Law Reunion
4 years ago
Monday, December 17, 2012
Bad News Minute . . . Learned or Inherited?
When Brad and I started dating 6 years ago, he teased me that my family had a session of "Bad News Minute" every time we got together. He thinks we all have a preoccupation with sharing terrible stories with each other that we heard on the news or from neighbors. The last couple of days we've had some bad news minutes (car broke down, etc.) and Annie has heard us talking about them with our parents, so all morning she's been telling me that she has some bad news to tell me. It generally consists of one of her "friends" (Alabama, Georgia, California, or Utah) being sick. I've decided I think the phrase "I've got some bad news to tell you" is definitely learned, but the preoccupation may be genetic.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Boston
Just before Sandy hit, Brad had a conference in Boston. We decided to make a family trip of it, and it was so fun!
We left right after he got home on Friday night and drove until about 10. We stopped somewhere (an hour and a half out of Boston) for the night. It was a great decision. The next morning we had a not-so-great, but free continental breakfast and were on our way.
We started off at the USS Constitution. The tour was mediocre, but the weather was perfect. We parked near there and had a four hour window, so we hopped right on a ferry to start the Freedom Trail. Well, we almost hopped right on. Unfortunately we missed the ferry by a few minutes so we decided to eat our bagels while we waited. As soon as we started eating the seagulls started swarming. They had this super distinct call, and the minute one of them let it out, 20 more birds would come and circle us. Most of you probably know that I'm terrified of ducks specifically, but any sort of fowl in general. Brad was off parking the car, so I was the only adult around to scare away the birds and I was lousy at it. Brad got back saw/heard me panicking, and I'm pretty sure I embarrassed him. He denied later, but in the moment, he sort of hissed at me that there were people around. :) I'm afraid that I inadvertently passed my fear of fowl onto Annie that day because today when we were walking into the store, Annie saw a seagull and said, "Those seagulls were swarming us in Boston. They wanted our bagels!"
The Freedom Trail was really fun despite the fact that we'd both walked it before. I love our country and I love thinking about its founding. And, have I mentioned it was a beautiful day for a walk? Just cold enough to justify a caramel apple cider from Starbucks. :) However, by the end of the trail, the kids had had it. We headed to our hotel and checked in just in time to realize the hotel had whatever channel the BYU game was on. We watched a few touchdowns (go Cougs!) and headed out again.
My wonderful cousin Emily works in Boston, so we hit the town with our own native Bostonian. She was cracking us up with her driving. She kept telling us that you just have drive a little aggressive in Boston, and showed us how to do it. Love it! We tried to go to this restaurant that my brother recommended in the Italian district, but they didn't take reservations and the line was FOREVER long, so we tried the oldest restaurant in America, but their wait was super long too, and they weren't super keen on kids, so we bagged those ideas and went to a GREAT pizza place Emily recommended.
This turned out to be quite the experience! We had the rudest waitress I have ever encountered. So rude it was comical. As soon as we were seated, she came over and asked if we were ready to order. We said that we weren't quite ready, and she said, "You're not ready yet?" and rolled her eyes and walked away. She came back not two minutes later and was again disgusted that we hadn't figured out what we wanted yet. After that, we were on the black list and she didn't come back for about 1/2 hour. When she finally came back with the food, she handed us about 10 paper plates (there were 5 of us), 3 cups and 3 sets of silverware. We didn't dare point out the discrepancies. I got a serious case of the giggles about her. So glad we got some true Boston attitude while we were there.
The next day we went to church (stake conference - what bad luck! You should never have to make your kids sit through someone else's stake conference!), and then met up with our friends Aaron and Alaina after. They were so nice and invited us over for lunch! We had some great pumpkin chili soup (email me for the recipe - I made sure to get it), wonderful conversation, and one rousing game of Uno (Annie's new fav game). It was so great to catch up with them! Brad and I were both friends with Aaron at BYU and we think Alaina is fantastic!
That evening we got into that restaurant from the Italian district that my brother recommended and it totally lived up to expectations!
