Christmas at 30th Street Station, Philadelphia
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! So, it has been so long since my last post. At first that was because my new job was taking all of my time... and then later, it was that my semi-new job was taking up all of my time. But right now I have time on a winter Saturday morning to upload some pictures and share a little bit about what's been going on with us.
Thanksgiving we spent with Bryan's family in Real America. It was a much needed break, and a relaxing four days of watching movies, making cookies, hitting golf balls and doing puzzles. (I'm sorry- I don't have any pictures--- it was THAT relaxing.)
On December 23rd we boarded a train to central Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my family. 11 of the 14 of us were there- Angela, Andres and David spent Christmas in Peru for Andres' brother's wedding. It was another relaxing time, complete WITH SNOW and a six foot snowman. Little ones in the snow are completely adorable, and it is always great to spend time with my parents, sisters and brothers and our so far lone niece, Claire, and two nephews Josiah and Brendan.
On New Year's Day we boarded another train, headed for the extended family get-together in Ephrata, PA. Bryan's mother's family keeps growing every year, and there were 50 of us all together this year. While there, we got to spend time with Bryan's brother's family (with little ones Ephraim, Joel and Caleb), who have moved to Mississippi. Ephraim is now 5!!!!! Crazy. Those guys are awesome and little Caleb is making his way to keeping up with his older brothers.
We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on January 7th with dinner at a nice Korean restaurant in Park Slope and sundaes at Haagen Dazs afterward. Bryan also got me beautiful roses. I am so thankful for Bryan and that he chose to spend the rest of his life with me. I am married to the best person on earth. Seriously.
January has been quiet. Work has even slowed down a little bit, giving Bryan and I more time in the evening to be together. Last weekend our good friend, Gabe, turned 30 and we celebrated by playing his new wii, good times at the Draft Barn and reading parts of Dr. Suess, Harry Potter, and Cormac's The Road.
We also had a chance to catch up with Bryan's college roommate and good friend, Varun, who was in New York for a night a few weeks ago. Tomorrow night we're looking forward to a visit from Lexie, one of my great friends from high school who currently lives in Thailand. We are so blessed with great friends, and it's wonderful to catch up with the oldies but goodies. : ) Last Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr day with his I have a dream speech, a walk in the park with our friend Meg and her b-e-l-o-v-e-d dog Dakota, and making snickerdoodles and home-made pizza.
Meggers and Gabe-ers.
The biggest news on our end is that on January 10th, good good friends of ours, Aubrey and Andrea had their first baby, a little baby girl, Anaiah Jane. We were so thrilled to meet her and are very excited for the new parents. WELCOME ANAIAH!!!!! We're so glad you're here!!!
Thanks for all the Christmas cards and updates we got from all of you. We loved hearing how you were doing and hope 2010 brings many joys and more love into your lives. Remember, our door is always open and it even looks pretty in winter.
Some of our best buds had their first baby last Saturday, so I gotta post pictures our their little girl. Finnegan Marie was born last Saturday. I have never held a younger child- it was incredible. Can't wait to love on her some more. Congrats Meg and Gabe! We love you guys!
Gabe holding his daughter for the first time! Ahh!
A few weekends ago, we went to Real America for a three day weekend. We canoed at Ricketts Glen, made dinner by campfire, played legos and read books with the boys, and we celebrated my birthday, too, which was really nice. Kevin and Megan and the boys are settling back in Pennsylvania. It is really great to have them closer again.
Here is a picture of big brothers Josiah and Brendan, too.
Today we discovered a big green caterpillar in our parsley plant. Bryan researched it and we're pretty sure our visitor is a caterpillar of a black swallowtail butterfly. A few days ago, Bryan had noticed these yellow eggs on the parsley, but didn't know what they were. Yea for life in Brooklyn!!!
Here are some of our tasty tomatoes. Yum yum.
On March 12th, our newest niece entered the world! Micaela Elizabeth was born to my sister Angela and her husband Andres who now live in Houston. Welcome Micaela! This makes eight for us, 6 nephews and 2 nieces now. Wohoo! We will be heading to Texas to meet Micaela in May so will hopefully have lots more pictures then. She was tiny when born, only 5lbs 2oz, as she was born four weeks early. But she and her mom are doing great.
Spring has begun here in Brooklyn. We planted some sugar snap peas two weeks ago and they are just beginning to come up. Jonas enjoys being outside again. The pear trees are out in full bloom along 5th Avenue and the cherry trees are soon to follow. This morning we took a long walk through the park and played catch. It feels good to be in the sun.
Earlier this winter, Aubrey and the boys visited, so I have to throw in some pictures here of their visit. It snowed the morning they were here, but that didn't slow the traffic enough to allow Brendan some shut-eye. He was too enthralled with the trucks rumbling past the window-- beep beep-- he kept saying. Josiah said, Brendan, can't you just go to sleep? 
We are off to Costa Rica in two weeks for vacation. Hopefully we'll have lots of good pictures from that trip. See you after that!
Christmas at 30th Street Station, Philadelphia
On New Year's Day we boarded another train, headed for the extended family get-together in Ephrata, PA. Bryan's mother's family keeps growing every year, and there were 50 of us all together this year. While there, we got to spend time with Bryan's brother's family (with little ones Ephraim, Joel and Caleb), who have moved to Mississippi. Ephraim is now 5!!!!! Crazy. Those guys are awesome and little Caleb is making his way to keeping up with his older brothers.
Meggers and Gabe-ers.
Thanks for all the Christmas cards and updates we got from all of you. We loved hearing how you were doing and hope 2010 brings many joys and more love into your lives. Remember, our door is always open and it even looks pretty in winter. 
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