Great Coats think alike

Josh, Naomi and Me

Last night Cody and I were lucky enough to witness the dance Senior Showcase at Julliard. Our lovely friend from church, Naomi portrayed Alice in a punk rock Alice in Wonderland performance. It was wonderful, as were the rest of the performances. It was so great to have a date night and to have a date night filled with such beauty and creativity. The amount of talent in that small black box theatre was staggering and I am still in awe with what the human body can achieve. I know my body will never be able to move like that or look like that for that matter. But I can greatly appreciate others who have perfected their talents and enjoy the art they create.

It was the final night of the showcase and the last night for many to perform together at Julliard. Emotions were high and everything just a little bittersweet. I can remember that feeling, especially when I finished the theatre program at Ricks College. I had so many wonderful friends..and funny enough Cameron and I are in the same ward now...and truly life changing experiences. I love the arts and sometimes miss being an active part of creating. I guess right now I'm busy helping to create a little man. And he's a masterpiece if I do say so myself!

Thank you for sharing a special night with us Naomi and husband Josh.

Terry Rolls Through New York

For the past week my distant cousin on my mother's side came to visit from Milwaukee. While here, Terry and I started chatting about various relatives. I realized that although Terry and I are not technically closely related, I know him better and have seen him more often than most of my first cousins...and I only have 7 of those! Ever since I can remember the first birthday card or Christmas card always came from Terry. He came to visit my family growing up when we lived in Belgium and Germany...and now New York City! I came to the conclusion that family is what you make of it. Also, if people and places are important enough to you, you will make the necessary effort to stay in touch or visit them.

Cody teases me for holding on to people too much. I would just like to point out for the record that we both grew up moving every few years all over the world...I am still best friends with my best friend from kindergarten (not to mention her whole family) and we see each other AT LEAST once a year...top that! Okay, now I'm teasing but still I think family and friends are important and traveling is important; therefore, I would just like to say...thanks for coming to visit Terry.Terry's visit finally gave us a reason to go to Sylvia's Soul Food restaurant. We pass it every Sunday on the way to church but have never gone back on another day to try it out. It was good, heavy, sit-in-your-stomach-like-lead southern soul food goodness. I've had better but it was nice to visit a part of Harlem history.
Terry spent most of the week on a rental bike touring NYC and upstate New York. I have no desire to do that myself but was greatly impressed by his energy and willingness to pedal 30 miles to visit Judy Garland and Malcolm X's graves. That's dedication!

So now that the summer traveling months are upon us, I'm putting the word out that we are open for visitors. We will only complain a little after you leave I swear! heehee

Jake the Snake Takes the Cake!

My nephew Jacob is turning a whopping 7 years old today. We love Jacob around our house for many reasons, and thought on his special day we would share a few with you!

So here goes:

Jacob has one of the cutest faces you'll ever see. He has a big toothy smile and cheeks you just want to squish...which I do frequently when I see him.

Jacob is a rough and tumble kind of kid, who has lots of energy to burn. I have a picture of him in his karate outfit on my fridge that is one of my favorites. (This is not it but I couldn't get the scanner to work so here's a taste of his athletic prowess.)

Jacob, like a good sport, enjoys the books and pajamas we send him every Christmas.

Jacob is a wonderful big brother and older cousin. He is so good with little ones and has a special spirit about him when it comes to helping his little friends. I love this picture of him with his cousin Jane. You can just see the admiration in Jane's face for her big cousin Jacob.

I love this picture of Nathan and Jacob reading books. I have another picture from years ago with Nathan pretending to read a book to Jacob when they were both to young to read. Priceless!

Morgan wanted to do a cool note for Jacob but sadly the camera wouldn't cooperate today. However, we didn't want to miss this opportunity to tell Jacob how much we love him and how great we think he is! Jacob is the coolest 7 year old I know and Morgan can't wait to follow him around this summer.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

The Conservatory Gardens come to life with Morgan in them.

Spring is finally in full bloom here in NYC. We have had some gorgeous weather lately, so on Saturday, Cody, Morgan and I decided to check out the Conservatory Gardens. Unfortunately, our camera died not too long after we got there but we did manage to catch a few shots before the blackout.

Morgan and I enjoying all the pretty flowers and each other. Notice how tight I'm holding the little guy or he'd run away from me!

Morgan enjoyed smelling, touching, ripping and eating all of the flowers up close. He's a hands-all-over kind of little boy!
Morgan taking a stroll on one of the garden paths.

Sadly, his little Mets cap is getting a bit too snug but it helps for now on sunny days.

Here's my attempt at an artistic shot. Such vibrant colors!

Morgan Nose Update: Right after we took these pictures, Morgan was climbing some stairs with his dad and when he got to the top tripped over a stone and of course skinned the tip of his nose once again. It bled everywhere and now he has another nice scab and a few more scrapes on his face. Seriously, his nose is SO sad!

