New York Day 1

Since there are so many pictures and things I want to blog about from our trip to NYC, I'm splitting it up. So here's to Day 1. Austin and I rode the bus from Philly to New York on Sunday, December 13. The ride was a little over 2 hours and we arrived at our destination late afternoon. And honestly, it was great. We rode Bolt Bus. Anyway, we checked into our hotel, The Iroquois Hotel.This wonderful hotel is on 44th between 5th and 6th. We were steps from Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, etc. It is charming and on the smaller side so it's cozy and you feel like you're going home at the end of each day. The first thing we did was find pizza. It was a short walk through Times Square and on to John's Pizzeria, my favorite New York pizza place (no, not Sbarro, Austin). It was raining like crazy so after we ate we made it back to our hotel to wait out the rain. A little later we went to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and enjoy the cold night.

Saw Radio City on the way to Rockefeller Plaza.

Look at all the people.

Army/Navy Football Game

I am way behind on posts. So let's make this short and sweet. Navy won. Army lost. And we froze.

Me, Mom, Andi before the game. We were there before the gates opened...

Helping Dad put "Toasty Toes" in his boots.

United States Military Academy Corps of Cadets.

(Beat Army!)

There's John leading 16th company onto the field.

United States Naval Academy Brigade of Midshipmen.

Still cold.

Philadelphia, PA

The Huffstetler crew met in Philly last Thursday for a weekend trip. Why Philly you ask? A football game of course. ARMY vs. NAVY

Saying it was cold, just doesn't even describe the wind chill that ripped off the Delaware River and straight through my coat! Seriously, it was cold. We walked around Philly and saw a lot of historical things: City Hall, Indpendence Hall, The Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' home (tour included), Reading Terminal Market (can you say Amish baked goods?!?), and many other things I can't even remember to mention. Philadelphia is a great city. And to walk and be where George Washington and Bejamin Franklin have been, it was incredible to me. I don't think we can conceive the sacrifices men and women made for this country. Here are some of our favorite pictures from the trip.

*I have no idea why this is underlined.*

At the airport in Houston.

First night in Philly...WHOA, it's cold!

"Philly loves Army/Navy!"

A tiny confession: I'm in love with anything Amish, especially THE Amish. Here I am in front of one of their shops with oodles of baked goods. They are the most delightful people.

First Continental Congress.

Austin on the original cobblestone street.

Andi in front of City Hall. These pictures do not do this building justice.

I need a Starbucks!

More of Philly coming soon, including the football game!

Go Navy

In preparation for our trip to Philadelphia on Thursday, we have to get focused for the task ahead.

Tech vs. Baylor

*I put Tech first because Baylor was the home team this year, so they are listed second. Don't give me any lip.*

This football season, our two schools played the Saturday after Thanksgiving at "Jerry World." We went over to Arlington for the game and had a great time. Tech won, but barely.

Wreck'em! Sic'em!

A HOUSE DIVIDED.

We love Coach Briles!

Andrew, Pepper, & Austin

*in attendance, but not pictured: my mom, John, my dad, Andi, Brittany & her parents. I promise to get better at picture taking.*

I'm editing this post because I realized I should have thanked my mom and dad for the tickets to the game.

THANKS!

Thanksgiving 2009

Blurry picture in a moving car.

Miss Kathleen.

We spent Thanksgiving Day in Southlake with Austin's Mom's side of the family. It was a beautiful day and Austin got some great pictures of "the farm," as it's known in the family. The food was great and we enjoyed our day very much. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree!

My set of three nutcrackers from the three Hobson girls!

Our first "Big Cedar Lodge"

ornament from Austin's parents.

Our second "Big Cedar Lodge" ornament from Austin's parents!

I love these ornaments!

(I broke my own rule and put the Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. We are going to be traveling some in December, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time of enjoyment with our tree. )

When Austin and I were engaged, we had a wonderful Christmas engagement party hosted by family. The idea was for our guests to bring us an ornament for our first Christmas tree. It has been such a blessing to us every year as we put up our tree to remember that great party and each ornament and who gave it to us. We have the best time talking about our friends and family. Here are some pictures of our tree.....it still needs some work. I am headed to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for inspiration.

P.S. Marriage is about compromise, right? So Austin and I have a tree with white lights and we string our own large bulb colored lights throughout the tree. Sometimes we have just white lights on and sometimes we have both colored and white lights on our tree! I love it.

The World's Only 7 Star Hotel

Several years ago I watched a show on the Discovery Channel about a luxury hotel that was built on a man-made peninsula in the Persian Gulf in Dubai. The hotel was advertised as the world's richest hotel. After watching the show, I told Haley that I wanted to go and see it in person. She thought I was crazy.