Here is Chy finishing up with the Thanksgiving Feast dishes. Shane had been in doing the dishes, but by the time I got my camera out he was gone. I told Chy this way she gets all the credit for doing the dishes. The other picture is of us all playing games. Now you know how much I love games...so I was in heaven! Family, please let's play more games...it is fun, I promise! :)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2005!!

This Thanksgiving I stayed in New York City. Myself and about a million others braved the frigid air to see the famous Macy's Day parade. It was great...cold, but GREAT! Truly a once in a lifetime experience. Here is a picture of me and the group of friends that got to the parade at 7 am. It started at 9, but the police we talked to Wednesday night said to get there then if we wanted to see anything. We were on 46th and Broadway, which is right in TimeSquare. We were right up front for the festivities. If you can't figure it out, I am the one on the far left. I am wearing my glasses...to cover up my "roll out of bed and go look." Sorry mom, no make-up on...it was too early and cold for make-up. I have on long johns, a long sleeve shirt, my black fleece sweatpants and shirt, my BYU hoodie, and my winter jacket. I also wore two pairs of socks. I didn't get cold until abbout 10:30ish. I stayed out until about 10:45 and then I headed home to get ready to go to Hawthorne to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Fillmores. I thought it was tons of fun...inspite the cold.

The first picture is of the NYPD band. They were great. The next picture is the first thing in the parade. It was motorcycle NYPD. The last picture is of a bunch of football coaches and owners. I recognized one guy, but for the life of me I could not remember his name. When I come home Joel will have to zoom in to figure out who he is.

My favorite band that went by was from Hawaii. They were dressed in traditional gard and they actually danced and played. Many of the bands were resting when they got in front of us. I also enjoyed Dora the Explorer because it looks like she is running through the city. This is her first year in the parade. It is also the first Latin character...that made big news here. I loved Super Grove, because hey...he is Super Grover and what's not to love! :)

This first picture made me upset...because I was so excited and then it turned out blurry. The actual cast from Seasame Street was on this float. This is a blurry picture of Gordon and Maria. Big Bird is for Clair and the Barbie float is for Kate.

These are the most Thanksgivingy things in the parade. Football, Pilgrims, and Turkey. I loved the Charlie Brown with football balloon. It was huge!

Chicken Little and Leann Rimes on the Disney Float!

The rest of the story...

Here are the pics from last night...that I couldn't get to download. Stay tuned for tons more from the actual parade...it was a blast!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Pre-Parade Extravaganza!!!

This was such a great experience. All the balloons were amazing. My friends and I wondered who exactly makes these and how would one get started in the business of making gigantic balloons for parades. Anyway, it is sure nice that someone does. In the first picture you see the lovely Macy's Star. You can see a few heads of people around. There were thousands of people. Who knew this would be such a draw. In the second picture you see me standing with none other than...Jo-Jo (that picture is especially for Kate and Clair). This is not Jo-Jo's first time at the Macy's parade. I am the little gal in black next to Jo-Jo. It was so cold, but nothing compared to how tomorrow morning is supposed to be. We are going to bundle up and brave the cold. It is supposed to be 31 degrees at 6 am when we are waking up. We plan to get to the parade by 7 am. That is what time the NYPD officer said to come if you want to see anything. It starts at 9, so we only have to be out in the cold for 3 to 6 hours depending on if we want to stay for the whole parade! :) I doubt we will make it past one hour of the parade. Hey, you gotta go if you live in NYC...it would be a shame not to! I can't seem to get these last two pictures to download, so I will have to do it later. I am too tired to mess with it anymore. Love ya all!

Here is Mr. Potatoe Head and that ever loveable "SUPER GROVER"! Man I enjoy Grover. He is such a great guy. Everytime I see Grover I think of my favorite book...The Monster at the End of the Book. That is a great read! Joel and Brit you have to get that one for Brooklyn!

Tonight...Wednesday there was a pre-parade extravaganza! The day before the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade they blow-up the balloons for the parade. All day long you can go to see the inflation process. A group of friends and I went to see the inflated balloons. There were TONS of people. I am pretty sure every man, women, and child in the NYC area was at the parade. Enjoy these fabulous pictures of pre-parade inflated balloons! When I saw the Scooby, I thought of Adam. He loves Scooby Doo! And of course, who doesn't recognize good old Ronald McDonald!

Brooklyn says.."Whoop, Whoop Judson Rockets!"

Brooklyn wanted to wish her daddy good luck on Friday night! We are so proud of him and are so thankful of the hard work he puts in to his job, home, and calling! We are so thankful to be apart of this family too! I am thankful that I have all of yall as outlets and resources for when I am concerned or just needing to talk! I am thankful for technology (such as this blog) that we are able to have fun and communicate better. Maybe it will help Joel and his communication skills that he lacks...or maybe not :)! I hope yall all have a fabulous Thanksgiving. Emily I am so jealous that you are going to the parade tomorrow. Take lots of pics...that has been a dream of mine since I was little, maybe one day! Well, I am sure we will be talkin on the phone soon. Joel I am so thankful for you and love you so much! Go beat Harlingen!

