We interrupt this update about New York to bring you...............Christmas Pictures 2011

Guess what time of the year it is??? That's right. Time for Christmas cards and Christmas pictures. I waited a REALLY long time this year because I was really dreading the craziness that is picture time!

 I always love the good pictures I get of the kids when I take pictures in this volume.

 All of the above pictures are why I make my kids cry because they have to dress up when it isn't Sunday, or brush their hair, heaven forbid! And I usually end up resorting to bribbery and yelling and throwing my hands in the air and one point or another. So this year, instead of giving you just the "good pictures", I am also giving you the ........................OUTTAKES AT THE JOHNSON HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 This is the pose Lund wanted to use for his individual picture...............hummmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not today son!

 This demonstrates how happy Cassidy was about the whole experience!!!! WARNING! VERY GRUMPY TEENAGER!

 And this little man always forgets how to smile during picture time and enjoys being goofy and just generally crazy!

And two minutes after the pictures were over, Will had already fallen and splashed in a puddle!!! Oh well, that is how it works around here.... You take 203 pictures, just to get one for the Christmas card.... Man, I LOVE digital camera's!!

New York in segments...

So,  you know when you take a trip that is life-changing, and you get back home in "trip glow" mode and then you hit the ground running with piano recitals, programs and all craziness, and then BAM, you get sick on top of that? Well, that is why I haven't posted any pictures from our trip yet. But alas, I will whet  your appetite with just a few glimpses of our wonderful excursion. (And it is spelled "whet" all you crazy English majors, look it up! he he he)

Morgan and I LOVED walking the streets of New York City. As long as my hands were warm and my shoes were comfy, I was in walking heaven!

This gives you a feel of the weather while we were there. It was actually colder when we got off the plane in Phoenix! The wind seriously makes a difference though!

Here we are in Times Square. It was crowded while we were there, but by the weekend nights, it was INSANELY crowded! Still a fun place to visit, and one bonus is, that if you get tired, you can just lift up your feet and the crowd will carry you!

And yes ladies and gentelmen, we had culture! We saw the Broadway show "Wicked" and LOVED it!!

We even had a chance to meet up with my high school friend, Melanie, who LOVES living in Manhattan. We told her to take us to the most authentic New York pizza place she knew, and she didn't disappoint!! We went to John's pizza which is in an old church cathedral, and YUM! I will be dreaming about that pizza for a while! Thanks Mel!

And something that amazed me was, everytime I looked up, I would see something from TV. It was crazy! Since I had never been to New York City before, my only references where "Seinfield" and "Friends", and so I would constantly say, "Remember on Seinfield when they played Frogger with the traffic, and remember on Friends when Phoebe ran like a crazy woman through Central Park?" Luckily, Morgan didn't get sick of all my TV references. Thanks Honey!

And, here comes another reference....What movie is this piano from? I will give you a hint, it is in FAO Schwartz and it starts with the letter B.....any takers?
By the way, if you want to take one of these babies home for the holidays, it will only set you back 250,000.00. Come on, your kids are worth it!!!

And the Statue of Liberty was smaller than I expected. Or maybe this was the one built out of Lego's...hummm

Oh boy, the subways!!! Morgan took to them like a champ, leaning on his experiences from Tokyo subways. I, on the other hand, just followed him around and jumped everytime a subway came flying through the tunnels. And, people on the subway thought it was funny when I would ask them if I could sit next to them. It is polite to ask, you know.

We will finish this segment with something sweet. This whole bathtub was FULL of bubblegum! In case you are worried that I tried to sneak one, let me just tell you that cancer is enough for me. I don't want any new sicknesses, and those gumballs looked like they had been touched by every hand in New York City!