The next day Brad was planning to spend all day at the conference, so I took the kids into Harvard Square (made significantly harder due to EVERYTHING being shut down because of the tiny bit of rain and wind) to the only Curious George store in the world. I thought this would be SO fun for Annie because she LOVES that monkey, but instead she spent most of the time throwing a gigantic fit because I wouldn't buy her 3 books, only 1. James loved it though. When we got back to the hotel Brad called to say that his conference (and hence presentation :( ) was cancelled for Sandy. We left immediately. The drive home was SO scary! I was really grateful we left at 2 and not 7 like we'd planned. It was so rainy and windy at that point. Brad did a great job getting us home safely!!! And as Annie told our friend a few days later, "God protected us!"
We left right after he got home on Friday night and drove until about 10. We stopped somewhere (an hour and a half out of Boston) for the night. It was a great decision. The next morning we had a not-so-great, but free continental breakfast and were on our way.
We started off at the USS Constitution. The tour was mediocre, but the weather was perfect. We parked near there and had a four hour window, so we hopped right on a ferry to start the Freedom Trail. Well, we almost hopped right on. Unfortunately we missed the ferry by a few minutes so we decided to eat our bagels while we waited. As soon as we started eating the seagulls started swarming. They had this super distinct call, and the minute one of them let it out, 20 more birds would come and circle us. Most of you probably know that I'm terrified of ducks specifically, but any sort of fowl in general. Brad was off parking the car, so I was the only adult around to scare away the birds and I was lousy at it. Brad got back saw/heard me panicking, and I'm pretty sure I embarrassed him. He denied later, but in the moment, he sort of hissed at me that there were people around. :) I'm afraid that I inadvertently passed my fear of fowl onto Annie that day because today when we were walking into the store, Annie saw a seagull and said, "Those seagulls were swarming us in Boston. They wanted our bagels!"
The Freedom Trail was really fun despite the fact that we'd both walked it before. I love our country and I love thinking about its founding. And, have I mentioned it was a beautiful day for a walk? Just cold enough to justify a caramel apple cider from Starbucks. :) However, by the end of the trail, the kids had had it. We headed to our hotel and checked in just in time to realize the hotel had whatever channel the BYU game was on. We watched a few touchdowns (go Cougs!) and headed out again.
My wonderful cousin Emily works in Boston, so we hit the town with our own native Bostonian. She was cracking us up with her driving. She kept telling us that you just have drive a little aggressive in Boston, and showed us how to do it. Love it! We tried to go to this restaurant that my brother recommended in the Italian district, but they didn't take reservations and the line was FOREVER long, so we tried the oldest restaurant in America, but their wait was super long too, and they weren't super keen on kids, so we bagged those ideas and went to a GREAT pizza place Emily recommended.
This turned out to be quite the experience! We had the rudest waitress I have ever encountered. So rude it was comical. As soon as we were seated, she came over and asked if we were ready to order. We said that we weren't quite ready, and she said, "You're not ready yet?" and rolled her eyes and walked away. She came back not two minutes later and was again disgusted that we hadn't figured out what we wanted yet. After that, we were on the black list and she didn't come back for about 1/2 hour. When she finally came back with the food, she handed us about 10 paper plates (there were 5 of us), 3 cups and 3 sets of silverware. We didn't dare point out the discrepancies. I got a serious case of the giggles about her. So glad we got some true Boston attitude while we were there.
The next day we went to church (stake conference - what bad luck! You should never have to make your kids sit through someone else's stake conference!), and then met up with our friends Aaron and Alaina after. They were so nice and invited us over for lunch! We had some great pumpkin chili soup (email me for the recipe - I made sure to get it), wonderful conversation, and one rousing game of Uno (Annie's new fav game). It was so great to catch up with them! Brad and I were both friends with Aaron at BYU and we think Alaina is fantastic!
That evening we got into that restaurant from the Italian district that my brother recommended and it totally lived up to expectations!
The next day Brad was planning to spend all day at the conference, so I took the kids into Harvard Square (made significantly harder due to EVERYTHING being shut down because of the tiny bit of rain and wind) to the only Curious George store in the world. I thought this would be SO fun for Annie because she LOVES that monkey, but instead she spent most of the time throwing a gigantic fit because I wouldn't buy her 3 books, only 1. James loved it though. When we got back to the hotel Brad called to say that his conference (and hence presentation :( ) was cancelled for Sandy. We left immediately. The drive home was SO scary! I was really grateful we left at 2 and not 7 like we'd planned. It was so rainy and windy at that point. Brad did a great job getting us home safely!!! And as Annie told our friend a few days later, "God protected us!"
