1st Trip of the Season

Have some good news and some bad news. The good news is my family pulled out our beloved boat today and hit up Utah Lake. The bad news was Ryan had to work and thus didn't get to come.

Now I would have felt a little guilty about leaving him behind but when he accidentally admitted he'd have felt no guilt if the roles were reversed I changed my mind. ;)

Now I am not a horrible wife. I did feel bad he wasn't there so I took lots of pictures and made sure I had extra fun so I could tell him all about it later.

This post is for you Hubby. Also this post is for you Marie. Congratulations on making your first blog appearance.

This is Marie's "what-foot-goes-in-back" dance.

The water was a little bit of a shock the first couple seconds after the jump-in.

This is my shocked-the-water-is -FREEZING!!!! face.

Woot Woot! I am really starting to LOVE skiing!

My dad is just happy to be behind the wheel again!

This is Marie's "I'm-so-overjoyed-to-be-sitting-in-my-boating-spot" face.

The happy family after boating!

I hope no one minds the fact that most of my blog posts are pictures; but since I did just take a 4 day class on how to teach better writing I should probably put some of my skills to use.

Boating in my family is almost religion. We have always LOVED boating as a family. Now that we are a bit older our boating trips have changed. It used to be all go go go but now it is a lot more chill.

Since the water was cold and a bit choppy today we all skied once and then we ate some PB&J and sat around in the middle of the lake and just talked. We talked about everything from family members to what we'll do next week in Jackson and of course memories came up.

My dad loves bringing up the time when we ran out of gas on Utah Lake and almost had to spend the night. It's a good story so I'll tell it now and then close up.

The Story of When We Ran Out of Gas on Utah Lake and Almost Had to Spend the Night

By: Savanna Woodbury

It was a hot summer day, (I was about 9 Marie was 4 years younger and my parents were Parent Age) and my family decided to crack out the boat, whip down to Utah Lake for some good boating action.

When we boat on Utah Lake we go to the far West side of the lake. There is always good water and no traffic, perfect for my Mom's mile long skis.

We tubed, skied, tubed some more, skied, we even chased down some big waves. (That was my favorite thing to do because I'd get to drive) Well the sun started to head down and we decided to make our way back to the opposite side of the lake to the harbor to pack up and go.

We made it half way across (for those of you who don't know Utah Lake it is HUGE) before we ran out of gas. We were in our little red Skipper of a boat with a gas gauge that didn't work.

My dad being the boy scout that he is always had a paddle in the boat for times like this but notice that the word paddle didn't have a S on the end of it. My parents had to take turns with the paddle and with the kids. We got back to the West side of the lake. We dropped my dad off at the shore and Mom tied the boat down to some tree branches.

My dad had left to hitchhike his way to a payphone (this was before cell phones) to call his brother Greg to come save us.

I remember it started getting dark and cool. I remember Mom telling me and Marie that if we stayed the night it would be just like Lake Powell, but I also remember thinking that it was nothing like Lake Powell.

Being a little kid during all of this I don't really remember much in between that conversation and then being in Greg's Van with his boys watching tv in the back while we made our way home.

I don't remember how the boat got home. I don't remember who stayed with the boat and who stayed with the kids. I don't remember where I slept that night. I only remembered the important things like we didn't wear seat-belts in Greg's van, we just laid down in the back (the seats had been taken out) and watched tv while we drove to where ever it was we went.

But that is my version of "The Story of When We Ran Out of Gas on Utah Lake and Almost Had to Spend the Night"

NYC

"NYC, what is it about you?

You're big

You're loud

You're tough, NYC!"

-name that movie!!

Ryan and I had the grand opportunity to travel to New York City to visit Ryan's sister and brother-in-law. (and maybe see some sights too)

I have been trying to write this blog for a few days now, multiple times a day. I just have so much to say and so much to show. We really made the most of our 5 day trip. I honestly can't believe how many sights we really got in.

