Birthday Weekend

This post is long overdue, but a few weeks ago, I turned 26. And we spent the entire weekend celebrating. Friday we went out to dinner with some friends to the Cheesecake factory.On sunday we had tacos, and Katie made me this delicious german chocolate cake. It is beautifully displayed in one of my lovely birthday presents (which I am SO EXCITED about!). I've been wanting one for a long time, and my love picked it out all by himself.

On Saturday we went to Old Westbury Gardens with some of our dear friends Doug, Anita, and Gabrielle. It was a beautiful day, and so nice to wander through all the gorgeous gardens.

The mansion was really cool to see too.This is Crew with his little buddy Gabby.

It was a great weekend, and my dear husband didn't do an ounce of homework. . . talk about a birthday present!

confused baby

I couldn't resist posting this video. It seems our son was very confused trying to get that yogurt in his mouth.

a visit to seattle

WARNING - very long post. Lots and lots of pictures. But I just had to document it all, so here goes. We survived the plane ride out there, and got lucky with an empty seat next to us! When we got there, Grandma and Grandpa Havens were waiting at the gate. They rushed over, swept up the baby child, had him in a circle hug and while bouncing as a group sang, "Do do do do, do do, do do, its Grandpa Time!" to the tune of MC Hammer's famous song "Hammer Time." You know the tune. It was really funny. And kind of embarassing as all the other passengers walked by and laughed.

On our way out to the car - Crew was already warmed up to the G-rents.
As I was looking through all of my pictures from the trip, I had at least 3 pictures exactley like this one, taken on different days and at different times. Grandpa with Chase and cousin Crew. The sweatshirt says: "Grandpa: the man, the myth, the legend." And boy does he live up to that sweatshirt. He walked them around to check stuff out, and stuffed marshmallows down their throats all week :)
We spent a lot of time here, at the piano. Both boys love the piano, especially at the perfect height.
Woody on her throne. Ha ha. This dog rules our house, I just couldn't resist. Classic.
Playing with Kollin.
We took a trip down to Greenlake to walk around and get fish and chips. It was a really nice day. Seattle really is such a beautiful place. I was really reminded after being away for a while. I was just amazed at the landscaping, how green it is, the pretty mountains. . . . and I really love the architecture in Seattle. Not just downtown, but the residential as well. No offense to Long island, we really like it here - but Seattle is just so pretty to me. Maybe I'm biased.
We stopped at the park to play and swing. As you will see from the coming pictures, it was really as though Crew and Chase took Grandma and Grandpa to the park. I think they had even more fun than the kids.
We got to spend a day with at Miss Rachael's and play all day. We had quite a lovely time.
Uncle Adam stopped in for a quick visit, and we had chinese food in Chinatown. Crew was a little naughty at the restaurant, but was very happy to have been reunited with Uncle Adam :)
And on our last day we got to visit everyone at the office Mantec! Crew and Grandma. Lookin' good Grandma!
Crew and cute Kristi.
Crew and Uncle James. Crew and Aunt Judy.

And us with Great Grandma and Grandpa Havens.

And finally, saying goodbye to the fam. We had so much fun seeing everyone, and just being together. We were glad Danielle finally got to meet Crew bird. Nice work Kollin on your new job at Arnies!

Congrats Kyle on your new job as a real life Firefighter! We are so happy for you and proud of all your hard work :)

Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful trip, and for getting us out there Mom & Dad. We love you, and had a great time!

Easter

Thanks for coming to play while the boys went to priesthood aunt Katie!Easter morning - I was pretty proud of myself for buying eggs and jelly beans. We had some friends over for Easter dinner, and had a most delicious meal. Ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, deviled eggs, rainbow jello, and fresh fruit. YUM! I was thinking about it for like the 3 days before, and it sure satisfied!

I'll leave you with this video of Crew clapping the eggs together. And that hacking coughing noise he is making is him trying to laugh. Yes, that is his laugh.

Spring Break 2010

We spent a few days of spring break in Gettysburg, PA. We got a great deal on Priceline at a Super 8, which was actually quite nice to our surprise. They had a pool and a really good continental breakfast (waffles, english muffins, and OJ were our regular selections). AND, we had an oversize bathroom. . . .which meant Crew's pack and play fit in there, and we could stay up past putting him down for the night. It was perfect. Gettysburg is a small town, so its really easy to get around, and we just tried to make the trip enjoyable and not stressful. We had perfect weather, and it was the perfect amount of time. We got to drive around the whole town and see all the battlefield sites, as well as listen to an audio tour on CD which pointed out specific places, and explained what went on there. It was really cool.

Crew and dad look like they are doing some sort of bum dance. . . Hips to the right!

This was the graveyard where many soldiers were buried and Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. We took an evening stroll through.

We hit up the museum, which was VERY informative. And worth the money, I thought. Crew was a trooper. We got really excited to take him in the pool so we ran to wal-mart to get some swim diapers. The pool ended up being pretty cold so we dipped our feet in the hot tub. Crew was pretty leary about it the whole time. The evening ended when Ryan dove into the pool, which caused a big scare, lots of tears, and what became an un-consolable baby. The surroundings were too unfamiliar after that to make him feel better, so we hurried and gave the crying baby a bath, and put him down for bed. He was happy the next day. On our way home we stopped in Hershey, PA to do the free tour of how they make the chocolate. It was like a ride that takes you through with music. Crew loved it. And I loved my Reese peanut butter brownie that we bought on our way out.
Rows and rows of hershey kisses.

I made special effort to include pictures of myself, Emily :) I'm usually the one holding the camera, so it gets hard sometimes. You get what I'm saying.