pretty awesome...

Blogger was not being very friendly last night...I posted the pictures, wrote a post and then it was deleted! I realized it immediately - but I didn't want to stay up and write the same post.  I finally bit the bullet and rewrote it...thankfully this time blogger was kind :)

Friday the older kids have early out at 1:05 & Jacob's Kindergarten starts at 1:10 up at the UofU.  The timing doesn't work really well to have everyone where they need to be at the exact time, and since my mom usually has Friday off - I have her pick up the older kids so that Madeleine can have a piano lesson and they get time with Grandma while I take Jacob up to class and either volunteer that afternoon or run errands.

This week she had the kiddos earlier in the week, so I picked up the older kids from school and then we cruised to get Jacob to his class...he was late, but thankfully his class is laid back about this :) We then drove down to Gateway and had plans to go shopping at Gymboree (Gymbucks time!) and head to the Children's Museum.

Two strikes were that 1) Gymboree is no longer in the Gateway. I should have double-checked! and 2) the children's museum was insanely busy as part of the Salt Lake area must have been on Spring Break. Every foot of the museum was packed with kids and it was not fun - so we left after 20 minutes...we signed up for the 6 month pass back in March so coming and going will be much easier and I won't feel guilty at how long we stay :)

We tried to find a park while I drove through the avenues back towards the U. I saw a big grassy area up a few blocks and drove towards it --- only to realize that we had come upon the Salt Lake Cemetery. This may seem weird to many people - for me, it's natural. My father was a Funeral Director when I was growing up - I wouldn't say I'm at home around death and the things related...but it doesn't bother me. I also love this specific cemetery as my Grandma Miller is buried there, and it has one incredible view of the Salt Lake Valley...oh, and it has many of the Prophets buried there as well :) We drove by George Albert Smith's family plot on the way out and saw his headstone. The older kids and I were amazed & I want to go back and see if we can find the other Prophets plots at a later time.

Anyway, we were able to find my Grandma's headstone after I drove up and down those narrow little "streets" and could feel that I was getting close, but couldn't remember the exact location. I'm so thankful that Grandpa Miller decided to get a headstone that is prominent to read from the street...that it is VERY close to the road also really helps.

The kiddos and I got out and we viewed her headstone and talked about how long she had lived, and then also viewed the headstone of her parents which are buried in the neighboring plot, as well as her sister who died at 2 years of age. It was a brief visit as it was chilly & windy - however it was sweet. There is a very special spirit, one of reverence and remembering, at cemeteries and I'm looking forward to Memorial Day when we will do a tour of a few cemeteries to go and visit ancestors that have passed on.

On the way out, we passed by this amazing flowering tree and I was just in awe at how intense the blooms were. I asked Madeleine to take a picture for me & she snapped one on the phone from the car (1st photo). Then she looked at it, and told me she needed to go closer to get a better shot. She hopped out, and took the 2nd photo - which really was better! I'm so proud of her little photographer eye!

Photo 1

Photo 2 (I made it larger - but look how much better it is!)

When we got home, the kiddos and I worked together to make Zuppa Toscana soup for dinner. This is THE meal that we all love and could have on a very regular basis....oh, it's so yummy! The great part as well is that everyone loves to help make it, which I love as it's not a complicated soup - it just takes time.

The boys got to work peeling potatoes & in the middle of their work Bryson Jr. asked me if we could open a family restaurant so we could work together. I love the idea & would love to be able to do that...

Hopefully it can be sooner than later - I love working together and it's especially nice when we are all working on a project and everyone is getting along. Ahhhh...I'll take a 1/2 hour of {almost} bliss :)

Madeleine was trying her hand out (literally) in cutting the slice of potato --- however she still needs some tutoring and I was worried a finger would be chopped off in the process of trying to finish dinner. Then I had a brilliant thought - the slicer I had purchased after a demo at the local grocery store (yes, I fell for one of those sales marketing little demo shows!) - so I pulled it out and she whipped through slicing the potatoes on the new little kitchen gadget - she was happy to get to stay on this important task & I was happy we didn't lose any fingers in the process!

To finish the evening, Bryson and I left the kiddos with Nana & Papa Lord at our house and we enjoyed a date night to the Jordan River Temple. We are so blessed (and now spoiled - we haven't had this many dates in years) with family around to watch the kiddos! I love how it allows time for the kiddos to develop a relationship with their grandparents - how awesome to have a pick-up soccer game in the backyard with Papa Lord?  Attention from Nana for whatever it is a child needs at the time.  And to have piano lessons from Grandma Joy and play in her backyard each week?  

