Lexi lost her first tooth on Mother's Day! Sunday, May 10th, 2009. She was 5 years, 4 months and 9 days old. She was eating breakfast. I was in the bedroom helping Ella get dressed for church and Matt was doing something else in the kitchen. All of the sudden Alexis seemed very upset and when Matt asked her what had happened she started crying. He thought maybe she had bitten her tongue while eating or something. Through her tears she was able to tell him that something came out of her mouth, but she thought it was food so she threw it away. Matt still wasn't sure what was happening, but looked in the trash and was able to spot the tooth and fish it out (we have a very small can, so it wasn't hard). He tried to explain to her what had happened and that it was actually kind of exciting. He then said, "Let's go tell Mommy!" and Lexi just burst into tears again! She didn't want to tell me. I guess she thought I would be mad? Which actually only makes me feel sad that she was too afraid to tell me. Especially since we had talked about losing teeth only a few days before that. Anyway, after a few minutes of consoling, Matt assured her I wouldn't be mad and convinced her to come and show me the missing tooth. I told her how exciting this was and then she was all smiles. Phew! What a traumatizing morning! What's it going to be like when she gets her first period?!

Little Picasso

I was not home when this happened. Daddy claims he was in the same room with Ella- he was playing guitar and she was happily playing along side. And the next thing he knew, she had gotten into the craft stuff and was squeezing paint all over the table, the rug, and herself. This entire outfit was brand new. The first time she had worn the shirt and the pants. Oh, and did I mention that this was fabric paint? So, yeah. It's not coming out of the clothes. Or the rug.

Fish!

Just a little video of Ella showing off her way of communicating "Gold Fish".

Queens Zoo

We have a membership to the zoo (hence, all the trips we take there!) and the only zoo we have never been to in NYC is the Queens Zoo. Grandma Susan was out of town and left us her car while she was gone, so we needed to pick her up from the airport- the Queens Zoo is only minutes from LGA, so we decided to head there directly after school and then pick up Grandma after that. It's a small zoo (they all are, except for the Bronx), but it was great. There were only a handful of people there, so we didn't have to fight for a good view with anyone. We saw a puma (sleeping!), sea lions, buffalo, bald eagles, parrots, swamp life, farm animals and a bear. They also had a playground, which we just had to stop at for awhile. Alexis shows off her monkey bar skills:



After the zoo we took a ride on the carousel. I took a video of Ella saying "Up! Down!" because this was the first time she really spontaneously said it. Her speech therapy has been doing wonders!

One out of Three ain't Bad

A friend of mine here in NY is expecting triplets. 2 girls and 1 boy. So, Sonya, Leolani & I decided to make a quilt for each baby. We used this stacked coins pattern and Leo & Sonya got the Moda Fabrics from City Quilter. I hurried to finish this first one in time for the baby shower--I have the other girl's quilt to do still, and Sonya's finishing up the boy's quilt. They are all the same pattern, and the girls' have the same fabrics. I ended up doing a machine stipple stich all over and it really became a trial for me- but in the end it turned out nicely and all the ladies at the shower oohed and ahhed over it, which boosted my confidence a bit. Can't wait to see a photo of a darling little baby all snuggled up in it!

I really just adore the strip of coins on the backside of the quilt, too. Really ties the front and back together, don't you think?

Recently finished this quilt for a dear friend- she likes the Americana motif, so when I found out she was expecting her second baby, and then saw these fabrics bundled together, I knew I had to make a quilt for her. It took longer than I anticipated, but in the end I am really pleased with the result. I quilted the stars with my new machine-quilting freestyle foot and it was great. Many thanks to Lynn for convincing me to do the stars in the first place, and to Andrea for teaching me how to use my freeform quilting foot.

Flushing Meadows Park

Thursday, April 16, although not the last day of Spring Break, was the last day we had a big adventure. We went out to the New York Hall of Science in Queens and spent the afternoon exploring the museum. I think the favorite part was the BubbleMania Show we saw while there. The starring bubble-maker-man has been blowing bubbles for over 20 years and had all sorts of cool tricks. He made a few bubble sculptures, and filled some bubbles with smoke. He made a square bubble and filled others with helium. And his grand finale was filling a bubble with FIRE. Very cool. Do not try that at home! The girls spent some time in the science center playing with bubbles, also.





