For Maka's birthday we went to see Phantom of the Opera. I saw this show once before in Salt Lake and was excited to see it here in New York...to my dismay the singing was awful! I know I shouldn't be such a critic but I am, especially when it comes to broadway shows. Christine and Raoul had the worst voices I could imagine. They didn't blend well together at all. I was trying so hard not to laugh...or cry...it was so depressing. If they could make it to broadway the so could I. On a more positive note...the phantom did extremely well. He almost sounded like Michael Crawford (original/best phantom). But overall it was a pretty good show because it is Phantom of the Opera and you just have to like the costumes, scenery, and everything...but the 2 main characters haha ;)
For Christmas I stayed in New York. I spent time with my host family and watched the kiddies open up their gifts. They finally reached the age where presents were exciting...but hopefully they don't think everyday you get tons and tons of presents :D I also spent time with my friend Maka. It is cool how being out here on my own I have to rely on my ward as my family. It is so great how the church brings us all together. I just wanted to share my favorite video about Christ for this post.
So this week I did about everything you can imagine. Hilary came to visit and so we went and saw everything we could. We went to the Statue of Liberty, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and had NY pizza (at Grimaldis). We saw the Rocketts Christmas Spectacular, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and walked around Central Park. We went to Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center to see the christmas tree, and saw Spider-man Turn Off the Dark...Booyah! We rode trains and subways, shopped, and stalked santas...Apparently one of the days we were in the city was dress like santa day. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. I am not joking...everyone and their dog was dressed like santa or an elf, and we even saw people dressed as stockings and reindeer. I felt like I was inside a Where's Waldo book! But I am not going to write much for this post because it deserves more pictures than words.
Santas
More Santas...
Even More Santas...
Lady Liberty
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
@ Grimaldis under the Brooklyn Bridge with Stephen and Kate
Times Square with Hilary :D
Saw Spider-Man the Musical
Random plants everywhere that look like heads of lettuce
Yesterday we took the kids to Sesame Place! It was in PA and first I have to say that I was an hour and a half away from my brother Walker serving his mission, that felt weird. Anyway Sesame Place is like Sesame Street. I think it's a summer waterpark, and for fall and winter they do programs for the different holidays. There are rides and such for kids. The one we went to was "A Very Furry Christmas". We saw shows, went on a carousel, saw a parade, and even saw Santa. It was about the cutest place for kids...or 23 year olds who enjoy being a kid again:)
Well it is Thanksgiving time in NY and whatan exciting time it is. Thanksgiving eve I took the train into the city. I was meeting up with Jenny and Xing's family, who came down for the holiday. I got in a little early and they were at the Park watching the balloons getting blown up for the big parade. So I walked around and just got used to the streets and where things were in the city. I meet up with Jenny and Xing and we stayed in a hotel...for a few hours....till we woke up at 5/5:30 to go get a spot on the sidewalks for the big Macy's Day Parade!!! It was insane! I could not believe how many people were up so early to stand on the sidewalk and wait for a parade to start in 3+ hours....but it was so fun. We met some hilarious people from California and sang carols with the people across the street.
The parade started and it was pretty crazy....seeing everyone from Cee Lo Green to Manheim Steamroller, from Cobra Starship to Rodney Atkins, and from Avril Lavinge to Neil Diamond. Not to mention all the marching bands and dancers. It was a parade!!! It was even exciting to see all the dramatic people trying to fight for a spot up by the barricade to see better....but like the old man standing next to us said "If you wanted that spot, then ya should have been there at 4 in the morning" :)
After the parade I went up to my cousin's (Jed and Lisa's) place for dinner. They have the most wonderful view looking over the Hudson. It was great! We had the missionaries over and I was reminded of my brother serving in PA. I hope someone was treating him well too. So my brithday and Thanksgiving we had missionaries for dinner...I guess we will have to keep this going....
I have been quite lazy and haven't put pictures up from Halloween so here they are. They kids love Cars the movie and those three words will always come out of their mouths together ("Cars the movie"). So Brooke was a race car driver while Derek and Jake were the pit crew. They loved wearing their costumes and even played around in their McQueen car.
Jake wouldn't get out so Brooke took her car bag accessory and acted like she ways cleaning McQueen...it was so cute...they probably should have switched places.
For chilly weather you always need hats and gloves. So the kids got the cutest hats and beanies. The boys got Cars hats and Brooke got a Minnie Mouse hat. The first day they got them, Jake wore the gloves and hat all day. He didn't want to take them off at all! They also got hats that have the long sides to keep your ears warm. A lion, a tiger, and a cat...meeeoooowwww
So I went out last night with Taren, Makarena, and Danielle (girls from the ward) to go see Stomp. Maka and I took the train into the city and then had to take the subway to the show. We had to wait at Penn Station for Danielle who was on a later train so I had 2 options...to take the subway myself and meet up with Taren and go to the show on time...or wait with Maka and be a few minutes late. I have never been on the subway before but decided heck why not?!? So after getting directions a billion times I entered the gates. I even had to do a transfer to another line...which if you know the subway map it was quite a distance for this particular transfer from the red line to the gray line...but I made it. We got to the show and it was a cozy little theater and decorated with old street signs and such. The show was amazing! I absolutely loved it. It was strictly music from the most random things you could find. They used their hands and feet, trashcans/lids, huge inner tubes, sinks with water in them, plungers, all sorts of pipes, sticks, newspapers, and much more. They did this cool number in the dark with lighters. 2 guys were playing something that had high pitched clinks while they all held a lighter in each hand, making patterns to the music. They did another number with just 3 performers who competed making music with random items you would find in a trash receptacle. They used cups and straws and plastic bags and more...they were funny. They smallest character was always getting picked on by the others it was hilarious and made the show that much better. And like the clip, they did harness themselves and play on signs and stuff that was hanging on the walls. It was just a really cool show. At the end on guy came out and tried to get us to copy his clapping....wow is it a whole lot harder than it looks. Go see this show...words cannot describe how sweet it was in the least...
exciting time it is. Thanksgiving eve I took the train into the
