Wednesday, October 28, 2009

FHE

Family Home Evening in the Grove
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Palmyra is so close but we do not take the time to walk around the sites very often any more. It was a perfect night to think and talk about the events that took place in Palmyra. I want to take advantage of living so close because really you never know when we will move. That does not mean anything~we are loving it here!
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Plus it was just beautiful as the sun set to take MORE fall pictures.

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we have taken many tours here throughout the years when family has come to visit but the times I think I will remember the most are the simple walks around the grounds and peace that we feel as well as memories we are creating.
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this is one of my favorites; looking through the field to the old smith farm house
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and of course the trees in the sacred grove. there were so many leaves on the ground at times it was hard to find the trail
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Monday, October 19, 2009

one short weekend...

in NY city!!!

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we had such a great time in NYC this weekend! This time we drove down which was really easy and close. We got to see our friends who just moved to NJ and stayed at their adorable apartment. They were so good to us!
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Saturday was our only day in the city so we jumped on the train early that morning and headed around.
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all it takes to get this happy face from chris is a jamba juice....rochester does not have one so as soon as we saw one we had to stop even though it was 30 degrees!

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the subway!
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times square
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central park!!
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the reason for travel was mrs hobby from sydney austrialia! kimball hobbie was chris' mission companion in milano italia. his wife paige is from canada so she was traveling home to see family and stopped in NYC.
we jumped down to visit with her. it has been 8 years since chris has seen either of them so there was a lot of catching up to do.
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we ran through the city seeing all kinds of famous sites
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there was a huge farmers market right in the middle of the city. great produce!
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and we ate some really good food..all day! it was nice to shop, meet paige and her cousins and see the city by some locals who really know the subway and the city. it was a great weekend!
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i did some good damage in SOHO shopping. there are some really fun shops there and we enjoyed window shopping at some really great designer shops!

my new rubber boots!
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

i love this...

I apologize for the insane number of photos this fall but really i love this time of year more than anything....

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these two I took while working as I drove around the city! It really is just so pretty on every street.
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I took a long lunch break and walked around a local park on Monday and could not resist taking a few pictures.
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And lastly the largest and oldest cementary in Rochester~infact Susan B. Anthony is buried here. i like the combination of trees and the beauty of the headstones and mosacs. plus the weather was kinda warm today so it was nice to take a walk!
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Monday, October 12, 2009

the weekend

we had a very busy but really nice weekend at the RS retreat and the barn dance...it was nonstop right after work on Friday~i think we kinda over did it because yesterday we both felt sick. but were able to relax some after meetings.

friday we headed to seneca lake for the rs retreat. we are lucky in the stake to be able to hold overnight activities at this amazing camp overlooking the lake.

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it rained most of the weekend except for the afternoon we were leaving. the leaves were beautiful. chris came to help out in the kitchen as well as be the priesthood for the weekend...it was a lot more work than he had expected. I was grateful for the fabulous food!
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here are the cabins we stayed in..they are really nice but bunkbed style so everyone is really in one room...i got zero sleep friday night between the babies, the snorers and the sleep walkers who at 3:00am began shouting about where her purse was and then left with the screen door slamming behind her. strange!
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i did however throughly enjoy getting to know the sisters from other wards since i do not know too many people if they are not involved in YW. I also really, really enjoyed the speakers and learned a lot about women in the scriptures and "self care" from a therapist.
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i played games, sat by the fire, ate food i did not have to cook and stayed up way too late laughing...poor chris worked the whole time!
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there were quilts to tie, scarves and hats to crochet and other small service projects to complete.....i love this picture with our stake president singing karaoke with the other sisters. Fun memories.


Then Saturday was our 3rd annual...
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it was out of control this year with games and contests. our dj does a fabulous job getting the youth to interact and enjoy being together!
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classic!
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

the Family Resource Center.....

on early morning Television
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Yeah! I am so proud of our little nonprofit organization! It has been so fun seeing where things have taken us but we are really trying to reach families in all sorts of ways!
FRC
S.T.E.P.S
security
touch
eyes
play
sound

click on the link above to watch several videos about the steps curriculum about Early Brain Development by Dr. Jill Stamm, Bright from the Start. (which is a really great book) I think it is really interesting, I really enjoy my job and love working with parents, families and children. It is nice to be working and learning in my field.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

i love conference weekend

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We had a little taste of Wyoming Friday night at the Roost!! One of our MAPP trainers is in a band so a group of us from class crashed her gig at a local country diner and bar. It was awesome! The band was fabulous and we were thoroughly impressed. It was fun little piece of Wyoming in NY.....cowboy boots, hats and bolo ties every where! We loved it.
Chris even danced with me a few times. It was all so fun! The best was a couple that walked in with a baby in a car seat and went straight to the bar section in the back~one of my favorite movies Sweet Home Alabama~chris turned to me and I knew exactly what he was going to say, "you have a baby......in a BAR!"
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Conference weekend is the best! We took a drive down to Watkins Glen and made several stops on the way...pumpkin patches, vineyards and farmers markets. This weekend we picked up some homemade cooking wine, cheese curds, pumpkins, and really, really good grape juice! Ah to die for...and then we made it to my favorite quilt store in all of NY. And chris feel in love with a collection of fabric and now we have a new project. too funny!

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We took the scenic route as my dad calls it and saw several of these....Chris and I dream of one day owning land outside of the city with a big red barn!!! this makes my heart skip a beat when i see the rolling hills behind it, trees all sorts of colors surrounded with corn fields and pumpkins. One day.

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and i love a stop here and there on the amish farms...there are a few of them that sell quilts, produce, bulk items and canned goods...it is fun to stop and see what they have for sale and sneek a peak into their lives, they are so humble and sweet. One of the signs of an amish home are the clothes hanging on the line!

so the rest of the weekend was spent sitting here...
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four hours of conference on our own TV...it was really, really good this year and I loved the talks and messages plus we got to spend the entire day together, no meetings, no sunday clothes infact no shower or makeup. we slept in way too late and aside from making cookies, a yummy lunch and dinner, a visit from friends, bread and a visit to friends.....we sat on this couch the rest of the day. ah! I love conference weekend!!