Stottblog

I looked out the window

2012-02-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

and what did I see?...

(I didn't take that picture, I got it online. I'll try and post one of ours if I can soon.)

SNOW! It only snows 3 or 4 times a year in London and when it does there's not much that sticks. As I type this there is a dusting about an inch think. The news keeps talking about all the preparations they are doing for the 3-4 inches. I can't help think about NYC and how after a blizzard of 12-18 inches, Dave still walked to work the next day. I got a letter from Aubrey's school saying that I need to call to make sure the school will be open. Should be an interesting week.

No room to complain though. Much of Europe is literally FREEZING and thousands of people are trapped in remote places etc. I guess I always associated horrible weather with London but it has milder winters and summers than the East Coast. Very gray for now but I'll take it over New York Februarys any day.

Nursery School

2012-02-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Aubrey on her first day of school, outside the entrance to her nursery school:

We were able to get Aubrey into a nursery school in our neighborhood. Nursery school here is a combination of preschool and daycare. They have age appropriate lessons, tons of playtime and creative time etc. Some kids, like Aubrey, just come for a few hours, others stay all day. The British government provides that all kids her age get 15 hours of nursery school free of cost -- maybe there are some good things about more socialist governments. Aubrey LOVES going and asks about it all morning.

There are about 15 kids in the school. Most are British but with heritage from all sorts of countries and ethnicities. Her best friend thus far is a cute Nigerian girl. They have 4 teachers, 1 admin and an assistant that makes the meals. Just before I pick her up each day she has 'tea time', which is sort of a mini meal. While she is at school I take Chelsea home, she takes a nap and I do...whatever I want! Its a great set up!

They have terms that make the school year more of a year-round set up. The 'summer' is only about 8 weeks but they have 10-20 days off between terms. Its interesting to be a part of the school system and start getting to know the other mums. :)

The First Week in London

2012-01-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

(Quick side note: I REALLY miss my computer -- blogging on Dave's work laptop is no fun.)

Highlights of week 1:

Red eye flight to London -- not as bad as we feared it would be. Girls slept most of the flight (Chelsea was in and out but out more than awake).

Spent two full days looking at flats. We saw about 20 different places and found one that we think we'll really love. Its on a BEAUTIFUL mansion block street (I'll get a picture when I can), Dave has a great commute (15 mins on the tube, no transfers), big, bright windows in the living room, Hyde Park right across the street, etc. I'll get some pictures up when I can. London has so many more housing options than NYC. While New York only has apartment high-rises, London has the high-rises as well as townhomes, maisonettes, mews (like converted carriage houses) and mansion blocks. It was fun to have a little more diversity in our housing search.

My friend Christy came with us to London (months ago she volunteered to come and watch the girls while we looked for housing and got settled). We don't know what we would have done without her help. She has always been amazing with our girls but watching her on the plane and during that week, I'm convinced she is one of the most intuitive mothers I know.

We were excited to squeeze in some fun too (I've never been to London and Dave has only been here once):

First night here we went to see BIG BEN and WESTMINSTER ABBEY

TOWER OF LONDON

This shot below is my favorite, in classic Chelsea style she is confidently strolling along, blanket in tow.

Aubrey has been really into the idea of meeting the Queen and seeing the palace so BUCKINGHAM PALACE was a big hit!

HYDE PARK: There are tons of swans there and, no joke, a fox ran right in front of us. Somehow that seems very British.

Looking forward to getting to know our new hometown even better!

Merry Christmas

2012-01-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

(you should be able to click on this to see it bigger)

Preschool

2011-12-16T21:34:00.005-07:00

Aubrey has been in a little co-op preschool for the past few months. She's LOVED it.

I didn't teach until the very end and was amazed at how much more they picked up on and how much more than knew compared to last year. I'm sad to see her leave such cute friends.

This is from the last class. Can you guess which one's Mary? Aubrey is conducing the choir in this shot.

The Help

2011-12-04T17:07:00.001-07:00

The Help

and yes, as she helped me clean up we had yet another discussion about where we do and do NOT color.

(Something she knew before the Utah debacle but we're just wanting to really reinforce :)

Winter's Eve

2011-12-01T16:35:00.001-07:00

Last year, Winter's Eve was freezing! This year the weather was perfect but even still I was debating hauling out into the crowds by myself, with the girlies. I actually like crowds in general but w/ 2 girls, at night & alone I was not really feeling up to it. Just as I was deciding Dave called and said he could leave early and was on his way home. Love it! We kept it simple, only hit a few places and came home before any serious meltdowns.

(Elle and Aubrey had the most adorable little conversation about how they were each moving far away and would make new friends etc. (Elle's fam is headed to Singapore for 8 mos!) All the while holding hands and happy as could be. As though this were a totally normal conversation for two 3 yr olds)

(a great little kid concert. She did one song that was just choruses from classic Rock n Roll songs. It was awesome. kids danced, parents sang)

(While Chels and I enjoyed the music Dave & Aubrey got her face painted. We then stopped by the bank for a free 'Jingle' hat.)

(En route to the church/Ice Sculpting we saw Buddy from Dinosaur Train!!! Aubrey was, no surprise, excited then her timidity kicked in and she ran away :)

(Hot Chocolate from the missionaries while we watched the Ice Sculpting, then home.)

An overall fun night in the neighborhood -- so glad the UWS does this.

One for the books

2011-11-22T19:02:00.001-07:00

Since moving even further away from family means we will see even less of them for the next few years I squeezed in a trip to Utah. With five siblings (and their families), a sister in law (and her family), great-grandparents and my parents all in Utah our trips to Utah are always a little crazy. This one however was especially crazy!

First some highlights, we'll save the crazy stuff for the end:

I was able to spend at least a little time one-on-one with each of our siblings which meant Aubrey and Chelsea got some great cousin time (including meeting 3 new baby cousins: Lincoln Millet, Ivory Millet and Korbin Bitner).

The sky and mountains showed off for us a little (I miss those mountains and canyons!!!):

We stayed with my parents so we got some great time with them. And we even made it up to great-grandma Southwick's house. These moments are precious for me! I love seeing my kids be able to play with my parents and grandma.

We had a fabulous faux Thanksgiving complete with my Aunt Amy's hot drink and rye bread appetizers:

The highlights were great!

Now onto my one horrific day:

It started off with my parents car being stolen.
Yup, stolen. I'd driven their car to Fashion Place mall to meet my brother Quinn, his wife Lindsey and their new baby Ivory for lunch. When we walked back out to the parking lot Lindsey's car was where we'd parked it, but my parents' wasn't (we'd parked them right next to each other). It was 1:30 in the afternoon!?!

Course who wouldn't want to steal this hot 1996 Honda Accord?

(ok, so that's not actually my parents but that's what it looks like)

Aubrey followed that by throwing up twice at my brother's house.
Which is bad enough, but my brother has a 10 day old baby and 5 other kids so adding extra laundry to their house was not really my plan.

THEN, Aubrey and her cousin Thayne (5 days apart in age) turned into trouble 1 and trouble 2

They colored on themselves, the floor, the wall, the fan, and the COUCH!?!!! Did I mention they have a 10 day old baby?!? Yea, busting out the professional fabric cleaning vacuum was also not in my plans. Uggh.

Not my favorite day of the trip. Its starting be a little bit funny but still mostly makes me cringe to think about all the havoc we reeked.

On the 'upside' the car was found:

click HERE for the story

Can you believe this!?!

A 'funny' side note, this car has been stolen before. Its true. When my sister had it in Virginia it was stolen and the thieves took out the airbags and stole her CDs (all except John Denver, which they kindly left on the seat for her. haha)

This time around it looks like the thieves were just looking for a free ride. They 'replaced' all our family's things with loads of empty beer bottles. My Dad had to drive it back to Orem smelling foully of beer.
They apparently didn't look in the trunk though b/c my coat & my girls' coats were there.

So that was my fabulous and decidedly crazy trip to Utah.

Marne'

2011-11-19T18:10:00.001-07:00

This is David. Marne' and the girls are currently in Utah visiting the family one last time before we leave New York and aren't close enough to visit them for a while (I had to work -- lame). I was just looking through some pictures on our computer and realized how seldom Marne' posts pics of herself. So this post is to share some wonderful shots of the usual author of this blog and share five of the many reasons why I love her:

5. I love Marne's fun side.

4. How can you not love these green eyes?

3. What a photographer! Some recent favorites of mine (these are unedited, since I don't know how to use all that editing software anyway):

2. She inspires me (she goes running almost every morning before I even wake up).

1. She does such an amazing job raising these two beautiful girls who absolutely adore their momma. Everyone who comes to visit is in awe of Marne's daily energy and enthusiasm for life in the city despite a very small apartment, no car or suburban amenities and an at-times negligent husband.

