Part 1 of Mom and Kiley's visit...

Although, being away during the summer months is always filled with lots of fun adventures, sight-seeing, and so much more, it just never feels like home! #1 because we know it isn't permanent so from day 1 we are excited to return back to Utah, and #2 because we are both so close with our families, it is very hard to go from seeing them every day to....not seeing them at all. Fortunately, we have many different forms of transportation and the wonderful thing called "airplanes" that can bring them to us:)

Me and my mom:) I missed her SO much!




NEW YORK CITY
My mom and Kiley flew in to the BWI airport last Sunday around 4:00p.m, and after picking them up we decided to drop their bags off at home, and go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. (...bet you can't guess who picked the restaurant...yep!...Dustin!) After stuffing ourselves full we came home to get some rest before our trip to New York the next morning, bright and early. Little did we know what we were about to encounter...

We woke up early so that we could get on the earliest bus at 8:00a.m. We were trying to get there in time to check in to our hotel, and freshen up before going to Wicked on Broadway, which started at 2:00p.m. We made it to our bus stop, and we sat there and waited til 8:00, and knowing that these buses are very punctual, we got anxious that we had missed it. We asked a man near the stop where the bus usually stops to pick up the passengers going to New York, and we were nearly two blocks away...yes, we missed it! We called Dustin and he booked us a ticket onto the next bus which came in a half an hour from that time. We hopped back on the metro and headed to our next stop, asked for directions just to be safe, and....we missed it...Ahhhh! Now the panic was setting in. We had these tickets to Wicked since March, and we were not about to miss it too. So...we had Dustin look up another bus stop and time, and we finally caught the 9:30 bus. We were still strapped on time because it takes 4 hours to get to New York from D.C. The bus driver on this bus was about 90 years old, and after having stopped two times picking up more passengers, he took his precious time to take tickets. And an hour later...yes, 10:20 to be exact, we were finally driving. You can only imagine our nerves by this time...

What more could happen on our bus ride?....The driver stopped at a rest area so that we could all eat and take care of any business that needed to be taken care of...now we knew we were going to be late. A half hour late, at this point. We reloaded the bus, and I mentioned to my mom that we should double check our tickets just in case it could have magically changed to 3:00 instead of 2:00. The tickets said 2:00, unfortunately, but the tickets weren't for Monday, they were for WEDNESDAY. We weren't even planning on staying that long. We had bus tickets back to D.C for Tuesday afternoon! We laughed so hard, and we made reservations to stay one more night.

We decided to buy tickets to do the tour on the double decker bus. It was the best decision we could have made! We learned so much of New York's history, and saw more than we would have if we walked everywhere!!!


Empire State Building


I loved this building. Our tour guide didn't know the name of it, but I loved the unique architecture.


Brooklyn Bridge


Tiles wrote on by children affected by the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centers





This building is where slaves were once imported and sold


Gorgeous view of the city during our Night tour.


Riding the ferry to the Statue of Liberty


Mom, Kiley, and Me


Amazing...




This is our "I can't believe I just saw the Statue of Liberty" face:)


Lunch in Little Italy which was actually ran by a man from Guatamala...interesting... but oh, so good!


Street where Sara Jessica Parker lives


Greenwich Village where Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are filming "Bounty." If you know me at all, you know this was probably my favorite part of the trip:) ha


Kiley at Hard Rock


Mom and I at Hard Rock


Our lovely hotel room for our "extra" night. Every color in the rainbow was in this room!!! ha


Ya, I am a little vertically challenged so I couldn't reach very well...This is the piano from the movie Big.


Kiley and Rocky


Rocky and I havin' a quick match before lunch


Kiley and the famous "Naked Cowboy!" He was hilarious. Oh, and...he is a reverend believe it or not...




And last but not least...a great ending to our wonderful trip...WICKED! It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time! I absolutely loved it! I cannot wait to see it again!





After a wonderful show, we went by the hotel to pick up our luggage, to catch our bus back to D.C. And, guess what?...That's right! We missed it!!!! Ahhhhh...it said online to board it across from where it dropped us off. Well...it lied. It was on a whole other street than where it dropped us off! So, we waited 5 hours, and after tears of frustration, we got on the 10:00 bus. Thanks Court for finding us another bus ride home!

Look...a bus!!! yay!!! Buses our not our friends, we decided. Next time I think flying is a better option for us!

Happy Birthday to you...

Today, Dustin turned 24 years old!!! I cannot believe that we started dating when he was 17, its been the best six years of my life! I am so grateful to be married to such an amazing guy. He does so much for me, and I appreciate all of his hard work! I wouldn't be where, who or what I am today if it weren't for Dustin. He sets a great example for me in everything that he does, and motivates me to become more like him in all that I do!

I am so proud of you babe, and I hope you had a great Birthday! I love you!

Getting ready to open his present!!!

Reading his "mushy" birthday card:)

Blowing out his candles. Don't mind the gorgeous cake! I had to put the frosting on while it was hot so the writing smeared all over the place! ha ha It still tasted good. That's all that matters right?

Gathered around the computer...

Bridger, Dust and I (oh and Ben in the middle:)

Independence Day in the Capitol of the USA!!!

I cannot believe that the 4th has already come and gone! Time flies when you're having fun:)

We wanted to take advantage of spending the 4th in our Nation's capitol, but after weighing our options, we all decided to stay near College Park. The guys had to knock doors until three, and by the time they got home, and ready to go, we probably would have been stuck in the metro station trying to get on for hours. They expected half a million people to use the metros yesterday, and they had shut down all parking so driving wasn't an option. Although, it would have been VERY cool to go to D.C, we had a blast spending the holiday with our friends.

Yesterday morning before the guys went out, we had a big breakfast for them in the office. All of the wives pitched in, and made bacon, sausage, pancakes, and eggs. It was definitely a nice way to start off the day, and fill up the guys before they went out to work.

When the guys got done knocking, we all went down to the pool to have a pool party as an office. This consisted of the girls laying out and chatting, while watching the guys have chicken fights, hold your breath, and belly flop contests.

Tiff and I





Some of the girls: Sam, Tiff, Court, and Sara.

Playing a ball game...

Belly flop contest! Look at Seth's welt! Poor kid!

Bridger said this one was for the blog, so...here you go Bridge!!!!

Seeing who can hold their breath the longest!

We all met up around 7:00 for dinner at On the Border! You all know how I LOVE mexican food! It was delicious!

Court, Bridger, Dust and I





Sam and Dustin gazing off into the distance...


After dinner, we headed back to the apartments to watch the fireworks from our roof! It was a little different watching them through a chain-link fence, but we were able to see the fireworks at the University of Maryland and the Capitol!

The fireworks must have sparked a sweet tooth, so a few of us headed down to Rita's for some frozen custard! Mmmmm

Sammy and Landon

After an eventful day, we gathered at our house to watch the new Jim Gaffigan DVD on the projector! A good laugh is always a nice way to end the evening!