Tori Graduated!!

I got to go to Tori's graduation from BYU last week.  There is something especially exciting about college graduation and we are so happy for her.  She still has to do her internship this summer before she gets her actual diploma but she got to walk and go through all the ceremony.... which is awesome!!  CONGRATULATIONS TORI!!!

Grandpa Turns 90!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My dad, Reed A Hill, turns 90 years old today, April 15th, 2013.  We celebrated yesterday with a big family birthday party at our house.  We had a great time and loved hearing some of Dad's stories from his youth.  What a great example of love and faithfulness to all of us.  We missed those few who couldn't come but were so glad that Roger flew out from West Virginia and Shawna and Jeff drove out from California.  All of mom and dad's kids were here and many grandkids and great grandkids.  Even Nathan and Emily drove 12 hours to be here too. We're so glad they came!   Fun times!!

Mom and Dad

Left to Right - Back Row:  Jeff Conniff, BJ Nordgren, Jordan Hill, Roger Hill, Irene Hill, Derek Hill, Curtis Hill, Ryan Hill, Tyler Hill, Sarah Hill, Tori Powell, Jared Powell, Cameron Hill

Middle Row:  Emily Hill and Leah, Shawna Conniff, Tera Nordgren, Sarah Hill, Jonathon Hill, Tanner Powell, Terry Hill, Grace Hill, Marilyn Hill, Becky Hill, Tiffany Hill, Chantel Hill, Rachel Powell, Aaron Hill

Sitting:  David Powell, Nathan Hill, Adam Powell, Helen Hill, Reed Hill, Crista HIll, Amanda Hill, Rebecca Powell, Gaylene Powell

Very Front:  Christian Hill, Andrew Hill

Gaylene, Curtis, Terry, Roger and Shawna

Mom and Dad

Rebecca Turned 12 on April 8th

Rebecca has been celebrating since March 7th when she went to Whistler for her 12-year-old trip.  We finally finished things up with her birthday dinner and root beer floats.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBECCA!!

She went to Young Women's last night for the first time and I think she really liked it. It's always so nice to graduate from Primary and move on.

Easter Morning

It seems that I forgot to post Easter morning.  Maybe because David and I returned home late Saturday night from New York City and I was a bit tired.  We had a great time though and were glad to have Jared and Tori with us too.

We have a tradition of gathering at the top of the stairs before we go look for the eggs.  I usually take a picture once everyone is there.  Well for some reason, people were really SLOW in gathering so I kind of took pictures as people joined.  It started with Adam, bright eyed and ready to go.

Then Rachel joined.

Rebecca finally decided to crawl out of bed.

Jared and Tori arrived a few minutes later.

Last but not least, Tanner.  

Adam was very patient and waited a long time for everyone and then the Easter egg hunt was on!!  

Church was fantastic as always and then we got to go down to Provo for Tiffany's farewell.  She is leaving for Taiwan on her mission in a few weeks.  We had Easter dinner at Terry's and it was truly a nice Easter Sabbath.  I'm so thankful for the Savior and the atonement.  I think it is fitting that his picture is hanging on the wall behind everyone at the top of the stairs.  After all, HE is what Easter is all about.

Rachel Gets 2nd Place in District Basketball 3 on 3 Tournament

You may be a bit surprised to see Rachel with a basketball trophy instead of a soccer trophy.  Frankly, I was too.  She and her two friends entered the district 3 on 3 basketball tournament representing their middle school.  When she told me I said, "but I thought you hate basketball".  She said, "I do, but they needed someone to play with them and so I'm going to."

So I went to watch and she was really pretty good, especially for not really ever playing except a little bit in the back yard with her dad.  I was even more amazed when they came in 2nd Place.  Pretty awesome.  Go Rachel!!

On the way to the car afterwards, I was telling her that I was really impressed and she played really well.  She looked at me and said, "I still hate basketball."  Whatever.