CAN'T WAIT FOR MY GIRLS TO GET HOME!!!

Central Park in the Fall 2011

2011-11-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday was about as good as it gets around here! We got our pictures taken in the morning and Aubrey, we think, actually smiled real smiles. Then I took some family pictures for some friend and Chelsea was kind enough to nap for Dave. After that and some lunch Aubrey fell asleep in the stroller so strolled through Central Park. It was the perfect cool, fall weather, the leaves are about at their peak and we were together. We don't get to many Saturdays like this but this one was fabulous!

Aubrey woke up just time in for the carousel. She, as usual, LOVED every second of it. Chelsea on the other hand seemed to think it would be fun but then was not a fan once it starte.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T17:50:00.003-06:00

Our Halloween started on Saturday, during a snow storm.

Yup, you read that right a SNOW STORM!!?!

Aubrey's favorite part is lighting the candle. She LOVES watching candles burn!

That evening we trudged through the snow to the ward party. Aubrey fell asleep on the way over so was pretty sleepy through most of the trick or treating and then hit her stride about 2/3 of the way through the party

A few of our friends missed the party on Saturday so we had a little mini one Halloween morning. (Thankfully the weather had cleared up and Monday was clear and only a bit chilly).
The party was complete with cookie decorating, a fashion show and, of course, more trick or treating.

Chelsea is Pebbles and our friend Evan is Bam Bam. He has been sick so this is the first time we've gotten them together. It made my day!

The fun continued as we headed to 69th street to see all the decorations. They have a fabulous, family block party on 69th street. Complete with loads of trick or treating, out of this world decorations, a fascinating show and TONS of people. Between Dave's work schedule, Chelsea's sleeping schedule and the timing of the crowds I knew we wouldn't make it but we did get to have some fun there this morning.

love this!

Chelsea was NOT a fan of the huge spiders. Can't say I blame her. They were big and scary!

We are reading a book called the Bumpy Little Pumpkin so Aubrey loved this bumpy little pumpkin.

Some of the awesome decorations along 69th street:

And finally the 'real' trick or treating around or building:

Happy Halloween!!

Hopping across the Pond

2011-10-21T17:16:00.005-06:00

We are moving across 'the pond' to London.

The first week of January Dave will finish his first rotation with his firm (in mergers & acquisitions) and start a new one (in securities). The securities rotation is unique though because it is in the London office. We're thrilled about the opportunity.

While we are genuinely excited about London my heart is breaking over leaving our friends here. In so many ways they are our family. They are who we celebrate birthdays, holidays and special events with. When we have a baby or need help they are here to help us out. Since we all have small apartments we spend parts of every day with our friends. I don't want to leave them.

The other day

2011-10-15T16:22:00.000-06:00

The other day I was having one of 'those' days. Instead of actually doing something about it I went around the house, took pictures of the clocks and made a scrapbook page about it.

The process was somewhat cathartic.

Anyone else ever feel like this?

2011-10-04T08:02:00.002-06:00

This little cutie:

Is off to conquer the world:

2011-09-28T19:50:00.001-06:00

We'd just finished up a fun morning as a family out in the city. Both girls are exhausted, Aubrey has actually fallen asleep in the stroller. We are literally feet from our door and a fire truck, sirens blazing, speeds past us. Notice the look on Dave's face, it tells the whole story! I am in love with the fact that we have this moment documented. It happens every so often and always evokes the same reaction from us. The kids on the other hand, almost always sleep right through it.

(and yes, that is Chelsea's bottle tied onto the stroller. As much as I love the 'pick up the bottle every 3 feet' game...I decided to discontinue it)

Modern entrepreneurial ingeniousness

2011-09-25T18:21:00.000-06:00

I saw this the other day. It was parked 1 block away from the high school and when I originally walked by there was a line of teenagers with cell phones and ipods in had..

Its a place to store your cell phones and other electronics while you go to school. How brilliant is that?!?

I presume the school(s) don't allow cells etc in school but what teenager is going to leave their cell phone home all day? This major dilemma has apparently been solved.

Guatemala: Tikal

2011-09-23T07:51:00.002-06:00

(This is the last one on Guate :)

Tikal was our last stop and is in the rain forest jungle in the northern part of Guatemala. Because it was outside my mission's boundaries, it didn't have quite the personal meaning that the other stops did but it was fascinating and beautiful.

Tikal is one of the largest surviving Mayan ruins in the world. They say that it likely had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its peak. There is evidence that people lived her as early as the 4th century BC but it was at its height from about 200-900 AD.

We got up at 4am to hike to the top of one of the temples to watch and listen to the jungle wake up.

Then we hiked among the rest of the temples and tried to avoid getting devoured by mosquitoes.

Afterwards we killed some time in Flores, a nearby town/island (before heading back to the capital and flying home) and We dinner with a Swiss couple that took the Tikal tour with us.

This was the first trip Dave and I have ever taken like this. It was great to just be together and remember how much fun that is! :) We also learned a lot about how to travel etc (many learned the hard way). Plus, I'm rarely away from my girls for more than a few hours so by the end I was really missing them and ready to get back w/ them, which was a nice feeling.

So there you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about Guatemala!

Guatemala: Santiago Atitlan & Panajachel

2011-09-17T20:47:00.001-06:00

NOTE: This post is LONG. Laura (companion, roommate, dear friend), you're welcome. To all else, feel free to skim or skip it :)

Santiago Atitlan. I'm not really sure where to begin on this. The trip was LOTS of emotions, memories and good times with Dave. I lived here for a little over 6 months and was equally in love and fascinated by the town and its people. This trip was planned to be a fun time for Dave and me, not as a 'mission tour' but, going back as a tourist had its weird and amazing moments.

(me as a missionary; Almost 7 years to the day before I returned to this exact spot w/ Dave)

Santiago is one of 12 small towns that surround Lake Atitlan. It is 95% Mayan. Virtually all of the women wear their traditional, hand-woven & embroidered quipil (pronounced whi-peel) & corte (the skirt). Many only speak their Mayan dialect Tz'utujil (it is nothing like spanish). And sadly, an alarming number of the people, particularly women, are entirely illiterate. (The follow pictures are mission pics)

Virtually all Mayan women where the traditional clothing while only a few of the older men still do. So, like this family below, (women in cortes, men in polos) the women have a very distinctive traditional outfit and the men look like they could be from anywhere.

As missionaries we spent our mornings teaching women & young women how to read. I distinctly remember one morning asking a lady if she would be interested in having us teach her, free, of course. In total honesty she asked us, "why would I want to learn how to read?" As I thought about her life which consisted almost entirely of making food for her family, weaving clothes to wear and sell, buying food at an open air market, and living among friends and family who did not read, I'll admit it took me a minute to verbalize some reasons that would make sense in her world.

It didn't feel like I'd been home all THAT long until I saw the changes in Santiago. As I drove in I was ELATED to see real evidence that there was less poverty in Santiago than when I was there. For example, a real, actual, nice hospital (a long time in the works), tons of little mini taxis (tuk-tuks), more concrete (nicer) houses and some pretty big construction projects. But the one that I really hadn't expected was the change in Panabaj.

A tuk-tuk.

A part of the new hospital.

More cement, less corrugated metal = progress.

Panabaj is basically a suburb (aldea/canton) to Santiago. 3 months after I left the rains for hurricane Stan caused a MASSIVE mudslide. It destroyed thousands of homes, whole neighborhoods and killed almost 1000 people. I spent a lot of time out there as a missionary before the disaster. Many of the members of our church lived there. By no small miracle none of the members were killed. I heard about the damage and the horrible aftermath, etc. I think I expected to see mud and rubble. But its been 7 years. The mud and rubble are all cleared away. Those who lived in Panabaj have moved to a new area (Chok Muk). But they have turned their property in Panabaj into fields. I know I shouldn't have been, but I was just so surprised at how it had moved on and the pictures I had in my head were totally outdated.

As I remember it:

Now:

You can see how high the mud reached seven years ago.

We got a 'touristy' tour of Santiago from our tuk-tuk driver, including:

The Peace Park:

Guatemala was in a civil war for over thirty years and Santiago had a military outpost there for much of it. The story of the Peace Park: "On a cool evening of December 1, 1990, several soldiers from the nearby garrison were in town drinking and becoming out of control. After harassing some local women, some villagers threw stones at them. The soldiers pulled their weapons and fired, killing one. The townspeople, outraged, gathered in the town square, ringing the church bells to assemble the town. They marched, thousands strong, in the early morning hours, to the garrison, to demand an end to harassment by soldiers stationed there. When they arrived at the gates of the garrison - men, women, and children, they were met with gunfire, and 11 were killed and 40 injured." (From HERE). By morning tons of press were there and the pictures of the dead bodies helped force the government to take responsibility for the military's actions and bowed to the peoples' peaceful demand that the military be taken out of Santiago. It was a pivotal moment for the peace process in the civil war.