(Only picture of Annie in the Curious George store because she was too busy running around crying.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
New Pillows
My mother-in-law is in town for a few days, so I thought I'd capitalize on her sewing abilities and have her help me recover my throw pillows for my couch. Anyone who has visited me anytime in the past few months will know that this was a much-needed project. I'm so grateful my mother-in-law was here to help! I'm not very craftsy, but she knew just how to figure out what to do, which made the project go so smoothly. I'm thrilled with the results!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Fall Pictures
Our wonderful friend Lisa took pictures of our family in the beautiful fall foliage. We've had her take our pictures before, and we LOVE her work!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
28 never looked so good!
Stokoe Farms
A friend had a free pass to Stokoe Farms so we went this Saturday. Let me tell you, I was overwhelmed. I had thoroughly expected to be underwhelmed because I'd heard so many times how awesome it is. It really is. When we walked in, I thought it was just the first area, and it seemed okay, but not worth all the raving. And then I realized it just kept going . . . and going. It was a regular little Energizer bunny. Here are a whole bunch of pics.
Climbing opportunities galore!
Who doesn't want to watch 2 turtles move around SLOWLY?
Super long slide - not just for kids ;)
Super long slide - not just for kids ;)
Super
Annie made us wait for 20 minutes to watch this silly chicken puppet show. Turned out the kids LOVED it (they spent most of the time pointing or dancing to the music), AND more importantly, I discovered the yummiest apple cider donuts known to man.
Pumpkin chuckin' . . . Modern Family anyone?
This zipline swing was awesome! You were supposed to be much taller than Annie, but they let her go on it anyway, and just had an employee run with her the whole way. She loved it.
train ride
I cannot get over this picture! I know I'm his mom, but James looks so stinkin' cute in this picture. Plus, my first job was grounds crew for the Provo temple where I fell in love with driving tractors. Not saying I want to be a farmer or anything, but it's cool to drive something that big.
Monday, September 10, 2012
New Record
We watched our friends' children last weekend while they had a little babymoon, and we hit a new record: We changed 10 diapers before 9 am church, and half of them were stinky. Did I mention there were only 4 kids?
Happy birthday to me!
I always laughingly tell people that my birthday is my favorite holiday, and we both get a good kick out of it - except that I'm not joking. I LOVE my birthday! This year was no exception. It's a good thing too; I need to start 29 with a bang because according to my mom, it's the age I will claim for the rest of my life.
I woke up to a rare treat these days - Brad! He's been on OB/GYN the last several weeks, which means he leaves at 5:15 am and gets home at 6:30 pm and then studies at night. Boo! But he had a lecture that morning, so he was able to be there to make me French toast (my favorite) with Nutella and raspberries before he had to go in. The kids and I loved it!
Story time at Whipple Park started up again that morning, so I took the kids over and they had a great time. Ever since then I've been hearing Annie wandering around saying, "Lama lama wants his mama." Then we headed over to Mary's for a delicious lunch. It was so fun and tasty! Immediately following lunch, I took Annie to her first day of her new preschool!! She has been SO excited for this experience. She was always asking when it would be my birthday, so that she could go to preschool. I was up in the air about whether or not to send her for a while, but as I dropped her off I felt so excited! I think it's a great choice and that she will thrive there.
I spent most of the afternoon chatting with family and friends. The only disappointment came when Brad called at 7 (he thought he'd be home by 6:30) to say he still had one more surgery. Boo! Luckily he was home by 8:30 which was early enough for a late delicious dinner at Cheesecake Factory. About a month ago we read this post, and we've both been craving Cheesecake Factory ever since. I'm always wanting to go on walks at night, and even though Brad agrees to go on these walks a lot, they aren't his absolute favorite thing. So he surprised me by taking me on a long walk by the river looking at Rochester's beautiful skyline (the city looks really nice from far away . . . up close, not so much) and telling me why he loves me. I seriously ask him to tell me new reasons he loves me every day, so this was a great treat. Mostly, it was just great to spend time with him. OB has been a pretty grueling rotation, and we haven't seen nearly as much of each other as we'd like.
