A Utah Man am I

I joined the University of Utah New England Chapter Alumni Board this year; had nothing better to do.

I was in charge of planning the Alumni BBQ this year.  We were lucky to have such nice weather for the event!  My family looks so good in their Ute Red!

 We had about 50 people turn out for the event, which was pretty good.  It was a lot of fun to meet new people and connect over our roots in good ole Utah.

 All three players on the New England Patriots that played for the U of U also showed up, which was an added bonus.  I'm not really a football fan, but I thought it was cool.  Vivienne really took to Mr. Reggie Dunn, she loved pulling on his beard!  He was tots cool with it since he has a 3 month old dtr himself and seems to like babies.  He asked to hold her, so hey why not?  A famous football player wants to hold my baby, I'm down with that!

 GO UTES!

ZOOventures

 We recently took a trip to the Southwick Zoo with Auntie G and Aunt Stefie.  Stacie, Thom and Baby Prudence also joined.  We got to feed the giraffes which was the highlight of the day for me.  They had 4 new baby giraffes and they were so super cute.

 We all enjoyed the petting zoo where some of us decided a baby goat was a necessity at home, I was not one of them.

 Have you ever seen anything that you could watch for hours?  That was me and this mommy Limur with her two babies.

 Oh look!  The little babes have matching hats!  Auntie love for these cute girls!

 They had one of these drinking fountains at the Hogle Zoo when I was growing up.  They must have them at all the zoos!  

Having a picture with the Lion water fountain is a right of passage as far as I'm concerned.

Memorial Day Musket Shooting

We attended the Somerville Memorial Day parade again this year, it was Viv's first parade, she liked the music and kicked her feet around with glee, but not sure she realized the excitement of the parade.

Every year we go, every year they add more shooting muskets, every year my son is almost in tears from the fear of the sound of the muskets, but yet I just keep taking him to this thing.  Why?  Because I tend to remember the excitement of getting the flags, fire engine hats and tons of candy.  

He's smiling in most of the photos, so I tend to forget the tears in his eyes due to the deafening musket shooting.  Every year I have been able to help him cover his ears to drown out the sound, but this year I had to cover the babe's ears.  Christian was out of town so Berke was left to his own wee little hands covering his ears, it just wasn't enough.  I felt pretty sad that I couldn't help him out, like really sad.  

Anyhow, it was a good time, minus the EIGHT groups of men that shot muskets numerous times!!!

We did gather a lot of candy, and ended the parade with a smile. m  We played and played outside with Isabel and her family after which was also fun.  Isabel has a new baby sister too, she is just one month older than Viv, so it's pretty great to have friends that have children the same age and distance as yours.  

Memorial Day picture with the flags.  After the parade we headed to the park where Berkeley played parade with shooting muskets, so perhaps he isn't too traumatized?

Five Months for Miss Viv

 Is it possible?  After 9 months of utter hell getting this sweet face here, she has totally made it all worth it!?  Okay, Okay, don't get the wrong idea, we are not going to do this again, but seriously, I didn't think it was possible to have such an amazing baby.  

Good sleeper, yup

Constantly smiling, yup

loves eating, yup

complete beauty, absolutely

healthy, uh-huh

Viv is now 5 months old

She has been rolling over for a few weeks now, but her biggest "trick" if figuring out her hands at this point.  She loves to grab and grab and grab, faces, throats, arm hair...you name it, she grabs it.  It's getting to that fun time where if you try to eat with her on your lap you wont get much food in your mouth.  She is too busy grabbing your plate, napkin, fork, spoon, table cloth, cup.

We love watching her grow and especially love that she smiles at us as soon as her eyes open every morning.  This happy girl makes us so happy!

We love you sweet Viv!

mOtHerS DaY

Mother's Day was a beautiful 80 degree day in Boston and there was no other way to spend it than by being outside.  I started my day off with a run around the neighborhood with my new GPS watch (Happy Mother's Day to me!) while the boys made some yummy breakfast sandwiches.  We got ready and got on the T and headed to Fenway Park which was open for free on Mother's Day to families, and we were able to walk around the field, go into the dug out, and other cool things.  It was neat to see the park from such a different and unique angle.  

 Once we finished our fun at Fenway, we got back on the train and headed to the Public Gardens in Downtown Boston for a picnic and playing.  The gardens are beautiful this time of year with the green grass, freshly planted flowers, the pond with the swan boats and all the ducks and swans swimming around.  It really was the PERFECT way to spend Mother's Day.

 How did I get so lucky to be a mom to two of the most adorable souls I've ever met?!?

Ms. Vivienne at 4 months old

 Our little angel baby is 4 months old.  It's amazing how fast time flies when babies are here.  We are all COMPLETELY 100% smitten with this doll face!  Vivienne is a dream baby, truly.  She has such a happy and smiley personality.  She will smile for anyone who looks at her, she is just happy as anything to be anywhere.  I have had half a dozen people tell me that she is the happiest baby they have ever seen (so it is not just me as her mom saying this).  Her mom is also happy because she is such an amazing sleeper.  Baby girl has quickly adjusted to a bed time of 9:30a.m. eats at 6:00 a.m. while still asleep (10 minute refueling) and then is asleep until 9:00 a.m. in the morning.  She has done amazingly well sharing a bedroom with her brother, and by some miracle his singing in the middle of the night and in the morning do not wake her up!  

 Viv's latest tricks are rolling onto her tummy, lifting her head up like a champ, grabbing onto toys and putting them in her mouth, and giggling at her brother.  She is a champion eater and is growing at rapid speeds; she grows so much faster than her brother.  Everyone who meets her adores her, and it's pretty easy to see why.

Berkeley is really fond of his sister and it is fun to see their relationship start.  Viv loves to watch him play and he is one of the only people who can make this gal belly laugh, besides the little girl who helps watch Viv, Ms. Charlotte.  He is a big helper when his sister needs something, and when she is crying he talks to her in a sweet little voice that would melt your heart.  

We are so happy this little gal is in our family, we sure do love her and everything seems as perfect as it possibly could be.

Hippidy Hoppidy Easter's on it's Way!

I absolutely love Easter because it is full of fun traditions that bring our community, friends and family together.  This year we hosted a block party for all the families with kids and had a Easter Egg Hunt and brunch.  We are missing a few of the kids on our street, but it was super fun to get them all together and see how well all the kids interacted and looked out for each other.  Even though we have a good number of kids on our street none of them go to the same school (Somerville is not a go to your neighborhood school type of city), so it can be hard for all the kids to connect.  This even was a perfect way to bring them all together.

 The adults did a great job of hiding the Easter Eggs, so much so that the kiddos needed their help reaching a lot of them.

 We had some very happy egg hunters by the end of the event.

 Our neighbor Andy having a little bonding time with little Viv.  Her little Red Sox sweater was made by a nun living at the nursing home; seriously so sweet!

We also did our traditional Easter Sugar Cookie making and decorating and egg dying.

We took a break to watch my dad get married (the internet has changed everything).  Congrats to him and Hope for tying the knot!  Our family looks forward to getting to know Hope more and welcoming her into this cooky bunch.  We are happy for Papa!

 Easter morning was a success!  Look at these two cuties!  The Easter Bunny found our house, goodies were found in the baskets and every little one was happy in our household.

 We had a pre Easter photo shoot and came up with this gem!

Hoppy Easter!!