-Gail loves the letter "M" because it's her letter (and because we visit the M-store (McDonald's) and get a hash brown on our way to the Kite Store (Sam's Club - their sign looks like a kite, doesn't it). Anyways, Mary-Gail carries around her over-sized, foam letter "M" throughout the house saying, "MMMM, MMMMM, MMMM, ma, ma, ma..." Rebecca says to me, "M, M, M, ma, ma, Sister!" Yes, "M" is for MMMMMAry-Gail, our sister.

• Counting up to 10 (Becca can count backwards: 9, 8, 7, 4, 1, 2, 3, ... it's cute)
• Filling in the words to songs: Popcorn Popping, I love to see the Temple, My Heavenly Father Loves Me, I am a Child of God, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam (that one's old hat to them now)
• Listening to Rebecca "read" her book she made in Nursery (Mary-Gail tore hers apart, which is typical for Mary-Gail). Rebecca pauses at does a lip-smacking sound, and then starts again.
• Repeating the words in our daily/nightly prayers - Tony and I were so caught off guard by that one. Now we make sure to pause to allow Rebecca & Mary-Gail to repeat what we said.
• Reasoning with us - what 2 year old "reasons" with their parents?
• Taking their dirty clothes to the laundry hamper and their dirty diapers to the garbage
• Negotiating toy trades - anything Mary-Gail has, Rebecca wants. So, Rebecca negotiates a trade of toys w/MG. (BTW, MG doesn't even care what toy she plays with - she always makes it more fun and consequently Rebecca wants it back!)

And here's another shocker: I've said before that we have to spell words since the girls know the signs for the words we use. I spelled out "PEN" to Tony, and Becca-Becca said, "Pen, P -E - N, Pen." Tony about fell on the floor! I remembered that "PEN" was in one of their Signing Time videos. Still though, that's pretty amazing that Rebecca could recall that, spell it, and use it in proper context.

Tony & I trade baffled glances with each other as we watch our girls play. They love "friends" which is any kid (any age too) who they see outside, in the stores, at the library. But their most favorite friend (besides their cousins Cy-Cy & Baby Taylor-Bug) are each other. Glad that we have twins and super glad that they love each other and play well together.

An update on Dad

This little man has kept us busy :) Dadda is doing well, and was discharged Saturday, January 31st. He did, however, have to be re-admitted due to A-fibrillation's (his heart rate kept racing up to 140 beats per minute. Just for comparisions, Becca & Miguel's in-utero heart rates were 154 & 157!). Dad is home again and is staying at Jo's house; CarCar is helping him with his IV medications (Dad has a P.I.C. line in his arm and will have IV meds for 6 weeks!) His Home Health nurse is "lacking," but she draws blood well...good thing our family is blessed with Registered Nurses and Nurse Practitioners!

Jo & Dad, Wednesday, 1/28

Me & Dad, Wednesday, 1/28

JoJo applying Silver Nitrate to Dad's infected finger

Meanwhile, Becca & Miguel have been LOVING their Auntie CarCar! CarCar drove up the night before Dadda had his heart surgery, and having her here has been such a blessing to us all.

Miguel cheesing it up!

Becca-Becca playing it cool

CarCar sharing her love of kitties with the girls

And we invited Mom over for supper Friday night. Can't remember what we had, but the girls wouldn't let Mom go potty without being right there with her. We love our Grandma!!