The Ultimate Christmas Activity: Christmas!

Just as they got the snow cleared off all major roads, we took off to Texas to celebrate Christmas at the Larsen Family Ranch/Resort/Vacation Home (at least that's what we call it)! It was so nice to leave the snow to arrive at 60 and 70 degree weather! First stop: The Alamo!
Walking around San Antonio, we also saw some other cool sights including these signs promoting "The worlds largest collection of horns and antlers."
We spent the next few days shopping and getting our fill of Christmas Spirit, which was pretty easy considering the decorations we were around. The house was beautiful! Rod and Diney had 6 trees with different themes and at least 3 different Christmas Villages (one was handmade!)We had lots of fun playing games, making lots and lots of cookies (see the cookie variety below) and relaxing. We had a really nice dinner on Chrismas Eve and Aubrey made an awesome yule log dessert which involved multiple steps. Christmas morning was also pretty great! I got a nice yellow coat and lots of things to keep me warm including a space heater, a blanket, scarf, hat, sweater, and pj pants, and Tim got some clothes, church pants, a season of the show Psych, and a basketball. Together, we got passports and a wheat grinder! Below are pictures of us enjoying some of our gifts.

The day after Christmas, we saw the Japanese Sunken Gardens, which are gardens created in an old limestone quarry, and we rode the San Antonio Zoo Train. Tim and I rode in a train car dedicated to Kate. We chose that one for our cute niece!

Before leaving, we did manage to complete my Christmas check off list. #4: see the temple lights! I was bummed the visitor center was closed because of the snow, but we managed to see awesome lights! All in all, it was a really great Christmas season and Christmas. Thanks to everyone who helped us enjoy it and sent us cards!

Pre-Christmas Activities Part II

#3 on my list of Christmas things to do in DC: Christmas at MOUNT VERNON. I had heard they put lots of christmas trees up at Mount Vernon in December, so I really wanted to go. I left early from work one Friday and Tim and I ventured to old George Washington's home. They said they decorated the house as if it were Christmas in the 1700's which, unfortunately, meant NO CHRISTMAS TREES :( As it turns out, the trees are in the visitor center and museum. I guess that was fun too, but my favorite part was the detailed GINGERBREAD house of Mt. Vernon! It was created by a former white house pastry chef and was so awesome! The Gingerbread replica:
The DC Larsens also got together for a Pre-Christmas party/progressive dinner. We wanted to celebrate Christmas with everyone because Scott, DeAnne, and the bun in the oven can't fly to Texas. We drove to all four residences to see everyone's decorations and eat lot of delicious food!
Last of all, I got another SNOW DAY! I was supposed to work this Saturday, but got the day off due to the biggest pre-christmas storm in 70 years! Tim and I ran around and played in it a little bit, but we didn't get very far on our snow angels because it was so deep! ...And guess what? NO CHURCH TOMORROW! Not that I'm that happy to miss church, but the truth is that we were supposed to sing in the choir and we were NOT ready. It's quite a relief!

Due to the snow, my #4 task may be put off until after Christmas, but before New Years.

Turkeys and Trees

Happy Thanksgiving! The Larsen's celebrated (with 4,500 of our closest friends) by running the turkey trot in DC. Aubrey, Tim and I did it last year and we invited Scott, and Tim's Mom and Dad to come along too!

Tim and me after the race. Behind us, you can see the start line. I have been bad at taking my camera places, so I didn't get any pictures of our fun times at the feast, but it was delicious!

I have a list of four things to do in DC this Christmas. #1. See the train at Union Station. It is put up by the Norwegian embassy. It was funny because the trains were hand carved and it's on this big track with mountains and trees all to scale, but then there were giant trolls in the "scene." We all wondered why. Union station was cool anyway. I'd never been there. I also would have taken a picture of the huge pretty wreathes outside, but it was slushing (my word meaning a very wet, cold and windy snow that turned to dirty slush on the ground). I didn't want to be in it any longer than I had to.
The giant tree with Norwegian and American Flags symbolizing our countries' friendship.
#2 on my list: Old Town Alexandria. We went, but again, I forgot my camera :( It was set up so cute though!

Boston in the Fall

And now, our trip(s) into Boston... Monday morning we decided to park across the river and do a morning jog around town. We went straight to the Boston Public Garden. I have to admit, this was just about my favorite place. There were still some really pretty leaves and the landscaping was just beautiful!

Below are pictures of the garden and Beacon Hill (pretty houses)

We went to Quincy Market both days to get lots of good food. My first choice: Boston Cream Pie for breakfast! They even started putting the christmas decorations up!

