New York girls trip - Day 3

We had a day packed with all the things we wanted to do before our trip ends. We have loved riding the subway into town every day and it’s so convenient with a stop right by the house we’ve been staying in. We feel like we’ve finally caught on to where to go and how to get there by train! 

We got to Manhattan around 9:30 this morning and walked over to Madison square garden to see if we could get a tour. Turns out they’re not doing tours right now (due to covid 🙄) so we just got to take a picture outside. Then we made our way slowly up the streets to Central Park, shopping, eating and sight seeing along the way. We found the naked cowboy (we were hoping we’d see him!), went into the fashion district and found a fabric store to die for, ate some yummy food, continued to people watch (one of my favorite things) and just enjoyed the beautiful day and pleasant company we are in! We ended up at the zoo in Central Park and hung out there for a little while since it was such a nice day outside. The four of us sisters actually had tickets to go see The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon so we figured that the zoo would be as good a place as any to get mom all set and leave her on her own for a few hours. She was happy to be with the animals and said she could walk up to the temple too if she had extra time. After lots of instructions and mom reassuring us that she would be ok, we left her on her own in New York City (what were we thinking?!) and made our way to Rockefeller square!

About a month ago we put in for the lottery to get tickets to see the tonight show. I didn’t actually think we would get chosen but just a few days ago we got the email that we had 4 tickets! Sooo exciting! Once we got there, it was quite a process to get checked in, show our vaccination and ID cards, wait in the holding area and divide into groups according to what number or letter we were give.  Finally after about an hour we were led into the studio and got to see where the tonight show is taped every day! It was so cool to be there and see what goes into making a show run. The woman who seemed to be in charge told us that the whole point of the show is to have a great time, so laugh if things are funny and applaud when Jimmy and the guests arrive. So we did! We had a GREAT time being there and Jimmy is actually super funny and fun to be in the same room with! We loved the band, the guests, the jokes, the retakes, the in betweens, the games and every bit of it! It was such a fun day to be there. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

After we left the show we jumped on a train and headed out to Queens to the Citi Park to the Mets play. Mom had made her way to the ballpark by way of a cab (because we couldn’t get her to use Uber or Lyft so figure me a good old taxi was as good as anything) so we met up with her and got there not too long after the game had started. It turned out to be a fun night at the ballpark and just warm enough that we weren’t too cold until about the 8th inning. Mom loves watching baseball and we were all happy to be there together and take in one more New York moment. 

New York girls trip - Day 2

Steph and I got up this morning and ran along the river walk. It was sooo fun to see the city across the river and watch everyone headed back and forth into town. The perfect way to start the day. 

We had a busy day seeing all the things that we wanted to see. First stop was the Rockefeller center and up the tower to the lookout. It was AMAZING to see everything from up there. We spent so much time picking out different landmarks that we knew and trying to figure out what all the other ones were. The view was sooo cool and it’s incredible to see the size of New York City. 

Also fun to see what else is at Rockefeller square: the Today Show, ice skating rink, Jimmy Fallon and so many other famous spots that we’ve all seen on tv. 

We left Rockefeller square and made our way up to the temple which is about 25 minutes north walking. We stopped at a few spots to look along the way but then we’re so glad to make it to the Manhattan temple. Pretty amazing to have such a peaceful spot in the midst of a loud and busy city. We loved being there as a family and had such a great session together!

The rest of the day was spent doing all the best things you could think of in New York: shopping, eating good food, people watching at Times Square, and walking all the famous streets and stopping at all the trendy stops. Only on a girls trip can wandering around the city with not much of a plan be fun!

We finished off the night on Broadway seeing the play Come From Away. It was INCREDIBLE. I loved every minute of watching those talented people up on the stage. It’s a play based off of a book about the town Gander Newfoundland that hosted all the planes that had to land after 9/11. It was a beautiful story of how those people opened their lives for a few days to take care of 38 planes full of stranded people. We all loved it! 

It has been such a fun trip to be together and talk and laugh all day long. Love these ladies so much!

Citrus Hill (September) Day 1

The day started on a beautiful note.  After a session at The Stay Fit Factory and my morning ritual on the upper deck Eduardo (electrician) and his guys showed up to gets started pulling wire upstairs.  This is a shot of the new windows installed by Juan and Luis Garai just last Friday.  They look awesome!

Gordon Hamn beat me here by two days so we got right to work (after a long discussion on a variety of topics).  I cleared the brush with the weed trimmer, he followed be hind me with the pressure washer.  We made quick work and the results were super noticeable (see the last picture).  

Just before mid-day Christian (on of the workers) asked if I had a light bulb to test some of the initial wiring.  This is may be the first electrical lighting that has been upstairs in more than a decade.  Even Christian got pretty excited about it!

So there we have it! Progress for the day includes half the wiring complete upstairs (with the hardest part yet to do) and a bright clean front wall that is ready for paint.  It's gonna be incredible!  

Last shot of the night is one of the solo bulb still shining bright upstairs. The house is going to really pop once the lighting, paint everything else is complete.  This is getting exciting!

