Terrific Weekend

We had a terrific weekend visiting with our good friends, Anne, Mark, John, Luke and Grace. They have an absolutely beautiful new home and, according to the kids have some great toys! I enjoyed actually having a few minutes to talk with Anne and visit with Grace - she is such a doll! And, Mark was terrific with the kids. They even forgot the great toy they got to use while there, the driving jeep!

The kids ran around in their big backyard and played ball for a while before jumping on Mr. Mark.
On Sunday, we spend a lazy morning at home. We washed the dogs, then washed the bathroom and did several loads of laundry! :) In the afternoon, we attended an interfaith concert where many choirs from both churches and synogogues sang. The kids were very excited to see Cantor Marge and see her sing.Sela not only picked out her own outfit, which she loves to do, but also choose the matching purse!

Playing Dress Up!

Aunt Sherry and Uncle Saul sent Sela a trunk with dressup clothing for her birthday. The kids loved playing with it last night!!

Wonderful Cold Weekend

Last week, we got some snow. Here is a picture from my office taken during the storm:

Unfortunately, it was late when we got home, so we didn't get to play in the snow.

We had a long weekend, and had a great time. It was very cold here over the weekend, with the temp in the teens and twenties. On Saturday, we ran errands and did some cooking before taking a long nap and then watching the Maryland Terrapins BEAT the #1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels!!! GO TERPS!

On Sunday, we had lunch with Bubie Ruby, or as Sela calls her Bubie Rub-ee. It was wonderful as always to spend time with her.

On Monday, I took the kids to a movie. We saw VeggieTales: The Pirates who do nothing. The kids enjoyed the experience. I think though that their favorite part was the popcorn and soda. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. Here is Nathan enjoying one of his favorite snacks - a strawberry yogurt milkshake:

Birthday Trip to Florida

We took a wonderful trip to Florida last weekend and met Auntie Mary, Juliet and Mr. Rob. The weather was terrific and the kids got along and played very well together.

At breakfast the first morning the kids even got balloon animals.
We were able to spend time in the pool.
The kids needed a rest after their busy morning in the pool. They were exhausted! The purple mark on Sela's cheek is a bruise which she got only minutes after we entered the hotel room when she fell into the dresser.
My handsome boy in his "soccer" shirt.
Sela loved the full length mirrors on the closet doors and would go and look at herself and say "I pretty". Here she is modeling one of her new birthday gifts, a nightgown with princesses.While in Tampa, we visited the zoo. No surprise the kids LOVED it!Nathan even got to feed a giraffe!On our final day, before returning home, we took the kids to the mall to the play area where they climed and ran around. It was a good plan because they were terrific on the plane ride home!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!! Who isn't such a baby anymore!

Happy Birthday Sela!

We woke up early to sing Happy Birthday to Sela this morning and she told me "NO, STOP" and then added, not in her usually mumbling voice but very clearly, "I WANT MY BUBIE". I know she misses her Bubie and PopPop, but I think she really didn't like our singing.

It is hard to believe that my baby isn't such a baby anymore. She is grown and developed so much in the year since she has been home. Here are pictures of her from this morning:

We are looking forward to going to Tampa this weekend and celebrating her birthday with Auntie Mary, Mr. Rob and Juliet and then coming home to have yet another celebration with family and friends.

3rd Installment of 2007 Year End Review

As the summer continued, the kids still enjoyed being naked and we spent as much time as we could at the pool at Aunt Sherry and Uncle Saul's house.
The kids are growing so much and learning new things every day. It is such fun to watch them experience all these new things!
We are so very lucky to have our family close by and were able to spend lots of time with Bubie and PopPop and Aunt Teri over the summer.
Aunt Teri even taught Nathan to jump into the water.
After a few practices, he wasn't even afraid to jump, then "swim" to Aunt Teri.

For Nathan's third birthday, we had a pool party at Aunt Sherry and Uncle Saul's house with family. Nathan received a surprise phone call while eating cake from Juhani in Indonesia! Unfortunately, he was more interested in the cake at the time.
We were so glad Laura was able to join us for the party. The kids love her!

We also had a short visit to Charlotte to visit Uncle Rick and the family. My kids had a great time at their community pool. They enjoyed playing with their cousins and we hope to visit them again soon.

At end of August, we traveled to Hawaii for Juhani's wedding. We decided to go early and do some sightseeing. Bubie and PopPop left about a week before us and headed first to the Big Island of Hawaii. The kids and I flew directly to Maui where PopPop and Bubie met us a day later.

While in Maui, we took a ride on the Sugar Cane Train.

And, I think the hightlight of the trip (at least for me) was the snorkel trip we took to Molakai. The kids loved being on the boat, and Nathan even got in the deep water with us to snorkel.

Sela tried on the mask, but was more comfortable waiting on the boat with Bubie.

It was a long hard day, and the kids were worn out!

The next day, we took the very long trip down the Road to Hana. We made it to Hana Beach and saw the black sand and had lunch.
The following day was a travel day. We went to Oahu to get ready for the wedding in Honolulu. Mom and Dad made a very attractive couple in their matching outfits.

Sela and Nathan took their first ride in a limo.
It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so honored to be invited and take part in Sarah and Juhani's special day.
Of course, it was extra special because Bubie and PopPop were there with us.
The luau we attended after the wedding was fascinating - and the food was good too!

After the wedding, we took a day trip to a beach in Oahu with Juhani, Sarah and Laura.


While in Oahu, we took a trip to China town. Sela dressed up for the occassion and looked so pretty. Here she is at the end of the meal with rice all over her nose and face.
We had an amazing summer and were fortunate to have spent time with some of our favorite people.