I felt so happy and loved all day. I figured out why my birthday is my favorite holiday - it's because I spend a whole day thinking about how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends who love me! So thanks to anyone reading this who has been there for me - you made it a GREAT birthday!
I woke up to a rare treat these days - Brad! He's been on OB/GYN the last several weeks, which means he leaves at 5:15 am and gets home at 6:30 pm and then studies at night. Boo! But he had a lecture that morning, so he was able to be there to make me French toast (my favorite) with Nutella and raspberries before he had to go in. The kids and I loved it!
Story time at Whipple Park started up again that morning, so I took the kids over and they had a great time. Ever since then I've been hearing Annie wandering around saying, "Lama lama wants his mama." Then we headed over to Mary's for a delicious lunch. It was so fun and tasty! Immediately following lunch, I took Annie to her first day of her new preschool!! She has been SO excited for this experience. She was always asking when it would be my birthday, so that she could go to preschool. I was up in the air about whether or not to send her for a while, but as I dropped her off I felt so excited! I think it's a great choice and that she will thrive there.
I spent most of the afternoon chatting with family and friends. The only disappointment came when Brad called at 7 (he thought he'd be home by 6:30) to say he still had one more surgery. Boo! Luckily he was home by 8:30 which was early enough for a late delicious dinner at Cheesecake Factory. About a month ago we read this post, and we've both been craving Cheesecake Factory ever since. I'm always wanting to go on walks at night, and even though Brad agrees to go on these walks a lot, they aren't his absolute favorite thing. So he surprised me by taking me on a long walk by the river looking at Rochester's beautiful skyline (the city looks really nice from far away . . . up close, not so much) and telling me why he loves me. I seriously ask him to tell me new reasons he loves me every day, so this was a great treat. Mostly, it was just great to spend time with him. OB has been a pretty grueling rotation, and we haven't seen nearly as much of each other as we'd like.
I felt so happy and loved all day. I figured out why my birthday is my favorite holiday - it's because I spend a whole day thinking about how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends who love me! So thanks to anyone reading this who has been there for me - you made it a GREAT birthday!
Great start to September!
September has been a fantastic month so far for our family! We found out just before Labor Day that Brad actually got it off!! ("Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles . . .") So he/we pushed pretty hard through the weekend (with one small zoo excursion exception), so that we could have a true vacation on Monday. It was delightful.
On Monday morning we ventured out to the lesser known Church history sites around us. A friend in our ward gave us this list of all these sites of lesser known Church history sites (some Church-owned and some not). Amazingly, these are even closer to us than Palmyra. There was a contingency of Saints in the Mendon area that distanced themselves a little from the Palmyra saints to avoid persecution. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were among this group. We saw John Young's (Brigham's father's) farm house that he and Brigham built. We saw where Brigham Young was baptized (LOVED that), and a cemetery where his first wife was buried, as well as Heber Kimball's father. It was great! The whole time we were at the sites it was killing me that we just found out about this. Both of my parents would have thoroughly enjoyed this little adventure. My dad adores exploring new/lesser known areas, and I think my mom would have loved it for the family history aspect. On my Winder side we are direct descendants of John and Brigham Young. I've never thought too much about this (clearly, since Brad didn't know until we pulled up to John Young's home and I started telling Annie that it was her sixth great-grandfather's home) because Brigham Young has a HUGE posterity, but while we were at the house and particularly at the baptismal site, I felt a strong connection. I feel grateful that he joined the Church and stayed faithful, not just for what he did for the Church, but because it was a means of bringing me and my little family the Gospel.
After searching in vain for one of the other sites (I guess we have a great reason to go back now), we stopped at Shark's ice cream parlor. Apparently we lucked out - normally it's not open on Mondays, but because of Labor day, it was. Phew! That would have been very disappointing. The ice cream was great and the portions were huge, so what more could you ask for?
