Birthday Celebration

It was a great evening of celebrating my dad's 70th birthday.  We all enjoyed the evening with good food & family.  Here are a few photos from the night:

Dad got lots of nice cards from everyone.

Happy 70th!  

My brother, sister, myself, Dad, & Mom

The whole gang, minus 2 grandchildren (Brett & Naomi)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 70th Birthday Dad!  

Today is my Dad's 70th birthday & we are looking forward to honoring him this week.  It is a big week for him as he celebrates a milestone birthday & also retirement from University of Tennessee.  

Taking a step back in time, here is my dad on his birthday (just a few years ago :))

I am so blessed to have a dad who is very dedicated to his family & to all that he does.  I am thankful for a happy childhood, thanks to the love & fun from both my parents. 

I am so grateful for having him in my life.  I am thankful for his constant love & concern for me.  

Dad & I fall 1998

Dad is also a great grandfather to Isabella & Brook. He is always making time for them in the midst of a busy schedule.  As I said in my Father's day post, his dad was pretty awesome, so I love seeing my dad as an awesome grandfather too.

Dad, I love you & thank you for giving me a great example of an earthly father which has given me a better love & understanding of my heavenly father. That is the best legacy you could leave.  May you have a great celebration of life today & many years to come!

NYC, part 5 & final

This post picks up with the end of day 4 & day 5, our last day in NYC.  The last post ended with us eating cheesecake & this one begins with us eating dinner!  Ha!  There are so many good places to eat in NYC.  At times, I felt like I'm on a cruise ship where I don't have enough time to eat all the good food available.  There are several places we wanted to try, but was never in the right place at the right time to eat there.  However, all the food we did eat was very good & we always ate somewhere different that we don't have in Memphis.  Our last dinner there was at the Shake Shack.  It is a very popular burger joint.  The food is good, fun atmosphere, & prices are cheap for NYC!  There is always, always a line out the door. No joke.  The line wraps outside.

The Tony Awards were airing live from Radio City Music Hall in NYC the night we were there.   As broadway fans, that was very exciting for us.  There was a red carpet display by Times Square where we stopped for photos.  Here is Brook striking a pose.

Isabella

Tony ready

Cuba Gooding Jr. arrives at the Tony Awards

He jumped on top of his limosuine

The actual red carpet area next door to Radio City Music Hall

This is Henry Cavill, the new Superman at Good Morning America

Sam Champion from Good Morning America

I went to the set on Monday morning & even had a brief cameo on tv in the crowd

The Today Show is madness...so crowded.  I didn't stay there too long.

Brook & Eden at the Disney Store.  They loved that all these stores are all 3 stories high!   

All the girls got interviewed outside of Toys R Us by a Disney creative team who was doing research for the next Disney Princess movie.  They all loved having an interviewer & camera on them!

Isabella, Naomi, & Anna on the flight home

Brook & Eden on the flight home

All good things must come to an end.  It was a great trip & I tried to take in every bit of it.

The end of the NYC posts!

NYC, part 4

Day 4.......Today was beautiful.  Dad had the day off so we all started off together on the hop-on, hop-off bus towards downtown.

The New Year's Eve ball (quite smaller in person)

Beautiful Bryant's Park

Chrysler building

NY Public Library

Empire State Building

Neat view of Empire State

Flatiron Building

5th Avenue Clock

Very first Macy's building is behind the scaffolding

Driving through historic areas 

South Street Seaport 

Brook in her new outfit, courtesy of H & M, & a hat from South Street Seaport shops

9/11 Museum

I did this museum on a previous visit.  If you haven't been, it is very moving.

Fire department across from World Trade Tower site

This is Freedom Tower.  It is not open for tours yet because there is still work being done on the building.  

The girls & I got a pass to visit the 9/11 Memorial.  In order to see where the World Trade Towers once stood, you must get a pass & go through security.  It is worth it to see this sight.

The North pool 

The girls & I in front of the South pool.  Every name of everyone who died on 9/11 is included on these memorials, including those who died from the Pentagon, Pennsylvania, & emergency workers.

This is called the survivor tree.  It was damaged to a stump after 9/11.  It was moved to a NYC park, began thriving, then was hit by lightning in another storm.  It was moved to this site in December 2010 & has begun to thrive.  

Girls on the hop-on, hop-off bus in front of Battery Park

United Nations building

The grandgirls on the trip (missing Nicole) thanking Grandad for a wonderful trip!

This place was quite a hit with locals & visitors alike.  They had great burgers.

These two girls did pretty good getting around the streets of NYC

I was proud of Brook with all the walking she did! 

Never know who you may see on the streets of NYC 

Always glad to see New York's finest out there to serve & protect the city

a New York tradition......cheesecake!

Believe it or not, more of day 4 coming tomorrow in the final NYC post.