May Graduation

SM attended George Mason Law School Graduation as a faculty member.  Here he is in his robes.  Look how nice his nose looks...no longer swollen.  Notice the boxes in the background, you can see some of our preparations for our next move.

SM loves his job and I'm glad all the work we have done has paid off.  We are both very happy and looking forward to the next step in our life/his career together.

Butterfly Brunch

Our primary girls earned a party because they sat in their chairs, participated in Sharing Time and sang, they treated each other with respect and participated in our Primary lessons.  My co-teacher put together this Butterfly Brunch.  It was so cute.  If you look on the plate you may notice that the fruit looked like a body of a butterfly.  The croissants were cut to look like the wings.

Here's one of the girls putting more fruit on her stick.

After eating our yummy brunch and listening to a story about butterflies and Jesus' Atonement, we went into the front room and made butterflies.  Each girl loved making multiple butterflies.

This cute girl had fallen the day before and scraped her nose and really banged her forehead.  Luckily she didn't let it get her down.

My co-teacher was an awesome partner and I loved working with her.  Look at all of that fun!  We were missing only one other girl.  The Butterfly Brunch was a success!

Washington DC Temple in May

SM and I had the opportunity to visit the Washington DC temple with another couple (the Messengers) and a non-member friend of theirs in the month of May.  We went to a Hawaiian performance at the Visitors Center and afterwards came out and saw this beautiful view.

This is not one of my most flattering photos...but I love that I am on the temple grounds!  There is always a great spirit there.

Nose Surgery



Last month SM had surgery on his nose for a deviated septum that was caused when he was 19 or 20 years old and the septum didn't stop growing when it was supposed to and it tweaked.  This caused blockage in the nasal passage and made it hard for him to breath.  He had a 90% blockage on one side and a 50% blockage on the other. 

I think SM was very brave to do this surgery.  He was motivated by the thought of being able to breath easier, especially when on a run.  The surgery required him not to exercise for two weeks but for the first three days he was not feeling very well at all.  After the first three days he was able to lay down flat and began feel a little more normal.

This is what he looked like after a few days and after the bleeding slowed down.  His nose is a little swollen in this photo but he's now back to normal, with the ability to breath a lot easier!  I love that man!

New York, Day 3 Part III

On our last day in New York City and on our way home from Central Park, we walked past St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It's really big and beautiful.  The inside of the cathedral was full of people.  We didn't walk in because we needed to get back to check out of our hotel, but if I get to NYC again, I'd like to go in and take a look around.

Atlas...a statue

My favorite part of this picture are all the flags flying on the building.

When we left Central Park, we left from a different part of the park where we had entered.  This entrance/exit had many carriages pulled by horses.  Another way to see Central Park, by carriage.  We also saw bicycles for rent to allow for another way to see the park.  But I also noticed many walkways that didn't allow bicycles or horse drawn carriages, so I think the best way to see the park is by walking.

This was the church right across the street from our hotel.  We weren't sure what kind of church it is, but it has a bust of Nikola Tesla on the corner.  Interesting...

Same church...just a closer photo.

And here's the bust of Nikola Tesla.

New York Day 3 Part II

On our third morning in NYC we walked up to Central Park and then over a block or two to the Manhattan Temple.

I was walking without looking up and SM finally stopped walking and told me to look up.  Yep, we had made it to the temple.  It was surrounded by tall buildings and looked very similar to the other buildings in the area except that it had Angel Moroni on the very top.

This symbol was in the cement on the sidewalk in front of the temple.

The writing says that this is the Manhattan New York Temple.  The lady at the desk was very kind and let us use the bathroom on the third floor.  This is the floor that church is held and when the elevator doors open I felt like I was in a chapel, like the many chapels I've attended.

Then we walked over to Central Park.  One of the first things I saw was this man, standing on a giant stone, practicing his fly fishing casting method.  He stopped few minutes later since the rain started to pick up.  But I do think it was a good idea on his part to practice casting his fishing rod in the park.

Just a couple photos of us in the park.

Have I mentioned how large Central Park is...it's huge!!  And very beautiful.

The castle...or Belvedere Tower.

The above plaque says:  " Belvedere Tower, Erected in 1869 as a lookout.  It now houses the New York Meteorological Observatory which was founded in 1868 by Dr. Daniel Draper who was its director until his retirement in 1912.  At which time the observatory came under the direction of the United States Weather Bureau."

On one of the paths in the park.

Here is the view of the castle from the path.

SM looking at a statue of a leader of Lithuania in the 1300's.  Little did that guy know he'd be remembered in a park of a country that hadn't even been "discovered"  by Christopher Columbus.

Alice in Wonderland

A statue of Hans Christian Andersen building after 9/11 as a memorial to all the children who died or had a parent die on that day.

SM wanted to go on a carousel ride but it was closed.

The park had very large rocks all over.  I could see how it might be difficult to build on the Island of Manhattan if all the ground was like this.  But maybe that is why the park was never built into?  Probably not!  I think SM told me that someone donated/gifted the land but made it so that no one built on the land.

New York Day 3

Here's a picture of our hotel room. Yep, smallest hotel room I've ever been in but I have to say it was also the quietest.  I could hear when our neighbors shut their door but that is all.  It made sleeping soundly a very easy thing to do, especially since we had walked so much and so far earlier in the day.

On our third day in New York City we had to walk through Times Square to get to Central Park.  We stopped to take a few pictures since it was not so crowded.  Behind me is the TKTS sign...that is where we bought our tickets for Newsies and Once that we saw on Broadway.

Here's a two story M&M's store!  And across the street was the....

...Hershey's store!  Don't worry, we didn't go in...in fact, I think we were walking by before they were even open.

Loved this sign.  So many people would creep out into the streets while waiting to cross.  It was typical to cross the street on a No Crossing sign as long as you were faster than the cars trying to cross the intersection.  I heard a lot of cars honking because some people were crossing without being aware how close the car really was in the intersection.  Lots of risk taking, street crossing, people in NYC.

Another photo taken near Times Square!