"what's a pumpkin patch?"

i was excited to take niya to the pumpkin patch, since this halloween she was not only like 2 seconds old. i wanted to go sit her in the pumpkins, and take a million pictures, just like i remember doing my entire childhood. my mom, and dad were coming for  niyas first birthday, so i thought it would be fun to do with them.  when drew got home later that evening, i told him we went to the pumpkin patch with niya. this is how the conversation went

drew: how was your day? what did you guys do?

me: it was really fun, my parents, and i took niya to the pumpkin patch, and took pictures

drew: what do you mean?

me: what do you mean what do i mean. we took pictures at the pumpkin patch

drew: whats a pumpkin patch?

me: what?? are you kidding me? its a big farm where you go, and pick out pumpkins. didn't you do that as a kid?

drew: no we just got ours at the grocery store

i couldn't fathom that he didn't go have photo shoots at the pumpkin patch, and then pick the perfect pumpkin out of rows, and rows, and rows of pumpkins!

its funny the things you just assume everyone does, and so surprising when you find out they don't

niya will always know about photo shoots at the pumpkin patch, and its a good thing because she looked so cute in them

New York

our final stop on our eastern tour was Syracuse new york to see adam. it was great to see the city he lives in, the school he goes to, and his apartment. i didn't really get any pictures there. i don't know why! 

we happened to be there over my birthday so they planned a dinner and cakes after

the sunday that we were leaving we drove to Palmyra to visit the sacred grove and hill cumorah 

i was excited to go because its something we hear about over, and over in our church. it was very special  to actually be there and feel the spirit that was there

the smith farm was really pretty

we walked around the grounds before we entered the grove

inside the grove it felt so crisp, and cool, and peaceful. i had to just stop and think about what it really meant to me. 

my favorite thing was looking up through the trees and seeing the light peak through i couldn't help but hum to myself "oh how lovely was the morning....."

niya was happy to be there. i think she sensed it was special

adam is lucky to live so close

we kept trying to get a self timer shot of all of us. i have to say it was over all unsuccessful. this was the best we got

grandma and grandpa with niya

as everyone walked out of the grove i just kind of lagged behind and tried to soak up the spirit that was there

from the farm you could see the top of the temple through the trees

after the sacred grove we went to hill cumorah. it was neat to be there and see the monument that symbolizes where the golden plates were buried

this was our last stop before we headed to the airport. what a great way to end a really fun trip!

vermont

Vermont was where the nalc convention was, so here we met up with scott, and lisa. normally lisa and i hang out while drew and scott go to meetings. we get to see a lot of cool places and do a lot of fun things.

in case you didn't know. Vermont is the home of the original ben and jerry's factory

so of course we took a tour

scott loves ice cream soooo much that he decided to skip the meetings and go with us.... OK that's not entirely true. he had mallet finger from putting on his shoes too hard, so he couldn't go to the "golfing meeting" with the rest of the business people

we were happy to have him with us! especially since he's the one holding niya up in this picture.

don't we totally look like ben and jerry?

statue of cows, because cows make milk, and milk makes ice cream

at the end of the tour we got a free sample

it was mint chip. ben and jerrys really is good

after the meetings were over drew got to join us. we went to the ski resort and took the gondola

grandma and niya taking in the spectacular view

we hiked (OK walked) to a little waterfall

Vermont was really lush and beautiful. and the fall colors were amazing.

next stop Syracuse to see baby brother

new hampshire

this was pretty much all we saw in new hampshire

maine

im way behind on my blogging, and i hate when that happens because then im just over it. so today im forcing myself to do a little catch up

we did a little back east tour a little while ago. it was fantastic. i'll start with Maine

we saw really old lighthouses, very cool

some beautiful coastline

we went to this amazing "lobster pound" it was a bit out of the way but drew had read about it and it was sooooo worth it

it was pretty chilly at the lobster pound

can i just say how ridiculously delish the lobster is in maine. its cheap, and maybe one of the best things i've ever had. the only thing i didn't like was the guts, but it was so good that i chose to over look that 

nothing makes drew happier than good food.....he was so happy

we spent a day just walking around bar harbor. it was such a cute quaint little town, with fun shops

i think this was by far Drew's favorite find. hand made slippers from Pakistan???  that's so drew to be pumped about some Pakistan slippers

they were really excited about the lobster with ice cream

I'm eating a yummy fried clam. of course we ate lots of sea food and lots of blueberry stuff. we tried everything we could find blueberry

blueberry pie, pancakes, cake, ice cream, tart

this was our bed and breakfast. it was our first experience. we liked it

the next couple of days we spent at Acadia national park

drew made us hike down to the ocean even though i thought we were going to get smashed on the rocks

the view from the top of Cadillac mountain

we rented bikes and rode through the park. this was so much fun! and niya was a little peach

a nice jogger passing by offered to take our picture

drew pulled the baby trailer, and i just trailed behind. enjoying the beauty

another light house...not as cool as the first one

thanks maine you were a gem