Christmas Time in NYC!

As I look back at a lot of my blogs, I realize that Pete and I have been blessed with many great travel experiences this year! This has not been typical of our past existence . . . it is a new thing for us, and I hope that by describing our adventures, it doesn't come across as too pretentious or extravagant! I feel really blessed at this time of year, not just for the material things we have, but mostly for my family. I will describe my trip to NYC momentarily, but first, I want to share Mitchell's Christmas letter to Santa, then maybe you too will understand why I have such great feelings of joy about my life and family. The spelling has not been changed, although I wish you could see his cute, much improved handwriting.

Dear, Santa
My mom needs a purse that's in order so she can find stuff a lot faster. And how do you now what we want four Chismas? My mom is named Nickel Fisher. Fisher is are last name.
Yours truly,
Mitchell Fisher

I would also copy Jake's, but I don't want to embarrass him by a comparison to his saintly brother . . . ! My Mitch is such a sweet kid! I suppose I need to stop losing my keys at the bottom of my gargantuan purse very day before school, and stop asking the kids to find my cell phone amongst all my receipts and spare diapers. But what a cutie to think of me and my needs as he writes his letter to Santa. I could learn a lesson or two from that kid!


Anyhow, I had a long weekend of very special mother/daughter time with my Madeline in New York City. It has been a dream of mine, since I was 17 and first saw "When Harry Met Sally" to visit New York at Christmas time. Pete was kind enough to arrange his schedule to watch the boys and help make our trip possible. We were lucky to get a great deal on flights and a hotel right in Times Square, so getting around was very simple. We left very early on Thursday morning for a 5:45am flight. After a stop-over in Minneapolis, we reached NYC around 2pm. We cabbed it to our hotel, the Sheraton Manhattan on 7th Ave. and 51st. My biggest concern about taking Madeline was all the walking we'd be doing, and the location of our hotel really aided us in that matter.


Thursday evening, we had ballet tickets to the NYC Ballet Nutcracker. It was a beautiful ballet, although a bit different from the Ballet West Nutcracker that I'm use to. For instance, the little girl's name is Marie instead of Clara and the 2nd half of the show only slightly resembled Ballet West. The Sugar Plum Fairy was an amazing dancer and the Christmas tree from the Party scene was spectacular. We walked the 16 short blocks home from the Lincoln center, enjoying the lights and all the people. Madeline made a very funny observation that night. As we were walking she asked, "Why does everyone in New York were black?" And sure enough, everyone around us, including myself, were dressed in black with black coats. Earlier we had eaten pizza at Angelo's above the David Letterman show, and afterwards, had dessert at the Brooklyn Diner.


Each night, we read from The Little Princess together, and then got Madeline's American Girl dolls (Samantha and Nicki) ready for bed in their pajamas. Madeline chose a different spot for them each night. When we woke, we changed them into outfits to hit the Radio City Music Hall's Christmas spectacular, featuring the Rockettes. I couldn't believe how many people were crammed into that theatre, but it was a very fun show. Lots of tap dancing and kick lines. They also had a 3-D number were an animated Santa flew through the audience--Madeline thought that was very cool. My favorite part, aside from picturing my former life as a Rockette, was the live Nativity scene. There were real camels and sheep on stage. I loved that in all of that glitz and commercial glam, the true meaning of Christmas was represented to the thousands of audience members.


After the show, we headed to the American Girl Place. We first headed to the doll hospital since Nicki had need of a hair replacement surgery. After dressing her in a hospital gown and placing her in a doll wheel chair, Madeline took a picture and said her goodbyes. We then headed to the cafe, where Samantha had her own booster seat and tea cup along with our meals. We started on the 3rd floor and looked at everything, going all the way to the lower level, where Samantha got her hair done. Then we went back to the top and picked out the items Madeline liked the most. It was so fun!