Night, night...

 

New York girls trip - Day 1

The Losee girls decided that a girls trip was in order so here we find ourselves in New York City for the week! The trip started off with a bang and a wrong address/Airbnb mixup that got mom pretty spooked. We wandered around Brooklyn looking for an address when in fact we should have been in Astoria 30 minutes away. Never mind that it was dark and we were far from our actual destination. We were fine. Mom was freaked. So we got out of there and found the real spot which turned out to be great and right in the heart of Astoria - close to the subway and lots of restaurants, gyms, etc. We settled in and we’re so happy to be in the Big Apple!

Our first stop today was a visit to Lady Liberty! It was a bit of a soggy morning and we got some good laughs about the outfits that we suited up in to stay dry. The most funny was the hunchback that Brittney turned into trying to keep her backpack dry underneath her raincoat. We had to laugh every time we glanced over at her! 

We had a great time on Liberty island learning all about the bulding of the statue and the details that went into getting it here. It is really pretty cool. 

We took the ferry to Ellis island after that and spent an good amount of time there as well. It was so cool to walk through and tour that place that has had so many immigrants come through in the past. It was such a process to get to the United States and another big process to get through all the inspections and such. Really really cool stuff today!  

After the ferry dropped us off we walked across the Brooklyn bridge to the other side. It was the most beautiful afternoon and we had the best time talking and laughing our way across to Brooklyn. We found a delicious pizza spot called Grimaldis and had a great early dinner. We talked about kids and budgets and things that bother us and any other random topic that came to mind! Just the perfect way to spend the day as sisters! The walk back across the bridge was gorgeous as the sun was going down and all the city lights were starting to turn on. We found a cookie spot and and ice cream spot and stopped at both of them for a treat before we jumped on the subway to head home. By the time we got back we had logged over 10 miles of walking! Not so bad for our first day in the city. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring! 

BYU football

 

Color Run

Rease volunteered at the color run tonight as part of her NJHS hours.  She got really into it as a volunteer...

 

Mountain Biking again

Rhen had her final mountain bike race this weekend in Cedar City.  It was a really fun day and the weather held out long enough for these kids to get through their race.  Rhen has really liked mountain biking this year and I know she has made so much progress!

 

Desh principal's pride

Desh got the Principal's Pride award today and was so excited to get this from Mrs. Hernandez!  He works so hard in school and already loves it so much.  Keep up the good work Desh!

 

Marching band friends and family night

The marching band friends and family night was tonight at the high school and we were all so excited to see this program that they've been working on for all these months!  And all the darling young women made it their activity for the night and came to support Rease as well.  It was so fun to see them all there cheering for this girl that has worked so hard!

 

Family pinwheel

Our family home evening tonight ended in making a family pinwheel on the grass.

 

BYU vs. Utah

BYU had their first home game tonight against Utah and it was a great game!  It's been a lot of years since we beat Utah and tonight we did it!  All the fans rushed the field after the win and you better believe Rease, Rhen and I were out there with them!

 

September 11th tower climb

BYU hosted a tower climb on September 11th honoring those that were lost in the terrorist attack 20 years ago.  We climbed the equivalent of the amount of stairs that are in one of the towers.  It was 1 and 1/4 times around the whole Lavell Edwards Stadium.  While we climbed they showed images of those that were lost and we all had a badge with one of their names on us. It was really cool and a really beautiful morning to be there. 

 

NJHS

Rease was sworn in as a member of the National Junior Honor Society this evening.  It's a really cool honor and something that will take some hard work throughout the year.  They have to do a certain amount of service hours every quarter and participate in different types of community events, along with keeping up a good GPA.  So proud of that girl!

 

Canning

 

Concert in the park

Our young men and young women gathered as a group in the park to listen to Alex Boye give a concert.  It was so fun to be outside on a beautiful night with all these amazing kids that we love!

 

Pickleball tournament

We held our 8th annual scones and pickleball tournament this morning with our neighborhood!  We had a record crowd and so many good people came and played, ate yummy food and enjoyed lots of good company together.  The competition was great this year and lots of the games went down to the wire.  In the end Connor and Erin were the winners!  They are both past winners with different partners but played together today and won again!

 

BYU vs. Arizona

BYU had its season opener against Arizona in Allegient Stadium in Las Vegas this weekend.  A bunch of us got tickets to the game and went down for the weekend.  It was so fun to watch a football game in person again and we enjoyed the whole weekend together playing games and eating good food and enjoying some great company!

 

Eye poke

I got poked in the eye this morning playing basketball.  Nothing serious, just a battle wound.

 

Super Kid

Keen was the Super Kid of his class this week and was able to make this poster all about himself and then present it to the class.  I got to join the class while he talked and it was so cute to see him up there in front presenting.  Then all the kids were able to ask him questions about himself.  It was a fun day to learn all about Keen and the things he loves!

 

Rainbow

We had this gorgeous rainbow out our back window today that stretched from one end of the sky to the other.  These two lucky boys ran underneath it and we snapped a pic of their smiling faces!