Go Rockets!
~Brit and Brooklyn

Message from Mom

Once again Emily is posting this for me. I loved the pics of Emily’s apartment. I must say that the kitchen frightened me a bit! Yikes…it looks like an RV kitchen. I thought it all looked so cute and very trendy! I am excited to go visit in the spring! It will be so nice to have Emily be an experienced New Yorker as our guide! I just want to tell all of you that I love you…each and every one and that I am so thankful for my family. My life would be so dull without you guys. You make me laugh, you make me smile and you are all so good to me. I was just thinking this morning how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and such delightful kids. I don’t know anyone who is as fortunate! Happy thanksgiving, everyone! Oh and by the way…I am naming the turkey “Truly” this year. It just came to me because I am truly thankful for still being here with all of you after my “brush” with possible death in August. Yes, I am feeling a bit melodramatic…just bear with me! This too shall pass. I love you. Mom

P.S. What are you all wearing for the Holiday to eat your turkey? :)

My NYC apartment...the rest but the bathroom

Here are the last two pictures of my apartment. The first one is of my kitchen. No the picture is not distorted...the stove is just a miniture stove. It is small and I am taking the picture from the lighted doorway that can be seen in the second picture. The second picture is of our guest room...some might call it a loft, but we have a mattress up there and many of our guests stay up there. We have a loft ladder leading up to another loft that we move over when we have a guest. Bascially you have seen my apartment. Oh, in the second picture...the darkened doorway is our one and only hallway. It has three doors...one that leads out, one that leads to the coat closet, and one that leads to the bathroom. Home sweet home! I am going to the Macy's Parade pre-show tonight. That is where they blow up the balloons and stuff. It is on NBC. If you watch, it will be like we are all there together. I am going to the parade tomorrow and then to Chy and Shane's. I sure wish we could all be together for Thanksgiving, but regardless...I sure am thankful for my family! You all are great!

My NYC apartment...main rooom

This is the main room of our apartment. The first one is right outside of my room. It is the dinning area. The second picture is of the living area. It is really one big great room. It is very nice and actually large for NYC...at least that is always what people say when they come over. My roommates actually had to break the back of the couch to get it in the door. They got it up 4 flights of stairs, but couldn't get it in the door. We hear that often in NYC the practice is to break the backs of couches and then there are companies that will come to your apt. to fix it. We however, have not gotten it fixed. It is actually a really nice couch...inspite of it's broken back!

My NYC apartment...bedroom

Here are some pictures of my bedroom. Yes, my bed is the one unmade...but that is because I just woke up. I set my alarm for 8:15 pm, instead of am. You can see the famous metal hanging closet. My shoes are hanging on the door. Above my bed is the loft. We use it for storage, but with my roommate moving out, one girl thinking about moving in said she wants to sleep up there. If that is the case...we will have a little more floor space. I am also going to include some pictures of the other parts of my apartment.

Fashion Check from Emily

I am wearing black pants, a hot pink cable knit sweater, and my rainboats...because it is raining. I think I look cute! :)

Mom's message

I am pretty frustrated…I am having to email this to emily and she is cutting and pasting this for me because I can’t get the blog to work on my computer. I can pull it up but can’t post! She tried to help me over the phone, but it just wasn’t working. Who knows! I was very proud to see Emily on GMA…(I think I am getting the lingo down, as well!) I thought she looked gorgeous! Also…I was proud of the Rockets on Friday and the Tigers on Saturday….the Cougars almost pulled it off, and as Dad says….they are very much improved over last year! Hooray! I am so excited for Christmas so that we can all be together for the holidays. Be thinking of stuff you want to do while you are all here. I am so excited to have all three of our little darlings here! They will have so much fun together. Hope all is well with everybody and can you all please email me with what you are currently wearing…just doing a little fashion check! Aw…just kidding! I love you guys…Mimi

Lectures are part of the job!

I talked to Grandma last night too. She said she was already in bed, but I had a heck of a time getting off the phone with her. Her speach was a little slurred, but I figured that was due to how tired she said she was. She said Sunday takes a lot out of her. I tried to convince her to come to SA for Christmas, but she won't hear of it. Just to report dad...I talked to her last Sunday and on her birthday, which makes twice last week and once this week. I do try to call her weekly...just FYI...I have learned something from all your lectures, just so you know! :)

PS from Papa

Forgot this part: I also talked to Grandma Call on Sunday. 91, that is amazing. She said the best part of her birthday was hearing from so many of her family. It made her day. I know you are all busy but not too busy to take a few minutes a week and call your Grandparents. None of them are getting younger. With Grandma's age and Stephen grandparents and Britni's grandmother's health issues we never know how much longer any of them will be with us. One thing I have learned as a grandparent is how much love and happiness comes from grandchildren and to some that is all that is left in their lives is how the grandchildren and great-grandchildren are growing and progressing. (I would not be Papa with out giving you lecture or two once in awhile - right.)