I've decided to take the easy route and just do a list and pictures. So here you go ;)

Monday: We did a lot of traveling. We stayed the night at Parental Woodbury's casa to give us a couple more minutes in the morning. Ryan and I got on our flight, flew a couple hours, got on a people mover, moved a bit, then got on a train, trained a bit, that landed us in a subway, where we sub-ed, lastly we met up with Tyler to bus a bit around to the temple, the Central Park and we ended up at a sandwich shop called Lenny's that was so delicious.

Here is us at the LDS Temple in Manhattan. (please forgive our travel appearance)

It was so amazing, it was small and in the middle of tons of bustle yet it still had the sacred feel of a Temple of God.

Tuesday: Tuesday was our day at the museums. We started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the "Met." This museum is HUGE!!! (well lets be honest all the museums in New York are HUGE!) Thankfully the night before Ryan, Melissa, Tyler and I planned out our route in the Met. We chose to visit the Egypt wing, American wing, and the Medieval wing. It was so much fun walking through all the Egyptian art, it was like being in a cleaner version of Egypt all over again.

In the American wing we just went through the Period Rooms. These are rooms designed to look like rooms would look in different periods of time. It was incredible it was like going through a Parade of Homes but with time travel. Ryan only hit his head on one door frame. ;)

The Medieval wing was fun to browse. We poked fun at Ryan and the "original Cutco knives" display.

Here we are in Egypt.

This is me wishing I had Floo Powder to get to Diagon Alley.

After spending the morning in the Met we walked over to Central Park for a lovely picnic. It was fun to relax on a bench and watch all the school kids have their field day at Central Park. Central Park was amazing and so wonderful. It's crazy to find this huge park in the middle of such a busy bustling city.

The American Museum of Natural History was next on our list. Tyler and Sophie left us to have their own adventure of nappers. So it was just Melissa, Ryan and I. This museum was so much FUN! I love the movie "Night at the Museum" and everything in this museum reminded me of all the silliness in the movie.

The Davidson's have a slight obsession of bum pinching. I couldn't resist ;)

This Easter Island Head is one of my favorite characters.

In honor of Elder Markus we had to visit Mexico.

There are lots of stories about the horrors of the Babysitting Bear. Although this isn't the actual bear he is a close cousin.

Wednesday: If you want a crazy day then you should relive our Wednesday. We woke up early, ran to Battery Park. Which includes the World Trade Center Sculpture, as well as an amazing view of Lady Liberty.

We then walked over to the Financial District and made a quick trip to Trinity Church. We also visited Ground Zero. It was eye opening to see how crowded that area is and realize how much that event impacted New York City.

Lunch was held at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is where our lovely tour guides Tyler and Melissa left us, apparently they felt we were capable of handling NYC on our own. It was nice to have some time alone with my hubby. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge which was covered in Police Officers. We had planned on taking our sweet time and finding a little place called the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, but we found out there was a protest coming across the bridge so we found some delicious ice cream from a little shop then headed back over the bridge.

After the bridge we headed up to Times Square. It was so much fun to wonder all over the different shops and just take in the crazy crowds.

Tyler and Melissa missed us enough to meet us in Little Italy for dinner. We closed the day in true Woodbury fashion aka playing cards.

I love this picture. It looks like we're the only ones on the bridge!

Us in the Square of Times

Playing in the different Shops. (This is the Hersey Shop)

Thursday: Our last full day in the city was spent in the element of pure fun. We started the day off by stoping by Bloomingdales just for laughs. Then we headed over to a little place we found called Dylan's Candy Bar. It was so magical. Charlie would have been at home here among the candy bins.

Next we all traveled over to FAO Schwarz. Its the toy shop with the floor size piano in the movie "Big." It was amazingly fun and carefree.

Rockefeller Plaza, the Lego Store and Mall Street were the rest of our stops for the morning. We all decided to head back to the apartment for nappers this time. It was wonderfully wonderful to take an afternoon nap.

After our nap Ryan and I once again feeling overly confident set out to find our way to the Empire State Building. We made it!

Here is the proof we found the Empire State Building and even went up.

Friday: Friday was our last day so we did a few last minute things before heading back home via. subway, train, people mover, airplane. You think you pack light until you have to lug your bags through subways, stairs, escalators, elevators, trains etc. ;)

We had a good long 5 hour delay at the Newark Airport due to weather and ended up getting home to Salt Lake around 1:30 am. That was fun!

