Fast forward a few years

On Sunday I found all three girls in E's and R's bathroom getting ready for church. I can almost see them now in 10 years doing the same thing. I just wanted to freeze the moment when they actually LIKED sharing a bathroom and getting ready together.
I really like these three ...
R gave K a massive haircut. I think she looks a little like a munchin from the "Wizard of Oz". Even with a bad haircut I could just eat this little person up. I am so glad she's mine.

Moving Announcements coming soon

This is my fourth time trying to get photos done for our moving announcements. It is so hard to get three little girls to look in the same direction. I have even had to resort to bribing them with money. This was the best yet and still I do not have one where they are all smiling and looking at the camera ... and it cost $4.

By the way, R has two new best friends, and of course they are both boys. This little guy is a trooper. He played cars AND house with her. Her other friend, Jake, had to be a cheerleader for part of their playdate. Fortunately for the boys, she also likes sports.

First day of Pre-School

R started Busy Bee Pre-School. She was so excited to start. I wish she could even pretend to be as sad as her poor Mommy. She came home and reported it was "the best day of her whole life".
I told her that I miss her too much while she is gone at school. When I told her that I was going to home pre-school her she told me "No you can't! The police will come." Since I didn't want to get in trouble with the police, I sent her to Miss Leigh. But I do miss that kid when she is gone.

The one sad thing about R starting school, her best friend, K, sure does miss her. When K wakes up in her crib she will first yell "Mommy, Mommy!" and if that doesn't work she tries the sure fire one "WILEY!!! WILEY!!"

a B-day gift we may never be able to top

For Mike's birthday the girls and I got him an HD projector. This past weekend we invited some friends over for movie night and a smore roast in our fire pit. It was so fun I hardly even mind that Mike bought a 72 inch screen for the projector to watch movies in the "media room" downstairs (of course, before he bought the screen the "media room" was called the play room). In all fairness to Mike the screen is basically a framed pull down screen like the kind in most offices.

Happy Birthday Mike!

The girls call Mike "our boy". I recently was thinking about that and how special Mike is. Mike has the absolute adoration of four women. No other man can even compare in our eyes. We are so lucky to have that boy.

They really don't make a lot of men like Mike. He completely loves the girls in his life and works so hard for us. He is brilliant and compassionate. He is hard worker, both at home and at the office. I like that he has a solid work ethic. He can also fix anything. He loves to read and still finds ways to learn new things.

The girls still get excited every time he comes home. I want to always remember our babies (and now big girls) running opened arm to their Daddy when he can come home before bedtime. I love how they are so excited they trip over each other. Mike is just has excited and in one swift motion manages to collect all three of them in a huge hug. I hope I can always remember the way all four of them laugh as he then twirls them around.

As far as boys go, we have the best. Happy Birthday. We love you.

Quintessential New England wedding, Sarah, LeAnn and one terrific grandma

This besotted groom could not take his eyes off ...

... this breathtakingly beautiful bride for even one moment. It was truly the most elegant and tender wedding.
LeAnn, Sarah (the gorgeous bride) and myself met our freshman year at college. In fact, we met our first week. To be together with them once again was such a joy. I love these women and am honored to call them friends. Both are mothers to four beautiful and brilliant children apiece. Both are so amazingly talented and genuinely intelligent. Both are as a beautiful now as the day we met.

Sarah's sweet husband let Sarah meet us for lunch while they were on their honeymoon. The night before Sarah's wedding we stayed up and laughed too late. It really felt like we were 18 again, except with better boyfriends and better purses. We wanted more time together and Scott is such a good guy that they met us for lunch the day after the wedding in Boston. My favorite city and my favorite friends.

LeAnn and I had only one day in Boston. It was so fun to be tourist in my home, well old home. I cannot believe what we squeezed in just a day. LeAnn came to visit me in Boston once before, 15 years ago. Unfortunately my boyfriend at the time also came home with me for Christmas that year. Needless to say I was terrible hostess. But this time was much better. We stayed at the Lenox. Home to Jimmy Fisher, the 80 year old concierge who does this for fun when he is not at his winter home in Florida. Love the Lenox. Love LeAnn.

As for the girls, gratefully Grandma came from Utah. They loved their time with her. K, in particular, enjoyed having time to get to know her better. We are glad grandma and grandpa are closer. Andrea, thank you a million times. It meant the world to all of us that you would come. I am not very good at leaving the girls but they were in excellent hands. Just look at the job she did with Mike.

Poor LeAnn, however, had to endure me calling home ALL THE TIME. It was my longest trip away from the girls. It was HARD. I am not very good at it and don't suspect that I will leave again for a long time. I just ached for them.

New friends

We love living here. Moving from Boston was the most difficult thing we have ever done. Boston is my home. And we really thought that we would be there forever. Our decision was one that took literally almost a year to make. Often we would vascillate day by day. We are happy to be here. We have already made so many friends. Our ward is fantastic. Our neighborhood is great. There are so many children. Most our neighbors have moved from somewhere else so they have really created this welcoming feeling. We have a rather large East Coast contingency. Our next door neighbors are from New Jersey, the house two doors down are from Boston (can you believe that? He is a regional VP for Reebok), our friends across the street are from Vermont. Red Sox games here are neighborhood gatherings. Many of our neighbors are from California. Colorado has more residents born out of the state than any other state.

The neighborhood is rather idyllic. On weekend nights the cul de sac across the street has a neighborhood smore roast and adult vs. kids kickball game. They have painted bases on the street in the cul de sac. When we moved in everyone came over to introduce themselves and bring treats (that is so different than Back East). It has been so nice.

