New York, New York

WARNING-lot's of vacation pictures included

The beginning of December Ken's boss scheduled a trip to New York City. Ken has talked about taking me but the timing was never right and finally all the stars aligned and I got to go with him. I have never been to New York and we had a great time. The two most prominent things that stand out are the endless walking and the cold but it was a blast.

The city was all decked out for the holidays and many beautiful things to see. This was in Rockafeller plaza. These gigantic ornaments were on a reflecting pond and the lighted trees around them. I know I look like a spaz, I had to wear glasses because of a eye infection and obviously the name of the game was warmth. The high was low 30's there. We even broke down and bought the handwarmer packets you put in your gloves. I was looking for a body wrap style.

It was Santa's turn on the Coca Cola sign in Times square

The giant light tree on the side of the Macy's building

All the lighted trees. Couldn't tell you where this was exactly.

We stayed in Secaucus, NJ (doesn't that make you just want to add the jersey twang)? The first night we had a rental car because we needed to take the copilot to Newark to fly home. Since we had the transportation I wanted to see Carlo's Bake shop-you TLC watchers know this is the place Cake Boss is filmed. The next morning we turned in the car and depended on public transportation. We would take the bus in from the hotel through the Lincoln tunnel and from there either walk or ride the subway (1st time). We got pretty good at figuring out the schedule and how to go from one line to the other. I put lots of miles on my feet in three days, but we saw many of the tourist sites.

Times Square

St Patrick's cathedral-gorgeous architecture inside and out.

Swarokovski crystal covered snowflake in Rockafeller plaza. The skating rink was lots smaller than I thought it would be.

One of my favorites-we went and saw the Rockettes in the Christmas spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Unbelievable!!! Loved the performers as well as the beautiful Art Deco architecture and interiors

This was a picture to show the masses of humanity on the streets. It was interesting to see how many people come to New York. I guess the holidays really add to the numbers. After seeing this I can't imagine what New Year's is like.

Riding the subway

The great Lady Liberty. Don't let the sun fool you. It was so cold out there, especially with the breeze coming off the water. Unfortunately we were the last boat out of the day and were not able to go to Ellis Island also. We said it's a reason for a return trip.

We went all over the financial district. Checked out the New York Stock Exchange. It was interesting the building for the treasury did not have any markings/signs on the outside of the building

work going on at Ground Zero. There isn't a place to really see anything but we peeked through the chainlink fence.

Had to check out Grand Central Station.

The Manhattan Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints temple. We went on Sat. morning. A refuge in the chaos.

We didn't go shopping really but had to see Macy's

Ken and I at the top of the Empire State building. We got to see 4 wedding proposals that night. I guess not the most original idea but a spectacular view.

Our tribute to the season, we even tried chestnuts roasted over a open fire. Don't know what the fuss is about. Kind of bland and very mealy.

We had a great time, I also enjoyed a carousel ride in Central Park and pastrami sandwich at Carnegie Deli. I told Ken I want to go back when the weather is a bit more temperate.

Decking the Halls

Thanksgiving weekend we got busy with the Christmas decorations. It was pleasant outside so I got everyone going outside and got the lights up. It's much nicer to have help than to do it by myself.

Lexi doing the lights around the yard

Paige was checking the lights before they went outside and changing burned out bulbs. It's always frustrating to get a strand started and then find out they don't light.

Ken hanging the garage garland

We have two pictures of picking out our Christmas tree to show that we were all there. It's funny to look back on years of getting the tree. We are either in shorts and t-shirts or bundled up freezing. No happy medium. We still do the live tree, and Lexi told us it's one of her favorite parts of Christmas. We got lucky this year and found a good tree the 1st one we saw. It's a cute chubby tree.

Thanksgiving

Our original plan was to go camping for Thanksgiving so we could enjoy some cooler weather and get away from Houston for a few days. Well Ken's work schedule 1st changed things up and we made plans to camp at a campground not too far so Ken could come and go. Then the lovely Houston weather threw a wrench in the whole works. It was forecasted to have rain on Tues and Wed before Thanksgiving and then a cold front was to come through. The main reason to go camping was to have fun and camping in the rain and cold is not fun so change of plans. We still got together for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, just in the comfort of our home. The frustrating part was after cancelling, the rain never materialized. The cold front hit Thurs. early evening. Oh well, it was a great day. We missed Taylor who worked all day as well as Curnutts and Ortons who were freezing in Utah.

Ken carving the bird before heading off to pick up his boss from the Cowboy's game in Dallas

Beautiful centerpiece sent by Ortons.