Morgan's Nose by any other name...

Last Saturday Cody, Morgan and I went to the playground to enjoy the new found sunshine. Cody decided to help Morgan get dizzy on this turn around toy. Morgan enjoyed the rush of excitement that comes from being completely disoriented.

Afterwords, Morgan set off to explore things downhill from the toy...a steep downhill.

This is the result of Morgan's dizzy exploration, a nice bump on the forehead. He of course fell on the soft ground but managed to get his head far enough out to hit the hard cement. That's my boy! At the time I was thinking "The first of many boo-boos." Little did I know...

That we would go back to the same park on Wednesday and Morgan would go down the exact same hill trying to chase a ball and do this nice little number on his face. Now that it is scabbed over he looks like he has a Mickey Mouse nose because it is dark brown. Notice he hit the same spot on his forehead again!

On Tuesday I invited some other stay-at-home-moms from Church to come over and hang out for a few hours. We had a great time chatting and letting the kids run a muck. Luckily we had two older kids who enjoyed playing together. All the other little ones enjoyed following the two older children around and trying to get in on the action. Here's Eliot trying to get in the middle of things with Cyra and Sebastian.

Morgan before the head/nose trauma.

Mehrsa lost in conversation while Chase gets caught by the camera. Isn't he such a big boy now?!

Finally, here's a little video we took this morning of Morgan dancing with a singing advertisement he found in Cody's Entertainment Weekly magazine. The kid has some fun moves and a sad little nose!

Airbake Second Annual Extreme Cookie Challenge

One of Cody's Public Relations clients is WearEver. If you are not familiar with this brand, they make things like Airbake cookie sheets and other baking and cooking needs. For the last two years Cody has been involved in producing an event called the Airbake Extreme Cookie Challenge. This year Morgan and I, along with our good friends Ashley and Eliot, and Minde and Chase went down to FAO Schwartz to sample the cookies and cast our votes. All 5 cookies were quite tasty and we all enjoyed deciding which one we thought should win. Unfortunately, the two we chose came in 4th and 5th, so either the world is crazy or they do not have as good a taste buds as we do!
After the treats we walked over to the southwest corner of Central Park and went to this amazingly huge playground. The boys were in heaven. We were joined by another mom and baby duo, Kiasa and Isabella. After the kids wore themselves out playing, we all walked through the Park to the northeast corner. I know the other moms are seasoned veterans of long walks and you would probably think I would be too, but man o'man I was exhausted. Luckily, Morgan was too so we both took an afternoon nap. (For you non-New Yorkers, Central Park is quite large and hilly). It was a beautiful day and Morgan and I were so grateful to spend it with such wonderful company. Sorry I did not have my camera, Cody needed it at work, but my friend Ashley got some shots so you can check those out on her blog. Also check out the WearEver website for recipes for the 5 cookie finalists. I really enjoyed the beaver huts and ginger turtle cookies.
I love Spring in New York!

Mikayla turns the BIG 0-3!

My niece Mikayla is turning 3 years old today. Mikayla holds a special place in my heart because she was my first niece on my side of the family and because she has a beautiful spirit. Not to mention she is just the cutest little thing ever! She is my sister Kim's one and only girl and is the spitting image of my sister as a child. We are so thankful to have her as a part of our family!

One reason Morgan is so thankful to have Mikayla around is her willingness to try and carry him anywhere. Whenever we are carrying Morgan in a carrier or just holding him on our laps, Mikayla always wants to hold him. The great part is it doesn't seem to dawn on her that Morgan is almost bigger than her and probably out weighs her since she is a petite little girl and Morgan is not.

Just look at her earnest face. She is saying, "I'm ready...really I need to help you!" Over Christmas we went to St. Augustine and once again Mikayla insisted on trying to carry Morgan. Her big brother Nathan and Cody helped her get all hooked in. Morgan's thinking, "Ok, Mikayla, I'm ready to go!"
So Mikayla on your special day, we all just wanted to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and let you know that Morgan is still waiting for you to come carry him! We love you Mikayla, have a great day!

Nathan completes a Decade!

I know you're not supposed to have a favorite niece or nephew, but let me just say since Nathan was the reason I became an Aunt for the first time, he holds a special place in my heart! I cannot believe it has been 10 years since he came into our lives! I remember the morning we got the phone call from England saying he had arrived. My sister Jill and I sprung out of our beds when the phone rang early in the morning at our dorm in Rexburg. I couldn't wait to get to England and hold him for the first time. I couldn't believe that my sister had made such a beautiful little person. He was perfect in every way! So on this momentous occasion, Morgan and I decided to pay tribute to our favorite 10 year old. We can't wait for him to come visit us this summer and so we decided to take a birthday sign to some of our favorite afternoon spots. Nathan, we will take you to see all of these places when you come.