Machimon:

A Mayan deity that is somehow a combination of a Mayan idol, a Catholic priest, a conquistador and Judas Iscariot.

A few shots of daily life in Santiago Atitlan:

And just pretty:

We jumped over to Panajachel (the much more touristy/commercial town around the lake) and took a boat across the lake to get there. That was not allowed as a missionary. Maybe this is why:

Yup, that would be our driver- maybe 16 yrs old and driving with his feet!

p.s. if you're looking for a good cause to support here are three links to great causes. I've met people involved in each group and they are doing great work:

FotoKids: an afterschool/scholarship program that teaches kids marketable skills like photography, graphic design etc.

Women of Panabaj: helps the artisan women from Panabaj

The Open Door Library: opens librarys and works to help children read and love it!

Guatemala: Antigua & Chimalt

2011-09-17T18:56:00.002-06:00

From Jan 2004-July 2005 I was an LDS missionary in Guatemala.

Dave and I have talked about going back various times but this time around all the stars aligned. Among them: he had the time off, the girls were both 'old enough' to leave with a sitter, I'm not pregnant and on our flight home from my sister's wedding we chose to be bumped so we got $800 in Delta money -- enough to cover both of our round trip tickets!

So, since I know you're all dying to learn a little more about Guatemala . . . here you go. :)

(yes, I realize this is a 'bit' of overkill. Indulge me, or don't, just be warned there is a lot to come.)

The first stop was Antigua.

It was the colonial capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala which existed from 1609-1821 (the Kingdom included all of Central America and parts of Mexico and was ruled by Spain). It was destroyed and rebuilt by two gigantic earthquakes before the people decided to build a new capital in Guatemala City and deserted Antigua. It has since been reinhabited and restored. They have worked hard to keep as much of the original colonial architecture and 'feel' as possible. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Arch Street (the main street):

The arch was actually built so that the nuns that lived in the cloister could cross to the other part of the cloister across the street without 'leaving' it. (Cloistered nuns can never leave the cloister)

Looking through the arch one way you see the major cathedral, looking the other way you see one of three volcanos which surround Antigua and street lights

The marimba is the national instrument of Guatemala. This little family played it really well. The little boy in front danced all day. He was adorable.

(just pretty!!)

I went to Antigua a bunch on my mission b/c I served in a nearby city called Chimaltenango but I never really learned the history (sad!). So Dave and I got a walking tour of Antigua and it was fascinating!

Many of the old conquistadors' homes have been turned into hotels. They were all built in the spanish style of having large, beautiful courtyards surrounded by the bedrooms and covered walkways. Beautiful!

Most of the other city's cathedrals were destroyed in the two earthquakes (the area averages two major earthquakes a century). This one survived and is still in use though all the original decorations were taken to the 'new' capital.

They all have fountains, flowers and great architecture.

There were 3 main groups of Catholics priests in Antigua and each had a cathedral. This one is a museum of sorts and houses the historical preservation society. The second is the one near the arch and the third, which was the biggest and most beautiful at the time, was eventually turned into an INCREDIBLE hotel. It boasts of being the most famous hotel in Central America.

Chimaltenango

The Sunday we were there we headed to Chimalt for church. I finished my mission in that area and was SO excited to see some of the people I worked with!! When we arrived this is what we found:

The chapel had been gutted, presumably for renovation. To say I was disappointed would be major understatement.

We spent the rest of the morning looking for the other building in the city and I was reminded of two aspects of guatemalans (and I think many latin american countries): 1 - the people are SO nice. We must have asked 20 people for directions and they were so kind. 2 - If they don't know the answer they will give their best guess. They won't necessarily say that it is their best guess, they will just give it to you.

We never found the other chapel or the few people I had addresses for. GPS just isn't the same in a third world country. But Dave got an insightful tour of how 'normal' guatemalans live.

By some small miracle however we did find another chapel on our way home and some of the members from my first area (Amatitlan) were there. So not a total loss.

Volcan Pacaya

On Monday, a guide took us on a hike up an active volcano. It was one of those things where afterwards you wonder how wise it was to do so.

Us at the VERY top surrounded by the smoke from the volcano.

(Our group: us and eleven people from Holland. Turns out LOTS of Dutch people visit Guate; no idea why.

The view after the sun finally came out.

Walking over volcanic ash rocks -- different colors for the different types of element in the ash.

(our guide. He was awesome!!!)

My favorite shot from the hike. View of 3 other volcanos: Fuego, Acatengango & Agua.

Pacaya usually has lots of tiny eruptions so its 'safe' to hike past the flowing lava. However there was a huge eruption in 2010 so there was no lava, just LOTS of ash which would steam when you stepped on it. It looked like what I think the moon would look like.

A huge cave formed form lava somehow. Ask Dave about it -- he's way into geology ever since some class he took in college and I didn't really listen to that part. :)

Parts were so hot you could roast marshmallows. So we did.

Hiking Pacaya was one of my favorite things on the trip. The terrain was fascinating to me!

Hello from Guatemala

2011-09-06T19:48:00.000-06:00

We are currently waiting out a monster tropical rainstorm, so here is a sneak peak at our Guatemalan vacation.

Yesterday we hiked Pacaya -- a real, actual, active (it erupts a few times a decade) volcano here in Guatemala. The terrain was was out of this world. It looked like what I imagine the moon looking like.

More to come when we get back home!

Hurri-cation

2011-08-29T10:01:00.001-06:00

Let me preface this by saying there are ALOT of people that have been seriously affected by Irene. Homes, businesses and roads are flooded. Tons of people don't have power and may not for a while. Places like the Carolinas, upstate NY, Long Island, the Jersey Shore, etc, etc were hit badly and suffered some serious damage. So my heart goes out to all those that were hit hard by hurricane Irene.

We, however, were NOT among those hit hard. In our neighborhood we prepared and prepared...

(we solar charged our radio, packed our 72hr kit etc)

(we and everyone else loaded up on batteries, water other essentials)

(other essentials apparently including chips and salsa)

(pretty much everything closed early so their workers could get out of the city before the ENTIRE transit system shut down at noon on Sat. No trains, subways, buses etc.)

And then we waited for the hurricane...that honestly, never really showed up in our area.

The upside to having the transit system shut down was that Dave, and the other husbands, 'couldn't' work all weekend! So Monica had the ingenious idea to meet in the church on Sat afternoon before Irene was supposed to 'really' hit. It was SOOO much fun!

The rest of the weeken we just got to hang out as a family and watch it rain. It rained hard from about 11pm to late the next morning. Then it cleared up as the eye of the storm passed us, then the back half of the storm brought wind (about 40 mph in our area- so windy but not enough to do any real damage)

We woke up today and it was as if nothing had happened. Dave went back to work, we went to the playground. Except we have a killer 72 hr kit, lots of water, batteries and flashlights. :)

Calm before the storm

2011-08-27T10:53:00.002-06:00

Here in New York we are in full scale preparations for hurricane Irene.

A few weeks ago the Area Seventy (regional church leadership) asked all the wards (local congregations) to give a lesson on hurricane preparedness. They they were not making any actual prophecies but did feel strongly enough to ask that we aim to be prepared for a hurricane by the end of August. (wow! right?!?) Dave helped give the lesson so we felt especially motivated to listen & do what we could. Those 'slow & steady' preparations went full scale earlier this week as the news began tracking Irene.

The rains have started now but I think we're prepared with enough food (non-perishable), water, flashlights, batteries, etc, etc.

Yesterday though, was a beautiful summer afternoon. Knowing we will likely be in our apartments for a while we took advantage of as much sun and fun as we could.

Makes me feel old

2011-08-15T21:51:00.005-06:00

Dave and I have this dream of me going back to school to get my master's in Spanish. I always get super excited about the idea until I think about the writing sample. See, I have some good writing samples (or at least I think they were good) that I wrote during college. So a while ago I searched and searched and searched my hard drive to try and find them. Then I realized that I had written them my junior year of college which, believe it or not, was before we used USBs. Which means these writing samples were never saved on my hard drive.... they were saved on 3 1/2 floppy disks. 3 1/2 FLOPPY DISKS! Seriously!?! How old AM I?

