Life in NY

We have been here for about a month now and Justice started school last Monday, well it has really been orientation and not any real classes yet, he has a few next week but the real fun begins the week after! He is excited and is enjoying meeting all kinds of people. My first week home with the kids has been a bit eventful, I started Potty training Izaac last Tuesday and he is doing really well, he loves to wear his underwear and usually makes it on to the potty, the trouble with having a boy is that even if he is sitting on the potty he can still shoot pretty far and i still get to do the clean up, we are working on tucking it in!! I am really thankful that he is doing so well he really enjoys in, most of the time, I think he likes feeling like a big boy and being more like mommy and daddy.

Cora had been sick this week and throwing up for a few days now. She doesn't have a fever at all she just can't keep anything down. Poor thing is so droopy she just lays around and stares at things.

Justice and I gave talks in church this morning, but left right after sacrament meeting due to Cora still being sick. We are hoping that she bounces back soon.

Here are some random funny, or things that I think are funny, stories from our adventures around NY are

1) While driving down the street past the old folks home we noticed a line of 10-15 people standing by a white vehicle, I thought it was a Handi-bus or something picking them up but as we got closer we realized that it was an ice cream truck, apparently the food there isn't so great

2) People in NY love to tell you what to do, and us having a son like Izaac brings this upon us even more so. We went to Ikea in Brooklyn a few weeks ago and Izaac found a little baking dish toy that he loved and he was climbing onto the shelf pretending to go into a house and put into the oven, well after a minute of that I tried to get him to come out of the shelf and put the toy back he can be very stubborn so it took a few minutes of me pulling and struggling and bribing to get him to move on... well as this commotion was going on a kindly Ikea employee comes up to me and says that he really shouldn't be playing on the shelf as he could get hurt... oh, well thank you, ya the reason he was screaming was because I was forcing him onto the shelf it's a good thing you came along to lend your support... seriously drive me crazy.

3) o.k. so I can only think of two stories right now but I wanted it to look like more so I made another number... hehehe

View of Lady Liberty from the Ferry
Playing on the ferry coming back from Manhattan
I told Izaac that he couldn't have a cookie until he looked at the camera and smiled for me and this is what I got, silly boy!
(Yes this is Izaac's new car seat I convinced Justice that Cora needed a girly thing to grow into and Izaac would be out of it in a few months leaving Cora with a lovely girl car seat for many years to come!)

We looked at some beautiful Greek style buildings around the children's museum We will definitely be going back around there they have all kinds of gardens and beautiful old buildings to look at.
Cora drivin the boat

We went to the children's museum on Staten Island and Izaac was of course drawn to the water exhibit

Cora loves standing up these days, she won't take any steps unless we are holding her hands but she gets so excited to stand on her own

Not my baby, so when I put Cora's hair up in ponytails she looks sooo much like one of Ashley's babies, it is so crazy!

Izaac in his big boy underwear in the kitchen

Visit to the ocean that is a block from our house

Justices first day of school!!

Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to turn it, I forgot to put this on the last post but it cracks me up every time so I am putting it on now!

Cora has started to growl like a dinosaur whenever she sees one it is so funny to me whenever she does it!

On the way to New York

Well I have been a little lazy what with unpacking and painting our house and haven't updated my blog for awhile but here it is and it will be as long as Izaac lets it be Hopefully his cereal will be a distraction for long enough for me to write a few things. We didn't have a specific plan only highlights we wanted to see on the trip so I made headings just for the fun of it.

Montana

We left Vegas one Very hot day and made our way up to Montana where my parents met us with the kids. The went back home that same night but we stayed a few days with Justices parents. We had fun having Bonfires, swimming in Swan Lake, and just visiting. Izaac Loved the lake, we could barely get him out when he was shivering and blue. I was surprised that he liked it so much considering it was so cold but my by loves water.

Magrath

*We made the jont up to Magrath on a Tuesday or so and had fun visiting with my family. Grandma Harrison kindly let us take over her basement. There was a Harrison family Reunion going on so we got to see many people that we wouldn't have normally so that was really fun. My beloved sister Ashley was also there with Madacyn it has been years since we have actually seen each other, I had never met Madacyn and she hadn't met either of my kiddos so it was a fun get together!

