Italian Fesitval

Even though we don't have any Italian heritage that we know of, we could not pass up on the opportunity to go to a festival in downtown Buffalo that centered around great Italain food. We found a lot of different food options, but of course, the kids wanted pizza. Michael and I tried to be a little more daring and ate some meatballs and portabello ravioli.

Hayden thought that he had died and gone to pizza heaven. So many vendors, so little time!

After lunch, the kids found pastries and cookies.

But, Michael and I found deep fried options. Ever had a deep fried Twinkie or Oreo? Well, we haven't and it was too weird to pass up. We tried a deep fried Snickers and although it was really sweet, it was very good. Gotta love these Italian vendors!

Hill Cumorah Pageant

After nearly deciding not to go because it was raining so hard at our house, we drove out to Palmyra, NY for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We should have had a little more faith to begin with because the weather was wonderful throughout the evening, despite the weather reports. This is our family standing in front of the stage which had been built on the hill. We had just finished eating at our stake's potluck dinner with new friends and ward members.

This picture shows more of the stage and how it is set up. It is massive, and the whole area looked much different from last November when Michael and I arrived near sunset and there were only four of us walking around on the grounds. The atmosphere was charged with energy and families were throwing footballs and frisbees, eating picnic dinners and meeting up with friends and family. It felt like a family reunion and we all felt comfortable there.

Then, after a few cell phone calls, we were able to meet up with Braden and Brianne from our previous ward. It was great to see them before the pageant and to see Brianne's costume up close. Braden would change into his angel costume later. They were smiling the entire time and were having a great experience performing in the pageant. They walk through the crowds each evening and meet with people and it was fun to visit with them and hear of their experiences. It made it much more meaningful to know some of the performers personally and we were thrilled that we were able to find them.

These two are amazing, I only hope that Hayden and Sydney can be this close in the future!



One of my favorite scenes during the pageant was the depiction of the vision of the tree of life. There was water spraying up that set the backdrop and the imagery was spectacular. There were so many great moments during the pageant, even Maura climbed up on my lap and at one point said, "Mom, that is so beautiful, take a picture, take a picture!" And of course, the music was wonderful and the costumes were incredible, especially for the Book of Mormon characters. We had a great night with our family and with new friends. Come join us next July!

This and That

Despite the continual rain showers, and cool weather, we are pretending that it is summer here in western New York. There is a great amusement park called Darien Lake that we have bought season passes to. We have gone the last three Fridays, and this last week it was finally warm enough to swim at the water parks. All three kids loved the wave pool the most. We also went on the log ride, a river raft ride called Grizzly Run and Shipwreck Falls too. On the way home we had to take a detour around the parade that was happening in Alden, and we had to make two emergencies potty stops, one was at a bar. It was all that I could find and Maura was desperate! Needless to say, I hope that Michael will be accompanying us for the next Darien Lake adventure because I was exhausted by the time we pulled in on Friday.






This week we also tried out a babysitter. One of the girls who lives on our street came over and took care of my girls while Hayden and I went to the middle school to get him registered. The girls liked her a lot. Can you believe that there are 3 typed pages in a small font that list all of the supplies that we need to buy for middle school? Sydney has about a 2 page list for third grade as well. I thought that with the $6,000 school tax that we pay things like that would be covered! It may take us the rest of the summer to find all of the stuff! Oh well, it will give us something to do I guess.



Other happenings this week... we fed the missionaries dinner, bought double scoop ice cream cones in Hamburg, went to the drive in movies, had dinner at Tina's Italian Kitchen, took the kids to golf lessons, and bought a lawn mower. We also dog sat the neighbor's dog, went shopping at Vidler's, played at Hamlin Park and went to the Fisher Price Toy Store.

So as you can see, our busy schedule has followed us to New York. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Hayden's 11th Birthday

After being in New York for nearly two weeks, we can't believe how much it rains. Nearly every day since we have arrived it rains, sometimes two inches in one afternoon. So of course, the thunder storms rolled in on Hayden's birthday. We decided to go celebrate indoors at a place that has inflatable slides and bounce houses, arcade games and stuff. It was a brilliant plan. I sat and read a book, the kids wore themselves out running, climbing, jumping and bouncing. No fighting, no mess, no problem.

Sydney, Maura and Hayden at the top of one of the slides.

After the kids were totally exhausted, we came home and waited for Michael to join us. We barbequed at Hayden's request and then we had birthday brownies and ice cream. Hayden wanted brownies because we still had cake from Maura's birthday hanging around.


Even with eleven candles to blow out, he made it look easy. Happy Birthday Hayden, we love you!! And we are especially proud of you for earning your Arrow of Light before your birthday!

Maura Turns Four!

Maura may be one year older, but she still wanted to celebrate her birthday the same way as last year- she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. Luckily, the only one in the area is about 10 minutes away. The five of us went for a couple of hours and had fun spending our tokens, earning tickets and redeeming them for prizes. Maura loved every minute of it. And I have to say that I still enjoy a high scoring game of skeeball!

I could not have made a cake in the new house last weekend, but I pulled it off this weekend. I had unpacked enough boxes to find two matching cake pans and Michael somehow dug out some matches that were not confiscated by the moving company. It took a little more effort in a new kitchen with appliances that I am not used to, but in the end, it was a cake, and there were four candles, and she made a wish and blew it out. Now my baby is four and I feel old! Oh well, Happy Birthday Maura, we absolutely adore you.

Arriving in New York

After flying for several hours and a delay in Chicago, we landed in New York in the rain. We had seven checked bags and seven carry ons, which is not the traveling lightly philosophy that we generally follow. Somehow Michael packed it all into our mini van rental and got us to the hotel before midnight. The next day we had carpet installed in our master bedroom and bought a refrigerator and dishwasher. Friday the moving van arrived and after 13 long and exhausting hours, it was finally empty. Unfortunately, the house was not. Boxes were everywhere, nearly reaching the ceiling in some rooms. Let the unpacking begin!!

Tails and Scales

We started our summer off with a fun birthday party for one of the cousins. Our whole family was able to go to a show put on by Tails and Scales of Utah. We learned a lot about lizards, and snakes, alligators vs. crocs and more. It was a lot of fun, very interactive, and we were all very brave and decided to hold some of the snakes! Check out these pictures.

Jen and Sydney with "Nanners", an albino python.

Maura holding a smaller python, and she said she wouldn't hold a snake!

Michael and "Nanners"