America is the Greatest

And since the U.S. of A. is so awesome, I hope you don't mind reminiscing on it's 238th birthday with me.

The fourth of July was pretty rainy. We had planned on going out to CT for a big 4th of July pool party/BBQ but we took a literal raincheck and spent the 4th in the city instead! After scrambling over where to get together, the Crawley's were sweet enough to let us all crash at their darling apartment on the UWS. We watched the World Cup, had some snacks, and visited until it was time to head over to the East River to watch the Macy's fireworks show.

^Cute patriotic girls!^

^And as per tradition, Lauren made the cutest 4th of July sugar cookies. Seriously, I don't know what I'm going to do if Lauren and I ever move away from each other. (and not just because she makes the best sugar cookies ever. Although yes, that is a factor)^

^Clark, exposed brick, and patriotic cookies. So much awesomeness in one photo^

^This was our prime fireworks-watching real estate. Brooklyn Heights gave us a great view of the fireworks and the downtown skyline. It was pretty crammed, but we felt so lucky to get a spot, because the police closed of our area just minutes after we got in!^

^So blurry, but I was THRILLED to have Ash join us for the fireworks! It was the best. We were scared for a sec that they wouldn't let her in to the section we were in, but seriously, no one can resist this girl. ^

^Waiting on the sunset for fireworks...^

^iPhone pic^

^BAM! Happy birthday 'Merica^

^After fireworks we went up to see our friends, the Clarks, and man do they have a view! After some yummy patriotic fruit pizza, we got to chill on their roof! They're next-door-neighbors with the freedom tower, and that multi-color light in the back right is the Empire State building.^

^Us and the Empire State. It was windy...^

Then on Saturday we got to cash in our raincheck and go out to Greenwich, CT for a pool party/BBQ at the Varvel's house. It was amazing. First off, CT is just beautiful. Second, their house is absolutely picture perfect. And third, we had all of our awesome friends there! It was the best afternoon. We swam, ate great food, played soccer/football, and visited. We are so grateful we were able to go!! (oh and thanks Morgan for taking all the pictures of the awesome Patriotic party!)

^Darling tablescape^

^Not only did they make this beautiful flag cake, but they also made a delicious cherry cheesecake!^

^The pool^

^The house^

America - Thanks for being so amazing. Because we had the greatest time celebrating your birthday.  

New York, New York Address

WE MOVED TO NEW YORK.... a month ago. Actually, exactly one month ago! We flew to NYC June 30th and were able to get the keys to our apartment right away. Our amazing friends, the Crawleys, drove all of our stuff out to New York for us, so all we had to do was unload the moving van into our apartment! Easy right? I wish! Moving seriously shows you how much junk you have. But it's also a great opportunity to sort through said junk! Which takes a lot longer than you'd think. Anyways, here's what our brand spanking new apartment looked like (My apartment is almost all set up, and I will post pictures of the final product soon!)

^Flying out to NYC at 6am^

^So when we first enter our apartment, this is half of the front room. It's a kitchen/living/dining room. Obviously this is the kitchen side!^

^Sorry it's blurry! But this is the "living room side". And yes, the fridge only fits in this wonderfully prominent spot. But at least we have a big fridge! Oh and our apartment has wonderful tall celings. And these pictures were taken around 5pm with no lights on. Look at all that bright natural light! We love it! (especially after living in a darker provo apartment)^

^Another angle on our front room)

^Our little hallway from the front room to the bathroom^

^Our bathroom is actually really nice! Lots of stone tile. Oh and we have a bathtub, should we want it. That's a pretty big deal, cause in our last apartment our shower was probably as big as the sink in this picture...^

^The view from our bathroom window - not bad at all! And Clark's building is right next to that glowing gold tower on the left^

^Please ignore all the luggage, but this is our bedroom! It's the biggest & brightest room in the place, and we LOVE its layout^

^Oh and we have the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING right outside our window. I'm bummed cause this picture makes it look a lot farther away than it actually is. Oh well! When I lie down on my side of the bed, this is my view. It's going to take me a long time to get used to it. Especially cause they change the lights on the building all the time!^

^And this is our apartment with all of our junk thrown into it. Yikes! Haha that's why it took us a month to get all moved in - lots of ikea furniture to build, and boxes to sort through. We love our place so much though. And I am SO happy we are almost 100% moved in. ^

Mission Prep for Emily!

