Birthday Celebrations

We took Lillie up to New York to celebrate her 20th birthday. One last hurrah before her mission. It was such a fun trip going back down memory lane, visiting all Lillie’s favorite restaurant, shopping and even a new broadway play, The Great Gatsby!!

Some happy birthday singing at Serendipity!  

The unique Oculus mall. 

Lil’s favorite shop, Kate Slade. 

Such great memories at Becco!!  All you can eat trip of homemade pasta!!

Shopping in Chinatown is always a favorite on Lil’s!

Lillie goes through the temple

Tonight our Lillie went through the temple. We are so proud of her. She is such a good, bright, happy girl. She said she loved going through and she learned a lot. She has been such a great daughter to us and we are very lucky to have her in our lives. Next month—she leaves on her mission!!!

Snow storm 2025

Our vacation has been extended three days. We have been stuck at home because of a huge storm that hit the area. We had 10 inches of snow. It was nice to be stuck at home with Lillie and Kim and have an extension to our break. Even though the snow is brutal on the roads, it is really beautiful!  

Last Christmas with Lillie before her mission

We decided that we would spend Christmas and New Year’s with Lillie in Utah, helping her pack up, mail, store all her things before her mission. It was so nice to spend time with her. We were really able to do that without being burdened with our regular schedule back home. 

Kim and I decided to spend a little extra and fly first class  it wasn’t that much more, but it was worth every penny!!  We really enjoyed the meal  On our flight home we also splurged for Lillie to fly first class with us!!  

Nothing like the Utah mountains. They are so grand and majestic! 

The first week we spent time at her apartment watching Korean dramas and helping her pack everything and store and mail boxes back to Maryland. Lillie did most of the work and in the end she accomplished what we set out to do, return the room back to the way we found it when she started her freshman year. 

Of course Santa found Lillie and delivered all 25 gifts to her in Utah. When she was born we applied to the North Pole government that as long as she believed, Santa would bring her a gift a day through Christmas in December. And this year was the same!!  We loved our little Christmas away from home. 

Every year Santa brings a special ornament. This year he was so thoughtful to bring an ornament that looked like her as a missionary, with a North Dakota flag and all. 

We are at all our favorite haunts from when Kim and I were in college at BYU. 

We saw some very cool Christmas lights. 

We went to a very cool sci fi exhibit in Provo. 

We did a lot of shopping for Lillies mission. 

We spent New Year’s Eve at Solitude ski resort and watched a light show of skiers coming down the slopes with a fireworks show. It was so cold up there. We thought it was good practice for Lillie’s mission in North Dakota!!

As Lillie closes on chapter in her life, we are all excited for her next chapter. She has made her mom and dad very proud of who she is, how she conducts herself, and how she treats us and others. She is a very good girl. We will miss her dearly on her mission. 

We treated Lillie to first class seat on the way home. She enjoyed it!!