I apologize I really wanted to keep this short and sweet, but that was the impossible I guess.

SUMMER!

I have slacked off. You'd think now that I'm out of school I'd have all the time in the world to post on my blog but I've been good about keeping myself busy.

I'll backtrack to the good ole days when I was still in school (aka last week).

During the second to last week of school I discovered that I had a personal day I needed to use. I was shocked! I thought I used them all for my wedding but apparently I saved one. Thus I took Thursday off and Ryan and I played hookie. It was so much fun. We went downtown to Salt Lake City and played around for a couple hours.

Ryan and I went to the LDS Church History Museum. On the 2nd floor they have a children's section; that is all hands on. This month they are featuring Latin America. Thus Ryan and I perfected our dancing skills.

Next we sat in Nephi's boat, thanks to the Liahona we knew our way.

Ryan improved his sewing abilities.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day off. The sun was shining (poor Ryan forgot his sunglasses) and it was a much needed break.

After the museum we went to Gateway Mall. Ryan found a comfy seat to relax in while I shopped.

The last week of school is always crazy. The kids want to get out just as much as the teachers. The sun is shining, summer is so close the kids can taste it and they no longer have any interest in school. Thus being the genius teachers we are we plan a walking field trip to the Taylorsville City Hall and Fire station. It's grand. The kids walk off all their extra energy. The teachers have something to help motivate good behavior, its win-win.

I was lucky enough to have a good husband who came on our field trip with us. He really was a wonderful help with the students and some of the parents. I have pictures but due to legal issues I can't post them online. (and the fact that I wouldn't want my future kids online w/o my knowledge.) It was wonderful.

The only bad thing was we planned on having a water party at school after all the walking. A water party is when our principal turns on the sprinklers and the students all run around crazy in them. Well Utah has decided that global warming is stupid and has thus rebelled, giving us the coldest spring we've ever had. It was so cold none of the students wanted to get wet and thus freeze. O well. School is out!!!!!!

Since school has been out I've made sure I've slept in later then Ryan. I've also been staying busy. I finally got my Mom's blog book done. It's in the mail and will probably arrive while Ry and I are in New York. I'm nervous to get it. I put a lot of work into it, I want it to be what I've envisioned. I've spent a lot of time in front of the computer. It got to the point where I'd get headaches from computers, iphones and tv.

I did take some breaks from the computer. I watched Ryan play lacrosse and I kidnapped a cousin.

Ryan had the privilege of playing in a Bingham Alumni game in honor of Blake Strebel. Blake was a very good friend of Ryan's. While Ryan was serving a mission in New Jersey Blake was killed in a car crash. Ryan has a deep respect for the Strebels and was honored to support them. I really wish I could have known Blake better.

I am proud of the fact I spotted my husband with all his gear on. It was hard but I did it. A mom on the sidelines asked who I was looking for. When I said Ryan Woodbury she told me it was easy to spot him. "Look for the hairiest legs" ;)

It wasn't hard to kidnap Emery but it was fun! Ryan and I took her up to the Church History Museum. We found that if 2 adults enter and have fun without children they get weird looks. Thus we've decided from now on we'll kidnap a child or two for children museums so we can enjoy them without the weird looks. Emmy was so good!

First Emmy made a beautiful magnetic quilt. She was so proud of this artwork she had me take 2 pictures of it.

Next Ryan showed her how to fish off of Nephi's boat. She didn't want to leave this boat.

Yesterday was June 9 or Husband Day! June 9 is the one year anniversary of Ryan being home from his mission. If he hadn't come home I wouldn't be married to him. Thus it is Husband Day! I am so grateful to my dear Husband. He is wonderful. I will forever be grateful for the eternal marriage we have.

Speaking of eternal marriage. Today (June 10) my good cousin Brian got sealed to his wife Jen and their two boys.

This was my first live sealing since my wedding. It was amazing. I was filled with the Spirit. I love my dear cousin and his little family. He and I have had some real fun adventures in our life. I am so proud of him for making this life changing decision. Woot Woot BRIAN!!!!