Snapshots of Aubrey

2011-08-11T21:03:00.004-06:00

1. Often Aubrey wants to play with her animals without Chelsea 'interrupting' so she'll take them into the bedroom put them down for naps or teach school or play house. LOVE it! She's also started naming them. Some of her favorite names are: Awnki, Mckoncla, Oompi, Pooki, and Corbayuh. NO idea where she got those names. :)

2. Once we put her down at night, she's not allowed to leave the bedroom. So currently she finds Waldo in her "Where's Waldo" books or she'll look out the window at the moon and the skyline. I should be annoyed when I walk in and see this but I find it adorable!

3. She LOVES little babies. She'd often rather play with them than the kids her own age.

4. Aubrey is sometimes shy. She won't usually insert herself into other kids' games like most kids her age. But lately she's been finding 'new friends' at the playground, usually they are other girls about her age. Today's made me laugh...they were the worlds' nicest 9 year old boys. Yes, 9 years old! TWO of them! She and these 2 boys had SO much fun and played for almost an hour! They talked about Cars (the movie), ran around the playground, played with Chelsea and here he's leading her to the swings! Adorable.

5. Her hair. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to cut it. (and yes that is a statue of a camel. Random, but a much loved climbing toy at one of our favorite parks).

6. She loves her sister. Sometimes too much and sometimes she forgets :), but she loves her.

And just for fun:

Beach Day!

2011-08-01T19:11:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we were able to jump out to the beach for our first time this year. Loved it!!!

(Aubrey was fascinated by tiny little sea creatures she caught in her bucket.)

(Chelsea's hideout. We couldn't decide if we should bring the tent to the beach but it was SO nice to have a place for Chelsea to play that was out of the sun and off the sand!)

(playing in the waves was Aubrey's favorite part.)

(we ran into ladies from our ward (Tara, Whitney & Peggy ) on the train and hung out with them for a bunch of the day. Loved it. So with Tara's help we actually have a picture of the 4 of us. Nice!)

The Big Day

2011-07-28T13:35:00.005-06:00

Chelsea's birthday overview:

Morning photos

I turned her around for the light...but she got distracted:

Aubrey, for the first time that I can EVER remember, ASKED if I would take some of her!?!!!

We hauled across our neighborhood to get some balloons

(if anyone is looking for a way to get LOTS of (mostly) positive attention...here's your answer.)

We stopped by the park on our way home
(I put the hat on to see how it looked and she didn't try and take it off!! So I left it. :) Couldn't help myself.)

That night we had the cupcake eating ceremony.

(made the recipe that my mom used for my sister's wedding. It is the best cupcake recipe EVER!)

The Muirheads, some of our dear friends here in the city, joined us and brought the perfect gift!!

Happy birthday to our content, active, smiley, beautiful, beloved little Chelsea!!!

The big 1

2011-07-25T22:00:00.000-06:00

Chelsea is:

a happy, happy baby

smiley

an active little thing

a cuddler (particularly right after she wakes up or before she goes down)

adorably, irresistibly chunky

curious

She can now:

walk (she can go about 8 steps at a time)

crawl super quickly

play peek-a-boo (ADORABLE!)

play with Aubrey (our favorite new thing!)

Our baby is one?!? I'm having a harder time with this than I would have thought. I think with Aubrey I was so excited and almost anxious to watch her grow and develop that I was excited to see her turn one. With Chelsea, I just want more time to cuddle her as a baby. I want her to just cuddle up on my shoulder, nuzzle her little head into my neck and let me hold her. Watching her walk her little steps often makes me almost emotional. Its such a 'big kid' thing to be able to walk. However, today she turns one. So we celebrate. We embrace the development, let her eat her cupcake and celebrate that our happy, active, red-haired, beautiful, healthy little baby is turning 1.

Heat. Service. Balloons.

2011-07-24T17:19:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we, and the entire tri-state area, had our 'Day of Service'

We almost didn't go because we've had a heat index of 110 degrees the past few days. 110 degrees!!!

(for the record that is WAY TOO HOT to do anything!!)

We figured we could all go and if it was too hot I would take the girls home. However, as we cleaned up trash along the Hudson River Trail we got the breeze from the river, the shade from the trees and the combo made for (almost) pleasant weather.

We were really glad we went. Isn't that always how it is though, once you get there you're glad you went?!

I was SO impressed with how many people showed up and what a difference we could make.

Afterward we napped,

and then went into our 'backyard' to play with some waterballons.

(Dave tried to play catch with Aubrey but she was more interested in just throwing them up and watching them pop)

(this is her watching the balloons pop.)

We left Chelsea to her own devices:

mismatched

2011-07-17T20:51:00.002-06:00

After searching and searching for Aubrey's shoes this week we came to the frustrating conclusion that she has lost one of each of her shoes (except her Sunday shoes). Luckily she has at least one left and one right.

Pearly Whites

2011-07-15T09:02:00.006-06:00

Aubrey had her first dental appointment yesterday. All 20 baby teeth were present, healthy and cavity free.

The dentist and his staff went to great pains to ensure that Aubrey's first experience was a positive one. Seeing as she walked about with and entire bag of prizes I'd say they succeeded.

Buddy

2011-07-13T20:50:00.001-06:00

For YEARS my siblings and I begged my parents to get a dog. But my parents stuck to their guns...until My youngest brother Aj worked his magic. Each time his best friend's dog had puppies AJ would bring a few adorable little puppies home to convince my parents. It finally worked! So AJ, whose nickname has always been 'Buddy', named the dog 'buddy'. :)

Buddy was playful and loud as a puppy then a calm and accommodating dog. But he was always protective of us and really gentle with kids.

When guests slept at my parents house he would sleep at the top of their steps so he could sense what was going on.

Grandkids would crawl on him, grab his paws, try to ride him, grab his tail and in general drive him nuts. But, he was always super calm about it. Usually he'd just walk away.

(Aubrey feeding buddy)

(Aubrey grabbing his paws)

(and here, trying to ride him)

This past week he got so old that he had to be put down. I'm sort of glad I'm not in Utah right now. Going to my parents is going to be a little sad to not have him there to greet me with his crazy strong tail wagging like crazy. Sad.

Details

2011-07-08T07:36:00.000-06:00

Want to guess what this is a picture of?

180 brand new bobby pins meticulously taken off their original packaging and put on a plate to be served as 'stew' to Aubrey's dolls.

Happy Independence day!

2011-07-06T19:49:00.005-06:00

In honor of Independence Day we:

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge & Battery City Park to wish Lady Liberty a happy 125th birthday.

(I brought my camera...with no battery. Lame)

Said goodbye to Amanda (sad).

Napped.

Then:

Cheesed

picnicked and played w/ friends

enjoyed Dad

Chelsea enjoyed spicy chorizo. Then, as usual, had a great time getting absolutely filthy

she also shared her new trick (cuddling) w/ Christy

we all watched the sun show off

then marveled at an awe-inspiring set of fireworks!

Happy 4th. Thank you to all the troops, current & past, who have sacrificed for our country.

God Bless America!

Good friend, good times

2011-07-05T19:04:00.002-06:00

Amanda & I met on a semester abroad in Spain where we studied a bit and played a lot. Then, b/c we had the same major & minor (poli sci & Spanish), we took loads of classes together and hung out all the time. We served missions at the same time & then were roommates. We've been the best of friends for almost 10 years. I love her guts and she came to visit this weekend. Following are some highlights:

She officially secured her spot as most beloved 'Aunt'

We showed off Central Park to her

& she she guided us through our first experience with Korean food.

Remember how we met in Spain and took loads of Spanish classes together. After about 8 yrs of Spanish she got her mission call to Korea. KOREA!!?! She had all Korean companions but 1, got a minor in Korean & then a job where she used her Korean. Which meant she could order in Korean like it was no big deal. I wish I had a picture of the people sitting behind us as they stole glances back at her to make sure she really was the one speaking Korean. It was priceless.

She talked us through what all these little mini dishes were and what was in the soup

(the coloring in these shots doesn't do the food justice. It was great!)

She explained Korean customs and table manners. For example, when eating at a Korean's home the only thing you are really expected to finish is your rice bowl. And its expected that you'll reach to get all the side dishes (you don't really ask someone to pass them to you).

I was a little apprehensive about the kim chi b/c I heard its an acquired taste. But I actually really liked it. In fact, we really like everything she ordered for us. The Korean BBQ was as great as everyone says it is.

In an effort to provide us a full Korean meal we then went in search of dessert. Turns out 'Paris Baquette' is a Korean chain restaurant. Who knew?!? It has great looking pastries (that I will go back and try!) and this 'Fruit Dessert' (bottom picture). It is shaved ice, fruit, sweet red beans, rice cakes and vanilla ice cream. delish!!

