Sunday, June 24, 2018

NYC and Boston Girls Trip

My Mom, Sister, and I had never been on a girls trip before and kind of got a wild hair.  We decided to go to New York for a few days.  We had a great time!  We ended up staying in a great location that made our activities pretty convenient.  Here are the highlights!
Our View from the hotel

We left Thursday and got in late that night.  It still amazes me that in a short amount of time, we can cross the US and be in the hustle and bustle of one of the biggest cities in the world.  I love NYC.  Friday morning, we went to the Metropolitan Museum.  A person could spend days there, but we spent a couple of hours just looking at the things that interested us.  The Romans and South American artifacts.  I took lots of pictures, but I can't put them all on the blog.  Here are a few.

The Met
 Some of my favorites from the museum


This is made from tiny feathers.

I love this picture



Friday night we went to the Phantom of the Opera.  I was excited about this show.  I used to play this music over and over for Brooke while we were growing up.  But I hadn't seen the show, and the Phantom exceeded all expectations.  Christine had such a lovely clear voice.  When it was all said and done, I wanted to see it again.  My Mom said that was awesome!  I want to see another one.  But that wasn't in the plans, so we all just kind of giggled.




Saturday, we woke up and hopped on a city tour bus and drove south to the Financial District.  It was fun to ride around and see the city.  We have usually walked or taken the subway, so it was neat to see it all.  I love walking around this part of NY and realized this time that I always want to stay near Time square, but the financial district is my favorite.  I just love the feeling there, and I love the buildings.  (Not to mention it's way less crowded.) We visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  I loved it the second time too.













We stopped and got some great treats from Carlos Bakery.



On our way back, I kept thinking we should go to Wicked that night because we didn't have any set plans.  I checked to see if they had tickets.  They did, and we decided to go!  It was great, as well.  But, the more I think about it, I think I did like the Phantom better.


Sunday was a travel day.  Brooke had to get home for work, so we parted ways and hopped a train to Boston.  Boston is also such a cool city.  Getting there Sunday afternoon and walking to our home for the next few days, I couldn't help but notice how quiet it was.  There was hardly anyone out and about.  We had a spectacular walk, and I really enjoyed seeing all of the old and new buildings.  We stayed in Old Town, Little Italy.  It was really cool.  I also had to look up the population of Boston because I had pictured it much bigger.  It is only about a quarter of a million and much more family-friendly than NY.





Right outside our Air BnB
Monday morning, we started our walk on the Freedom Trail.  We had many cool stops.  My two favorites were the Paul Revere House just because it's crazy old and the Old North Church.  The Old North Church was impressive.  If you look at the pictures, there are little box pews (I call them).  Many of the close ones had names on them.  I found it funny that nowadays, at church, many people would rather sit in the back while those that had names on them were all in the front.  It looked to me that those with close seats paid for theirs.  They also had places for people of color. 
Paul Revere House

Paul Revere Statue



Old North Church "One if by land..."









This red brick trail is all over Boston.  We followed it to see all the sites on the Freedom Trail

A very cool old Cemetary



 We also stopped for some Fish n Chips (yes, I went off my GF diet while we were gone.  I paid for it, but it was worth it!)



We also went to the Boston Tea Party Museum.  It was really cool, but I couldn't take very many pictures.




Tuesday, we took a cruise of the Harbor and shopped a bit.

Here we are on top of the cruise ship.




Just a really cool street we walked past.

A great pizza place

I'm so glad we decided to split the trip between NY and Boston, I love seeing new cities.  Send me to a city over the beach any day.

Walking around this old city that's been around since before the revolution made me realize that nation is old, but the US isn't old compared to the rest of the world.  Our country isn't even 250 years old.  The Eastern world is thousands of years old.  Rigby was only established 134 years ago.  It was neat to see all the ancient artifacts at the Met, but I need to go travel the other side of the world, haha.

It was special to spend those days with my sister and Mom, and I think we made some good memories.  Family is the best!

These kids liked their new shirts too! 

