Palmyra to see Grandma and Grandpa

I've been procrastinating putting up the second 1/2 of our vacation.  Here it is!  This was the best half of our trip.  Seth got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa (ama and ampa, to him).  We had a good flight over, partly due to the fact that I downloaded a few Mickey Mouse episodes on my ipod.  Seth thought it was the greatest!  It was hilarious to see a 19mo. old kid sitting with ear buds and an ipod!

Brandon's parents took great care of us!  They always had fabulous dinners (including grilled salmon one night).  One night they took us to a little ice cream shop in the town of Palmyra.  It was SO good and the scoops were ridiculously huge.  I got a 1/2 kiddie (half of a kid's serving) and it was still giant!  Their home is adjacent to the Smith farm.  I thought it was so neat to be pretty much sleeping where Joseph and his family once were.  In fact their back balcony faced the grove.  How awesome to wake up to that!  I saw my first fireflies standing on their balcony, looking into the woods.

One of the afternoons that Brandon's parents had to work, Brandon, Seth and I headed for the border to see Niagara Falls!  I had no idea how spectacular it really was.  We did the boat tour and also took an elevator to the bottom of part of the falls.  We had to wear special sandals and ponchos and yet we were still soaked!

We had a picnic by the falls.  Seth thought it was funny to open his mouth and show his food (it didn't help that we followed suit.  We'll pay for that someday, I'm sure:)

Brandon and I realized that we didn't get one photo with Grandma and Grandpa close up!  What irresponsible photographers we were!

The Sacred Grove!  Clark could name every tree and plant in the forest.  Spiritual experience aside, I was stunned at how gorgeous the forest was.  The woods there are so different than our California's natural wooded areas.  The weather made it even better.  It was warm, yet afternoon thundershowers would roll in.  There is such a special feeling in that area that is indescribable!  

Clark, in his element!

Brandon and I got to attend a session in the Palmyra temple.  This is one of the most gorgeous locations for a temple.  It just peeks through the trees and overlooks the grove.

Hill Cumorah (I had no idea how steep this hill really was)

Grandma spent extra time with Seth on a few occasions so that Brandon and I could take a tour and really enjoy it without distractions!   Seth had a great time with his granparents!  He followed grandpa around like a puppydog.  Seth had a great time going on short walks to find "woks" (rocks), clearing out tupperware drawers, etc.  

this was Seth when we were pulling away from Grandma and Grandpa!  He was SO sad!

S

Follow-up to our fabulous, spontaneous vacation

To continue on our last post, after our Miami Airport nightmare, the rest of our time in Miami was well spent!  I have to say that I am in love with Cuban food.  They sure know how to make great pulled pork, rice and black beans.  I ate it two nights in a row, it was that good!  Not to mention I love the way that everyone assumes you speak Spanish, no matter how you look.  Everyone is from somewhere exotic. South Beach was fantastic.  I was wearing way too many clothes to fit in with the regular crowd.  Everyone walks around in practically nothing.   I loved the heat and the humidity as we swam (yes SWAM in the ocean)  The water was just as warm as it was outside.  We even swam in the rain.  It rained and thundered every afternoon like clockwork.  I really like Miami!!  I wish we could have made a real vacation of it.  Brandon did have to work, so Seth and I hung out on our own for part of it.  (not a bad gig though).  

Our hotel in Coral Gables

Swimming in South Beach

I love the way seth is walking in this picture.  He just bee bopped along the beach.

Brandon's project is building a tunnel under this area from the port to the mainland.  Crazy huh?  This is also where tons of cruise ships leave.  It is gorgeous.

When we were at an outdoor shopping area it suddenly started to rain!  It rained so hard water shot up the storm drains.  After about 10 minutes it was over and dry!  The weather was crazy!

After Miami we flew to New York.  More to come...

Miami

I decided to be spontanious and go to Miami to meet Brandon (who is there for work). Then Tuesday we will fly to New York to visit Brandon's parents who are on a mission in Palmyra. What an adventure to travel by myself with a 1.5 year old. That,s okay, it was only a 5 hour trip right? Not so!!! This five hour flight turned into a thirteen hour fiasco! I was ready for Miami to drop off into the water yesterday. We landed in the middle of a lightning storm. This means that we had to sit on the runway for another hour and a half waiting to get to our gate because no crew could get to the runway safely to taxi us in. Seth did great I must say. We were starving though. We ate snack after snack, but cheerios and fruit snacks are no substitute for a good meal. Here is a quick run down of the craziness:

5 hour plane flight
1.5 hours on runway
45 minutes waiting for my stroller to get unloaded from gate check
1 hour wait in a sea of 500 people waiting to catch a broken tram that would take us to the regular airport from our docking point which was an island on the runway. Chaos is the only way to describe what happened there. Babies crying, old men screaming, police trying to keep order as they tried to figure out a way to get us to the main airpot (which had lost power due to the lightning). This is the place Seth finally broke down (hungry, hot cramped and napless). I was glad he did because his hysterics got us a ticket on of the the first wave of busses that finally started shuttling people out of this area. I was actually afraid of a stampeed. People were shoving, yelling at each other and acting crazy. I was glad to get out (as were many who had babies).
1 hour wait for our carseat which was deemed lost!
30 min renting a new carseat


Light at the end of the day! We made it to our gorgeous hotel and was upgraded to a fantastic suite. Ordered some great Cuban food. Woke up this morning and had breakst on the beach and watched the blue blue waves! AHHHHH! I love Miami now! Pics to follow

Something to Aim for

I'm hoping that by blogging my goals, I will feel more accountable to reach them.  I'm the kind of person who has to write everything down of importance or it will go to the wayside.  Being a stay at home mom has been a catalyst to my ability to put things off until tomorrow.  There are not as many deadlines as when I was working (I am grateful for that, don't get me wrong,  I'm loving my job staying at home and teaching Seth).   Some of the things I want to work on are:  read more during Seth's nap, put something away as we use it in order to make my housekeeping skills more efficient.   Work out 4 days a week.  Be more thoughtful to others. Only eat one dessert a week (that does not include chocolate milk:).  Laugh out loud more.  I frequently find things funny, but I don't show it.  I want Seth to see me laugh.  Finally, I want to give meaningful compliments more freely.  

On a completely different subject, I have been feeling very grateful to have so many great women and mothers around me on a DAILY basis!  I don't live right next to my mom, nor do I have siblings with children YET to talk to about certain issues.  I learn from everyone around me how to parent, and even just care for the basic needs of my family.   It is nice to share ideas and watch what other mother's are doing with their kids and spouses.  I think I owe part of Seth's successful 19 months of life to you all!  I have been blessed with so many fun loving and happy friends down here.