In December, we had the opportunity to go to New Orleans so I (Tiffany) could present at a NASPA conference on my work with Title IX.  We were able to make arrangements for Isaac to stay with Kelly and her family, so Tom was able to come as well.  It was such a fun trip and we really enjoyed the quick little getaway!

We left in the early afternoon of Friday, December 7th.  Since my trip was booked through work, Tom and I weren’t sitting together.  He actually had a first class seat that he gave to me (he’s so incredibly sweet!) and then thankfully I was sitting in an exit row (which I couldn’t do anyway being pregnant) so he sat in the exit row and actually had it all to himself.  The flights weren’t too bad at all!  When we arrived, our car got upgraded from a car to an SUV, which was nice and a great start to the trip!  We checked in at our hotel (a Holiday Inn, since we’d arrived a day early so we could do some touristing) and  it was right by the Superdome, so that was cool to see!  We then went to a recommended restaurant for dinner, Walk Ons.  It was SO yummy!  I had the “boom boom shrimp” po boy (which is essentially just a hoagie sandwich) and Tom had the bacon-wrapped shrimp and grits.  Then, for dessert, we shared some Krispy Kreme donut bread pudding — WOW!  It was amazing and the perfect introduction to New Orleans cuisine!

The next day (Saturday, December 8th) we slept in a bit and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out for the day.  It was POURING rain, which was kind of frustrating because it makes touring a city more difficult!  We drove through the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, all of which was pretty empty because of the rain.

Then we went to pick up Jared and Jackie from the airport and the four of us went to the World War II museum (since it was indoors and then we wouldn’t have to bother with the rain).  It was really neat and very well done — I’m glad we were able to go!  We visited most of the exhibits, had a late lunch at the onsite soda shop, and saw the “Beyond All Boundaries” documentary.  It was a great day!

After the museum, we checked into our hotel and got upgraded to a suite — awesome!  We then went with Jared and Jackie to dinner at a place called Landry’s in the French Quarter and it was really yummy!  I had a “faux-jito” drink, which was delish, we shared a crawfish appetizer (also amazing), and then some shrimp and catfish for dinner. It was so good!

After dinner, the rain had stopped so we walked around the French Quarter.  We even saw a random street parade with live jazz music.  It was so fun!

The next morning (Sunday, December 9th) we went to church at a local ward, and to say it was interesting would be an understatement!  The drive to the building though was really beautiful and the building is in a really nice neighborhood.  When we walked in the building, one of the members gave us Christmas pins to put on, which was really sweet!  We also noticed how many people were wearing New Orleans Saints apparel, which you wouldn’t necessarily think you’d find at church, but it’s a lifestyle down there!  Even the chorister was wearing a Saints shirt with black football stickers on her face.  They really love their football in New Orleans!  The first speaker of the meeting was awesome and spoke about teaching our children through the new Come Follow Me program.  She did fabulous and it was neat to hear her testimony.  After that, the program listed a “special musical number” and we were SO not prepared for what it was.  Two brothers got up and did a rap, and it was the most unique thing we’d ever heard in a church meeting!  It was definitely out of the norm, and we were a little taken back, but overall it was a powerful message that the brothers shared and it aligned with their lives and testimonies.  Also, Taysom Hill (former BYU quarterback, current Saints team member) was the ward mission leader, which was pretty cool!  (He was actually released while we were there, as there won’t really be mission leaders anymore, but still!)

After church, we went to McDonald’s for lunch.  We were presenting at the conference that afternoon, so we needed something quick that could hold us over until dinner.  I’ve presented many times before, but for some reason, I got really nervous this time!  Probably because it was a national conference, so after lunch, we took a minute to just relax and prepare.  Things went really well though, and we had a great session!  While I didn’t love presenting on a Sunday, it was nice to be able to do so on the first day of the conference and then have it over with.  I’m grateful how things went though — the Lord was definitely blessing our efforts!

After the presentation, we drove to Ryan’s mom’s house to have dinner with their family.  They are such kind and generous people, and it was great to see them!  Angel had made red fish, shrimp pasta, and muffalatta with bananas foster and ice cream for dessert — it was so incredibly yummy!  It was great to visit with Angel, Mike, Carolyn, Adam, Lori, Austin, and Avery.  They are good people and it’s fun to have them as family now through Ryan!  Also, the drive back was really pretty and the sky looked really cool.  It was a great day!

Monday (December 10th) I attended the conference (and was able to sneak Tom some of the leftover food for breakfast!).  Tom worked in the hotel room during the day, and then for the lunch break, we met up with Julie and Hannah (Ryan’s other family in New Orleans) at a place called Mandina’s.  As we’d been discovering through all our eating in the city, the food was amazing!  I had a barbecue shrimp po-boy, and even though it was so different than I expected (as the barbecue sauce was more like a stew), it was still really delicious!

After the afternoon sessions of the conference were over, we went touristing in the city with my colleagues.  We first tried going to one of the old cemeteries, but unfortunately it was closed.  We were able to see it from the outside though, and it was still pretty cool!

We then drove through the city, through many of the different neighborhoods and areas, and then ended up in the French Quarter for a few hours to walk around.  Though the weather was a little cool, it was actually quite nice and was definitely warmer than Utah!  We were even able to catch a Christmas concert at the city center church, which was really neat.  It was fun to feel the excitement of downtown New Orleans!

After the concert and spending time in the French Quarter, we went to the city park and botanical gardens for the Christmas Lights festival.  It was fun to see all the light displays and not be freezing cold like we usually are looking at lights in Utah!

We then ended the day by having dinner at a place called Katie’s, which was a random place in a little neighborhood but still very good!

Tuesday (December 11th) was our last day in New Orleans.  We packed it full though!  After the morning sessions of the conference, we checked out of the hotel and went to do some touristing with my colleague Marcus.  We went across a really cool bridge…

Then saw some really cool old Spanish buildings…

Then drove to some cool swamps, looking for alligators of course (though we didn’t see any)…

And finally we ended at Jean Lafitte National Park, which was amazing!  All of the swampy landscape is so different than anything we’d ever seen, and it’s especially different than Utah.  But, it was still totally cool and really gorgeous and it was fun to experience it!

As we were walking back to the car (with me being disappointed that we hadn’t seen an alligator) we came across a couple on the trail who mentioned they’d just seen one about a mile further down.  I was so excited at the possibility of seeing a gator, so we went the direction they mentioned and sure enough, there was a sleeping alligator!  It was AWESOME!  It actually didn’t even look real at first since it was so still, but then it moved around, which was equally as awesome.  Such a cool thing to see!

We then stopped at a cute little restaurant for a late lunch…

And then ended the day flying home and picking up our sweet boy.  It was so great to see him and be reunited as a family under one roof!  The trip was amazing though, and we definitely could see ourselves going back again someday!