New York City

David had to go to New York City for a healthcare conference with Blackstone.  And I got to go with him!!! Woohoo.  His coworker, Keith Grames, went as well and so did his wife, Catherine, who is really fun.  She and I spent the day seeing the sites while David and Keith went to meetings.   We spent Friday with them and then they flew home early Saturday morning.  David and I didn't fly out until Saturday night so we got to do some more sightseeing and shopping.

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria (Blackstone is the owner and so they had the conference there and we had discount rooms through them).  The hotel was old but very, very nice.  Our room was great.  That first night we ate at the restaurant in the hotel.  I had a Waldorf salad which was delicious.  I also had the Grilled Salmon.  After dinner we walked down to Times Square and wandered around for a while.  Then we walked back by Rockefeller Center and saw the ice skating rink.  It was a bit small and smushed in between the buildings more than i thought it would be.  We got back to the hotel and then I didn't feel good suddenly. Before I knew it I was very sick.  I had diarrhea and I was throwing up at the same time.  The poor housekeeper that had to come get the gross waste basket and take it away.  I felt so embarrassed but I felt so much better after I got rid of it all.  It must have been something I ate because then I felt fine and slept all night.  The next day I walked all around NYC with Catherine.

Times Square

Catherine and I walked down to Central Park and over to the Frick Museum.  It was fabulous and it had lots of art pieces by artists that I actually knew about.  I really enjoyed it.  Then we walked through Central Park and found a little French cafe to have some lunch.  I had some very mild yet delicious Minstrone soup.  Then we walked over towards the Met and stumbled upon the Manhattan Temple.  Right in the thick of it all, there was the white building with Moroni on the top.  The most important building in the whole city and yet nobody seemed to take much notice of it at all.

We went inside the Met to the gift shop.  Too bad they weren't going to be having any Opera performances that Catherine could go to.  She loves the opera.

Then we headed back to the hotel for a short nap.  After that we went to dinner on Restaurant Row in the theater district.  It was very good Italian food.  After dinner we went to see the musical called Spiderman.  It was quite spectacular with Spiderman and the evil villain flying all over the theater.  Just coming out of the theater we came across the Hard Rock Cafe where I got to enjoy a superb chocolate milkshake and I bought a Hard Rock New York T-Shirt.

Friday we slept in!!!   Then we headed down to the Pier to go on a 3-hour tour of the Island of Manhattan.  The cruise went all the way around.  We got to get pretty close to the Statue of Liberty but the island is closed from Hurricane Sandy.  We went under the Brooklyn Bridge, saw Yankee stadium and all the other sites around the island.  I loved hearing the tour guide tell about everything.  He knew so many little details.

We ate lunch in a little tiny mexican restaurant which was really pretty good and followed that up with Cold Stone Ice Cream.  Then we headed over to the MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art).  Keith and Catherine really wanted to go but when we got there, the line was a mile long because it turned out to be Free Friday after 5:00.  We got there at 4:30 but they weren't letting anybody buy tickets to go in.  Catherine had a student ID and they let her buy a year pass for $50 and keith could go in free on that.  So they went ahead and did that and hurried into the museum before the whole brunt of the crowd was let in at 5:00.  David and I headed down to the temple to do a session.  It was wonderful and beautiful.

On our way back to the hotel, David hired a pedicab to take us.  It was pretty fun and my feet appreciated it.  We rented a movie in our room, Rock of Ages.  The worst movie I think I've ever seen, and I love Tom Cruise movies.  2 thumbs down.

Saturday we slept in again.  Then we headed down to Times Square to buy souvenirs for the kids and us.  I still hadn't been to Ground Zero so we hopped on the Subway and went down there.  It was very crowded and there was a long line to get into the Memorial so we just walked around the outside.  I didn't realize how big it all was.

Finally it was time to head home.  We flew out of JFK at 7 and were home by 11:00.  We had a great trip but it was good to be home and see the kids and sleep in our own bed.  Loved NYC though and I hope to go back again.

Snow To Welcome In Spring

IT'S SNOWING!!