Pittsburgh with Mom Dyal

It was so much fun having Mom in Pittsburgh! Apparently she had been here years ago with Dad Dyal for a day and she recognized some of it so we just showed her the highlights of Pitt, which of course involved museums, cathedrals, parks, and food. Lots and lots of yummy food you can't find anywhere else :)

Here are some pics of the Cathedral of Learning. It is a magnificent building you can see from basically everywhere in Pittsburgh. The most extraordinary thing about this 40+ story building is that it was built during the Great Depression. I still have no idea how they managed that during those desolate times. It must have been such a symbol of hope to see that grande structure being built. Adam actually has a class in here. cool huh? Also, they have about 30 separate rooms set up like different nationalities' classrooms. It is REALLY cool! Here is the wiki page with pictures and descriptions of each room.






One of my favorite moments we spent in the Cathedral of Learning was at floor...41 I think. whatever the highest floor we are allowed to go to without security. Anyway, we were on that floor and the only window on that floor is in the boys bathroom. It was such a funny moment to turn and see Mom Dyal standing next to the urinals taking a picture out the window. so comical!


We also took Mom to the top of Mt Washington which is a beautiful lookout over the city.


The last day she was here we went on a walk in the park behind our house and looked at the fall leaves. That was one of our favorite things we did.

DC Trip #1

So Adam's sister and her husband and kids live in DC and we love that they are so close to us (well it's about 4 1/2 or 5 hours away but they are the closest family!) Well, a couple weeks ago Adam's sister had their second kid so we went down one weekend to visit them. It was so fun! They are the coolest family - just down to earth. Another reason for going down that weekend was to pick up Adam's mom and bring her back to Pitt for a few days and show her everything. So maybe I'll break up the pictures, but the next handful of pics are from that week.

DC - Since Adam lived there for an internship over a year ago we really wanted to see where he lived and worked, etc. However, we didn't get good pictures of it at all since the streets were so chaotic for Occupy Wall Street. We also went to the temple with Mom Dyal which was wonderful. Since the closest temple is either DC or Columbus, we can only go monthly and loved going to the beautiful DC temple with Mom Dyal. I don't have any pictures of that either, sorry.

We did go to a handful of sites like the Pentagon Memorial (and I thought of Mom)




And we went to the Air Force Memorial. We got their at sundown so I only snapped a blurry, dark photo so this other one is of the memorial at the air force 60th anniversary ceremony. I loved this site! They are unbelievably huge, solid, symbolic, and meaningful.




Oh, and here is a matching RayBand pic to show Dad!

Saudi Arabian Open House

We went to a Saudi Arabia Open House with little expectations going into it and it turned out to be AMAZING! It lasted for a few hours because they had a keynote speaker, translator, promotional video of the country, traditional clothing fashion show of the different regions, typical music and dance concert, and a mock wedding.

That alone was pretty cool, but then we followed the "wedding party procession" into another huge room that looked like the ballroom from Sound of Music where they had displays/Saudi treats/booths/henna tattoos, etc.

THEN, it ended with a huge, catered banquet in the ballroom (shown in the pictures of Adam and I before the hall was decorated) from the best middle eastern food in Pittsburgh. It was so good and so cool! There were hundreds of Saudi people there...and then Adam and I. We totally stuck out.

Radical Days

Pittsburgh does this thing called "Radical Days" for a month or two at the beginning of fall. Because there are so many sights and museums and musical functions and sport stadiums to see, a lot of the places will do a free day. So on the day they choose anyone is allowed to come for free. Of course we love Radical Days since we are on a small budget! Here are some pictures of the places we went.

The Soldiers and Sailors Museum which shows every war the United States has been involved in. We didn't get pictures of the individual exhibits but here is the outside building and Adam pondering.



The National Aviary Museum was surprisingly cool and had everything from bald eagles to "extinct" birds to hummingbirds. So here is us by the flamingos and Adam posing by a bird called "Dhyal" and pronounced the same as "Dyal" which we loved. Oh and the penguin picture is for Mom!





This is a walk along the North Shore next to the Three Rivers Memorial. We thought it was beautiful and showed a great view of down town Pitt and the Allegheny River on a typical day.





Andy Warhol Museum. We loved this. Fam, you know Andy Warhol's art/movies don't you? He is famous for his pop art and campbell's soup art. I really respect him as an artist. Of course we couldn't take pictures in the museum but we just HAD to sneak as much footage of this room as possible when no one else was in the room. This exhibit is called "Silver Clouds" and was our FAVORITE and really magical to be in. These movies don't quite capture how cool it was.
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Festivals Galore

One of our favorite things to do in Pittsburgh is go to cultural events. This city is a melting pot and has so many opportunities to learn about different cultures and nations from around the world. Here are some random pictures we took one Saturday when we went to 4 different religious and food festivals for the Greeks, the Lebanese, the Japanese, and we couldn't find the Persian Festival in the park but we thought it sounded cool.

Our New Home

Okay, here are some basic pics of our apartment and Frick Park. I think one of the VERY best things about our place is the park right behind our house. It is Pitt's largest park that winds up and down huge hills, around streams, behind neighborhoods, around an antique cemetery, over bridges, and a mini soccer field. It has a million little and large running paths, including a 9 mile run. Probably my favorite part of the day is my morning jog through this heavily wooded forest. Love it!







Here are some quick snap shots of the apartment when we were almost done setting it up. I just quickly snapped them on my iphone and didn't look at them till I uploaded them on my computer. So, just to let you know it is a 1br on the 3rd floor of a victorian home which gives us nice high vaulted ceilings. Also, I am obviously not a professional photographer and these pics actually make it look a lot smaller than it really is (except the bathroom. that is tiny).

The Kitchen




Bedroom and Bathroom





cute Adam working on his homework in our front room.

Adios Provo

Adam and I loaded up the Uhal and started our 1900 mile journey from Provo to Pittsburgh. We were excited, we were anxious, we were praying to make the journey safely.



We said goodbye to our charming summer apartment and started the drive!



We said goodbye to "SPAS" sign and yelled it for the last time.




On our way out we stopped by and said bye to Stephanie. She is the best and has been the greatest friend/cousin to us while we've been in Provo. Then, we stopped by Garret and Karli's house to say a very tearful goodbye, meet Mom and Dad, and do some last little traditions. As you can see...one of those traditions is the BabyFood Tradition that Garret, Steph, Amanda and I love.

So, after all those sad goodbyes and a stop at RadioShack and Best Buy for Dad, and Whole Foods for Mom we officially started our 3 day journey. Thanks to Mom and Dad the drive was a whole lot easier and more enjoyable than we imagined. It was so fun to have a few days just the four of us while we drove across 9 states. We stopped and saw Uncle Tim and Aunt Laura in Illinois and also stopped to eat at Quaker Steak and Lube (http://www.quakersteakandlube.com/main.html) for Mom's Bday. We stopped there 6 years ago and still remembered how great it was so when we passed it in Ohio we HAD to stop.

Anyway, we pulled up to Pittsburgh too late to move in and stayed the night in a hotel and got one more free continental breakfast. YES! Free continental breakfasts make the entire drive worth it, for sure.