PHILLIES WIN!!!

Together Again!

Pictured here are some of the friends we used to hang out with on a regular basis. The Bernhisels moved to Utah and then the Richards moved to downtown Philadelphia. We were so excited to all get together while Jason & Chelli were in town for the week.
Here is a picture of us all together just after James was born and right before the Bernhisels moved away. Chelli, I think this was your birthday celebration at our house, so it would make it early November 2006.
And here we are together again for lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. This picture was taken late October of 2008. I don't know who the random guy is standing off to the side, but he was in all the pictures! You can't really see the boys very well, but James is right below Jason and Chelli and Preston is right below Dan and Hailey, Bianca had to stay home. It was so fun seeing you guys again, let's do it again sometime!

The Bernhisel's Come For A Visit

We were lucky enough to have some of our good friends visit from Utah! Jason and Chelli lived here for about 7 months (i think) and soon after James was born they moved back to Utah for a better job. We've missed them so much and we were SO excited for them to come back for a visit. We had beautiful weather, a wonderful photographer (jason), a full schedule and tons of fun. Not to mention the World Series Championships going on during their visit. We were up early to see the sites and to bed late because we stayed up watching the Phillies on their way to victory! The first day they were here we stayed in the area and toured their old stomping grounds. While driving through Wayne we noticed a store selling all kinds of amazing pumpkins and had to stop and take pictures. While we took a million pictures that day I chose to only post this one because, for the most part, they were all great and I didn't want to choose!

The following day we were off to NYC. We had great picture taking weather and these were some of the many shots of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC city line.


The following day we were off to Hershey and Lancaster. We didn't take too many pictures that day. Saturday we toured downtown Philly and met up with some of our other friends, those pictures will be in the next post. And Sunday we had to say goodbye. The next few pictures are from Sunday in Valley Forge. There are soooooooo many amazing pictures that Jason and Jaron took that day.We accidentally found this hidden road while trying to find a different entrance, and we were so happy we did! I want to go back in the Spring and in the Summer to see the changes in the trees, hey Jason and Chelli...want to come back then too? We'll reenact the day all over again?!
If you look in the background of this shot you can see a deer crossing the path! Seriously, what are the odds? I don't know really what to say about the next few pictures other than I LOVE them all! Here is a shot of Jaron and Jason posing by the sign they would pass almost daily on their morning bike rides! Yes, ironically they would pass the NO BIKING sign on their BIKES!
And here's one last shot of Chelli and I on the Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan. The ferry was VERY cold and windy...so it's not the best shot, but it works!
Thanks for coming to visit you guys! It was so much fun and we miss you already, come back again soon! And for those of you who are reading this and know us both, check out Jason & Chelli's blog for more pictures of their visit.

Pumpkin Patch

One place we visit quite often is Weaver's Orchard. The best time to go is during their "fall festival." They have the BEST apple cider and homemade apple dumplings, tons of activities for kids and, of course, apples and pumpkins to pick. After lot's of yummy food and picking apples in the orchard, our last stop was the pumpkin patch. I love this kind of stuff and really wanted to get our pumpkins, but Jaron was insistent that the pumpkins at the grocery store were cheaper and he wouldn't have to carry a heavy pumpkin ALL THE WAY back to the car. So we struck a deal...if the pumpkin was $6 or less we would buy it here, if not it was grocery store pumpkins. Jaron was absolutely sure he was going to win this bet, and had no worries as he set the pumpkin on the scale...
If you look real close you can see the price on the scale says $5.99! Thus, the disgusted face my wonderful husband is displaying. And that is the story of our Halloween pumpkin.

Philadelphia Zoo Balloon

We are lucky to have such an amazing zoo close to us, as well as amazing friends! While driving down the I-76 you most likely will see a big hot air balloon in the sky...this is the zoo balloon. Since we moved here Jaron has REALLY wanted to go in this balloon. We have probably been on 4 or 5 separate occasions hoping to get the chance for a ride, but have always been disappointed. It seems that on whatever day we would go to the zoo, the balloon would inevitably be closed for whatever reason and I always would take home a disappointed husband. So when our friends, Mike & Sarah, invited us to the zoo last Saturday I took them up on their offer (they have a yearly pass). The weather was beautiful, the kids were great, and lot's of fun was had...but the best part...the balloon was open and ready for us. Unfortunately the line was VERY long and we were all tired, but after an hour wait it was Jaron's turn! Sarah and I stayed on the ground with baby Dani, and all the boys (Jaron, Mike, Aspen & Haven) took a ride on the wonderful balloon. End result...a very happy husband! Thank you Mike & Sarah for taking us with you and for waiting in the long line. Below are some pictures Jaron took from the balloon, isn't our city beautiful?!