Nathan enjoying a handful of birthday cheerios in your honor!

The daffodils have just come out in Central Park. We love to take walks in the Conservatory Garden and will show you all the cool fountains.

Here is one of the many playgrounds we like to visit every day. You can show Morgan how to play like a big boy on all the equipment.

Here is a great view of the Harlem Meer.

Well, Nathan that is just a sample of the fun places to see. We hope you have a great birthday and have lots of fun turning 10. You are a great nephew and cousin and we can't wait to hang out with you this summer in Florida and New York.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

I love these in the Park right now!

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

I just saw this on my friends' Mark and Cathy's blog. I love to take quizzes so I clicked on the link. Turns out Cathy and I are the same flower. From the moment I met Cathy, I felt we were two peas in a pod. Our birthdays are one day apart; we like a lot of the same types of things; we both love to hug... and the list goes on and on. What made it all the more fun was that she was head over heels for one of my best friends, Mark. Just thought I'd give a little shout out to some awesome people I know and their adorable little boy Taj, who I know would be Morgan's idol if we lived closer. If there was ever a reason to move to Vegas it would be these two!

The Easter Bunny comes around for an encore performance

I know I've been blogging like crazy lately but so much has happened that I needed to catch up. And since I'm waiting for my professor to get back with me on revisions, I have a little time to kill this week during Morgan's naps. So here is our Easter Part 2 for Morgan. We didn't want to miss out on his first Easter Egg Hunt and we got this great Elmo basket for him so we thought we'd take him out in the backyard and see how he does. After the initial hunt Morgan tripped and spilled all his eggs. Here's Cody helping him get things back in the basket. Morgan has enjoyed filling and emptying his basket all week in the apartment. He's also discovered he can pull the eggs apart so I have pieces of plastic eggs everywhere! Oh, and don't be fooled by Cody's wardrobe; it is still quite cold here.

Anne if you're checking this out, doesn't Morgan look like Brock in this picture?!

Here's a video of Morgan hunting for eggs in the backyard behind our apartment building.

Missing Family

Morgan has been so lucky lately, as have I, to be surrounded by lots of family. Although it was hard being away from Morgan for over a week, it was nice to know he had so many cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents to play with. Morgan is at such a fun age now where he really is understanding so much. I loved watching him light up when Ben was around and hearing how well he played with his other cousins. It makes me feel kind of guilty for being so isolated from our family. I guess that's what they make airplanes and vacations for!

Jane teaching Morgan how to hug with a little help from Gramma.

Big hugs all around...and Binky's too!

Morgan and Gramma enjoying the park before she left.

Thanks for all your love and help Gramma and thanks for Kim and Mike for bringing our baby home. We miss all of you terribly and can't wait to play again soon!

Jesters take two bites

On Saturday we did a quick tour of my school Hunter College and Cody's work down on 23rd and Park Ave South. We also stopped by FAO Schwartz and helped Kim and Mike pick out some goodies for the four other kids they left at home with Gramma. We had a wonderful lunch at our favorite Max Brenner's Chocolate By the Bald Man. So delicious! Both kids were great and gobbled down anything that came near them. Got to love the fat babies we make!

Ben is such a cutey with his perfectly round head and big dimpled cheeks!

I had the bright idea to drag everyone out to Coney Island on an overcast windy day. The train ride was a bit long but with some help from Nathan's lemonade we all survived.

Out on pier overlooking the carnival rides and the projects.

Don't be fooled by the beautiful blue sky, it was not that warm.

Jesters take a bite out of the Big Apple

Because I'm being lazy today and have a limited amount of time before Morgan wakes up from his nap, here are pictures from my sister Kim's, brother-in-law Mike and youngest nephew Ben's visit to NYC this past weekend. They arrived on Thursday and we did a big walk through Harlem and Central Park. Then on Friday Kim, Mike and I took the two babies on a tour of lower Manhattan and Central Park. Here are some highlights.

Kim and I in front of Fraunces Tavern where George Washington gave his farewell address to his troops. It's still a restaurant with a museum upstairs.

Kim surrounded by strollers on the 6 train.

Kim and mike on the Brooklyn Bridge. Another lovely day for a walk!

Mike on Wall Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Friday night we got a babysitter and went to the temple. Beforehand we went to a lovely Turkish restaurant Seven's on 72nd St. Very good!

Kim and Mike at Central Park's reservoir. Which of course we walked around the wrong way with two strollers...we like to break the rules!

In front of the Natural History Museum which we didn't go into because it was too crowded but it looked nice from the outside.

Ben was a great subway rider and even held on to the pole.

Just a cool shot from Battery Park looking out to lady liberty.