Saturday, we did Christmas shopping for the boys and Pete, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, and saw the matinee of Mary Poppins. A friend who lives in NY, got us great orchestra seats just a few rows from the stage--it was amazing! The show was great, the chimney sweeps song was definitely my favorite number, and I loved the house--it looked like a huge dollhouse on stage.
Probably, my favorite moments were watching Madeline's enthusiastic claps after each number, especially when Bert walked along the frame of the stage and tap danced on the ceiling, and when Mary Poppins flew away into the audience.

When we picked up our tickets from will call, Madeline had seen the poster for The Little Mermaid, and me, lover of all things theatrical decided we ought to go see that show too. Our seats were nosebleeders, but it was a fabulous show--who doesn't love The Little Mermaid?

Our last day in New York, we took it easy in the morning, then walked down 5th Avenue to see all the window displays. We walked all the way to Madison Ave. and 62nd street, where we found a quiet little deli & cafe for lunch. The food was served buffet style ranging from Chinese to Italian and a little bit of everything inbetween. It was kindof a nice place for contrast--outside, the streets sophisticated upper-east side, inside was a place struggling for identity with kitschy decor and cheesy plastic flower pots. I loved it! We walked around Central Park and FAO-Schwartz, the walked Central Park Ave. to Columbus Circle--just so Madeline could take the subway one more time before we went home.

A few other highlights were the seals at the Central Park Zoo, snow falling in the city, the huge Christmas tree at the Rockefellar center and for Madeline, the white hot chocolate at the local Dunkin Donuts after the Little Mermaid. It was a dream come true for me, exactly what I had always wanted and even better because I got to share it with my adorable daughter!

We are happy to be home--with snow for Christmas. I loved getting so many Christmas cards from friends, it's one of my favorite things about the holiday season. Plus I get to hang out in my warm house with all the Christmas lights on, all the people I love most around me, recognizing how blessed and happy I am! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May you feel the magic of Christmas in your hearts!

Mitchell's Big Day!

Last Saturday, Mitchell met a mile stone in his young life, that of being baptized a member of our church. It was a great day--he was so excited. There were two other girls being baptized the same day, but the stake Primary presidency did a cute spot light on each of the kids--Mitchell's focused on prayer and the story of Enos. Maybe I'll copy it and post it--it was really cute. Anyhow, he was shaking hands and smiling, a big feat for my shy, reserved son. After the baptism and confirmation, we had a little family and friends get together at our house. We started a tradition with Jake of letting the kids choose the menu for lunch. Jake chose BBQ beef sandwiches and brownies, Mitch chose pizza and Brownie Sundaes. Pete also made a "Mitchell movie" similar to one made for Jake on his big day, a photo montage set to music. It has been a fun highlight for both boys and good entertainment while I got the food ready. We missed having Janae's family and my sister Heather there, but we were happy to have Misty, Brent and Gabe in town from Vancouver, WA. Misty announced that she's having baby #4 (another boy) in April. That makes 13 grandkids on my side, since Chantel is due with a baby girl in January. We are proud of Mitch for being such a great kid and for choosing to be baptized!

Anyhow, Mitchell had a great day! After the baptism and party, he, along with Pete, Jake and Grandpa Byron attended the BYU basketball game. Meanwhile, I took Madeline and Tyler to our ward Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, although once again, I've exposed myself for the goof-ball I really am. After a nice dinner, the kids could watch a Christmas movie or make gingerbread houses. The adults divided into groups to dress in props and plan a karaoke number to a Christmas song. I had my good friend Emilie in my group, so after donning a pilgrims bonnet and a scarf, we tap danced, sang and basically made fools of ourselves that were captured on film. During the moment, I was having a good time, but I wasn't happy about the photos on the bulletin board in the church foyer the next day. Why? Why do I do these silly things? One man said, "Great, we make fools of ourselves and we can't even blame it on alcohol." So what's my excuse?