So this post took forever... and again I don't feel like writing. Especially cause I want to get more current on my blogging (haha these posts are from June). But life gets in the way! Working kept me busy for the last 2 weeks, and now I'm also managing my little sister's mission blog! These posts were too important to skip though! We had lots to do to get Emily ready for her mission - here are some of the big events!

These pictures are from Emily's first time through the temple. Luckily so many family members, and a few friends, were able to attend. She had a wonderful first experience! I can't wait until the rest of my siblings have made their temple covenants too! 

                                     ^So many family members were there to show support!^

^Em & Tori! Life long BFFs who are both going on missions! Em to Texas and Tori to Italy^

^Proud Mom & Dad^

^We were so happy to be there for Em's special day!^

Before Emily left on her mission, we also wanted to take some family portraits. Luckily Whitney Justesen (link) was available to take some for us. She took us to the prettiest location near Beal's Point on Folsom Lake! I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I can't wait to see all of Whitney's finished pictures!

Here are a few of hers: 

^Ah! She took these cute ones of Clark & I and I am dying to see the rest!^

^cute missionary shots for Emy!^

Some shots I took:

^The whole field was dotted with these neat rocks formations^

^Darling little Brie^

^Andrew's take on American Gothic^

^William turned into a little model, climbing and posing on every rock in sight^

^I've got the cutest sisters!^

^Hull Girls!^

^I also took several mission photos for Emily!^

^Emily gave her mission farewell a few weeks early so Clark and I could be there. She gave an incredible talk! And I will post her farewell talk on her blog soon, so check hermanahull.blogspot.com for it! It was an amazing meeting though - David gave a talk; Clark, David, Emily, and I sang; and Emily gave her talk! And so many of our family members were able to attend. It was marvelous.  After church we had a family lunch and then Clark and I had to say our in person goodbyes... because we flew to NYC early the next morning. I'm glad we were there for her farewell though!

^It was hard to say good-bye! But she is already having such an incredible experience. We are so proud of our missionary! ^

Left my Heart in San Francisco

^San Francisco has always been one of our favorite cities. And somehow in all my visits there, I had never been to the Palace of Fine Arts. So on our last visit to SF (for a while, we'll be back) we visited. P.S. - William was at Scout camp... which makes my family look a lot smaller!^

^Gorgeous!^

^The kiddos had fun climbing around too^

^Climbing all over the place!^

^Beautiful Emily^

^My awesome little brothers (missing William). I miss those crazy monkeys! Always keeping me and Clark on our toes!^

^And this gorgeous house has an insanely beautiful view of the Palace of Fine Arts. A dream house for sure. Only $20 million or so...^

^Then we drove over to see what we could of the Golden Gate Bridge. As you can see above us, the fog rolled in pretty heavy^

^Love my darling sister! I sure miss her^

^And this little angel! Good think Skype keeps us close^

^So this might be one of my favorite pictures of us ever. Thanks Daddy for taking it!^

^After visiting the Golden Gate we went down to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch...^

^At Scomas! It was delicious^ 

^The Wharf is so pretty. Luckily the fog didn't set in over the rest of the city!^

^Both Emily and David went on 5th grade field trips to this ship, the Balclutha! They had a great experience helping run the ship for a day^

^Saying good bye (for now) to the pacific^

^And of course, we had to go to Ghiradelli's. Friendly advice - get the Ocean Beach Sundae. Salted Caramel heaven^

^It was a marvelous day in the city! I can't wait go back with these kiddos, hopefully sometime soon!^