Friday, June 15, 2018

Conrad's 12 Year Old Trip

Conrad LOVES baseball.  Conrad LOVES the Braves.  Conrad LOVES Freddie Freeman, the Brave's first baseman.  So, you can probably guess where he chose to go for his trip with Bo and me.  Yes, of course, he decided Atalanta, Georgia.  Atlanta is an awesome city!  I was excited to go and make memories with Conrad.  We left Friday, April 13th from Idaho Falls, the flight was great, and we made it there at a great time.  The other kids were left with their grandparents.  Thanks so much to them for watching these kiddos so we could spend some quality parent/child time together with Con!!!


Saturday, we got up and went to Six Flags.  Conrad was really excited about Six flags, but when we got there, he started to get nervous and didn't want to go on any of the big rides.  Bo, kind of forced him on a couple of big ones.  I wasn't sure that was the best idea, but he later said he was glad Bo had him made him go on those big rides so he could have so much fun.  The Superman ride was the best (in my opinion).






Afterward, we went to a Brazillian Churrascos for dinner.  It was so yummy!  Probably the best restaurant we've ever eaten.  Lucky kid!

We spent Sunday enjoying beautiful sea creatures.  The Aquarium of Atlanta was terrific!  It's the biggest in the world.  Look at these gorgeous pics!












When we go on trips, we like to take the kids somewhere educational, so we took Conrad to the Civil Rights Museum Monday morning.  He thought it was pretty neat.  He especially liked the map at the top of the museum that shows freedoms around the world.  I know it sunk in at least a little bit because he brought it up in a conversation about freedoms a few days ago.



Monday afternoon and evening was the time Conrad said he'd been waiting his whole life for.  He had paid for his portion to watch batting practice, so we went early for that.  It was fun to watch him during practice.  He had a great time and was able to get some great autographs and even a broken bat.  He wasn't able to get Freddie Freeman's signature, but he was ok with that since he got all of the other stuff.  We also had great seats and the game was awesome.  They won! 

 










After we got back, we found he had been behind in school, and he had a massive pile of work to make up.  This is what I came home to one night a few days later.

Here he is learning how to mow the lawn.  
Loving it!

 As much as I sometimes want to pause time, it still passes.  This kid is really growing up.  I love this phase.  I love watching the kids grow and develop their personalities and talents. I love that they still like spending time with us.  I am really grateful for this trip we get to spend individually with Conrad.  We've made memories to last a lifetime.  We are so blessed.

And Like That, He's Twelve

Conrad turned twelve on April 3, but he was able to celebrate a few times.  We had his party with family on Monday the second.  He had his friends over to the warehouse and watched a movie.  They had a great time.  I forgot to take pictures, though.  Bummer.

We also had a party with Grandma and Grandpa Christensen.  That's where we ate his delicious and very sweet cake.  He made sure I bought a gluten-free cake mix so I could have some.  He's so thoughtful.  The only thing he wanted for his birthday was his cracked hinge on his Nintendo DS fixed.  Since he was turning 12, I wanted him to have a new set of scriptures too.  He was actually excited to see those when he opened them up.

The next week we went to Atlanta...I'll post about that next.





It was fun even though it doesn't look like it in this picture! LOL
Conrad is the peacemaker in our home.  He doesn't fight very often and rarely starts it.  Instead, Con loves to make people smile and laugh.  He's an excellent example for his younger brothers to follow.  I love hearing the stories about his day or what's going on in life, and he tells me.  He really is a great kid.

At 12, Conrad loves:


  • Baseball
  • Nintendo DS
  • Minecraft
  • Spending time with Friends
  • Fishing
  • Laughing
  • Jokes
  • Scouts
  • His outdoor survival class
We love
  • His thoughtfulness
  • How much he helps when I need him
  • Hearing about his day
  • Watching him play baseball
  • Seeing him advance and receive the Aaronic Priesthood and going to the temple with him and watching as he helps out our ancestors
  • Watching him pass the sacrament
  • Just watching him grow and have new experiences.

Happy Birthday, Conrad.  We're so happy to see the young man you are growing into.  Keep it up!  We can't wait to see what the next year brings.  

.