After the science center we headed into the park to walk around, see the globe and towers (which I'm sure you recognize from Will Smith's movie Men In Black) from the World's Fair in 1964 (where my mother first learned about the LDS church at a pavilion they had there). The park is not far from LaGuardia airport, so every 2 or 3 minutes another plane would fly overhead. We also saw the new Citi Field, home of the Mets. Ended up eating some food from a little Mexican food truck and then headed back to Manhattan.

Brooklyn & Queens

On Wednesday, April 15, we went to one of the best pizza places in New York City- Grimaldi's. We've been many times before, but it's been awhile since the last time. But after you wait in a long line (although we were very fortunate to be only the 2nd party in line this time!), and sit down and wait some more for your pizza, taking that first taste is just delicious! And then I remember, "Oh yeah! This is why we come here!"

After lunch at Grimaldi's we strolled over for some of our favorite hot chocolate and similar treats at Jaques Torres' little shoppe. Then headed over to Queens to visit Joan's sister & Matt's cousins. They live only 6 miles from us and yet we hardly get to see them. The afternoon spent in Astoria with them was delightful. And we were almost convinced to relocate there. They live near a train bridge (Amtrak, not the subway) whose support columns cross through the big park that is right on the river. Very beautiful, actually. And since it's only an Amtrak bridge, it's not very busy.

Martha Again

Went to Martha Stewart again. This time with Joan. We attempted to get Standby tickets and we got them! Again a good time. Although they did 2 segments on cats and we don't own cats- in fact, Joan & Matt are both allergic. The audience gifts were kitty-litter trays and gift packs- and they had extras to get rid of, so we took a third one, just because we could. Even though the guest list & free stuff was a little disappointing, it was still a fun girls morning out!

Crayola Factory

While Grandma Cope was here, we decided to take a little day trip out of the city and headed over to Easton, PA to spend the day at the Crayola Factory. Which isn't really a factory, per se, but more like a giant crafting extravaganza using all of Crayola's many different products (and I didn't have to clean up!) The girls love love loved it. And Easton is a charming little town.

We also visited the Canal Boat museum a floor above the Crayola Factory where the kids were lent their own little boats to move through a canal and learn how the locks work etc. Great for hands-on learning!





On our way home, we got stuck in traffic, so we tried to get some video of a few of Ella's words. She's been getting speech therapy twice a week since January and has improved quite a bit. Sometimes Lexi says, "Let's talk, Ella!" and then says a word and waits for Ella to repeat it, then says another which Ella repeats and so on and so forth until they've gone through all the words in Ella's verbal vocabulary. We've also been teaching her sign language (thank you Baby Signing Time!) and she is able to communicate pretty well now.

Easter

Ugh! No real photos from Easter this year. I guess that means we were just enjoying each other's company! We hosted dinner and had both Grandmas, Allie & Zac for dinner. Tradition ham with cheesy potato casserole and green beans.

After dinner, we decorated sugar cookies with everyone.




And ate a fancy little cake Grandma Susan brought, and a traditional Italian Easter Pie.


Earlier in the day, Grandma Cope and Lexi decoupaged eggs (just like Martha did on her show that mom & I attended the week before). We cut out little pictures from magazines and glued to our heart's content.

Macy's Flower Show

During Spring Break this year, Matt's mom was able to come out and spend several days with us. It was so nice to have her here and we were able to do lots of fun things. Extra special thanks to Allie for lending us her car for the week!

The first thing we did, on a rainy Saturday, was head down to Macy's (the largest Department Store in the world, apparently) for their annual Flower Show. Flowers flowers everywhere. And packed with people, too. But the displays really were amazing and we even met the Florist of the Day who had made an amazing tree trunk topped with oversize mushroom caps and decorated with hidden gems like fairies and butterflies. Of course the girls loved it. And they gave us their card and told us to contact them if we wanted good seats at the Rose Parade in Pasadena in 2011. That's the same day as Lexi's 7th birthday, so we might actually have to think about going! :)

Mama's Birthday

For my mother's birthday this year I requested tickets to the Martha Stewart Show. We went last year at this time and it was lots of fun. And, thankfully, my request was fulfilled, so my sister Allie, mom & I saw the show on April 7. Emeril Lagasse was one of the guests and gave us a saucepan from his line of cookware (by All-Clad- which are all the pots I already have and LOVE). We also saw Rupert Everett who spent some time planting flowers with Martha. I find it really fascinating to attend a taping because you see all that goes on behind the scenes. Like the fact that Martha doesn't look up at her directors often enough and has them scrambling and waving their arms and shaking cue cards furiously trying to get her attention. I also got a cookbook during the commercial break for being such an enthusiastic audience member. Boo yah.

