New York!

I can't believe July is basically over already! July practically flew by...which is good, because that means we are that much closer to adopting :) July started out great with a trip to New York with my family. Colby decided to stay home to save money and his vacation days for when the baby comes. So I went solo, but I still had a great time.

We went to New York to tour my little brother's mission. He came home in October and has wanted to go back and visit all of the people he got to know so well. So most of this trip included a lot of driving. We basically covered the whole state of New York in only 4 days and we stayed in a different hotel room each night (kinda crazy). But we still had a great time! Here are some fun pictures of our adventures in the big apple.

Flying there my parents and Brittany went on a separate flight so Bryce and Cassie were my travel buddies. This was a really cool tunnel that lights up in the Detroit airport.

The first day, we stopped and ate breakfast at a park in Ithica. As we were walking to the car to leave, we turned around and this is what we found. It was so cute and we all laughed :)

The Palmyra Temple

The Sacred Grove: It was so peaceful!

I was really amazed that it looked just like all the pictures and paintings you see of it.

Before we went to the Hill Cumorah pageant, we stopped to get a pizza for dinner. Before the pizza came out, my dad bought flowers for my mom and gave them to her.

This was the HUGE pizza "sheet" we got.

Brittany, Me, and Cassie waiting for the pageant to begin.

Hill Cumorah Pageant

The next day we pretty much traveled through a bunch of towns. This was at a little diner we stopped at for lunch called "The Golden Unicorn." It was kinda creepy with little unicorns all over the restaurant. But Bryce really wanted to come here to do the "Pancake Challenge." They give you 2 super extra large pancakes and if you eat them all, you get a t-shirt that says "I survived the pancake challenge at the Golden Unicorn." (He didn't do it)

They also had these fun little games called "The Original IQ Tester." You had to move the pegs until there was only one left. We all tried and tried and tried, but no one could do it. Then my dad grabbed one and did it on his first try! We were all so shocked!

One night we stayed at a hotel on the historical registry called "Hotel Utica." I loved all the fancy wood work. This was above the lobby.

This was the whole travel group on the front steps of the mission president's home.

Left to Right - Top: Brittany, Mom, Dad

Bottom: Me, Cassie, Bryce, and Abigail in the background

Another place we stopped to eat. I really liked this quote they had.

In Albany at the "egg." It's kinda hard to see but this was on the roof of a building and on the left and right behind me there were two big ponds. In the winter they freeze and use them for ice skating. It would be so fun to be there in the winter!

Downtown NYC.

It was good, but I didn't like how smelly and dirty it was. Nothing like home!

Statue of Liberty

I found this at one of the little stands on the street. I was so amazed because whenever you see anything like key chains or magnets with names, my name is NEVER there, and if it is, it definitely isn't ever spelled right. So when I saw this I was so excited I had to take a picture of it!

At the top of the Empire State Building

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!

It was a lot of fun and we made many memories we'll cherish for a long time.