My Birthday...

This was a memorable one.  (This is going to be a lot of typing, mostly because I want to remember this birthday forever and don't want to leave anything out.)  After a very rough Saturday (lack of sleep the night before tends to do that to me), I decided that Sunday - my birthday - was going to be good no matter what!  The kids and I woke up around 6:45 and made some delicious pumpkin pancakes with homemade cinnamon syrup.  We got to talk to Braden via Facetime and I put some chicken in the slow cooker for dinner that night.  A friend of mine had invited me over for a birthday dinner but since we hadn't talked about it since the previous Monday, I wasn't counting on it.  I was going to call her and just cancel since my little sister changed her plans for the week so she could spend it with the kids and me (hooray Ashley!), but I didn't, mostly because I couldn't quite figure out how to start that phone call..."hi, I know you invited me for dinner a week ago and we haven't talked since so I don't know if you were still planning to have me over to celebrate my birthday...I feel awkward now..."  Sheesh.  So I got myself and the kids ready and we headed off to church.  Ashley's flight came in during the third hour so I picked Kayla up from nursery early and we set off for the airport.  After circling the airport a couple of times I realized that waiting in the cell phone lot would be the best option.  We got Ashley and as we were headed home I got a call from Kristen (the friend who had invited me over for dinner) telling me how excited she was to have me over for dinner to celebrate my birthday and that yes, of course my sister can come too, how great!  Guess that cooked chicken is going in the fridge...  She said she would call when she was home from playing the piano for ward choir practice to let us know when to come over.  So Kristen calls around 5:30 and says, "my apartment is too small for dinner tonight, let's just go to the lounge.  I'll meet you outside your apartment."  Huh?  Pretty sure we've eaten dinner at her place several times and it's been big enough before...weird, but whatever.  We get our stuff gathered up and head downstairs to meet Kristen who is waiting for us just outside.  We're just chit-chatting on the way over to the high-rise and down the elevator to the basement lounge.  I open the door and "SURPRISE!!"  Ahhhh!  "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Tiffany, happy birthday to you!"  I definitely teared up (a lot).  I don't handle surprises very well.  Well, I have very good friends here.  It makes me very sad to think that we are moving from them in just a few months.  Who gets a surprise birthday party for their 24th (again and again) birthday?!  Seriously!  These girls are great.  They take such great care of me.  These are some random, and not so great of quality, pictures taken that night.  We hadn't brought a camera because we thought it was just going to be dinner so these pictures are from my phone.  (the pictures are doing funny things like not lining up right and I can't figure out how to fix it...sorry!)

Lots of delicious birthday cupcakes.  Aren't they pretty?  My friends are in a cake-decorating class.  The chocolate ones were filled with a peanut-butter cream!

Friends!

The nicest person in the world who brought it all together.

My family (those of us in Boston at the time at least).

I feel so blessed and so loved.  This was a great birthday!  Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday texts, phone calls, cards, and love.  

Happy Birthday from Shanghai!!!!

So today is Tiffany's birthday...  and I'm in China.  Literally on the other side of the world.  More on my trip to come (I'm touring a number of manufacturing facilities with my program at school), but I have to say, I'm lucky to have such an awesome wife!  Not only did she let me travel halfway around the world on her birthday of all days (luckily our friends at Westgate came through for us to make sure it was a special day to celebrate her), but we couldn't wish for a better wife and mother!   Thanks for all you do to take care of us Tiffany, we love you!!!

The Beach

We went there.  In March.  And it was AWESOME!  The weather in Boston has been unseasonably warm of late (think upper 70's, with the sun shining all day), and as I've had class off for most of this week, we've been trying to take advantage of it.  Yesterday we headed up to Gloucester, which is pronounced "gloster" for all you non-New Englanders out there - I still don't know how they condense so many syllables, it probably has something to do with all of the missing R's and the other words feeling left out.  Or maybe it was the pilgrims.  Blast you Miles Standish!  Either way it takes some getting used to, but I think we're finally getting the hang of it now that our time in Cambridge is winding down.

Anyway, initially we headed up there just to get some seafood and maybe check out a park to enjoy the good weather.  However, when we saw the sign for Wingaersheek Beach (and you thought Tooele was a funny name...) we had to check it out.  I'd heard people talk of it's wonders, and it definitely lived up to the hype.  Especially because the beach season hasn't started yet so they weren't collecting the regular $25 for parking.  The beach is great because it has really nice sand, big rocks to play on, and it stays shallow really far out, making the water relatively warm and kid-friendly.  As Kayla has been talking about going to the beach for the past two weeks, lack of a swimsuit was no deterrent for getting wet (or soaked in her case)

 Kayla throwing sand

 Logan eating sand

The sun-soakers 

 The Adventurers!

Later we hit up the Red Skiff in nearby Rockport and enjoyed some fried clams and a lobster roll, which was de-lish.  Check that off our list Boston, and on to our next adventure!

...speaking of adventures, I'm headed to China tomorrow, and Japan later next week!  I'm going with a group from school to tour various manufacturing facilities and to experience Asia first hand for spring break.  I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm sure will have some cool experiences to write about, as soon as I get around to it.

At 5 Months, Logan...

• smiles
• laughs
• rolls from his tummy to his back (started this at 3 months!)
• rolls from his back to his tummy
• loves people talking to him
• grabs EVERYTHING (necklaces, Kayla's hair, skin, toys, etc.)
• enjoys staying up late with Mommy and Daddy
• is usually pretty mellow
• weighs about 18 pounds
• is a very sweet baby!

(and sometimes needs to be rescued from his big sister)

We love you big guy!

Singing

Kayla has been singing a lot lately and I was able to get a video of another one of her songs.  

Enjoy!

Snow Day

New England winters are terrible.  At least, that's what everyone said.  This year, however, we've only had a few snowy days.  This morning there was still snow on the ground from last night so I decided to bundle us up and play before the snow melts and winter is over.  Kayla had fun - although apparently two pairs of socks aren't very warm in rain boots - and ran around as much as she could in all her gear.  Logan stayed warm in his great snow suit.  I just enjoyed taking pictures of the kiddos and tried to forget how messy our apartment was when we left to enjoy the snow.  Our adventure ended when Kayla decided her feet were too cold and gloves made too hard to climb on the playground. 

Snow Princess in her castle

Going down the slide is even more fun in the snow

This is how Logan spent the morning

My little snow bunnies!