The Big Apple

Natalie and I had the opportunity to go to New York so she could perform at the Statue of Liberty and take some classes on Broadway! We had so much fun and absolutely loved hanging out with Natalie and having the chance to spend some time with her before she hits 16 and "leaves" me! Ha... I know it's not that big a deal but, I feel like my kids are getting old so fast that it was nice to have some time with her and experience New York! It was so great!!!

Here are the highlights:

• Natalie was able to take 2 classes on Broadway! She loved it even some of the other girls were tired and bailed out of the second day!
• We were able to see 2 Broadway shows. Wicked and Hairspray. We loved Wicked so much I bought the soundtrack! It actually was incredible I didn't want it to end. The music and the story were so touching to me I actually cried. I felt so moved it was really weird... I can't explain it. I was in awe of the talent and extremely grateful I was able to see it! We saw Hairspray and it wasn't even close to Wicked. It was really cheesy and the voices just weren't up to par... a little disappointed in that one!
• We met Pres. Uchdorft at the Statue of Liberty. There was a bomb threat. Someone left their backpack unattended and they had to evacuate the island... they moved us all to the ferry's during the performance! Suddenly he walks out and right up to me! I told him we ere there from Utah to perform and he asked how they all were and that he had just come to check up on them! It was really cute the girls were so scared about the bomb with the helicopters and all that when they saw him one girl said, "Nothing can happen to us now, he's on the island we will be safe now." So sweet such faith!
• Natalie performed at the Statue of Liberty and of course it was the only day that it rained! The girls were awesome they just went out and danced and got SOAKED! It was a pretty awesome thing to see them just have a good time. Natalie did 2 dances and was awesome as usual. I love to watch her dance. She has such grace and emotion that you feel her feeling the music. You can see on her face that dance IS her passion.
• We had dinner at some really fun places including Hard Rock, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Great BBQ place and a Great Italian place! Bubba Gump was probably the best! We ate dinners as a group and that was pretty fun!
• We took a tour of the city on a bus and were able to see the entire Island of Manhattan. We saw Harlem and Tribeca and Ground Zero and so much more! We were really lucky to see so much. We actually were around the corner from the Empire State Building!
• We took a tour of NBC studios and saw how they make TV happen and SNL and Conan's studios.
• We toured the Met and I know it's a really awesome museum. We were so tired and just not into it... so we left early! I know that's bad, but museums aren't my thing really! The girls weren't either.
• We walked through Central Park and I loved that since I have always wanted to do that!
• We went to the Today show and saw the bride and groom taking pictures... they got married on the show. Merideth Vera came out and was really nice to her fans. She gave autographs and pictures and was really warm and sincere. I didn't get one even though we were so close and could have... she's just not one of my favorites!
• One night we went to the top of the Rock and were able to see the city from so high up! It's gorgeous all lit up and it's so huge!
  
• We went to Canal street and even though shopping is my thing... I wasn't into getting fake stuff! It just felt really odd and I didn't want to do it. We did get some cute bracelets and then took a cab back early! We found a really cool one for Natalie with ballerinas all over it... It was perfect!
• Our hotel was quaint but small... we shared with a cute girl named Katie and her mom Stacy! We had so much fun with them! They were awesome and I would have been so bored without Stacy since Natalie had so much fun hanging with her friends.
  
• We were in walking distance to Times Square and we went there almost every night. The girls loved to go to Sephora and but on tons of makeup... mostly glitter!
• Natalie and I were on the CBS early show on our last day! Natalie was in the audience of a fashion show and I was interviewed for a financial segment! It was fun a car came and picked me up and I had hair and makeup and it was really interesting to see how much goes into just a few minutes of TV. How many people it takes and how much waiting there is before the actual segment! But, it was way fun!!!! We were all in the audience for the rest of the show and that was really cool!
• We experienced the Subway, Taxis Broadway, shopping, a ton of sites and the food... what more could we have done!!

Overall it was a great trip and I am so glad that my husband stayed home and watched the kids and paid for Natalie and I to have so much fun!!!!