DISNEY WORLD

We broke down and decided to go to Disney World! I know - you are probably thinking why did 2 adults with no children go to Disney? We are fairly close to Florida, and Em has never been, so we thought it would be fun. We flew out Friday night after work, and then flew home Tuesday night. It truly was a magical 4 days. We stayed in a Disney World hotel, so we were lucky to have the Disney Magical Express pick us up from the airport, and had extended hours every day to the theme parks.

We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. We had such a great time! Rob's favorites were Space Mountain and the new Everest ride at Animal Kingdom. Also, there was a really fun Buzz Lightyear game/ride that was pretty fun. Emily's favorites were Splash Mtn, Space Mtn, Rock'n Roller Coaster and Everest. Her ultimate favorite experience was when we rode Splash mtn, and when we finished, there was no one in line and the people let us ride it again without ever getting out of the boat.

We really got lucky with choosing a great weekend, the lines were really short so we got to ride every ride multiple times. The weather was also so wonderful - a nice break from cold New York. Enjoy the pics!

NYC Visitors

The visitors keep coming, and we absolutely love it! Last week we had my brother and his wife (Rick and Barb) come and visit us for a few days. It was so much fun! We had an absolute blast. We went to the Moma, Met museum, Central Park, Chinatown, Madison Sq park, Wall St, and even took the Staten Island Ferry. We even had times for some cards! It was so much fun having them here.

They left Wednesday morning, and my Aunt Jean and 2 cousins Krista/Shelley came. Emily was able to go see 13 with them on Saturday afternoon, and then we all went to Mary Poppins Saturday night. It was a fun to chat with them and catch up. We are grateful that they came and stayed with us, especially since they let me stay in their basement one summer and let Em and I stay there for a few weeks while we were waiting for our apartment to open up. Thanks guys! It was fun having you out.

Rick & Barb

Brian & Sonya

Random Pics

I stumbled accross these and thought it would be fun. This first one is my freshman year at BYU 2001 with all of us Gilbert boys getting together to paint our chests for the BYU football games. We made it in the front page of the newspaper - but then coincidentally Pres Bateman the next day came out and said that we should no longer paint our bodies for football games since they are holy and temples. We spelled "Go-Cougars" and I am the "-" (also promoting KSL)

The other 4 pics are just random from the Mission in Ukraine. One is at a mafia-owned/run bowling alley (gotta love the KGB), another is on P-day for the big Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving, another is our 4th of July celebration at English class.

Family ... isn't it about time

I know it has been a while since I posted. Em and I are doing really well. Work has been super busy for me with the whole financial market crisis & meltdown. At least I still have a job - there is much to say for that.

We have been enjoying the political debates, hanging out with friends, and hosting visiting family. 2 weeks ago we had my brother Brian and his wife Sonya here from Colorado. We absolutely had a ball! They are such a fun/happy couple - we really enjoyed ourselves. I think they beat the world record of seeing the most in NY in the shortest amount of time. It was phenomenal what they were able to accomplish.

On Friday - we met them for dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner, then we went and saw Mamma Mia! It was such a great play. We really had a lot of fun.

We got to hang out with them all day Saturday - we went to the MOMA (there is a new Van Gogh exhibit), Central Park (saw Strawberry fields, rode the carousel, Bethesda fountain for all you Enchanted fans, and Bow bridge) Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum, then off to Chinatown/Little Italy for illegal purse buying and pizza at Lombardi's. It was such a fun day.

We were sad to see them go but hope that they come and visit us again soon. My other brother Rick and his wife Barbie are coming out to visit us this Friday and we are really excited.

Attached are some random family pics. My fam - color coordinated by family.

Celine Dion

For our 2 year anniversary, Emily and I got tickets to go see Celine Dion. This has been a dream of Emily for years. She was so bummed when Celine stopped singing in Vegas, since she thought that we had lost our chance. Em loves Celine, and I think this definitely was one thing on her bucket list. We could not get tickets to her concert in Madison Square Garden, so we saw her in Long Island, at the Nassau Coliseum, where the NY Islanders play hockey. Thanks Doug & Amber Doxey for letting us use your car!

The show was amazing!! She really did a phenomenal job! Her voice is so clear and perfect, it was hard to realize that we were seeing her in person. We really had a good time. I dont think I have ever seen so many women gathered in one place at one time as I did at the concert. But we both had a wonderful time.

Tribute to 9/11

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since Sept 11. It was interesting to be here to commemorate that tragic event. Beginning on Sunday night before 9/11, there were 2 large beams of light shooting upwards, to show where the twin towers stood. It was cool to see them from the apartment every night and to think about those events. Gratefully there has not been another attack.

Since I get off the subway 1 block from ground zero, I get to walk by every day. On 9/11 there were people everywhere trying to get to the ceremony service. After work, I walked to the site and reflected briefly about that sad day. If I would have been in New York at the time when they struck and I have the same routine as I do now, I would have been right there when the planes hit. It is scary to think about. We took this pictures from our window. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it in person.

Philadelphia

Emily and I decided to spend the weekend in Philadelphia to see the founding of our country. We absolutely had a ball. We went with our good friends Kevin & Heather Hirst. This was Emily's first time to Philly - so we had a blast. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's Grave, University of Pennsylvania, Quaker House, Washington Square, Betsy Ross' House, and much more. Of course we had to get a Philly Cheesesteak - it was so good! Lastly, we got to hear interesting stories from actors as they presented "Once Upon A Nation" - at each of the 12 benches. Here are some pics - enjoy!