Ogden Christmas Village

Mike and I decided to visit the Ogden Christmas Village one night for a Christmas date :0) It's always fun to try to think of holiday-type things to do. It was really cold, but it was fun. I had never been to the Christmas Village before. It reminded me of the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk where the city creates something and gives people the opportunity to get out, walk around, and enjoy other people's creativity. I know that the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk changes every year but I am not sure if the scenes inside the buildings of the Christmas Village do. I guess I will have to wait until next year and fund out.

They had a train driving around the Christmas lights that kids were able to ride in. I thought it looked like so much fun and the kids really seemed to be enjoying it.

I loved the nativity that they displayed. Just because nativity's are one of my favorite things so I loved seeing them displayed. (For people that don't know me too well - I like to get a nativity from every country that I visit.)

Behind this truck there is a snack shack where people could roast marshmallows and chestnuts over an open fire. How awesome is that? What a great idea perfect for the season. We had just gotten our Carmel Apple Spice Cider from Starbucks, otherwise we probably would have tried it. Just for the experience :0)

I loved these two scenes in a couple of the buildings. In the one above the Grinch is in a jail cell trying to steal a Christmas tree and two police officers are there with some doughnut boxes.

In the one below I loved how Santa is looking at the nativity scene. A reminder of the true reason for Christmas.

It was a really fun date and I really enjoyed the Christmas Village and all the Christmas lights. I am glad that we were able to go and experience it. Next year, if you are ever in the Ogden area you should check it out!

Final Days In New York

This is my last post on New York! The last couple days were pretty chill compared to the days before.

We went to Grand Central Station and caught the train to Harrison so that I could visit the fabulous family I was a nanny for 5 years ago. It was so crazy to see how much they have grown up and to hear about their lives and what they have done and what they are up to. They are all doing really well which makes me happy :0) I am glad that we still remain in contact, even if it isn't super often.


Mike was really excited to see the new Apple Store in Grand Central Station. Too bad it was opening 4 days after we left :0/


We went back to the apartment and hung out with everyone and then we went to the lighting of the Christmas lights in Central park. It wasn't as big of a celebration as we were told it was going to be and it is definitely a family friendly thing - not a group of single people with no kids thing. Anyway, it was still fun to at least see what it was all about. And it was a very pretty night.

Afterwards we split up and did our own things for the night. Mike and I walked around and looked at all the Christmas lights and festivities. More pictures of that can be found here.




After we went to a pizzeria that came highly recommended - John's Pizzeria. It was AWFUL. The only thing I liked was this photo -
which I actually love. Awesome perception of the city. Anyway, we got garlic knots and a Hawaiian pizza. Our waiter was there to take our order and the he didn't come back to our table the rest of the night. Seriously. He walked past us about ten times which the final time I was able to flag him down to ask for our bill. But he didn't check on the order, to make sure it was correct or that it was okay, he didn't refill our water, nothing! He would walk past us to the big screen TV that was at the bar and watch the game or text. Trust me, it was about ten feet away from us and I could watch him the whole time. It was lame. It was like $35 for that lousy lousy meal (one pizza, garlic knots and no service). Grrrrr.


Everyone in the group thankfully loves the Carmel Apple Spice drinks from Starbucks so Monday morning we headed to the nearest shop. We walked around New York for a while and just enjoyed looking at the sky line and all the things that make it different from Utah. The traffic, the buildings, the people, the fashion, the weather. It was so much fun to try and take it all in through every sense; seeing, smelling, feeling, touching and yes, tasting :0).
We walked around Central Park
And decided to watch "the Three Bears Christmas" show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. Totally for kids, but oh well, we watched it too.
After the show we walked to Belvedere Tower, it's one place I remember from my first visit to NY in 2004. Quite the view from the tower huh?
It was erected in 1869 as a lookout (how awesome is that) but is now the home of the New York Meteorological Observatory (still pretty neat).





It was a really fun visit and who knows which way this train is headed, maybe I will be back to NY, maybe I won't. Guess we will wait and see what happens in the future :0)

Christmas in NYC

People were constantly telling me, "New York City is magical at Christmas-time." In different ways but the same thing over and over. Honestly, I think any city turns magic during the Christmas season because Christmas itself is a magical season; however, I did love visiting New York and seeing all their lights and decorations celebrating the holiday. I loved that their Salvation Army bell ringers had music playing and danced as they collected money, they didn't do that when I came back to Utah. It was a beautiful Christmas in NYC and here are some pictures of what we saw specific to Christmas :0)






















There was more but I kinda didn't take pictures of everything ;0)