Popcorn Popping on the Cherry Trees!

Yea! After a winter of record-setting snowstorms, we're rewarded with the beauty of cherry blossom trees blooming everywhere. It's very lovely. We decided to go into DC to see all of the trees surrounding the Tidal Basin. What we didn't realize is the amount of people arriving to see them too! Wow - what a mass of people, cars, and buses! It was the 4th of July all over again! It was very beautiful, and we were able to take some nice pictures. We had ended up parking by the fresh seafood market located along the Potomac River. There were several seafood restaurants and we decided to try one of them out. It was pretty tasty - although a bit expensive (what isn't out here?!).

The Adventure of the Grove, the Maple Leaf, and the Apple

We have to start out our Christmas vacation with "The Snowstorm," since it caused us so much grief. We were beginning to wonder if poor Brandalyn and Barett would ever make it out to the East Coast. Barett was the only one left on his dorm floor, and the Cannon Center was closed so he couldn't get any food! Finally, two days late, they found a flight out, and we were able to start our great Christmas adventure!

This picture of Reilly is on our back balcony, after it stopped snowing. It didn't stop snowing for 24 hours straight - I know for all of you in Idaho, Montana, etc. that's no big deal, but Reilly and I have never seen anything like that!

My beautiful girls!

We happened to schedule visiting the Sacred Grove on Joseph Smith's birthday, which made it a special day to be there.

It was so beautiful and peaceful to visit the Sacred Grove right after a snowfall.When we visited the location of the first printing of the Book of Mormon, the sister missionaries had Barett pick his favorite number. That supposedly indicates what country a prospective elder will go to on his mission - Barett's pick? Germany! He's holding up a German Book of Mormon.

Our guidebook describes Mont Tremblant as an "Aspen-meets-Disneyland" in Canada. I think that is a very apt description. It is such a beautiful area - the hotels are situated at the bottom of the ski runs. This is where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was wonderful!

French stop sign.

The cities of Montreal and Quebec were full of beautiful European architecture.

The Christmas decorations were gorgeous.

We had amazing views from our hotel room in Quebec. This is from one of the windows.

And this is from another window.

This is part of the original fortress wall that protected Quebec.

Enjoying a Quebec comfort food - Poutine, which are french fries covered with cheese curds and gravy. They taste better than they sound.

Brandalyn's crazy pasta dinner.

      Crossing the border into the US.

Barett bought this hat in Canada - he was glad he had because it was bitterly cold in NYC.

At Rockefeller Center Plaza

This is our favorite NY picture! Barett saw this guy dressed up and taking pictures with tourists, and he just had to go and get his picture taken with him.

A NY icon that was fun to see!

We decided the biggest adventure of NYC was getting from point A to point B. One of our trips we rode the bus through the Lincoln tunnel. The traffic was so bad that we could've walked faster (but it was pretty cold and we had a long way to go). All of the cities out here have signs that say "Don't Block the Box" at every intersection. We were delighted when our bus, along with several other cars, did just that - stopping right in the middle of a busy NYC intersection, and pandemonium ensued! It was a classic traffic jam, with people walking through the cars, cars winding through each other, and horns honking.

Times Square! It was certainly bustling! They were setting up for the New Year's Eve countdown in Times Square. If you look behind us (where the temporary railings are set up) you can see the stage. Can you see the little "Times Sq." street sign in the second picture? It's such a different feeling there - almost claustrophic with the millions of people and the hulking buildings towering over you.

I really enjoyed taking everyone to Grand Central Station. It's such a beautiful place, and something the children will recognize in movies, TV shows, etc. for years to come.

Love these photos the girls took!

Yup, it looks just like it does in all the movies! We were staying in a hotel across from NYC so we had a nice view.