At the park with Kumi

This is Kumi, isn't she adorable? We took her to the park and had a blast. So much fun.

Alexis is an amazing helper.

The YW in our ward had a spaghetti dinner and dessert auction to raise money for camp. Alexis made the most delicious rocky road brownies and Kimberly made a coconut layer cake, YUMMY!!!

Friday the 21st I was in court forever on a malicious prosecution trial involving a stalking case!!! 8:48 a.m. to 12:17 a.m, my first jury trial. The trial lasted for 10 hours and then the jury deliberated for another 5 1/2 hours, WHEW, what an amazingly long day. This has been my record for being in court and one I don't ever want to break. Apparently, another court reporter holds the record, finishing at 3 a.m. I was having a hard time staying awake. Thankfully the judge was extremely kind and made sure I had enough breaks. To top it all off the jury were dead-locked, which means the case will have to be tried all over again.

I came home to the most delicious rocky road brownies that Alexis had made. Food never tasted so good, plus I was so happy to be out of the courtroom.

The end of the adventure

On our way home from an amazing day.

We also stopped at an Turkish grocery store in Patterson, NJ. We bought tons of Turkish delights and cookies and chocolate.

You know you're in New Jersey when...

There is an entire aisle of olive oils. Any and every kind you could imagine. Along with an entire aisle of pasta and of course sauces.

They even sell truffle oil which Alexis was salivating over. One day she'll be able to try real truffles. Most likely after she graduates from college and has an amazing job and can actually afford to try them :)

Italian food, Annandale, NJ

Alexis orderd gnocchi with a butter sauce.

Valerie ordered gnocchi with marnaria sauce.

Kimberly ordered eggplant parmesan.

I ordered a calzone with fresh mozerella and pepperoni. I've never had so much and so good Italian food.

I've heard so many stories about Kimberly's mission and was glad to finally be able to see where she served her mission, get a feel for the areas she taught, and enjoy the food she ate while on her mission. We spent 21 hours and drove through six states. All of us had a great time and can't wait to go again and eat all that yummy Italian food!!!

Kimberly's mission

This is Timothy, his wife Melissa, and their son Tynan. On Kimberly's mission she taught the gospel to Timothy who was later baptized and he taught the gospel to his wife Melissa. They have an adorable two year old with lots of energy. I've heard about Timothy for years and was excited to meet him and his family. They have a very special spirit in their home and enjoyed getting to know them. They were even talking about their son going on a mission. It's amazing what the gospel can do and how much of an effect one person can have on someone else's life and future generations.

Miller's Bakery, Cliffside Park, NJ

This is where Kimberly lived for a couple of months while in Cliffside Park. The bakery and Cliffside bagles is just down the street. Nice location, don't you think?

We went to an Italian Bakery. I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Everything tasted to yummy, including the cannoli's, the cookies, the pastries... if only it were closer. We also stopped and got some of the best bagel's I've ever had.

New York skyline

We had to take some picture of the New York skyline. It's amazing.

Alexis is holding, Mary. Her eighth grade project she brought home for the weekend. She would randomly cry, even at night, and Alexis would have to hold a key in her back to get her to stop crying. She also had to log when and for how long she cried. She had to take her everywhere. We received a lot of strange looks from people and others knew exactly what the doll was for.

Piccolo's Pizza in Patterson, NJ

We spent the day in New Jersey. Kimberly showed us around to several of the places where she lived while on her mission there. We had the best pizza ever at Piccolo's.

The pizza was giagantic and so were the slices.

Delicious!!!

The owner of the place was your typical Italian-American, accent and all. It was such a fun experience to listen to him talk.