And Vivian turns 11!

I flew out the night of Vivian's birthday, but not before we celebrated it. Nancy did a photo shoot with her new costume she got for her birthday:

And here's the cake Nancy made too!

 Vivian getting gifts, she wanted a watch:

 and boots:

and jewelry...therefore new earrings and the bracelets she's wearing too:

We love you Vivian!

While I was gone...

 I have the best sister and mother around. My mother helped with the kids carpooling and my sister helped keep my kids occupied by having them sleepover and taking them to the Vineyard Pumpkin Patch. Muchas gracias to the both of them! If you see an extra few kids in there, that'd be the cousins!

For the fun of it, here's a picture of my girls and Kalel there 6 years ago:

                                          
                 


                                           and here they are now!

                                                      
                                                       

My favorite picture!

Hey, I forgot to post my favorite picture taken DAY one from my cell phone camera! It's ME and my shadow!!

I had other ones that didn't include those two men walking on the beach, but I like how they add to the atmosphere. A lone woman, walking through this world, living this thing called MY life. I love that the sand looks like it's actually underwater, it was just beautiful!

Occupy Wall Street

                                   

Zuccoti Park: the first thing you notice are the police officers:

The people:

Sleeping:

Protesting:

The colors:

The music: I actually got this drum circle on video, if only I knew how to post it:

The press:

The humanity: This first picture reminded me of 9/11, the second one is a picture of all their blankets and sleeping bags put away for the day, these people actually SLEEP there, dedication for sure!

 My favorite part, the words:

 I like this of course:

 Did you think this said something else? I did when I first looked back at the photos I took, lol

 Ah, you are appreciated! Thanks

 
I loved this Walt Whitman quote:

       
Yes, let's do:

                                           

Who these people really are:

                                                    

This was a garbage bucket, it said, "The struggle is not over" MLK. I so agree on all levels!
                                     




                                      


                                        

The poetry: This was a book of thoughts the people have been writing since Week 1:

                                

More words to Walt Whitman:

A pearl and it's journey:

The generosity: This is a man explaining the concept of their free library. Honor system, take what you want, donate if you want, leave a book in return. Bring it back when you're done with it... if you want to. Now that's my kind of library, too bad I was traveling with only a backpack and didn't want to weight it down any further as I already had probably 5 books in it already.

                                 

The drama: These people were shouting at the man representing EGO to GROW UP!  LOVED it!

 The final message I got on my way out, these people are trying to change our current financial system to something that benefits all mankind. I can admire them for that. They CARE, and it's the people that care enough about something to take a stand that change the world.Thanks to everyone that CARES, no matter what your political persuasions and other beliefs are.

Day Five: Back to NYC

This was quite the serene moment for me when waiting to board the 830am train to Manhattan. The sun was shining, and I just soaked in those last moments knowing I wouldn’t be coming back to Connecticut since my brother will be moving away from there next year.

 I took the subway straight to Zuccotti Park to check out Occupy Wall Street, that deserves a whole post of it’s own, so I’ll save that for my next blog post.

                                       

I walked down Wall Street which I’d never done before. Went inside Trinity church, and sat at the front pew, took this picture:
 

 Policeman:

 Statue:

 New York Stock Exchange:

 WTC site:

Went to Battery Park to get tshirts and hats to bring home to the kids

Then I went to the Manhattan LDS temple, which by the way, I never knew was right across the street from Juillard.
                                  

                                      
Cuteness, and it's RED:

 Had some pizza:
                                

 And then hot chocolate from here:
                                     

Walked to Central Park:
                                     

Got to watch the news being filmed:

 And FINALLY got someone to take a picture of me waiting for the flight:

                              

Kicked off my boots and wore my flip flops for the plane ride home: