Strong Island

We survived our first hurricane. It was a very intense and humbling experience to say the least. God was watching over us and we were so blessed! We had been following the storm on the news several days before it hit and we were starting to get nervous for it. For our area the main concern was losing power for several days so Saturday night we went to the store and stocked up on non perishable food items as well as water, batteries and candles. We are located in Bay Shore on Long Island which is about 45 miles from Manhattan. Manhattan was evacuated Sunday and other areas were evacuated that were located close to water. We are about 3 miles from the bay. We had an emergency place to go if we needed to evacuate at any point. My sister and her husband, Cass and Chris, came to visit on Oct 22 and Chris was scheduled to leave Monday, Oct 29th and Cass on Nov 2nd. Well luckily they were able to get done most of the things they wanted to see and do because the airlines told Chris he had to leave Sat morning or else he wouldn't be able to catch a flight until Nov 2 and he couldn't miss that much work. So, poor Cass was stuck in NY for a hurricane. I was so glad she was here with me but I'm not so sure she felt the same way...haha. Sunday night the wind started to get really strong but there was no rain yet. Monday morning the rain came and the winds were getting stronger and stronger and stronger as the day went on. Monday night was the worst part of the hurricane...the winds were 82 miles per hour! I literally thought our windows were going to shatter!! The power flickered in and out a few times but it was never more than 2 minutes.....we never fully lost power! Through the entire storm we NEVER LOST POWER! I am still amazed by it. By Tuesday morning the worst was over, it was still really windy but the sun was trying to shine through. We were basically in shock that we still had power because 90% of Long Island was without power and we were part of the 10% with power. All the traffic lights were out around our home and the stores and several of our neighbors and friends had no power. On the news they kept saying if you were without power it could be up to 10 days before it gets turned back on because of how huge the outage was. Slowly our area is getting power back but there are still so many people that are without power and the damage is awful. Gas stations are running out of gas and the lines of cars at the gas stations are literally miles long. People are trying to fill up small gas cans for their generators. We drove around a little on Tuesday afternoon and so many trees and power lines are down and all over the place. A lot of homes, especially on or near the water are either totally GONE or severely damaged. The flooding was about 1 1/2 miles south of our home so again, we were so fortunate to have no damage done to our home. A family we know lost their home and are just so positive throughout this whole situation...they are really amazing. So many people called/emailed/text to check up on us and let us know they were thinking about us and praying for us and we are so grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers! Seeing the pictures in New Jersey and seeing first hand here in NY all the damage that was done and hearing about the lives that were lost we just feel so incredibly blessed.

These were just a few pictures of the water and damage we saw:

We kept staring out the windows watching the storm so Taisley wanted to look out the windows too. (this was before I thought the windows were going to shatter)

We were not sure how many people were going to be out trick or treating for Halloween after the storm but there was a few out and about. Taisley was not feeling very good, she had a little fever, but was still so excited to put on her cow costume. We took her to a few houses in our neighborhood. She waived at everyone that opened their door and just wanted to carry the candy around in her hands. It was so cute to see her cruisin down the street as a little cow. It was really fun having Cass here with us during Halloween too! Luckily she was able to catch her flight home this morning. They barely opened the airport back up on Nov 1st. I will post more pics from their trip later. 

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers!!

Visitors!!!!!!!

Trav's parents came out to visit and it was so much fun!

Trav was brave enough to drive us into the city this time instead of taking the train. We left early Saturday morning and surprisingly didn't catch up with too much traffic. 

We took the ferry out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty:

We also went to Ellis Island which is right next to Liberty Island. It was really neat to learn about all of the immigrants that came through Ellis Island to get to America. Lots of cool stories! 

Becky and I saw 'WICKED' on Broadway!!!

It was seriously incredible! 

on the subway

We went to the lighthouse on Fire Island which is about 10 minutes from our house right on the beach. Unfortunately, we were too late to walk up inside but we will have to do that next time.

We went to the White Post Farms which is a petting zoo not too far from our house.

 (after getting lost and taking a short detour) 

Taisley LOVED the animals, as you can tell by her face.

They had hayrides and a pumpkin patch for the fall festival. 