Attended another musical at PMT tonight--A Light in the Piazza. I have to say, although the acting, singing, sets, costumes, etc. were good, the story line was not a favorite. I was lost after finding out one of the leads got kicked in the head by a horse. The music got very dramatic describing the incident. Granted, it would be sad to get kicked in the head by a horse, but come on . . . it's not an incident worthy of a central plot and two songs. I would give the show a solid B.

Today, I hosted a visiting teaching brunch at our house that turned out to be really fun and watched Madeline's dance performance. Tomorrow we're off to a family party, niece's dance performance at the zoo, and Pete and Mitch to a Jazz game with their Jr. Jazz team (Pete's the coach). Although, we're supposed to get a snow storm tonight and I'm not sure I want to traipse through the snow with my kids tomorrow night to see the zoo lights and a show, I guess we'll see how it all pans out. Happy Holidays to all!

P.S. I finally gave up the notion of writing Christmas cards this year and boy does it feel good! Maybe next year! Or maybe, I'll just abandon that project all together. I love receiving everyone else's, I even display them in my house--but I'm feeling so good right now . . . simplify, right?

Thanksgiving Weekend

I think this may be my longest blogging delay, but I am finding that the holiday season is packed with activities. I did want to take a few minutes to describe our great Thanksgiving weekend to Springdale with Pete's family.

Unfortunately, our trip was delayed a day due to a bout of stomach flu on my part, but Thursday morning, we hopped in the car and drove the 4 1/2 hour drive to Springdale, a quaint little town at the mouth of Zions Canyon. We arrived just in time to enjoy a fabulous traditional turkey dinner with Pete's parents, sister Janae's family, a teenage girl visiting from Brazil and our brood. In Pete's family, it's a tradition to go around the table and express words of thanksgiving. I have to say, though I think it's a good exercise, it always makes me a little nervous and uncomfortable since I'm horrible at verbally expressing myself. Anyhow, my favorite part of the trip, aside from just hanging out and enjoying family, was a bike ride down Zion Canyon, back to Pete's parents home. We were driven to the top of the canyon, where we discovered that one of the bike's Pete had worked on all morning, had a flat tire, so he drove back down the canyon, while I rode with Jake and my nephew Spencer. We stopped at a small, roadside waterfall and admired the beauty of that amazing national park. Sheer rock cliffs with old growth Cottonwood trees, still shedding their foliage. It was a gorgeous blue sky, cool morning with golden leaves falling slowly on the road and surrounding landscape. Pete caught up with us just as we left the road for a trail. I loved the trail best of all because my stress level with two ten-year old boys was alleviated and we could just enjoy the ride.


Saturday, we spent the day in St. George. Pete golfed with his dad, uncle and brother-in-law, while I took 6 kids to Fiesta Fun, a mini amusement park of sorts. The kids played video games and drove the go-carts. I thought I was going to lose my lunch when Spence had Mitchell on his go-cart and decided to try and spin it. They crashed into a side wall, luckily with no one behind them, and were okay. Tyler rode with Jake, the first lap clinging tightly to Jake's forceps, but as the ride continued, was prodding Jake on to go even faster. Thankfully, my niece Anne was very cautious with my Madeline.

After Fiesta Fun, I took the big kids to a movie. Jake saw Twilight, and was disappointed it was a romance instead of an action packed vampire movie. I took my 3 youngest to lunch at The Pizza Factory, one of my favorite places to eat in St. George, where I ordered my favorite pizza--fresh tomato and black olive. I had to order a mini size since there was no way my kids would even try it. Then we hit the TJMaxx mega store, where I loaded up on Christmas gifts and decor. Later that evening, we met up with Pete and our good friends, the Harmsen's. We ate at Cafe Rio and got Nelsen's frozen custard before heading back to Springdale. It was a fun, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. We had such a good time, we're thinking about doing that every year and making the day after Thanksgiving bike ride a family tradition. I'm not so sure my mom would like that though, so maybe every other year!