We came back for naps and quiet time and then we headed out around dinner time for Dansville to see the hot air balloon festival. We'd heard about it last year and really wanted to go, so we were super excited for it this year. As we were heading to the car, I thought, "We should probably double check the website to make sure this is going on." We didn't check. Oops. We had a very pleasant drive to Dansville and then a very good laugh at ourselves when a resident of the host city looked at us like we were crazy and informed us that there was a balloon launch there - that morning. :) At least it gave me a good example of not heeding a prompting to share in my talk this Sunday about personal revelation. Haha! Overall it was such a great weekend - I felt totally refreshed and spoiled after getting a whole day with Brad!
On Monday morning we ventured out to the lesser known Church history sites around us. A friend in our ward gave us this list of all these sites of lesser known Church history sites (some Church-owned and some not). Amazingly, these are even closer to us than Palmyra. There was a contingency of Saints in the Mendon area that distanced themselves a little from the Palmyra saints to avoid persecution. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were among this group. We saw John Young's (Brigham's father's) farm house that he and Brigham built. We saw where Brigham Young was baptized (LOVED that), and a cemetery where his first wife was buried, as well as Heber Kimball's father. It was great! The whole time we were at the sites it was killing me that we just found out about this. Both of my parents would have thoroughly enjoyed this little adventure. My dad adores exploring new/lesser known areas, and I think my mom would have loved it for the family history aspect. On my Winder side we are direct descendants of John and Brigham Young. I've never thought too much about this (clearly, since Brad didn't know until we pulled up to John Young's home and I started telling Annie that it was her sixth great-grandfather's home) because Brigham Young has a HUGE posterity, but while we were at the house and particularly at the baptismal site, I felt a strong connection. I feel grateful that he joined the Church and stayed faithful, not just for what he did for the Church, but because it was a means of bringing me and my little family the Gospel.
After searching in vain for one of the other sites (I guess we have a great reason to go back now), we stopped at Shark's ice cream parlor. Apparently we lucked out - normally it's not open on Mondays, but because of Labor day, it was. Phew! That would have been very disappointing. The ice cream was great and the portions were huge, so what more could you ask for?
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!
Happy Anniversary to my best friend! It's hard for me to believe we've been married 5 years! We've had so many great experiences over those years. I really do feel SO lucky to have Brad - I couldn't ask for a better husband! I love him!!!
We had a great day! Amid much studying we fit in a 10-mile run, a bike ride to Schoen Place (thanks to the Christensens and Sheffields for the gear) where we ate lunch at Aladdin's and fed the ducks, a s'more party, and a dinner at Applebee's. I've wanted to bike that trail since we moved here two years ago, so I was really glad to check that off my list. It was especially nice for me because I made Brad take the trailer with the kids, diaper bag and camera. The ride was so picturesque and pleasant, and we really did go "15 miles on the Erie Canal". The kids enjoyed the ride on the way there, but we were pretty cranky on the way back. Aladdin's was fantastic, as always.
The s'more party was a Whipple Park extravaganza and it was great! The kids LOVED them some s'mores (see picture below).
Applebee's was probably the worst food I've ever had a restaurant. It was so bad it was comical. A week or two ago, Brad took a survey for 3rd year med students and received a $20 gift card to Applebee's as compensation. We thought our anniversary would be a great way to use it. Let's just say I have never voluntarily given up half way through my food at a restaurant and not wanted a doggy bag. I left half of the toughest steak ever uneaten on my plate. Brad's meal was no better. Oh well - at least it was free. :) In all reality it totally makes me laugh - we'll never forget this anniversary dinner.
It's been the best 5 years of my life! Here's to many, many more!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Saturday is a special day . . .
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Frosty Bev
When we moved to Rochester everyone emphasized how rough the winters were, but no one mentioned the summers. It has been sizzlin' hot here for months. I'm super cheap so I don't turn the AC on all that much and consequently, Brad is always jonesing for nice cold fizzy drink at the end of the day. He's taken to calling said drink a "frosty bev". I guess Annie has noticed. Today on our way to the market she got this pathetic little voice on and said, "Mommy, can I have a frosty bev with Daddy tonight?" Love it!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Who stole a cookie from the cookie jar?
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