Our family loves New York City! We love everything about the city!
We love visiting all the touristy places, like Rockfeller Center and Times Square!
We love shopping in SoHo and Chinatown, bicycling in Central Park, walking the Brooklyn Bridge,
We love shopping in SoHo and Chinatown, bicycling in Central Park, walking the Brooklyn Bridge,
eating at all the fabulous restaurants, going to the theater,
and trying all the cupcakes and goodies at all the different bakeries.
Yes! Our family loves to visit New York City
and trying all the cupcakes and goodies at all the different bakeries.
Yes! Our family loves to visit New York City
so we couldn’t wait to spend 5 wonderful days in New York City after Christmas.
It was heaven to be all together as a family,
but having my dad there to share it with us really made it extra special.
but having my dad there to share it with us really made it extra special.
Watching him soak up New York was like watching a kid in a candy store.
Really priceless! We are so grateful that he could come with our family!
What a great memory for all of us!
Some of the other highlights from the trip include,
of course, the family meeting Cheri for the first time, taking my dad to the Opera,
an early birthday surprise for Allie, with her best friend, Anise, showing up at Shake Shack (I love surprises!!),
seeing Lion King and then walking around Times Square, going to the temple with all the kids,
meeting up with Tyler’s best friend, Josh, from high school and baby Cheri’s blessing day!
So many fun things to do and see in New York City but this trip was different.
We did squeeze in a lot of activities but we spent more time than ever
just sitting around Kimber’s apartment, holding baby Cheri and gushing over her!
She really is such a sweet baby and she definitely stole everyone’s hearts!
The girls couldn’t stand to leave her each night so they took turns sleeping on Kimber’s couch,
getting up in the middle of the night to help feed her. Even Allie and Justin took a turn!
Baby Cheri seemed to love all the attention
and didn’t mind being passed from one person to the other the entire time we were there.
and didn’t mind being passed from one person to the other the entire time we were there.
I don’t think she was put down in her bassinet the whole week!
Yes! We {heart} NYC but more than ever we {heart} our NYC baby, Cheri!
Anise and I pulled off a fun early birthday surprise for Allie at Shake Shack the next day!
It was so much fun to plan and scheme with Anise! Seriously love that girl!
And it was so fun to see Allie's face when Anise walked in the door at Shake Shack!
Such a fun day! (The video of the surprise will be finished soon and I will post it!)
Having my dad there to enjoy all of it was one of the highlights of the trip!
Grandpa meeting baby Cheri for the first time!
Such a fun night with this little one!
Lots of smiles all night and lots of love for baby Cheri!
It was so much fun to plan and scheme with Anise! Seriously love that girl!
And it was so fun to see Allie's face when Anise walked in the door at Shake Shack!
Such a fun day! (The video of the surprise will be finished soon and I will post it!)
Seeing these two cute friends together again was really fun!
Some of us braved the cold and took Grandpa over to the 9/11 Memorial.
I'm not saying that the others were wimps or anything...
I think they just wanted to go back to Kimber's to hold Cheri:)!
It is so fun to see the progress of the site! So beautiful!
We went to Dunkin' Donuts and got some yummy hot chocolate to help us warm up...
and then made our way back to Kimber's to snuggle with Cheri!
That night we went to dinner at Rosa Mexicano.
They are famous for is their gaucamole that they make right at your table. Yum!
Of course, Allie had to get right in there and see how he was making it.
She loved watching make the guacamole and loved using her spanish too:)!
The yummy gaucamole! We got the recipe and can't wait to try making it ourselves!
After dinner, these kids headed over to see the tree at the Rockefeller Center
while Dad and I headed out for a daddy/daughter date!
I heard that my dad has always wanted to go see the Metropolitan Opera at the Lincoln Center.
So I surprised him and took him to see The Barber of Seville on Thursday night.
The look on his face when I told him was priceless!
You would have thought that he just won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes!
So I surprised him and took him to see The Barber of Seville on Thursday night.
The look on his face when I told him was priceless!
You would have thought that he just won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes!
It was a wonderful Daddy/Daughter date!
Having him all to myself that night was really magical!
He was thrilled to be there in that beautiful building enjoying the opera, "a lifelong dream of his",
but he made me feel that he was most excited to be with me
and spend some one on one time with me!
It was such a fun night with my dad! I loved having him all to myself!
Taking the subway ride with Grandpa is always fun.
And riding the subway with Allie and Justin is fun too!
That night, we headed over to Times Square for dinner at Schnipper's before we went to see Lion King.
Brooke of course, had to try the chili dog!
Yum!
We loved seeing Lion King! And Grandpa, having served two missions in South Africa, particularly loved it!
Afterwards, we had fun walking around Times Square!
Grandpa said that he had never been in Times Square at night and loved it!
Watching him soak it all it was priceless!
We went to the temple on Saturday morning.
We really love the temple and being all together as a family in the temple
is really like experiencing a little heaven on earth.
Dad bought his girls some apple cider at the Farmer's market across the street from the temple.
That night the Crandall and the Holt families all went to dinner at Dean's Restaurant.
It was wonderful to spend time together with the Crandall family
and celebrate with Kimber and Brett and baby Cheri!
It was wonderful to spend time together with the Crandall family
and celebrate with Kimber and Brett and baby Cheri!
The food was served family styler and everything tasted delicious!
We passed around the baby a lot!
It was fun to catch up with Dennis and Laura.
And good to see Mark, Rachel and Kurt Crandall too.
The guests of honor, Brett, Kimber and Cheri Crandall.
Cheri doesn't look like she is too happy to be there,
but really she was a doll most of the night.
We just waited too long to get this family photo:)!
Cheri doesn't look like she is too happy to be there,
but really she was a doll most of the night.
We just waited too long to get this family photo:)!
Walking back from dinner, we couldn't help but be awestruck
with the incredible view of the Freedom Tower, which was all lit up!
Cheri's blessing day was so special that it deserves a blogpost of it's own...
so I'll just include this photo of all the Crandall and Holt families on that day...
And this cute picture of Kimber and baby Cheri!
I love this one because this is real life for Kimber.
With Brett serving as Bishop, it is going to be just her and Cheri
going to church together every Sunday.
Everyone was supposed to fly out on Sunday night.
I was going to stay a few days longer to help Kimber clean up after all the gang
and "help" her with the baby Cheri... basically just wanted to play with Cheri once everyone left.
But the all the girls were so sad about leaving and begged me to call Delta
and see if they would let them change their flights and waive the fee.
I was sure that they wouldn't but late Saturday night I finally broke down
and called and to my surprise, Delta agreed to waive the fee!
So the girls missed the first day of winter semester...
("you don't do anything the first day of school anyways..." that's what the girls said!)
So the girls missed the first day of winter semester...
("you don't do anything the first day of school anyways..." that's what the girls said!)
and they got to stay an extra day in NYC with Kimber, me and baby Cheri:)!
We were all so happy that we decided to celebrate Allie's birthday some more
and we headed to Sarabeth's in Tribeca for a birthday brunch!
Afterwards, we went to Tribeca Treats to try some goodies.
I tried the little cup of frosting. Yep! That's right!
All that is in that little cup is frosting, no cake, just frosting!
And I ate the whole thing and loved it:)!
I washed it down with a diet pepsi, but still...
It was the perfect way to end our trip, walking around NYC on a beautiful day,
enjoying a delicious meal with my girls and little Cheri!
I can't wait for our next trip to NYC but most of all,
I can't wait for the next time that we are all together!
It was a wonderful Christmas break. A very special time for the Holt family!