I got a little bit of a kick out of this picture below. A Korean pastry place named Paris Baguette is selling blueberry pie in honor of America's Independence day. :)

Lunch Break

2011-07-05T08:02:00.003-06:00

There is this amazing site for New York moms called Mommy Poppins -- they list all the fun things going on around the city. Most of the fun things we do come from having searched that site.

For example, last Tuesday Mommy Poppins said there was an aviary that brings a few birds to Bryant Park on Tuesdays (I think from like 10:30-1) so we had Dave meet us there for lunch. It turned out to be fabulous!

After eating we rode on the carousel ($2):

Then found the birds (free!). Aubrey was a little nervous at first but totally loved it.

The birds were right by the 'Bryant Park Children's Reading Room' (also free) which is literally this cart full of children's books just placed outside, next to the carousel wwith a bunch of little tables and chairs all around. It's great!

To boot they even also had a live pianist (which I guess they have regularly). Awesome.

Victoria Gardens

2011-07-02T17:36:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday we checked another thing off our New York to do list...

Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Dave took a break from work and met us there. Before he got there Aubrey rode a bunch of rides all by herself (the workers wouldn't let me on w/ Chelsea). Aubrey was SO brave! A little nervous (see face from 'frog' ride above), but she kept wanting to get on the rides.

She was in the first car of the train so I told her she was driving the whole thing. You should have seen her! She dutifully turned that little steering wheel the whole time.

(Chelsea was fascinated, and adorable)

Then Daddy came and things got even MORE fun!

He got to do all the rides that were too 'dangerous' for a 3yr old to ride alone

he & Aubrey "won" the "Wack a mole" game and got a stuffed dog...which she has slept with every night since

No worries, I got in on a little of the fun too

In case you were wondering where I got this shot...it was taken after going to the amusement park

So, fun afternoon at the mini amusement park...check.

...and we're back

2011-06-28T07:53:00.000-06:00

After a lot of this:

we've mostly recovered from vacation and back to doing this:

(Chelsea is back to her happy, energetic self)

(Central Park has this great little zoo and petting zoo. The girls are big fans!)

(and Aubrey is just generally enjoying life :)

It's good to be back to a normal schedule and routine again.

Break From Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

2011-06-23T12:29:00.003-06:00

Today we have a short break from our regularly scheduled programming (i.e. Aubrey and Chelsea)...and we get to talk about Dave!!!

About a week before the girls and I headed to Utah, Dave headed to London for a work project. Despite a busy project, he got to get out and explore a little of London. Here are a few highlights:

Pictured:

1. Big Ben

2. St. Paul's Cathedral

3. St. James Park

4. Buckingham Palace

5. Cloisters at Westminster Abbey

6. Walk along the Thames (London Bridge)

7. Westminster Abbey

8. Millenium Bridge looking back on St. Paul's Cathedral

8. Big Ben at Parliament

Other places he liked but didn't take pictures of: Hyde Park, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and City of London Museum.

During the project he worked with a Briton, a New Zealander, a Brazilian, and teams in Spain and Switzerland. He said the accents were awesome (albeit often hard to understand on conference calls) while the ways of negotiating were quite different from culture to culture and occasionally frustrating.

One of his descriptions of London was that he felt like London was 1/3 New York (financial center, etc), 1/3 Boston/Philly (history), and 1/3 DC (government, etc). That was fascinating to me! So now I'm just hoping we can get over there together one day soon. :)

After about 10 days in London he flew to New York, got his suitcase and got directly back in the security line to catch a plane headed for Utah so he could be at my sister's wedding. Have I ever mentioned that I love this man! He is amazing!!!

Mr & Mrs

2011-06-19T20:44:00.000-06:00

I'd like to introduce you to Mr. & Mrs. Sorensen:

Dixie had my cousin Mackenzie take these...LOVE them. No surprise there though, they are some seriously good looking people (look at them!!!) and Mackenzie is super talented.

They got married this past Thursday (June 16th) in the Bountiful Temple. We LOVE Matt. He and Dixie are a fabulous match. I'm just sad they aren't staying in the East. We loved having them come visit.

---

My ENTIRE family was there: all 9 siblings & spouses, my parents and the 19 grandchildren (+ 3 on the way). Not to mention grandmas, aunts, uncles & cousins. Yea, it was awesome.

(siblings)

(all the adults- not sure why its fuzzy)

(beautiful morning, gorgeous temple!)

I love watching everyone interact! We don't get together enough. I took a whole bunch of shots like this...with cousins, aunts, siblings all intermixed and chatting. Makes me happy.

AJ & Doug posed like this until someone took their picture. :) Makes me miss being around them.

There really is nothing like watching my mom with her sisters- they are HILARIOUS together!!! (They have a bother, David, who lives in Ohio & couldn't make it). They chat and laugh almost like their are college roommates...or school girls. Plus my Grandma is easily one of the most fabulous ladies in the world. Kind, fun, generous, creative and so easy to be around.

-----

Watching Aubrey & Chelsea play with their cousins was an absolute highlight for me (Ok, Aubrey played. Chelsea was tired, teething, had diaper rash and just wanted her mama!). Aubrey is old enough to remember them and get excited about playing with them.

(Aubrey and Thayne are 5 days apart. Historically they have played together but this time Aubrey seemed to be all about the girls. She would run off with them and happily play until we made them come eat or go to bed.)

I went to the Orem Summerfest with my sister Adelia and sis-in-law Jo and all our kids. For them & the kids it was a really fun day (they got to climb in a fire truck and an ambulance, get balloons from police men, make a cool visor (many are wearing theres), listen to fun music etc. For me, however, it brought back SO many fun memories. The summerfest kicked off the summer for all my teenage years. I was in the parade, met many a summer crush, loved the fireworks, worked for Hogi yogi etc. It was a delightful walk down memory lane for me.

(how we entertained the cousins during the dinner & later @ the reception :)

(Dave's sister Kathy has 2 girls about the same age as Aubrey and they got to play together a bunch. She even got to sleep over in their room one night. It was so cute. Wish I had better picture of them together)

Musings on Utah...

2011-06-19T19:40:00.002-06:00

(an addendum to my 'Mr. & Mrs.' post)

Leaving Utah was much harder for me this time than it has been previously. I, again, didn't get to see many friends (please don't give up on me!!!) and wanted more time to just sit, chat and enjoy my family, friends and Utah.

One last story:

I was running an errand and making a mental list of all the things I love about Utah. For example:

the mountains & canyons

all the kids

my family

the weather

(it has all 4 seasons, the summer is not too hot, the winter is not too cold etc. love it)

so many options for longer skirts and shorts

big, beautiful sky

all the outdoor activities to do

how inexpensive it seems
good friends!

etc.

I finished the errand, went back to Kathy's, gathered up Aubrey, got ready to leave and couldn't find my wallet or phone. AHHHH. No joke, right then Kathy got a call from the Smith's telling her that they had found my wallet and phone. Let's add honest people to the list!!!

Ode to Trader Joe's

2011-06-02T18:49:00.057-06:00

I heart Trader Joe's. Seriously and truly! Here's why:

1. Good prices
(I swear it costs the same out West as it does in NYC, which makes it a deal here!)

2. High quality food

3. Equal parts healthy, whole food, awesome desserts & quick meals

4. Lots of interesting food: both domestic and foreign

5. WIDE, well organized aisles!!!

6. The store itself is creative and unique (they call the register area 'downtown', have posters of 'musicals' like The West Side Grocery and lots of other New Yorky, Upper West Sidey things.)
For example:

(a wall mural above the main up escalator)

But here is the real kicker:

7. Their employees are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice. I love them. All of them.

Examples from today:

a. The elevator lady held the elevator for me

b. 2 separate employees walked by and said to everyone around, "if anyone needs help finding anything I'm available."

c. One employee actually came up to me and said he would get me a cart and put my stroller by the office if I'd like. I took him up on it and, to boot, he moved my groceries from the stroller to the cart.

d. 3 or 4 times today I apologized to an employee or shopper for being somehow in their way (either me, the girls or the stroller). Each time they said essentially the same thing, "oh, you don't need to apologize! You have your hands full with those two cuties." Seriously?!? How nice is that.

d. They are all SO nice at the cash registers. They say nice things about my girls, give Aubrey stickers and go out of their way to help in any way they can.

Despite the fact that I forgot my front pack and was therefore wrestling with Chelsea the entire way through the store- I was in a better mood when I left than when I arrived. That is no small miracle!!

(And might I add an especially nice one on a day when, because I forgot said front pack, Aubrey had to walk the entire way home.)

So yes, I heart our Trader Joe's!!

