A Trip to Upstate New York

 To celebrate the end of the school year for Andrew and to take advantage of a particularly fortuitous opportunity to (finally!) meet one of my internet friends, we took a weekend trip to Palmyra, New York. We drove up on the morning of June 7th, stopping to visit Watkins Glen State Park in the Finger Lakes District. We didn't have much time there, and at 8 months pregnant I couldn't do much hiking, but it was really beautiful and we hope to go back in the future when I am more mobile.

Just one of the 19 waterfalls in the gorge

Meeting up with Jenni was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. We arranged beforehand for Jenni to henna my belly and she did a great job. Jenni lives in Alaska so getting a chance to meet up with her and her family on this side of the world was something I really could not pass up. The henna was just a bonus!

At the Sacred Grove

On Saturday we also visited the Palmyra temple and LDS Church History sites and then made the long drive back home. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it.

Aquarium Fun

We recently met up with Peter, Lauren and Carter in Utah and all of us decided to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. We had lots of fun! Thanks Laur-Laur, Pee-Pee, and Cart!

Babywearing in my new Mei-Tai from Etsy.

Feels kinda like sho-sho's?

Historic Rock Ford by Candlelight

On one of our adventures, my good friend Mara drove down from New Jersey and we all went to Rock Ford, a beautiful Colonial home built in 1794 by one of George Washington's Revolutionary war generals. The house is almost entirely original, which is so rare, and anyone who knows me can tell how much I love historic accuracy.

What was really fun was that historical interpreters were recreating the Twelve days of Christmas celebrations as they would have been in the 18th century. The whole house was lit solely by candles which was great for the ambiance and there was music and dancing as there would have been during the period. Needless to say, being there definitely reawakened my desire to work at a home like this some day. And if just being there was not enough, a few of the interpreters invited me to apply.

As you can see from the pictures the fog came in that day and in the evening it became so thick we could hardly see 10 feet in front of us. It made for some really great pictures of the property after dark.

And we are back in Wyoming!

Our trip to Pennsylvania was lovely. We arrived at the Washington Regan airport on Dec. 21st after a harrowing day on planes and in airports which I will not recount for your sake. I cannot express how lovely it was to step out of the airport into a balmy 36 degrees. Believe me, after leaving Wyoming at -5 degrees, anything above freezing is balmy.
I cannot say that we did a ton of stuff while on vacation, certainly not anything near what I said we were going to do, but we did have a wonderful, restful time with family and friends.

Ravenna developed a love of pickles while at Isaac's Deli where diners receive a plate of pickled delicacies upon ordering. Ravenna just reached out an grabbed one and started munching on it with relish (he he he, relish!). I really don't like pickles and neither does Andrew, but our little girl is special indeed.

Speaking of delicacies, at one of Lancaster county's famous market's I sampled pressed pigs tongue which was selling for $9/lb. It is basically a bunch of pigs tongues cooked, I imagine, and then pressed into a mold which is then filled with gelatin. After curing for an appropriate amount of time, it is then thinly sliced and put on bread. I was not thrilled by the texture of this "treat," but Nettie seemed to like it. Of course, I did have a famous whoopie pie as well.

Much of our time was spent shopping. Lancaster is famous for its many outlet malls and I was suckered in by the allure of Christmas sales. Being that Gillette is very short on shopping in general, unless you want to buy a gun or booze, I had not done any clothes shopping since I was in California in July and I was in dire need of a new coat, here modeled by Peter.

Nettie and I also went "house hunting" with her real estate agent neighbor. No, Andrew hasn't found a job there, but in case he does, I know what we can afford and what is out there.

My amazing brother-in-law, Peter, taught himself to play the cello, so he didn't see any reason why I shouldn't learn to play it as well. Here he is showing me the ropes. By the end of our trip I could play For the Beauty of the Earth decently. I am thinking of taking it up if I can find a teacher here in Gillette, which is unlikely, but a girl can dream.

I learned to sing the harmony on Pie Jesu which Peter and I performed together for his family. I don't sing much in front of others, but I do enjoy it.

Another large part of our trip was spent playing games and watching movies. Here is Jon on Christmas morning wearing the hat that Lauren got him, which suits his personality so well.

We obviously did more than just this, so I will blog some more with pictures from our outings and other neat activities.