*We did skip a day and went to the Calgary Zoo, I had been wanting to go for years now but that was the day as there was a coupon on my cereal box that morning giving one free admission, Justice agreed and off we went to Calgary. It was really fun Izaac Loved seeing the animals especially the Elephants he just stared at them for awhile, it was really cool to watch them eat using their trunks to pick things up and move things around. Cora loved all the animals too signing "Puppy" for each of them

*Justin Harkers band Air Raid Anthem came up from Vegas to do a show in Magrath and it was amazing, It should have been for all the work Aunt DeNai put into it, We took the whole family mostly because everyone was going and we couldn't find a babysitter to watch them but it was o.k. Cora slept in the hall with my dad who was in charge of collecting the food bank donations that was the toll for the concert. Izaac had fun running around with Madacyn, eventually, letting Justice and I dance a bit. It has certainly been awhile since I have been to a dance like that Good times!

*Magrath days is always eventful with parades and petting zoos and family and fireworks. I skipped out on helping with the Lions breakfast this year, Sorry dad, we woke up late and hurried back to the babies. The parade is always fun Izaac doesn't quite have the candy getting thing yet but I do and i appreciate having a kid as an excuse to go out there and get some which all of the family sitting on the chairs behind appreciated (Your Welcome). Grandma Harrison had made a lovely meal after the parade which we all devoured in a matter of minutes before going to the petting zoo. Izaac loved all the animals again and insisted on feeding them, Unfortunately they were not wanting to be fed. It was hilarious as he tried to feed a tall Llama, he held up this piece of food for at least 5 minutes waiting for the Llama to take it, then the Llama finally sat down and realizing the Llama wasn't going for the food from his hand he brought the whole tray over and sat it in front of the Llama, unfortunately the Llama still wasn't going for it so he tried bringing another tray over but was intercepted and distracted by some goats. there were baby goats and huge goats, Izaac saw many people carrying around the baby goats and decided he wanted to carry a goat also, only he picks the biggest goat around awsomely enough I got it on tape! still funny!

The kids liked the fireworks well enough, at least they didn't cry.

We spent the rest of our time there visiting with the Davies side of the family We had fun at FHE at Bennetts and visiting with everyone including the Cooks who are now Magrathites again!!

Mt. Rushmore

The thought of a 13h trip to start off with sounded good in theory but definitely didn't turn out that way, me made it to Billings, MT the first night and thought of the Hildreths as we stayed in their lovely city. then another night somewhere in Iowa, before finally making it to Mt. Rushmore. We got there late but it was o.k. as we were just in time for the lighting ceremony where they turn the lights on the faces it was really cool even if my camera doesn't do it justice. Another stop we made in SD was to the Worlds only corn palace, we saw roadside adds and decided we couldn't live without seeing it so we stopped and looked at all the building and murals decorated completely out of corn it was pretty cool and a nice stop on the way.

Nauvoo

We got to Nauvoo and met up with Uncle Gregg and family who were there as part of the Pagent, Uncle Gregg was Brother Merryweather and they both are in charge of the preshow activities. They kindly let us stay in their house for a few nights and graciously showed us around Nauvoo. We went to the Pagent twice so we could get to see the parts we missed through wiggling children. It was really amazing and fun to see.

Carthage/Kirtland

We saw Carthage jail on our way away from Nauvoo and although we had loud fussy children we were glad we got to see it. Kirtland was our next stop and we got out own tour due again to said loud and fussy children. It was a nice quiet little town that amazing things happened in. really cool.

Palmyra

We Went through the Smith farm and Sacred grove and it was beautiful, The grove is huge and there are trails that you can follow, we took the shortest one but it was lovely.

Niagara Falls

We got to Niagara Falls a little late which was good for us as we got to skip the $10 parking fee and walk around for free. Niagara Falls was not a disappointment. It was AMAZING we saw it from a few different angles and it was beautiful and awe inspiring,

New Home in Staten Island

Our home is Beautiful. Justice did a great job picking it out for us. Only problem is is that it is HUGE and our stuff barely fills it up It is three levels the three bedrooms are on the top floor, the kitchen, living room and dining room are in the middle and the garage, playroom and laundry closet are on the bottom, there is a bathroom on each level as well. It is fairly new and there is a bit of a back yard for the kids to play in.

We painted the middle floor, after living in places with white walls for so long we went for colour!! They said we could paint so we went for it, pictures of that are to come. We have gotten a few things for our house including a futon for the playroom that anyone is welcome to use as they visit us!! So... Come and Visit US!! Seriously, Any time!

Love to all!

-Pilgrims

There are more pictures on my Facebook page