Wednesday of Spring Break...the saga continues

I'm truly sorry for anyone who may be bored to tears with my ramblings. I really thought I could keep it shorter, but apparently...not. On Wednesday, we boarded a Greyhound bus and headed off to the Big Apple! We spent the entire day there with some friends, and basically just went from place to place. Richard had never been there before, so he was excited to see some of the things he's always heard about. We will have to go another time and take our time! Highlights: Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center), Museum of Natural History (not the way it was portrayed in Night at the Museum), M&M Store (where we spent almost $20 on less than 2 lbs. of m&m's-sad, but true), Ground Zero (not much to see right now-construction), Central Park, Broadway, and Time Square. You can try to decipher the pictures yourself...

Such a good time- long day, but very fun. We went to Ground Zero, and down to the water where we could catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, but the picture didn't turn out very well, and you can't really see the statue behind us. Oh well- we know we were there! The last picture is at Toys'R Us, apparently the biggest in the world, bigger even than the famous FAO Schwartz. Who knew?

He's So CUTE!

On Saturday Richard and I spent some time over at his parents' house, and his dad asked him to help with his truck. So, now Richard thinks he's a mechanic- and he's got the coveralls and everything!

Richard and cute Kristalyn (why are you trying to hide?) The highwaters were killing me! Seriously, honey- you are CUTE! Love you!

More Stuff in Philly

Obviously, it was so great to see my parents and all the stuff they talk about doing for their mission. They are always talking about Bobby, their "boss" who is an employee of the city of Philadelphia in the archives. He's very good at what he does, but they get frustrated with him sometimes because he changes the rules on them suddenly and often interferes with their job. (Bobby has Asberger's Syndrome) Anyway, so we got to meet him and he showed us around the archives, and then my parents let Richard and I image (take a picture) a document from 1817! I think they have the coolest job. It's so important for both Philadelphia and for the Church/Family History. It was also neat to go with them to their new member class on Tuesday night. There are a lot of newbies to the Church in their ward, and it was my mom's turn to teach the lesson while we were there. I was so impressed with her incredible preparation and understanding of the scriptures. She was very thorough, and even though her lesson may have gone over a lot of their heads, it was very interesting and thought provoking. Good job, mom! Go Mom and Dad! I wish we had taken a picture of the room we stayed in at their apartment. Twin beds on wheels! Plus, they have wood floors, so every time we turned over in bed, it was like roller skating around the room! We never knew where we would be when we woke up! OK, maybe not that drastic, but it was pretty hilarious. Eventually we pushed them together and squeezed them between the wall and a dresser, which seemed to hold them in place pretty well.

While were there, BYU happened to come to play in the NCAA tournament. We don't need to talk about the outcome of that game (ahem) but we were excited to have my brother, Tyler come to Philly while we were there. What are the odds? He plays trumpet in the pep band at the Y, so he tagged along (on a private plane, I might add). Random...

There are so many cool things to see and learn about in Philly! I loved Elphreth's Alley- the oldest continually inhabited street in the U.S. A lot of people live in row houses (all connected in a row), and that's what these are, only they are very well maintained compared to much of the rest of the city.

Makes my little speck of land seem roomy! They are cute, though.

Another highlight for me was the ComCast Center. I don't even know what they do there, but the main lobby is very cool! The entire wall is made up of flat screen t.v.'s that they are always showing cool stuff on. Example: All the lighter rectangles make up this giant TV! It showed all the pieces of the clock coming on separately until all the gears were there. Kinda neat.

Richard and I at the Liberty Bell (like on National Treasure!!!!)

Spring Break in Philly! (Part 1 of ?)

One thing I've learned from my experiences over the years is that when you have a break, take it! We definitely stretched our spring break to the max! Here are some pictures of the memorable events during the Heywood fam's spring break:

PHILLY

This is where the Declaration of Independence was read (well, right outside- across the hall is Independence Hall)

Independence Hall- so cool! It is amazing how beautiful everything is. They paid such close attention to detail. We were impressed with both the architecture as well as the workmanship. How'd they do so much with no computers or other modern conveniences? AMAZING!

This is in the convention center in Philly. It used to be a train shed with many tracks. They polished the tracks, filled in the floor with gorgeous marble, and made this amazing ballroom out of it. It was way cooler in person, but hopefully you get the general idea.
China Town! This gate was a gift to the 3rd largest Chinatown in the US. It was recently re-painted, and the characters mean "Welcome" (I think...)

The Wanamaker Organ- Right in the middle of Macy's Department Store. Pretty cool. Supposedly, it is the largest pipe organ in the world. (yes- even bigger than the one in the Tabernacle)

And... a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

(need I say more?) YUM!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Richard and I went in for the ultrasound today, and we found out that we will be having a sweet little boy. He was sure proud of himself, too! He was showing off and movin' all over the place. We brought in a CD for them to put the pictures on, but for some reason it's reading as a blank CD in my computer. So, if I get that figured out, I will post some of the pictures. It was the most amazing thing to see our little baby moving around inside of me! Neither one of us could stop grinning! We are SO excited to meet this little guy! A couple of days ago, Richard's cousin Marie gave us all her baby things, like her stroller/car seat, a swing, bassinet, and a bunch more. We are so grateful to her! She has saved us a ton of money, and a lot of it is like brand new. Thank you, Marie! Well, I'm sad that I couldn't get the pictures on here. I've been looking forward to doing that all day! Oh well, I have a bunch that they printed for me, so I can scan them if I need to.
Tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia to visit my parents, and during the week we will go down to Virginia to visit my brother Corey and his family. So, I will have a bunch of pictures to post when we get back.
Time to start thinking of baby boy names! Girl names have come way easier for us, so we will have to really start listening around for names we love. Woo-hoo!