It is certainly true that the little things make life pretty awesome indeed.

Fun Friday Outing

We had a little outing to the city on Friday night - and endured the cold to tell about it! :)

My cousin Hillary is in town, and she had been in the city sightseeing during the day, while I had some things to do at the school (Bryson Jr. had an activity with his class and it is Scholastic Book Fair time - which means I live at the school for about 2 weeks...I do look forward to this event and love every minute of it! It's one of my favorite projects by far!). Madeleine had Activity Days at the church, so I told Hillary that we should meet up at Shake Shack for dinner - it's just a block over from the F train where we come down to the church, and it's a well-known burger joint here in the city....and rather good. Problem is - the line is almost always very long and I don't like to stand in line and wait for my food when I'm hungry. However I thought with the cold maybe we wouldn't have the problem of the usual crowds. Who eats outside in these conditions?! People that have the Miller blood in their genes that's who! I was right...there was not a line when I went - but more on that below....

Here are some pictures of our lovely - icy weather! We've had some icy rain along with many parts of the country during the past few days, so I had to take a picture of the kiddos walking down the subway on the sheets of ice over the snow. It is pretty how it shimmers in the sunlight - but I prefer the plain, regular snow....ice is not very friendly.

We made our way over to Shake Shack once off the subway...I forgot how busy both the subway and sidewalks of the city are during "rush hour". It was a bit insane, but thankfully we were rewarded at Shake Shack with seats under the heaters set up outside. We quickly overtook 2 tables with our things while we waited for Hillary....and the kids played in the snow while waiting. Blessing & curse - the kept warm as they were moving around. Curse - they were sweating a little bit so when they finally sat down they to eat they quickly turned to freezing!

Madeleine and Hillary

We enjoyed our Shake Shack burgers, fries and FREE custard....crazy to eat outside in the cold, but fun for most of the time! After I took the food to the table, the kids asked for waters so I went back up to the "shack". While waiting for the waters I was talking to the people inside working.....it was warm by the window so I was trying to pass time without looking obvious that I was trying to stay by the warmth! After I told them that my cousin was here visiting from the L.A. area and that we were really enjoying our food - she said "So, do you want free custard then?!" She assured me she was serious, and I hesitantly gave her the number of just the kids - thinking I could have them split, and then she told me to give her any number - the sky was the limit! So with a laugh, I told her we had 6....and I walked back to the table where we were all already freezing with 6 orders of free custard to enjoy. The teeth definitely started to chatter as the kiddos ate that treat!

Aoi and Madeleine - inseperable friends....

Aoi loves Activity Days and likes to come with Madeleine to each one!

we told him to swallow first....ewww gross!

This is a new color combo - Blue and Orange on the Empire State Bldg. Interesting. Not my favorite color choices, but I still just love to see that building throughout this city.

With numb toes and fingers we started to walk back towards the subway --- forfeiting our idea of walking down the 6 blocks to the church. We were just too cold! Then we passed by 'EATALY' a place that I've heard about and have wanted to go in. We quickly turned around and went into warmth. And an amazing marketplace that focuses on all things Italy. It was amazing!

We walked around in awe of the beautiful produce, the many varities of cheese, pastas, bread. They have a little place in the middle where you can stand and eat sampling of food and wine.....the latter being something we wouldn't really need, but the food looked and smelled divine! It's definitely a place that I want to go back again and buy more than the Dried Tomato Tuscan Loaf that came home with us....and perhaps next time I'll go with a few less children - everyone we talked to would look at the 4 kiddos and say, "Are all these yours?!" Madeleine would usually pipe up with - "Well she has 3 of us, and this one is my friend" as if that explained so much, but still people who are only use to 1 and maybe 2 children in the city were agog. Simply agog! (thank you Music Man line)

Since our piggies were toasty warm - we went back out into the brisk air which didn't feel nearly as cold and walked down to church, where Madeleine and Aoi enjoyed a lesson on sewing for Activity Days and the boys enjoyed play time in the Nursery.

Happy Days. I think Friday nights are going to be my new Date Night. I love having some time with the kids in the city, and since we'll be coming in every Friday night for Madeleine's activity (she has a new leader who is actually planning activities which is fabulous!) ---- I think we are going to make a list of places we want to see that we can see in a short 2 hour window before we head over to the church. We'll be in the city anyway, and this way it will help me chisel out the wish list of places to see in the city if we do move out to the burbs this summer.

And the other upside....if I can't date my husband on a Friday night, I might was well take out my kiddos.....they are cute too! :)

Here is to next week's Fun Friday Adventure!