After the show, we took mom to lunch at Elmo. Happy Birthday, Mom! We're glad you were born!

Hace Diez Anos

10 years ago, while I was serving as missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Madrid Temple was dedicated. It was a glorious time. All of the members and missionaries from all over Spain had the opportunity to attend the dedication. So during this past General Conference weekend, my mission presidents (along with lots of help from some of our missionaries) put together a reunion and tried to find all of our missionaries. I was able to fly out to Utah for the event and it was a most wonderful time. The experiences you have & the circumstances in which you find yourselves bond you to fellow missionaries in a way that is different from any other relationship. I love these people. It makes me (joyfully) cry to think about them. I love Spain and the miracles I saw there. It was a large part of my life that shaped me & I think about it almost everyday, if only for a brief moment.

Many thanks to Erin for watching Ella during the Hermanas luncheon. And to Lari for putting me up & lending me a car. And to Liz for picking me up at the airport. And to Richard & Joan for taking me back to the airport. And to all the elderes y hermanas that made the extra effort to be there. It was so fantastic to be with you all again! Until we meet again....

Hermanas at the luncheon



Kari, me & Anfissa


Me & Jamie


me & Hillary


The group of Elders & Hermanas I went to Spain with- and ended up serving with (almost) all fo them at some point. Haven't seen this whole group together since a mission council I went to in 1999.


Me & Presidente Clate Mask, and Kari


Kari, Hermana Mask, me & Nici (with her 4th baby)


Nanci (who also married a man who served in Bilboa at the same time Matt was there).


Ella just climbed up on Hermana Mask's lap (maybe the chocolate was influential?)


me & Rebecca- my MTC comp.

More Utah Photos

Other fun things I did while on my whirlwind trip to Utah:

Ice Cream at the BYU Creamery with Liz!






Breakfast with Angie (sadly, no photo! How did I forget that?!)

Dinner with Byron & Erin (who I set up on a date years ago at BYU!) at Cafe Rio. Ella fell in love with Erin and wanted to go home with her! The last time I saw them was when they came to NY for my mission homecoming. It was so great to see them again after all these years.


Breakfast with Grandma Cope (who was in Utah for her mission reunion also!) and Sheridan (my neighbor in NYC who is back in Utah now- we miss you!) at Flour Girls and Dough Boys.



A conference session at Liz's apartment






And Ella waiting to board the plane in SLC. We had to walk out onto the tarmac and climb the stairs into the plane. Wish Lexi had been there for that experience!

Turn off the TV

Next week is TV-Turnoff week. Some of you know that we don't own a tv. It's really not that bad of a situation to find yourselves in. Try it out!

Cheese Crack

Fairly often we host a game night with several of our friends from the singles ward. We can always count on Marcus to bring a smattering of cheese from the East Village Cheese Shop including some type of Boursin, which we affectionately call cheese crack because it's so good it's addicting. This is a video from Ella's first taste of the stuff:

The Zoo (again)

This time we spent the afternoon at the Central Park Zoo with Grandma Susan, Aunt Allie & Zac.

Then we strolled across Central Park to the Shake Shack for dinner. On our way we encountered some pretty serious roller skaters and their bike.

Little Artists

The little girls like to lay on the floor together and draw.

First Snow Day

The NYC Department of Education finally decided to have a snow day. The first one in 5 years (at least!) This morning, Matt was in the shower and I was getting breakfast ready for the girls. I turned on NPR to listen to the news whilst I worked and then all of the sudden they announce that NYC public schools are closed today. It was a brief announcement and so at first I thought I had heard wrong. I ran into the bathroom to tell Matt the news, and he too was immediately skeptical. We called 311, which confirmed the rumor. Then loaded up the computer and logged on to the DOE website to see the same announcement. We were SHOCKED. It snowed all morning and then we took the girls to the playground later in the afternoon. The city actually hosts sledding & hot chocolate in many of the city parks on a snow day (providing sleds & hot drinks for free), but we weren't too ambitious to make it out to the event. Just enjoyed a lazy day at home watching the snow fall. I'm sure we won't have another school day like this for 5 more years.