While we were at the farms we fed the goats and sheep bottles of milk. Well, the next morning Taisley decided she would feed her own bottle to her stuffed animal Zebra. It was the cutest thing. Now she likes to feed ALL of her stuffed animals her drinks. She was giving her bear juice in the picture below. 

 She has been so observant lately. She gets her toy kitchen plate and fork and acts like she is taking bites of food and says..."mmmm". She is so funny and keeps us laughing all day long. I try to write everything down in her baby book so we can remember all the funny things she does. If you haven't noticed by now Taisley never has a bow or flower on her head anymore because she rips them off after being on for about 1.5 seconds. It doesn't bother me until we get to costco and 2 different people tell us how cute our little BOY is...even though she has hearts on her shirt and pants! Come on people! Haha oh well maybe one of these days she will let me put a bow on her head again. 

We had tons of fun with Becky and JD while they were here and are so glad they came. It's always so sad to see our visitors go. Taisley cried when they got out of the car at the airport :(

The fall weather is settling in....the last couple of days it's been pretty chilly. The leaves are starting to change colors and it's so beautiful to watch. 

Boston!

Travis had a couple days off of school in September so we decided to take a trip to Boston. Trav served his mission in Boston so he holds a special place for this city in his heart. Even though we live in New York now...he is still one of the biggest Red Sox fans (and Boston Celtics and New England Patriots fan) you will ever meet. We even had a Boston Red Sox sticker on the back of our car that I made him remove so we wouldn't get jumped here in NY :). He also served 12 months of his mission in New Hampshire where he made many life long friends. We were lucky enough to stay with one of those friends, The Bentall family, and had such a great time with them. We were very glad everyone was able to meet Taisley. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get very many pictures but here are some of us in Boston.

This is such a neat spot close to the ocean where you can see Boston's skyline really well. 

Trav at the "Cheers" Bar

Taisley playing in The Boston Gardens

The Boston Gardens

Such a fun trip! So cool that it's only 4 1/2 hours driving distance from us now...we will definitely be back soon. 

Grandma Came to Visit!!

Grandma Ria came to visit us the end of August and we had soooo much fun with her here! When she got in the car at the airport, Taisley was so excited! It was really cute. These two spent a lot of time together back in AZ while I was working full time. 

Unfortunately, Trav was busy with school the whole week so my mom and I had to venture out on our own. 

We made it up to Montauk Point and went up in the lighthouse. We had to take turns because they wouldn't let Taisley go up in the lighthouse. It was a warm day so when we got down to the beach we tried to cool off in the water a little bit without getting too wet...Taisley just wanted to dive right in.

Here is the view from the top of the lighthouse...it was beautiful!

Mom and I were able to go to the city while Trav stayed home with Taisley (what a nice guy).

I was a little nervous to go without Trav since this was only my second time in the city but Mom and I figured it out and luckily didn't get lost, haha. The subway system is a little tricky but once you figure that out and have a map with you, you're golden! 

We were able to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on BROADWAY!!!! It was amazing!!!

It was in the "Majestic" Theater 

The beautiful Manhattan Temple

Mom in Time Square

We ate lunch at the 'Shake Shack' just a few blocks from Time Square...it was delicious! 

Right outside of Central Park

It was so much fun running around New York City with my mom! We had a blast! 

 Taisley turned ONE!!!!! 

We were so lucky to have my mom here to celebrate with us.

I think Taisley enjoyed her cake....what do you think?

Haha We love this silly girl!

She had fun opening all her gifts and playing with all her new toys. 

It was sad to see Grandma go when Taisley and I dropped her off at the airport. We had so much fun with her and were glad she could come stay with us. We love you Grandma Ria!

Here is Taisley girl just having fun.

This is her new favorite spot...she pulls everything out and in she goes.

Then she will play peek a boo with you. haha.

This is how the living room looks for most of the day. She loves to pull every book and toy out that she has and then play play play. We pick it all up at night and she is back at it in the morning!! 

This is at the mall playground. Taisley is usually the popular one and all the kids follow her around. Of course she loves the attention and has a grand ole time. 

Trav started school and is loving it so far. He is busy studying all the time but he does great at balancing everything out. This is the 1st day of school. When I told him I had to snap a picture he said "I'm not in first grade" haha. Hey, I think it's a big deal :)