Saturday Stroll

2011-06-01T18:46:00.000-06:00

(I wrote this 2 weeks ago but somehow didn't post it. So, here you go)

Last Saturday I woke up with out a plan for the day. I hate when I do that. Dave had to work and we've been on a lot of big outings lately so I wanted something fairly close to home. Only problem is I'm in this very active 'get out of the Upper West Side (my neighborhood)' mood. In the end I decided to pack the stroller up and head over to walk down the Hudson. We live very close to the Hudson River and we go there often but I'd never gone on a real walk to the south, I always head north. It turned out to be a FABULOUS, and rather long, afternoon walk.

First stop: a fabulous patch of grass, the Free Kayaking Place (officially on our summer 'to do' list) and Aubrey's favorite, the ducks!

Oh, and this. It is furnished inside with a metal bed, chair, table, kitchen area etc. Odd, but fasinating.

The path after that is not that picturesque, despite a few efforts to remedy that.

We LOVED all the boats that were out. This one on the left was our favorite

Our 2nd 'stop' was the The USS Intrepid.

We, and way too many other New Yorkers, will be heading to later this month for Fleet Week. Its a little pricey but I've heard its awesome!

Ok, really we stopped to see the ice cream truck parked outside The Intrepid. :)

I LOVE this picture, its just a summer classic. She was even nice enough to share some with Chelsea...oops.

While there we spotted ~~him~~ this...cool!

Dave's office bldg from the pier at 45th street. Hi Dave!

It started sprinkling on us a bit so I ducked in here. Dare I say this was the first time I've ever had a bagel from H&H Bagels. They really are good!

It turned out to be such a pleasant walk. Easy, slow-paced and dotted with little treasures that all 3 of us enjoyed. Plus I've planned out at least 3 really fun things Dave and I will go do this summer. Love it!

It took us about 2 hours to get down to the pier at 45th street. But the girls were so tired by then that they both fell asleep in the stroller and I made it home in about 20 mins!!

Five

2011-05-27T13:09:00.043-06:00

Five years ago today.

I think I had about 5000 lessons on temple marriage during my Young Women's days. I remember some of my teachers saying, "it was the happiest day of my life". I always thought it was a lame/cheesy comment.

Until my wedding day.

It really was the happiest day of my life. I was ridiculously happy, and peaceful.

This is what I woke up to this morning:

Aubrey walked out, saw the hearts all over the living room, and said, "WHOA, what are all those colors? Is it my birthday?!"
Dave had cut out 50 hearts and wrote one word on each. Once I put them in order (numbers were on back) it was a short love note. He's super good about stuff like this. I love it!

Thank you Dave!

Thank you for being the friend, husband, etc. that I hoped for during all those many lessons.

This Week

2011-05-22T11:59:00.080-06:00

It rained this week- almost everyday. Bleh.

So, this is what we did:

Lots of painting, reading & other indoor activities (Chelsea looking at What to Expect During the First Year)

Played with dolls & dressed up

(This little doll is one of Aubrey's favorites these days. (Thanks G'ma).

Her other favorite thing? To take pictures. This is one of hers.)

and Aubrey found a new way to 'wear' her hair bands

Then on Saturday the sun came out! Yeah!!! So we rented some bikes and rode the 13 miles (round trip) to The Little Red Lighthouse.

Chelsea wasn't too sure about the helmet. Then the road we took to get to the path had potholes and she HATED those. She cried, or rather screamed, until we got onto the smooth path. Even then she wasn't sure for a while. On the way home we figured out how to fasten her bottle to the bike so she could calm herself down after the bumps. :)

On the upside, the weather was great, the ride was beautiful & the company was perfect.

We were sad we forgot to bring The book (we read it when we got home though)

there is a pretty little picnic area there.

The "Great Gray Bridge" (George Washington Bridge) really is BIG

This is what the girls looked like when we got home - all tuckered out. (Aubrey above, Chelsea below)

Getting out and doing something active was so fun, especially with Dave.

Tag Sale

2011-05-17T21:18:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday our Stake held a Street Fair (which are pretty common in the city). But this one was a fundraiser for the youth of our Stake. We have 14 units (congregations) and the goal was to raise enough money to cover ALL the youth to go to their camps. People donated baked goods, clothes, house wares, art work, etc, and a LOT! It was really fun and I was very impressed.

For example:

(all the people in maroon were volunteers, there were TONS more)

(old school Star Wars thermoses)

(Young men & their leaders spent all day there)

The highlights for Aubrey were face painting and the balloon. No butterflies or hearts for Aubrey...

she wanted a red spider.

There was also a Provident Living fair. I was sufficiently motivated to get prepared. Did you know you can order boxes of whole grains (wheat, rice, oats) and they will be delivered to your door (no shipping!). 3 boxes is enough for 1 person for 3 months. (More info HERE.)

After getting some cute dresses for $5, some great food and generally enjoying a great day, we walked home through the park. Both girls fell asleep so I got to just enjoy the walk.

of course central park is amazing all year round season...

Famous Family!

2011-05-09T19:35:00.006-06:00

This is my cousin!!! Elder Kyle Cannon- on a mission in South Africa!

(May 2011 Ensign- Conference)

Visits from Family

2011-05-08T17:20:00.003-06:00

My parents, sister (Dixie) and her fiance Matt (the one in the white striped shirt, in case you were wondering) all left earlier this week. Sad. It was so much fun!

When we were younger my parents brought all the kids on visits to New York & DC in groups (the oldest 4, then the middle 2 then the 3 of us at the end). Plus I think they'd each been here as kids at least once and then they came at least one more time while my sister Katrina & her husband Doug lived in the city. Which meant they had seen all the touristy hot spots. One, however, that they had never really seen was Central Park. Which, in my opinion, is not to be missed!! And has the distinct advantage of costing nothing.

(Conservatory Gardens- especially gorgeous this time of year!)

So I took them on a 2-day mammoth walking tour of Central Park. We still didn't see it all but we saw a lot. Here are a few highlights:

(Conservatory Gardens)

(Picnic in the park)

(We found Waldo! (he was part of a fundraiser...we just happened upon him))

(my dad got a HUGE kick out of the bartenders vs. stage hands game)

(Aubrey got a HUGE kick out of the Carousel)

(My mom and Dad...miss them)

(Aubrey got a little excited about the Ramble. Did you know there is a REAL Egyptian obelisk in the park? Its pretty cool. And no, these shots are not really in order)

We did leave the park for a few NY luxuries:

(Candy from Dylan's Candy Bar)

(Lion King- the dancing and singing were, of course, out of this world. But the creativity of the costumes, stage etc. were what really stood out to us.)

Note to other family: It really was as fun as it looks. You should come try it. :)

April Showers...

2011-05-01T19:55:00.000-06:00

...bring may flowers

My parents, sister and her fiance are in town and we went to see some truly beautiful parts of NYC this weekend.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that spring has arrived!!!

Easter

2011-04-27T13:03:00.000-06:00

As you'd imagine, our ward (thanks to Broadway) has some AMAZING vocal talent. I wish there was a recording of this Sunday's Easter program. There were 4 impressive and meaningful musical numbers. Plus 2 great talks. My friend Kirsten gave a talk on what The Restoration and Christ's Atonement mean to her. I was grateful for her, the music and other speakers who created an Easter Program that reminded me of what Easter is all about.

We were also able to have some fun Easter events this year.

1. The ward playgroup's Easter Egg Hunt

we had about 25 kids and 200+ eggs...there are only so many places to hide those eggs

in the primary room.

Sadly Aubrey wasn't feeling too well and ended up hanging out in her stroller most of the time.

2. Dyeing eggs with Dad

(Aubrey got way into coloring on the hot eggs with crayons. Then all day she wanted to get out her 'colorful eggs' to play with them and just look at them.)

3. Family Easter Egg hunt

(First thing Sunday morning. Aubrey had so much fun finding those eggs and once she realized there was candy inside...the Easter bunny became her favorite 'person'. Oh, and just in case you're wondering the Easter bunny lives on Easter Island. :)

4. Fun Easter Dinner with friends

(Thank heaven for good friends who invite us over and make SUPER good food. :)

Our little Swimmer

2011-04-26T21:20:00.001-06:00

Last week Aubrey had her first swim lessons.

During Spring Break the YMCA holds Splash Week (one 30 min swim lesson each day for the week)

Aubrey was SO excited about going to swim lessons. She was really shy when she first approached the pool but within a few minutes she was loving it. Then every morning around 7:30am she would start asking if we could go to swim lessons...which started at 11:30.

On the last day our friend Elle got to come too. So fun!!!

This week Aubrey starts her 'real' swim lessons. I'm so excited for her.

