A New York State of Mind

New York and I have a very complicated relationship.

We've haven't technically met yet, but having watched countless episodes of Law and Order and The Late Show, I feel like we are fairly well acquainted nonetheless. I appreciate New York's history and culture and celebrate it's close proximity to Canada and Steven Cobert.

I think that we really could have had something together, New York and I, something deep, something meaningful. But, alas, it was not to be.


Last Summer, my brother Moose and sister-in-law Brianna were lured away by that temptress state and her promises of masters degree programs, NFL internships, Buffalo wings, and New York style trauma patients. They loaded up their polar bear dogs and drove east following the siren song of the Empire State.
One year later, they finally came back to visit.

Over the eight days they were here, we tried to show that our hearty western states had just as much to offer New York. NYC might have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but IF has the 4th of July Parade. Sure, we might not have giant balloons or performances by the Jonas Brothers, but our parade does have dancing landscapers and plenty of adorable nieces and nephews to keep Moose and Brianna company. That's got to count for something, right?

Moose and Brianna are living in Buffalo, the birthplace of the Buffalo Wing, so there is plenty of good food for them to partake of over there. But I doubt that any of those wing festivals could boast a more accommodating waitress than our own little Kylie Monchichi. She was more than happy to put the food directly in his mouth and then help him chew it. I'd like to see those fancy New York restaurants compete with that!
Speaking of food, in New York they have plenty of New York style pizza, but a cute little place by Jenny's house serves authentic Italian pizza; the kind Moose learned to love while serving as a missionary in Southern Italy.

See Moose, wouldn't you rather be in Utah playing with your Niblets and eating real pizza than in New York eating spicy wings and hanging out with NFL players?

The pizza was delicious. We all ate until we were more than full...

...except Baby Milo. Poor Milo was sentenced to a lunch hour in his car seat and was not at all impressed with the fancy-scmancy pizza. Not impressed at all.

On the day before they left, we made one more last ditch effort to convince Moose and Brianna that the western states were just as hip and happening as the East coast. We took them to a bowling ally where Bentley and Maxwell spent the bulk of their time daring the ball return to dent their skulls, Jonah performed a series of interpretive dances, and Ruby let the air vent style her hair and whisper sweet nothings into her ears.

We all had a blast...except poor Milo who ended up with the abandoned shoes; forgotten, alone, and slightly smelly. Once again, the baby was not impressed. Not in the slightest.

Later that night, after Moose and Brianna's 78th BBQ in six days, we celebrated their visit with a firework extravaganza. We shot off six mini-fountains and lit sparklers. We had a blast, but....
... once again Milo seemed totally bored with the situation. Poor guy. In his three months of life, Milo has shown a certain propensity for the metropolitan lifestyle. Living in Happy Valley really cramps his style.

The one thing that did impress Milo was his Aunt Brianna. He spent hours trying to convince her to take him back East with her. The little guy was certain that he was destined for bigger and better things than his Utah town could provide.

I felt the same way about wanting "bigger and better" things, but Moose assured me that it would be difficult to ship a NFL player to me for Christmas. Turns out, tight ends don't fit in the postal service flat-rate boxes. I guess I will just have to fly out and visit them and bring a really big carry-on bag....

And now that Moose and Brianna have winged their way back to Buffalo, I find myself even more conflicted in my feelings for the great state of New York. I am still very much interested in the historical sites, the cultural events, the professional athletes, and the world-class cuisine, but I am afraid that if I ever do make it out to visit, I will be much more concerned with spending time with my New York family than seeing the New York Sites.

Thanks, Spencer and Brianna for spending your vacation with us. We really hope that we won't have to wait another year to see you again, so here are some reminders of what is waiting for back here...

...a squishy, hard to impress baby...

...and a nephew with madd interpretive break dancing skills.

Take that, Rocketts!

New York's got nothing on us!