What a scrumptious feast!!! Thanks so much to everyone for making it great.

The proper way to each your olives is one on each finger and Michael is a pro.

The "big" girls.

The "adult" table. Paige snuck in

After eating Jordan wanted to try out the pool since he hadn't been swimming in two years. He talked Alex into going in with him. When the time came to jump in she backed out but Jordan "helped" her follow through. Right after this the front blew through. It's amazing to feel the temperature drop from a balmy mid 70's to a dry 50 within 10 mins. Gotta love the Houston weather. You can see the front coming in the picture

To ward off the cold we had a bonfire. And what's a bonfire without roasted marshmallows and smores. Lexi working on making hers a nice charcoal burnt one.

Trying to hand out the smore goodies to everyone without freezing.

Her legacy

On Nov 7, 2010 my mom Kenlyn Christenot passed away quietly. In Sept. when she had a major stroke we knew from everything her body had suffered that her time left on earth would not be long but it's amazing what was able to take place in the 7 weeks that remained of her life. She was home with her family and friends and was able to continue to show so many how much they meant to her. My mom was always thinking of others, and now so many were able to serve her. Friends from many eras of her life came to visit and called. She had sisters from the Relief Society sit and visit with her. Each of her children and grandchildren were able to visit, sing to her, make her cards and let her know how much she meant to us. Even in her limited physical capacity her spirit and testimony touched each one of us. The most important things in my mom's life were God, her family and friends. I am so grateful for the example she is in my life and my family's and am thankful to know that our family is forever.


The four girls

All 15 of the grandkids and my dad

Welcome home Jordan

For the past two years Jordan has been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the California Riverside mission. We have been very blessed as a family by his service and are so proud of the work he did to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. On Nov 2nd he returned home and we are so happy to have him back again. It has been wonderful to see how much he has learned and talk to him about his experiences. I know the blessings of serving a mission will continue with him throughout his life.

There are no pictures of the eagerly anticipated arrival, due to a communication glitch. In Sept we received a letter telling us that Jordan would arrive at Bush airport at 7:36 p.m. on Nov 2nd, This information was given to the bishop and stake president and was what we all anticipated. We talked about, planned and eagerly awaited his arrival. Just before 6:00 p.m. we received a call from Jordan wanting to know where we were. We were at home just getting ready to eat before heading to the airport. He said he was waiting at the airport for us. Apparently the mission office had changed his flight and he had landed at 5:00 p.m. The changes in the itinerary had never been passed along us. We had never completely communicated the exact info we each had and so the change was never discussed. Needless to say we were very disappointed to have our plans dashed and Jordan was peeved to be left at the airport waiting. We were still very excited to have him finally home and being together as a family.

In the Stake president's office after Jordan was released as a full-time missionary


Jordan in front of his sign we made. See we were all ready to go.

Jordan with his "shrine" We had a map and countdown to show us where he was and the amount of time he had been serving.

We had a post Halloween get together to welcome him home. Halloween is Jordan's favorite holiday so we didn't want him to miss entirely.

The girls and Jordan with their signs they had planned on holding up at the airport.

Halloween pt. 2

On Halloween the girls carved their pumpkins with our good friends. They decided not to do the traditional jack o lantern but the "pumpkin master" patterns. The cleaning out of the pumpkin innards is always the most dreaded part but the girls did a great job. Especially without dad or brothers to finish it up.

Lexi with her "Garfield"

Paige did the ghost

All the pumpkins. the kids did a great job!!!

The whole group with their pumpkins.

Halloween

In past years we have always had lots of discussion and planning on what our halloween costumes would be. This year was different for several reasons: With Halloween being on Sunday the girls were not going trick-or-treating, also they are getting too old to trick-or-treat and I have just been worn out emotionally and physically to worry about costumes. I know it's not all about me, so we tries to compromise and find something we were all happy about. Paige is a candy fiend and so she like the candy corn Queen idea. We were at the fabric store and Lexi was playing with the idea of Marilyn Monroe, which I was trying to dissuade her from. And then she came up with Madonna. So this is what we ended up with. I think both girls were happy, and it was doable for me. They had the trunk or treat party at church as well as a school dance they got to dress up for.

Lexi as Madonna, she did a great job of channeling the 80's look. Notice she even has the mole. One big difference is Lexi's undergarments are not on display. We weren't trying to copy everything.


Paige as the Candy corn Queen. I said it should be a new spot in the Candyland game.

The girls together at the trunk or treat party.

Paige and her BFF Quincy-I have pictures of these two at Halloween for the past 12 years. So fun to see them as such great friends.

Lexi with her friends, Olivia and Morgan