E has a good friend two doors down that is also in her class. The little boy across the street is R's exact age. Our neighbors are all so close that all the fences have gates between the yards so that the children can go from yard to yard.

Our ward could not be better. It is so nice to be in a ward with permanent families. We have over 60 youth. It is also so nice to have a ward that is our neighborhood. Everyone has been so welcoming. We love it already and see ourselves making really good friends.

Pictures of the house coming soon

Mike and I beat our record and unpacked in a week. It still cannot believe that there were so many boxes. When did we acquire so much "stuff". The best part of moving is that is allows you to cull through all your belongings.
The girls were troopers.
Here's a preview. Here is our formal living room and formal dining room. Which we never use.

Late Birthday

R. had her fourth birthday. I just love this little girl. She told me the day after her birthday "Mommy, now that I am fa (four) I am now nice." She still is the funniest person I know. But she has become the most helpful little girl. She is just like her daddy in that the way she shows you she loves you is she tries to find ways to serve you. She loves to help clean. She tries to help with K.. She is so thoughtful that way.

Daddy loves her chubby cheeks and her funny sayings.

Whenever one of us is feeling sick R. immediately becomes our nurse. She is so tender and does whatever she can to make us feel better and more comfortable.

R. is also absolutely fearless. She is so brave. She will try anything often while mumbling to herself "I can do it! I can do it!".

She is also very smart. She is starting to read. Everyday while K naps R wants Mommy do do reading lesson with her. I have to give her homework when E practices reading and math. R loves homework.

R is also so comfortable to start a conversation with any child, boy or girl, big or small. There are a lot of big kids in our neighborhood and she has become the neighborhood mascot.

I really love this girl. Her smile melts my heart. I cannot believe I still get to keep her.

The birthday fairies come while the girls are sleeping and decorate.

First Day of School

E started her first day of school already. School starts early here. Which, at least this year, we are glad because it will help her make new friends. We are so lucky that she already knew some of the girls from church in her class/grade. Also, her new best friend who lives two doors down is in her class. So she started with friends already.
She was nervous before school started. The night before was esp. hard. It was so hard to see this confidant and happy child so scared. My heart was literally breaking for her. Being new at school is traumatic, I remember. But she came home and reported that she loved it. Her friends helped her along. I think it helped that her teacher has the same last name as her best friend in Boston.
There is most beautiful trail in back of our house that leads right to school. All the neighborhood kids that she has become close to, and the moms walk.
I just love this little girl. I still marvel that she is growing up so quickly. I have to admit watching her grow so quickly is hard for me. I love this time in our families' life. I don't want it to change.
I am so proud of a oldest baby. She is kind and smart. She has a heart bigger than her little body. It is because of her love for others that others just love her. She is so social as well. I don't know why I worried. I knew she would be fine (I might not be). I love that she loves school. She already knows she wants to go MIT like her daddy and grandpa. Math is her favorite subject, just like her mommy. Maybe when she is at MIT she can develop magic fairy dust that can stall time.

Missionary Grandma

While my mother was visiting with us she got her mission call to Torono, Canada. We are so happy for her. The girls are, however, so sad that Grandma will be gone. When we drove her to the airport so that she could spend some time with my sister in Utah my girls were absolutely devastated. Poor R cried for hours and kept saying "I am going to be a missionary just like Grandma when I'm a big girl".

Best part of the new house ...

The best part of the new house for the girls is, of course, the swing set and trampoline. The girls and their friends literally play out there all day long.

Community Clubs, neighborhood pools and cousin visits

The town we live in has the most amazing community clubs. I have never seen anything like this (except for when we wet on vacation with the Choes). It has 4 huge clubs and each are different. They all for members of our town only (although you can get guest passes - so come and visit. It makes a great vacation). All have indoor and outdoor pools. The pools each offer something different. Some have zero gravity pool inside, some outside, some have indoor water parks, one has a lazy river. Some have huge water slides. Most have tennis courts but one has indoor courts (which is where both girls will start lessons twice a week). One has a huge climbing wall with climbing lessons for all ages. They offer any class you can think of, including equestrian. They all have work out really nice work out facilities and indoor running tracks. This place is seriously a family dream. We love it. We each have a favorite club.
Plus our neighborhood has a private pool. It is near our house and the girls love it. We always see friends from the ward there.
Their cousin from Omaha already came to visit. They were so excited to take her to a club. Unfortunately, they were also devastated when she left. But she did come back the next weekend. We love having cousins so close. It has been so nice for all of us.

E. our soccer girl

http://www.yousendit.com/download/Q01IbUpldzg5eFh2Wmc9PQ

One of the parents on E's old soccer team made this video of their past season. It i really cute.

Day 3 + 4 - Chicago (driving cross country)

I love Chicago. It is one of my favorite cities in the world. I used to go there for work a bit and really fell in love with it. It has everything a city could every offer, plus its the headquarters of the "American Girl Store". But Chicago also has that mid-western friendlessness. The best part was meeting up with my best friend from college, LeAnn and her perfect family. Even though we haven't seen each other in far too long it seemed like no time had passed. I am really excited to have LeAnn, Sarah and myself all together at Sarah's in New Hampshire and Boston in a few weeks. It has been far too long since we have all been in the same room.

At the top of the Sears Tower

E. spanning the distance from Boston to Denver at the Field Museum.

The always glamorous LeAnn

LeAnn took us to get some of Chicago's famous deep dish pizza.

We also booked a birthday party for R at the American Girl Cafe. She was in heaven. I think the girls would rather come here than Disneyland even. Their dolls, Samantha and Popsicle even got makeovers. And as for Mike - he could not have been a better sport. I think he may be getting use to all this girl stuff (or maybe not).