Jamestown, Monticello, and Asian Buffet

I'm currently recovering from the all you can eat Asian (Mongolian/Japanese/Thai) Buffet we ate at this evening. Watching the Olympics I feel guilty for trying to take the gold medal for eating the most. My younger brother, McKay, has proven that I am no longer in that part of life where I can eat at will. Time to retire and take up a life of more responsible and healthy eating. While I recover I thought I would update you all on the adventures in Virgina.

Our first site to visit was Jamestown. We went to the recreated 'Jamestown Settlement' where they have replicas of what the original fort houses, boats, and Native American homes would have been like. After that we headed to the historic Jamestown out on the island, which was really just ruins and old foundations.

This is a reconstructed church house. McKay got on the pulpit to call us all to repentance. Under the martial law of the fort everyone was required to go to church twice a day.Reporting for duty, a fresh supply of of people to replenish the dwindling numbers of the struggling settlement.Taken on the river at the site of the original fort in Historic Jamestown.

My youngest brother, McKay, checking out the ruins of some of the homes.We went out to Monticello. They had been hit with a lot of snow so we couldn't really explore the grounds too much, but Thomas Jefferson's house is really pretty cool.

Sharon, Ira, and I at the entrance of Monticello. Someday we will have a house as cool as this....

Ira's Baby Blessing

We have rendezvoused with my parents in Williamsburg, VA. Sharon's parents came down from Washington, D.C. and we had Ira's baby blessing today. It was great to have both sets of parents present. We got together for a nice three generation historical photograph.

After much anxiety, anticipation, and proactive pursuit of the UPS delivery truck on our snowy roads, we procured out new camera before the trip. I'm hoping to figure our how to take some great pictures as we explore Williamsburg.

I liked this one of Ira living it up on vacation with Grandpa Quinn. I love how small he is. The most up to date pictures can be seen on the Ira Album.

Snowed In!

We got hit with a pretty big storm. One of the biggest in Pittsburgh in years. It piled up fast. Overnight I would say we got about a foot of snow on top of 3-4 inches that fell in the afternoon. Our street is only partially plowed. The plow started down one end, but stopped because on the other end there was a car stuck in the middle of the street. So we now have a snow barrier on one end of the street. The neighborhood came together to dig the car out that was stuck. Sharon looked out the window this morning and said, "Hey, everyone is shoveling the street!" It was only enough to get the car out of the way, our car is still quite boxed in. You can see the pictures I took below and a video of my initial reaction as I pried open the car door. Enjoy.




A video as I was breaking into the car through the snow.

Bom Dia

Bom Dia means good day or good morning in Portuguese.

This morning we woke up snowed in and all our appointments and commitments canceled. We were lazy and stayed in bed for a long time. We then got up and made an amazing breakfast.

Our main course was French Nuggets, which is french toast eaten like chicken nuggets... we tare the bread up into pieces and soak them in egg, then fry it all up at once with cheese. We eat it with ketchup or fresh tomatoes. Today we had it with some avocados we found for cheap. Yum.

Our side drink was an açai shake. We went shopping yesterday and I found a juice company called Bom Dia, which it appears is from Brazil. I bought their Açai juice. While on my mission in Brazil I fell in love with this fruit. We would often stop at little juice shops and get açai pulp blended with ice, which created a slushie/smoothie texture. Added to this would be guarana, another amazon fruit known to be energizing, and sometimes sweet and condensed milk poured in. This would be served with granola and banana slices on top. I've been curious to try some of the açai juices that have sprung up in the US. I guess people are starting to call it a 'super fruit' and a bunch of weird diets and things have popped up. Anyways, I blended the juice (which also had blueberry juice and a bunch of other stuff) with some vanilla ice-cream. It was good. Not as good as what I used to get in Brazil, but still good. If anyone knows where I can get açai pulp I would love to know about it.

So, that is our start to a snowed in day in Pittsburgh. Bom Dia!

Camera Test

Our graduation present is going to be a new camera and so we are testing out a few products. I'm borrowing our neighbors SLR camera to test it out. It's a Canon Rebel something or other. I made the collage above from a few of the pictures I took with it.

I've had a point and shoot camera, Canon powershot SD 550, for the last five years and it has served me well. I'm a hobbyist photographer. I'm a graduating beginner, but not quit amateur, so a new camera that will allow more options and creative control will be nice.

Below are some pictures I took with the Canon Rebel. I feel there is a pretty noticeable difference from the pictures I've taken previously. Since I already have some loyalty to Canon, I think I will stick with a canon for my next one. Any opinions on cameras?Forget sucking thumbs, he's getting to to the good stuff early. This was not staged, he happened to move just as I was getting the camera ready

to shoot.

Sharon is an amazing mom.

This was getting ready to go on a walk. He was pretty excited, so much so he slept the whole walk.

Ira Video

I decided to try and use the video recording capabilities of my camera today. For some reason I hardly use it, but thought I should start getting used to it. I made a video of Ira this morning hanging out on the couch. Enjoy.

Quinn Update - Sharon

Hi Family,
It's been a pleasant and lazy Saturday Morning. We ate German pancakes and watched Meet the Robinsons, which made me laugh so hard I cried at one point.
Ira is getting cuter every day. His umbilical cord fell off this morning which helps with the cuteness. Ugh. He slept pretty well last night and is eating really well. He's chunking up a little and makes really cute noises. This morning he peed on himself again during a diaper change. Ah, the skills of life.
I'm continuing to recover well, and still trying to improve on the whole nursing thing. i made french bread yesterday which turned out a little flat but tasty. I guess my biggest news is that I've been accepted to the University of Sussex! Yeah, kind of random. Let me explain.
This summer, before I found out I was pregnant and before we had any idea of what Anthony's work situation would be, I started applications to the Universities of Sussex and London for grad school. The London application kind of fell through the cracks, since after completing the online application they told me they were having technical difficulties and that I'd have to start all over again. When I found out that we were pregnant, and then that Ant had a job, I kind of put all efforts on hold. And then two nights before Ira was born I had a dream about the University of Sussex, and woke up to an e-mail from their administration asking for my letters of recommendation. The next day ( the day before going into labor) I made sure one of the letters got sent on it's way. And this week, I got an official offer...although they can't confirm it until the second letter gets sent (which should take 2 weeks according to my kind of slacker professor.) So, the woman I've been corresponding with said I can defer easily for a year, and can defer the second year with special permission from the administration. I'm not stressing over it. Our motto has been that if the stars align for England, we'll go. If not, Heavenly Father has other plans for us. A lot would still have to happen. For instance, Ant would have to find a job there, and we'd have to move and figure childcare for Ira for a year, etc. The program sounds amazing though. MA of Anthropology of Development and Social Transformation.
Meanwhile I'll worry about when to fit in a shower and nap, and feeding our cute little sweet potato. Life is happy.
Anthony's been enjoying volunteering with the United Way and seems to be learning a lot of cool tax..doing skills. People are taking good care of us here, with periodic meals and visits from friends.
Love you guys!
Sharon