Happy New Year

We had the absolute coolest New Year's Eve ever!! It was a dream come true. Ever since Em and I moved to New York, we talked about how we have to go to and experience New Years actually down in Times Sq.

There were a few problems with this dream though: 1) New York in December is freezing. 2) You have to show up 6 or 7 hours early, because they actually have little metal caged areas (called pens) where you just have to stand and wait. No bathroom breaks. No dinner breaks. Nada.

But, as most of you know, Emily works for Edelman PR there in Times Sq. As it turns out, her building is literally across the street from where the ball is dropped (she works at 43rd and Broadway - across the st from the Nasdaq sign). Her office is moving this year down to Tribeca, so they decided to have a New Year's Eve party. So that is what we did. We were able to stay indoors, look down upon the crowds from the 20th - 30th floors. The party was catered, and even had a couple of Rock Band sets. So we were able to rock out while we waiting for the big drop.

It was fun to look down and see Dick Clark's stage, and to see where Anderson Cooper was. Every hour, they hold a mock 10 second countdown. It was fun to count down every hour. We were actually really lucky to be able to stay at her work, since New Year's Eve was unusually cold this year. It was like 15 degrees with a frigid wind.

At 11:45 - we decided to go outside and join the party. I mean, we couldnt celebrate New Year's in a building, we needed to be on the streets with all the people. It was fun waiting, with all the energy and enthusiasm. But, it was freezing, so I think we could only handle about 10 min, then we had to take cover. There is a full 60 second countdown while the ball drops, and everyone is just screaming and jumping once the New Year hits. It was so electrifying and so much fun. It was a dream come true!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Christmas in San Fran

Em and I spent Christmas in San Fran with Em's family. We flew out on Dec 23rd and came home on Sunday, Dec 28th. We had a family dinner on Christmas Eve, then another one on Christmas Day night. It was so much fun seeing Em's family and spending time with her.

We were very sad to not be able to spend time with the Thornocks, but at least I was able to logon and play multiple Ticket to Ride games with mom, Rick, Mike, Janelle, Tanya, and Bryce. We had a great vacation and it was very difficult to come back to "real life."

Merry Christmas to all!! We hope you had a great holiday as well. Thanks Bob & Carol for allowing us to crash your place for a few days!

Macy's Day Parade

Can you live in New York and NOT go to the most famous parade in the world? Em and I thought no - so we made the plunge and decided to go to the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning. It was stunning!! We are so happy that we did it and will never forget it.

It all began with me and Em's dad waking up at 5:30 AM and meeting a few people from the ward. We took the subway to Central Park, and scouted out the perfect spot. We ended up on 68th st and Central Park West (on the Central Park side - a key decision I later found out). We had chairs, blankets, snacks, etc to keep us entertained. The time flew by, and we were extremely blessed with sunny and warm weather. Em and her mom left around 7:50 AM, since the parade began at 9 AM and they knew the crowds would be insane.

Around 8:30 AM, they called, and unfortunately were at 69th st and Central Park West, but on the opposite side of the street. They said that they were completely stuck, and could not move anymore becuase of the massive crowd. The streets were lined with huge metal police barricades. I told them that if they could just get to the barricade, I would get them the rest the way. I hopped the barricades, crossed the street, found them, and like Moses, parted the crowd so that only a barricade was separating us. Carol climbed it, and then Emily followed (no small feat based on their height.) ;) Luckily, we all made it and had front row seats to the Macy's Day Parade.

We had the times of our lives and were so happy to have experienced it. It was fun to see all the floats and balloons. We especially loved Santa Clause!

Handel's Messiah

In regular Thornock Christmas Tradition, Em and I wanted to hear Handel's Messiah. Since we will not be in Arizona for Christmas to sing it at the top of our lungs on Christmas Eve, we chose the next best alternative - go and hear the NY Philharmonic play it! We had such an incredible time. The music was phenomenal!! We really enjoyed ourselves. Although the singers did not bounce up and down during "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" to a blasting record, it was a great experience.

