February Family Visit

It was great to have a visit from my parents and my youngest brother, McKay, while he was on his 'ski break'. We love seeing family and having time to catch up and talk. It snowed while they were here but we didn't get any skiing in.

Ira loved uncle 'kk', Papa, and Grandma

Sharon tried out some new recipes for us. These lemon pudding cakes were a nice treat.

My cousin Josh and his family came down for a day from upstate NY.

Ira also loved their visit. (He's a social kid). He was pretty goofy while they were here.

Kennedi, Ira, & Libby were excited they all had the same kind of pajamas. 

Ira was so sad to see them leave, he couldn't stop crying. We look forward to getting

together with them again.

West Point Visit

 While my family was here we made the short trip out to West Point, NY. We did a thorough walk through of the Military Academy's visitor center and free Museum. 

 Reporting for duty.

Down in the basement they had an Atom Bomb display as part of the large weapons exhibit. I'd never been close to one before, amazing to think how destructive such a small and simple looking thing can be.

I also enjoyed the history of war gallery that pointed out the major shifts in military strategies over the years and the war leaders that introduced them.

I don't have many pictures because I was the one lagging behind everyone reading the exhibits, but we can take you when you come to visit :)

Danbury Railway Museum

Happy March everyone!

We're all settled in our new apartment here in Danbury, CT and are having fun in the same ward we were in a year ago.  It's good to see familiar faces and know the territory.  

We had a blast when the Quinns came out to visit last week.  Having family around is the best.  Hint hint. For those of you who have slept on our floor, we just got a second air mattress!

Here are some pics of our visit to the Danbury Railway Museum, otherwise known as Ira's Dream Come True. 

Ira followed Grandpa out to the train yard...

and almost immediately biffed it on some slippery ice.  

Ira calls this the "Thomas Train."  I keep thinking the Thomas shows will bore Ira out of his mind, but since he got scared out of his pants watching Veggie Tales last week, I guess boring is a-o.k.  

We tried to replicate some train yard super model shots they had in the museum with Mckay.  

So majestic. :)

Ira with Grandpa and Grandma.

I'm not a huge fan of having my belly-shot taken, but I had to show off the Pennsylvania car.  

I can still get the top and bottom buttons together on my coat, but nothing else.

Speaking of being pregnant, I'm feeling good and have been nesting like crazy!  Now that I've got less than 4 weeks till my due date, I'm suddenly packing hospital bags, organizing cupboards, setting up babysitting, and reading up on birthing.  I feel like I've just sprinted a few laps after bending over to put on shoes, and can't stop checking out books for Ira about becoming a big brother.  We're really liking our Bradley class, and love the birthing center I'll deliver at if all continues to go well. Here's a link if you're curious. http://www.ctbirthcenter.com/

Work is keeping Anthony busy, and being a few blocks from a library and park are keeping Ira busy.  Spring can't quite decide if it's begun or not, but we try to get out when we can. 

More Quinn photos and updates from Anthony are pending.  

Have a happy Sunday everyone!   

Busy in the Beehive State

After Hawaii, I spent a couple weeks in Utah with the Quinns and was able to visit some of my favorite people.

 Ira and I met Rebecca (Erekson) Hansen in Provo for Thai.  

She's amazing as usual, a newlywed and finishing up law-school.

 Second cousins born a week apart.  They had a blast...probably because they were both up past bed time.

 Diane, Jonny and Dorothy!

 Uncle Robert

 Mary and Barney :)

I'm just a couple months along, but Mary was about to deliver.  Her new baby girl shares my b-day!

Don and Joan Wallace!  Ira didn't want to leave their place.

 The Proulxs: So good to catch up. We had a little Marietta reunion with scrapple and woopie pies. 

 Ira disco skinny dipping in the mountains.

 Ira wanted to do every thing his cousin Truman did.  

 Hehe.

 Mackay and the boys hanging out in the hammock. 

 We hiked Bald Mountain, which is only 2 miles, but gains about 1250 ft.  I thought I'd have permanent indents in my shoulders from the old backpack I used to haul Ira up and back.

 I think Ira has the music bug.  He not only loves the ukulele and the piano but was completely mesmerized by Dallin's trumpet playing. 

 Camping in the Uintas was really fun.  It made me want to camp more since Ira seemed to be in heaven and slept decently. 

 I love the head-wear, especially the pink pants on Jean's head to keep mosquitoes off. 

 Yum! 

 This is out of focus, but it kind of captures the moment.  Ira could not stop kissing his little cousins!  Hopefully he'll like baby's just as much in 6-ish months.

This would be a fun Ellsworth Family reunion activity.  We stayed up ridiculously late doing double.  

 exposures.  

Utah was happy, way more fun then hanging out in our new apartment all by myself + Ira for a month.  I think Ira went through withdrawals when we left, of course until Anthony got home from China. :)  We'll be back soon for Thanksgiving!

Nate's Wedding

We went to Utah for my younger brothers wedding. It was a beautiful occasion.

They are such a cute couple! We wish them the best with their move to San Francisco.

Happy Parents. Congratulations.

 The cousins waiting for the bride and groom.

 The Salt Lake Temple, where the wedding ceremony took place.

 Cousins playing in the Temple Garden.

 Truman and Ira played a lot together, he taught Ira the word, Ball.

 Family Photo Outtakes - Photos that show the families personalities.

 Quinn's - One child, what a ride.

 Simon's - Two children, we can handle it.

 Hopkinson's - five children, we'll survive.

 All the little boys were obsessed with the water fountain at the reception. Ira was soaked half way through the night; unfortunately this didn't seem to help him break through his fear of the bathtub.

The rest of our visit was great. We all loved having some time to spend with family, Ira especially liked spending some time with Grandma.

Painting Easter eggs with the Hopkinsons.

Happy Easter.