Right Now

2011-04-22T17:14:00.000-06:00

At 6:30pm Aubrey asked me if she could go to bed. This NEVER happens. EVER!

So right now it is 7pm and BOTH my girls are asleep. Sound asleep.

I'd say I hardly know what to do with myself but in reality I have a long list of things I hope to get done.

Wish me luck.

Skillz

2011-04-19T15:39:00.002-06:00

1. Singing: So this week in church Doris Brunatti, a famous opera singer, sang "At the Water's Edge" in our ward on Sunday. She is not a part of our ward but sang as a tribute to Royce Twitchell, who is an outstanding member of our ward and the composer of the song's music. Doris was amazing and Royce is simply one of those people who inspires you.

As it turned out they, and Royce's husband (also a renowned musician), sat right in front of us and during the opening hymn kept looking back at us and smiling. Why you ask? Because Aubrey was 'singing' full voice. See Aubrey can sing quite well if she knows the song. But when she doesn't she simply sings adorable little nonsense...loudly. :) Its hilarious. And frankly even funnier when 3 world class muscians are in front of you getting a total kick out of it.

2. Games: Aubrey is getting into many of the classic kid games: Ring around the Roseys, London Bridges and Hide and Seek. H&S is my favorite b/c she loves nothing more than being found! Here are some of her favorite hiding places:

(In a toy bucket in the middle of the living room)

(often she'll ask me to put a blanket over it...so that she can jump out and say, "here I am!!!")

(can you see her? She thinks she's so well hid, that's right, in the middle of a huge, open grass field. Wearing bright yellow no less)

(In Dave's closet. Have I ever mentioned that 95% of the time Aubrey is in just her undies at home?)

3. Dance: we went to our last dance class this week. Sad. We've done it two sessions in a row now and loved it. Dance parties are now a big deal around here (her favorite tunes?: ABBA in Spanish. ha ha)

(Her awesome teacher Miss Heather and the adorable dancing girls!!)

Chelsea

2011-04-11T20:47:00.001-06:00

Two really fun things happend today:

1- Chelsea crawled! A real crawl! She woke up this morning and apparently had decided that crawling was the only way to go. For about 2 months she has been doing this awesome worm move to get around but not any more. (I have to admit, I'm a little sad to see it go.)

2- It hit 70 degrees (or higher)...so we spent most of the day out playing at playgrounds & on the pier.

(A not so fun, but contributing factor: she blew out in her pants and I did not have an extra pair. so... she got to play in just her onesie :)

The filth on this little one was the result:

This week Chelsea also sported her newest hairstyle:

and you get this one just because I can't get enough of those fabulously chunky legs:

Go Yankees

2011-04-10T06:28:00.002-06:00

As I was making dinner on Thursday afternoon, expecting Dave home any minute, he called to tell me he'd just gotten Yankees tickets from his partner. Turns out they were amazing tickets!!!

Best things about seats this close:

You can see the players up close (Dave says he was so close he could see CC's sweat).

The seats have tall backs and are padded (padded seats at a baseball game!?!)

You can actually order food from your seat.

And you could get all this for a mere $225 dollars a ticket. ha ha

Bones -- CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter

Check out all the empty seats -- all the people who can afford the lower bowl didn't want to face the 40 degree weather.

7th inning stretch- field hands doing the YMCA

The new Stadium is A.MA.ZING.

Only bad part...it was FREEZING COLD!!!

Oh, and after leading all game the Yankees lost 5-4 in ten innings. Lame.

DC 2011

2011-04-04T20:09:00.002-06:00

This weekend we took a quick trip down to DC to visit my sister Dixie and her fiance Matt (whom, for the record, we are BIG fans of :)

Dixie had previously asked me if I would take her engagements and when we realized that this weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival (= beautiful), General Conference (= no church responsibilities), and Dave didn't have too much work (= freedom), we rented a car and headed down.

Some of the highlights:

Hanging out (Gen Conf. not pictured :)`

(Lincoln Memorial)

(Monuments)

Dave and I have both been to DC many times and had sort of checked the monuments off our 'to do' list. But as we saw them on our way to the Cherry Blossoms we remembered how awesome so many of them are!

Pretty sure this was Aubrey's favorite moment of the weekend (the 1-2-3 weeeeee game).

Dixie got us up EARLY so we could get good lighting and beat the crowds for their engagement photos.

It was early. But in the end it was worth it.

Then we took some in Georgetown

A special thanks to whomever ordered this amazing lighting for us.

Forsythia

2011-03-26T17:21:00.001-06:00

Forsythia Sighting:

In many areas the Forsythia is one of the first spring plants to bloom.

Growing up we had a tradition where when someone in the family saw a Forsythia in bloom, everyone got ice cream! And not just any ice cream; All 9 of my siblings and I got Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Last year my parents even mailed us money. It was SO fun!

Below is the Forsythia I saw the other day...

We are plotting where to celebrate.

The Boy!!

2011-03-25T14:39:00.002-06:00

A few weekends ago my sister came up to visit (mostly b/c she loves us but also...)

so we could meet THE boy.

On June 16th we'll be in Utah for their wedding!!!!!!!! We are super excited. He is a GREAT guy and obviously in love with Dixie (which I love).

Jimmered!

2011-03-21T21:19:00.000-06:00

Jimmer, we love you.

Because of you (and stellar performances from Abouo, Emery, Hartsock etc), we can proudly wear our BYU gear and people actually know something about it!!! Twice now people in the elevators have seen my BYU shirt and said, "aren't you in the sweet 16?"

To which I can proudly say, "yes, yes we are!"

Milestones

2011-03-15T13:18:00.001-06:00

In the past few weeks Chelsea has hit a few little milestones:

she got in two teeth...at the same time

About 4 weeks ago (right before we left for UT/AZ)

She is mobile.
Not quite crawling but her scoot is surprisingly effective

She's back to being healthy.

She got sick in UT and about a week ago finally got better and returned to her calm, happy self

Big Girl Bed

2011-03-10T08:54:00.002-07:00

Aubrey got a new big girl bed for her birthday.

She's been great about falling asleep in it... and then in the middle of the night sneaks into our bed. I secretly love it. I'll wake up and see her all snuggled in with Dave or I'll feel her nuzzling up next to me. We're working to help her get through the night her in bed but until then...I'm going to continue loving it. :)

There's hope yet..

2011-03-08T05:33:00.002-07:00

For about 3 weeks before our vacation I could not get my house clean. I couldn't figure out why it was so much harder than normal and it was driving my crazy!! Then, in an email to a friend, I found myself typing, "This past week Chelsea decided that she's ONLY happy when I'm holding her and simultaneously Aubrey has decided that she doesn't need to nap...ever!" And I realized THAT was why I was having such a hard time cleaning my house. :)

Then yesterday Chelsea spent a few large stretches doing something like this:

And Aubrey has started really playing with her (a few times each day they will laugh together...melts my heart!) and even feeding her (not the most effective feeding but they have fun):

So there's hope yet for my little home!

VACATION by the NUMB3RS

2011-03-01T19:43:00.003-07:00

5,242 miles traveled

4 grandparents, 10 aunts & uncles, 1 great-grandma, 12 cousins and 1 dog
visited, played with, laughed with, reminisced with, read with,
talked with and enjoyed!!!!

28 degree - 78 degree weather enjoyed

5+ movies watched...each about 5 times

(some by all of us, but each time by Aubrey)

30+ games played

1300+ photos taken

0 meals cooked :)
(Huge thank you go to moms, dad, sisters,
brothers and sisters-in-law who cooked
and/or paid for our dinners!!!!)

(Note: to all our UT and AZ friends. We love you! We are sorry we didn't get to see you guys! With so much family to see and so little time we made the decision to just focus on family this trip.)

Happy Birthday Aubrey

2011-02-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Today she turned three years old. I can hardly believe it.

Some of her favorite things are:

Playing with Daddy, watching shows,

Playing 'gonna getcha', dressup & dancing, swimming

hugging & cuddling with Chelsea, playing games on our phones

chocolate milk/hot chocolate kick, reading, not being dressed at home, sleeping in 'mommy-daddy' bed.

She also loves the museum, zoo, petting zoo, her dance class, preschool and our old babysitting co-op, ice cream, jumping on the bed, playgrounds (particularly hanging from bars). She loves dogs and little children, making snow angels, having 'picinics' at home, finger painting, playing with friends.

Aubrey:

is sweet natured

has an impressive ability to remember names and families

remembers if people give her things

regularly says things like, "Daddy, I love you more than ANYthing."

is not a big fan of performing (camera shy, shy with new people.)
(THIS is one of the last real 'performances' we've gotten out of her)

Happy Birthday big girl!!!