NY Philharmonic

Emily and I went and saw the NY Philharmonic perform Friday December 5th. It was the first time either of us had been to seem them at the Avery Hall at Lincoln Center. They are unbelievable! I was telling Em that we should have our kids play in the Orchestra and they can only quit once they can play Beethoven's 5th symphony.

They performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major followed by Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor, with Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor as the finale. I could listen to them perform for the rest of my life. I loved it so much - and we really had a good time. The Brandenburg's are so light and fun and Beethoven's 5th was so powerful.

This is the 7th and final year for the conductor Lorin Maazel. He was really entertaining to watch. The music was heavenly and we had a wonderful evening.

Madama Butterfly

Emily and I both really enjoy the opera. We went with her parents to go see Puccini's Madama Butterfly performed by the Metropolitan Opera. It was stunning. It was so well done and the music was so stirring. Although really heavy, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We look forward to going again soon.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Christmas Season cannot officially begin until you have seen the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular performance.

First of all, Radio City is absolutely enormous. It was so much fun to be there and to see it inside. Second, I was there with great company, my wonderful wife Emily and her parents Bob/Carol. Good times.
Third, we were sitting on the 6th row. That was cool - I dont think there were better seats in the house.
Fourth, the Rockettes were out of this world. It was so cool to see their precision and performance. I didnt realize how many there were - it was sure impressive.

We had such a fun time! What a cool experience.

All My Sons

OK - so we had probably one of the best experiences here on Broadway last week. Carol, Bob, Em and I went to see the Broadway play "All My Sons". Now, a little background information: I absolutely love plays and dramas. I think they are so fun. Em and I have seen quite a few, and up until this point my favorite was Frost/Nixon with Frank Langella (which by the way is coming out to movie theaters this December with Frank.)

Anyway, the play was written by Arthur Miller and is about a family after WWII. It has Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, Patrick Wilson and Dianne Wiest. The play was phenomenal!! I have never seen such great acting. And to be honest, Katie Holmes was good, but Lithgow and Wiest were out of this world. They were stunning! It was one of the best nights and one of the best things I have seen. Loved it!!

Bob & Carol ... fun times for everyone

So, we have had Bob & Carol here for the past 2 weeks sharing their Thanksgiving with us. We have had to much fun! It was such a riot just hanging out with them and enjoying the holidays. Carol took all the pictures, so I will wait to post them. But it was such a nice holiday with them out here. It was much better than Emily hanging out alone (since I had to work Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving).

Thanks for putting up with us. I am impressed that we made it 2 whole weeks together in a small 1 bedroom apartment without killing each other. It was a great time and we had a blast. Love you guys!!

Miko & Connie

My brother Mike and his wife Connie came out to visit us. We had such a blast. Thanks for coming out - we had so much fun. Thanks for the fantastically entertaining times - and you know exactly what I mean ....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Yep, you guessed it. We went and saw one of the newest shows here on Broadway, A Tale of Two Cities. It started less than 2 months ago and didn't get really good reviews. I guess because of the rumors spread by the critics and the tough economic environment right now, the show actually got the boot. I feel bad for all of those investors - they spent all this money writing the songs and before it could really get started, it is gone. Wow!

But, Emily and I absolutely loved it! We thought it was fantastic. We found out Sat around 3 PM that the last show was Sunday, so around 6:30 we went to Times Sq and got tickets. They were great - mezzanine directly in the middle. We really had a ball and are so glad that we saw it before it closed the doors.

Needless to say, it was the best of times for us, the worst of times for the actors! :-)

WINTUK - Cirque Du Soleil

We did it. We finally saw Cirque Du Soleil - Wintuk here are Madison Square Garden. We heard great things, so decided to go and see it. It was phenomenal! The dancers/actors are so talented and were doing the craziest things. Probably more tailored for children, because it is about this boy who wants it to snow to usher in Winter, but we had a good time.