On Tuesday before we left, we took a walking tour of the Freedom Trail (the first half) and finished the rest on our own. Below is the red line in the ground you follow for 2.5 miles.

Different points on the Trail (Mostly in order). From right to left: 1. State capitol 2. Crazy graveyard 3. Fanuel Hall 4. East Church (?) 5. Samuel Adams Tombstone 6. Paul Revere house 7. Little Italy 8. Tim standing next to Paul Revere 9. The old North Church 10. The bridge the Freedom Trail crosses 11. Bunker Hill Monument 12. The graveyard with Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin's Parents, and other famous people. (This one is out of order) PS Not pictured: The USS Constitution-it was being renovated and was closed :(

Me and our tour guide. She kept worrying that Tim and I were freezing and was so sweet!You can go inside the Bunker Hill monument, but it is 294 steps to the top. We made it but were both sore the next day.

...Last, a random picture of Tim. That concludes our trip up the east coast!

PS Special thanks to Doyle and Diane Williams. I really wanted a picture with them, but never got one. They were so nice to let us stay at their "Bed and Breakfast." Thank you!

Maine, Lawrence, and Salem

Our trip through Plymouth was the first stop on our trip of many trips. We got to visit Tim's old Mission stomping grounds (Manchester, NH mission), and stayed with the Williams', a couple who really helped him in Northern Massachusetts. The Saturday we were there it rained the entire day (thanks to Hurricane Ida) so we put off our Boston trip and drove up the coast to Maine where we saw this pretty lighthouse and the crashing waves. It was sooooo windy and cold!

We got Lobster Rolls at the (apparently famous) Maine Diner.

We visited the Boston Temple Sunday night. It was still very pretty!

Monday afternoon the skies cleared and we visited Salem, MA! It was a lot different than I expected (busier and more modern) but there were still a lot of old buildings. One picture below is me trying to enter "The Witch House" where the Salem witch trials were initiated.

Before the trip, Tim had done some family history and found some Ashby relatives who lived in Salem for almost two hundred years. They were first fishermen and then shoemakers. We went to the national parks visitor center for the county and watched a video about the settlers of the area and his ancestors fit right into the history! Below are some pictures of their houses today, but you'll have to ask him to explain them in more detail.

I do know that the pictures above and below are of Nathaniel Ashby's Shoe Shop. It's now a YMCA daycare, but still a cool building.
Most of Sunday was spent in Lawrence, MA with Tim driving around and showing me places (sometimes less-safe places) from his Mission.


Lawrence, MA used to be a big factory town where many imigrants could find work. Below-this is "Jackie Chan's Garden" (Tim lived in the white building owned by someone they called Jackie Chan)

The Blue House they also lived in in Lawrence. (Safer than Jackie Chan's)
And lastly, we got to visit people from the Lawrence Ward. This is Tina and Santiago's family. We visited them Sunday night and ate dinner at their Bodega (store) on Monday night. Next Stop...Boston!

Plymouth

Day one of our trip up the east coast: Plymouth. It was really not that exciting. We found out that Plymouth Rock was actually found by the son of someone on the Mayflower who pointed it out when he was in his 90's. They originally took the rock on tours and eventually broke it in half to have it in two places at once then basically glued it back together to place it in its home on the waterfront. The Mayflower was pretty though.
We also celebrated the Pilgrims and Indians and saw some (actually a lot) of old cool graveyards. More pictures of our trip coming soon...

Fall Festivities!

Happy Halloween!

My co-worker Lauren and I dressed up for Halloween. So did some of our members!On Halloween day, Tim and I went to the Diabetes walk then carved pumpkins with Lauren and Andrew. For some reason, my pictures aren't showing up on the computer (-just the collages), so I don't have any pictures yet, but to finish the evening up, Tim and I went to a carved pumpkin display. There were over 200 pumpkins that were so cool! Of all the pictures, guess which is our own...
Answer: Bottom Left. The bat carrying the jack-o-lantern.

Last week, we went to see the pretty leaves and ended up on Roosevelt Island...

Football Weekend 2009

For Tim's birthday, he asked his parents for tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. UVA Football Game. I'm not sure why, but he wanted me to go with him, so I drove to Charlottesville with the Larsen men and cheered the yellow jackets on (notice my color appropriate attire). We had second row seats! Notice the pretty leaves...

I am no longer a fair weather fan! Notice the little girl in the top left picture. She is standing in about 3" of water and completely soaked.
Don't worry, Scott's alma mater won and the rain let up just as the game ended.
We also got to visit Tim's old roommate Tyler and his new wife, Amy who are both in school at UVA. We had a good time with them but didn't get any pictures :( Tim says it's okay because Tyler was wearing a sweater, so you already know what he looked like.