Goodbye Beloved Sandles

I have had these green Adidas sandals since the 6th grade when I started playing competitive soccer. No, my feet have not grown since then! It is extremely frowned upon to walk on anything but grass or turf with your soccer cleats so you need to have sandals to slip your feet in and out of quickly. I also used them for cheerleading and basketball because you don't want to wear your cheer shoes or basketball shoes outside! Now days I just wear them because I like them! Well, the other night I was on my way to the YW activity and put my sandals on. Jaron looked at them and said..."we really need to buy you some new sandals, those aren't looking very good." My response was to tell him they were fine and I loved them so I didn't want to get new ones. Well, at the activity I was gently tapping the floor with the tip of my toe and all the sudden my foot was on the floor. I thought my sandal must have slid off my foot and when I went to pick it up this is what I found!
No joke! Just a little mindless toe tapping and my entire shoe just completely fell apart! When I came home I was so so so so sad, I seriously was about ready to cry...
Jaron immediately started laughing in amazement, and said..."good thing I agreed to buy you new ones before they fell apart, huh? I guess that's what happens when you have shoes for 15 years..." I'd have to say, I'm still really sad that my sandals are now in the trash. You have to admit, I sure got my money's worth out of those wonderful shoes! Thanks DAD!
One last picture with my Beloved Sandals. Goodbye old friends...

Niagara Falls

A few weeks ago we drove to upstate New York to visit Palmyra and Niagara Falls. These pictures are all from the Canadian side of the falls. It's amazing how much water is flowing down the falls, it reminded me of a watered-down version of the Grand Canyon. We had a good time just sitting there on the boardwalk and staring at the sheer magnitude of it!

Apparently a lot of people have tried going over the falls in barrells or tubes, a couple people have actually survived the falls without any sort of flotation device. Plenty of others were less fortunate, however.

With all that water falling, it generates a huge rising mist cloud and an incredible roar.

We took a ride on the "Maid of the Mist" which travels up the river to the base of the falls. Looking at the boat from above it didn't seem to get that close to the waterfall but once we got on the boat we realized it actually gets very, very close! The water is churning like crazy, lots of waves, a ton of wind, and of course, water. These parkas were a valiant effort but we still left the boat completely soaked.

You can see the erosion on the American Falls. A bunch of big rocks have fallen down.

We were approaching the base of the falls from the "Maid of the Mist".

Another shot of the view from below.

At night they shine colored lights on the falls, it's pretty cool. The colors change.

Part of the sequence is just white light shining on the water. After a nice night in Canada visiting the falls, enjoying a really bad breakfast buffet the next morning, and taking in the falls during daylight we were ready to come back home to the USA.

Palmyra

This past weekend we visited Palmyra, NY and we were able to see all the sites! This was my second time and Jaron's third time visiting. We went to the Hill Cumorah pageant a couple years ago, and while it was amazing...there were just too many people there to feel and experience the spiritual aspect of the area. So, we decided to skip the pageant and visit during the slow time of year. Some of our friends came with us since they had never been and we had a lot of fun!

Our first stop was the Visitor's Center...when Jaron and I went a few years ago there was a 2 hour line so we didn't go. There is so much in there for you to see, the missionaries were great to talk to and had so much information for us. We saw the movie that is playing in the Joseph Smith Building in Salt Lake...I think it's called Joseph Smith and the Restoration...or something to that effect. Pictured above is the Christus Statue...typically there are stars in the background but this one has the Sacred Grove in the background and I LOVE IT!!

Jaron, Amy, Belinda, Josh

This is the top of Hill Cumorah...aren't the colors beautiful?

Next it was off to the Joseph Smith Farm and Sacred Grove. I have a million pictures that we took, but I can't post them all so I'll just skip to the pictures in the Sacred Grove.

We thought this trail in the middle of the Sacred Grove was very picturesque and couldn't resist taking a few. The neatest thing happened, just before we entered the Sacred Grove mine and Jaron's phones started ringing. Everyone was calling to tell us the good news...a Philadelphia Temple was announced!!! Such a wonderful feeling and spirit came over us with the great news and the location we were in, I'll never forget it.

Kissing in the Sacred Grove...

Stopping by the historical Erie Canal and taking a few pictures. Josh, Belinda, Amy, Jaron

The Book of Mormon publishing site is one of my favorite things to visit because the building is almost 100 % authentic and hasn't been changed very much from the time they printed the Book of Mormon. The ink stains are still on the ground, the floors are still the same, and the brick on the inside is still the same brick. They also have a few 1st Edition Book of Mormons there to see and take pictures of.

Our last stop was Brad & Dad's Ice Cream Parlor. We were trying to go to an ice cream store our friends recommended down the street...but it was closed for the season. Although, we were not disappointed with Brad or Dad! They make their own ice cream right there in the store every morning and it was the best Strawberry ice cream I've had in years! We definitely recommend this place to those of you looking for some yummy ice cream. This was our last stop of the day, then we were off to Niagara Falls, which Jaron will write about in the following entry...

Singing Sensation

Jaron sang in church the Sunday before last and did such a good job! I always get nervous for him when he is going to perform but I am always so proud of him after he has finished. I obviously can't take a picture of him performing in the Chapel, so here are a few pictures of him singing at a local diner that his voice teacher sings at every week. You did a wonderful job Jaron, I love you!