Baby Love

2011-02-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Chelsea was one of 18 babies born in the Manhattan 1st ward last year.

Yesterday we got a picture of 13 of those 18 babies and their mamas.

These moms, and the other ladies in our ward, are some of the kindest, most amazing women I know.

For example:

Each of us received 2 weeks worth of meals when the babies were born, TWO WEEKS! That is 252 meals delivered by stroller, taxi, subway and foot. They were delivered by visiting teachers, best friends, new friends, moms of many kids, grandmas, newlyweds, single friends and even a few husbands.

Literally everyday I am grateful for the fabulous friends we have in this ward!

Notes on Snow

2011-02-02T19:09:00.001-07:00

(NOTE: the following post is copied from my friend Janelle's blog (all the pics are mine). She's a writer and this post captures life in NYC very well, and I love her style. So with her permission...I'm copying it.)

We've had 56.5 inches so far this winter.

Let me repeat myself: 56.5 inches.

It is February 2.

Want to know what it is like to live in NYC during a winter with 56.5 inches of snow (and counting)?

The city looks like this:

(Chair, motorcycle, dirt)

(Wipers up ... genius. Bike out ... not so much)

(Piles of plowed snow. More piles of...oh wait, those are cars (stole that pic from Jaime))

(View from Dave's work window - he calls it "Hell's Kitchen Frozen Over")

Which means on most days we look like this:

But some days we take time to stop and look like this:

and see the city look like this:

And on those days (ok most days...) our apartment looks like this:

Which means we end up with messy backgrounds that look like this:

Indoors

2011-01-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week weather.com said that the temperature was "11 degrees, felt like 2"

Today there is about a foot of snow outside.

So, in addition to some fabulous sledding, we have been spending ALOT of time indoors lately.

Here are some of the highlights:

Hopscotching

Playing 'attack of the red-headed baby...which Aubrey thinks is absolutely hilarious and I think Chels mostly just tolerates

(don't you just want to squish her legs!)

playing on the bed

"napping"...

Finger painting, which she has decided she prefers to do with brushes

unless of course I let her use her feet.

Playing in the church's gym..alone and with friends

Learning how to sit

For the most part, great times...dotted with tough moments and then sprinkled with precious ones that I want to keep in my pocket for ever.

Sledding!

2011-01-21T17:02:00.002-07:00

We finally got a chance to get out and do some sledding. Aubrey and our friend Megan went up and down the hill for about an hour straight.

I took them down the first time but they wouldn't let me get on after that

This is how I got the sled home...ha ha

At the end they got tired by didn't
want to stop so they went down the hill laying down.

Sister Sister

2011-01-12T18:00:00.005-07:00

I'd imagine that growing up I got a fair number of thoughtful gifts from my siblings. Sadly though, I don't remember enough of them. (Maybe that's why my dad wrote down every single gift that we opened on Christmas morning...). I do, however, remember at least 2 gifts that my sister Dixie gave me. When we were teenagers she made this for me:

Mind you this is before digital cameras so she took the time to sort through all of our family's photos, find ones of us, copy them, cut them out and paste them together on this collage.

The second I received on my mission. I was a newbie and still emotionally adjusting to the mission when I got an especially fat letter from my sister. Turns out she had walked around campus for the preceding few weeks with pen and paper in her backpack. She would stop everyone who knew me and have them write me a quick letter. There were letters in there from dozens of our friends.

Today is Dixie's birthday. Happy Birthday to the best little sister!!!

The girls

2011-01-12T17:58:00.002-07:00

Chelsea is almost 6 months old. Most often you can find her smiling & drooling.

Everywhere we go people comment on how smiley Chelsea is. They seem to get a kick out of it. Here's an example: I was on the bus with Chels in the front pack and Aubrey sitting next to me. Chelsea was giving huge smiles to the lady in front of us, so I decided to quickly look around the bus to see just how much attention she was garnering... turns out every single person on the bus was looking at us. :)

January

2011-01-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

We've packed up the decorations, committed to our resolutions and returned to schedules.

Must be January.

The letter of the day was 'M' at pre-school so we had the kids color some 'M' things, and Mail them to themselves. (My sister Adelia's idea) I thought it was so cute and a fun new thing.

Chelsea slept every minute of preschool. She is also mastering the art of holding her own bottle. She is so good to me.

A few highlights

2010-12-27T16:59:00.009-07:00

Food.

This year I attempted Stott and Millet holiday classics. Sugar cookies, caramels and fudge...yum.

Friends.

Forgot my camera or forgot to take pictures at basically everything we did with friends. :) Sorry friends...we still love you.

Fun.

Rockefeller Center, lights up 5th Avenue, Santaland @ Macy's and on Christmas day, as per Stott tradition, we saw a movie. This year we saw Tangled (they only had it 3D)

Family.

This was our second Christmas not going 'home' to our families. It was so fun having Aubrey be old enough to participate in reading and acting out Luke 2, sing Christmas carols etc. Oh, yea and blow out the candles on Jesus's birthday cake (another Stott tradition that I totally love!)

Ho Ho Ho

2010-12-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

Santa came to our Ward Christmas party and Aubrey actually seemed excited to see him.

She even told him what she wanted for Christmas...ballerina dresses.

I think the sweater deserves a shout out...a true Christmas classic

A Thanksgiving post

2010-12-09T18:43:00.002-07:00

...a few weeks after the fact.

This was the very first time I have ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner. My sister came up from DC for 4 days and we had a FABULOUS weekend. We cooked, saw the Macy's Day Parade balloons, cooked, went on a little turkey trot, cooked, got the table/house set, finished cooking and our guests came. At that point I stopped just long enough to realize nothing had blown up. I declared it a success. (That is in no small part b/c I called my sister Adelia about 20 times in 2 days. I began calling her my Thanskgiving Guru :)

Having Dixie here made making all the Millet family traditional foods extra fun. It was complete with Aunt Amy's hot drink, the little rye breads for appetizers and my mom's cranberry salad. In honor of Stott family tradition we made Grandma June's crescent rolls. yum!

All weekend Dixie would ask things like, "can I feed Chelsea?", "Can I put Chelsea to sleep?"...It was awesome!

On Saturday we went to Central Park and took some family pictures. It was fun but COLD!

We got some of Dixie too. Two huge thumbs up for the green peacoat. Love it

The Good Life

2010-12-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Christmas music playing, heater pumping, two sleeping babies. All I had to do was push the unfolded laundry to the end of the couch and I was able to lay down and enjoy a quick little nap.

Tech Savvy

2010-11-22T12:30:00.001-07:00

Apparently Aubrey figured out how to take pictures of herself with my phone. This morning I opened my phone and found 51 pictures just like these...

Veggies

2010-11-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Aubrey walked up to me and said, "I want some veggies so I can be healthy." (A few weeks ago Aubrey's preschool talked about veggies and how they are heathy...thanks Kelli!) I was pretty excited, since her pickiness leaves MUCH to be desired in her diet. When I asked her what kind of veggies she wanted she responded, "Um....chocolate veggies." Ha ha. Me too babe, me too!

(An unrelated picture from earlier today. Not much better than a fall day at the park with friends!)

Girl Stuff

2010-11-14T20:16:00.006-07:00

Its fun to watch Aubrey lately as she has entered the world of pretend and spends more time doing other more 'girly' stuff. Some of the more recent examples:

Tea Parties:

Dress up:

& Dancing:

The only thing better than sleeping girls is girls still in their jammies cuddling on the couch.

Welcome to the Zoo...

2010-10-31T20:18:00.002-06:00

This year for Halloween Aubrey was a peacock...

Chelsea was a bear...

I was a tiger...

and Dave was a proud father and husband. At the Bronx zoo (NYC's big zoo) peacocks roam freely and often come right up to Aubrey when we visit. She loves their colors.

Aubrey got to dress up and trick or treat three times this year...

1- Chelsea Market Trick-or-Treating. (Its like a mall but mostly the shops sell food. Its fantastic!!). All the shops had candy for the kids, the whole place was decorated, people on stilts, etc. The shoppers loved watching the kiddies run around in their costumes.

2- Ward Halloween Party: People signed up to decorate a door and hand out candy. It was great! Everyone did SUCH a great job! There were a host of other fun things for the kids and adults to do (the activities committee in our ward is incredible). I love ward parties!

3- Trick or Treating in our building: a little different than the cul-de-sac we trick-or-treated while growing up. It was a fun chance to get to meet some of the other families with young children in our building.

We shut Aubrey's door tonight at 6pm and she fell asleep without making a single noise.

Sugar + no nap = one tired little peacock.

Sisters?

2010-10-28T13:02:00.000-06:00

Aubrey is on the left and Chelsea on the right.