Upstate

Over Memorial Day weekend we went upstate to see Nanny & Pop-Pop and Uncle Doug & Aunt Barbara. I have such wonderful memories of spending time my grandparents home when I was Alexis' age and I am confident she is making those same types of memories. They let her help with everything and have so many great experiences for her to have while she's there- whether it's decorating cupcakes with Nanny, or working in the garden or building something fabulous with Pop-Pop in his shop, I know she really loves to be with them and that makes my heart swell with happiness. I really wish we lived closer (or at least could make the trip more often).


Here she is getting all the plates ready for Pop-Pop's Saturday morning omelette. Lovely presentation, doncha think?


And placing the plates on the tray to carry them into the dining room...



One thing I wanted to do while upstate was get Lexi's hair cut (much cheaper up there!). She insisted she wanted it short. We talked about it a couple of times to make sure she was sure. And she was. So we cut it short. This is just after her salon experience with her new flag & star to wave at the parade.


Finishing her birdhouse. She made 3 that day with Pop-Pop. She did all the hammering and staining of the wood.




Saturday evening we went to Eldridge Park in Elmira to ride the carousel and see the new dragon boats. Aunt Barbara, Grandma Susan, Ella, Dad, Alexis & I all rode....


Alexis and Ella are both really interested in dogs right now. (Can we get a dog, mom? is a familiar question around here these days). Ella got a chance to take a little one for a walk and feed him some hot dog. Sorry, girls. No dog as long as we're living in Manhattan.

Move Over EmmyLou

We have a very generous neighbor, Michael. He gets gifts for the girls every Christmas and even remembers their birthdays. He came by the other day with a guitar that he just "happened to have lying around" that he thought Lexi might like. And like it, she does! Matt has spent a little time trying to teach her the basics....

Bubbles!

Ella absolutely LOVES bubbles right now. Anything associated with bubbles. Anything that makes bubbles. In the park, in the bath, in the house. Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.
She got some bubbles at a recent birthday party and couldn't wait for me to open them. I had to take a photo of her cute face, though- remnants of a chocolate cupcake around her mouth and all.

Pre-K Field Trip

On May 14th, I went with Lexi's class on a field trip to the NY Botanical Gardens. It was a drizzly day, but we had a good time anyway. I think the kids like the bus ride the best!


The class in front of a caterpillar made of plants.


This is Freddy (?) Frog- you can stand on lily pad leaves around his pool to make water spring up around him.


The kids got to plant a little flower to take home. Unfortunately, Lexi's mom has a black thumb and hers died a few days later. Burned up in the sun on our windowsill.


But it was pretty to look at!

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!