Portland, ME

There are a lot of places that we want to go to in close proximity to Danbury. One of my best friend, Dave Sutherland, was finishing a short medical stint in Portland, Maine so we decided to make our first trip up there to see him. It was great to visit with Dave and explore a little piece of the eastern most state. The weather was beautiful and the food was wonderful. The pictures below tells our story well.

We drove half way up Thursday evening and stayed the night in Massachusetts. The campground was nice, I think we missed all the summer traffic. We stayed in this one room cabin for the night, it made things easier with Ira.

Friday we finished our drive up and meet Dave on the Eastern Promenade. Ira was a good sport, so was Dave. We were happy the got along so well.

We took a ferry to Peaks Island to explore the Island life of the Northeastern United States. Ira was cute on the boat and maybe a little sea sick...

There were these cool scooner boats you could get rides on, we didn't do it this time around.

Dave was our Portland, ME expert tour guide. I really enjoyed hanging out with him.

After about three years of searching for a good sun hat, Sharon finally found one on the island.  It turns out to be the old lady hat of choice there. 

The guys exploring the Island coast.

The ferocious coastal wildlife. Don't be deceived.

Saturday morning we headed out to the Bradbury State Park and did this grueling .3 mile and couple hundred foot elevation hike to the top of Bradbury Peak. Okay, so it wasn't all that scary, just Dave at the top. You could see the ocean off in the distance.

Fate would have it that on our way to Bradbury we discovered a little community celebration of Fun Day! That's right, Fun Day. We couldn't help but humor fate by stopping in to get in on the fun. The main(e) event was the local dog show complete with course. We enjoyed the fire departments juicy hamburgers and I quote, their "wicked good, fresh, dug up three days ago from a local farm" french fries. I might be biased as an Idahoan, but they weren't all they were hyped up to be. The hamburger and root beer float were excellent.

 I do have to insert the irony of the state of ice cream in Maine. While on the Island the day before we got some great fresh fruit pies 'a la mode' (with ice cream) however, the ice cream was more...I mean all cream and no ice. We decided later that night to try again at the famous Friendly's restaurant, but to our great astonishment the ice cream didn't make it intact yet again. The irony of the story comes in at Fun Day. The ice cream in our root beer floats was solid and as icy as ice cream comes, the one ice cream dessert where you really just want the cream to make your root beer more tasty.

A trip to Maine wouldn't be complete without a visit to a lighthouse. This one is the most picturesque in all of Maine. It was very scenic. It was also nice to sit next to the ocean and listen to the waves crashing on the jagged shore.

Second half of our summer nomad adventures

Ant, Camille and the boys.

Visiting friends out West. Why can't all of our friends live in the same little village?

Ira getting a lesson in dressing up from his older and wiser cousin.

Ira, again learning from his Quinn cousins.

I've never seen two babies flapping their arms so excitedly.  They almost flew away. 

I guess we do look like sisters.  After all of these years of denying it. 

Nephews:  Whenever I'm sad, all I'll have to do is look at bat boys face.

Mac came to Lancaster, PA for the National Jamboree.  That's right, Amish country wedged right between NYC and DC.

Family reunions are the best.  I need pictures everyone!  I'm posting the only couple I took.

View of Marietta.

Ira's been obsessed with this random umbrella I bought forever ago.  Maybe not the safest baby toy...and I guess it's bad luck go have it open inside, but his mouth dropped open, and I thought his eyes were going to pop out the first time I opened it and closed it for him.

Moving to Connecticut and the Cool Whip family

Alright Alright, it’s been about 2 months since I’ve written an update.  So, I’ll let the pictures tell the story of the rest of our Summer Nomad Adventures.  And I’ll start with the last couple of weeks.  We made it to Connecticut!  Woohoo!  As Anthony mentioned, I made the move from PA to CT with Ira and met him up there after his  GE Bootcamp.  It was a little crazy and a little exhausting, but it was definitely manageable.  This story sums it up I think.  It’s also a kind of lengthy writing exercise, so pleeeeaaase don’t feel bad about skipping it.

My first full day in Connecticut, I woke from my sleeping bag next to little Ira.  I had him rested, fed, changed, and ready to go buy milk and cereal so I didn’t starve and literally, as I was reaching for the doorknob, the plumber called.  He knew our bathroom sink was backed up and was on his way.  “I’ll be there in 20 minutes, no big deal,” he reassured in an Italian-ish New York accent.   An hour and a half later he arrived, and 2 hours after reaching for the doorknob, I was out the door.  Anyway, it ended up taking a bit longer to run errands, and was during Ira’s nap and meal time, so he was grumpy to say the least.  And I, well I didn’t really have to interact with anyone, otherwise I probably would’ve noticed myself nearing grumpiness.  I was heading home at 3 when I realized that I hadn’t had anything to eat since my cereal with water on it for breakfast.   I also realized that the majority of the food I bought would have to wait for my kitchen appliances to arrive with the movers the next day.  All my energy seemed to suddenly drain.  And then over the hill, a beautiful roundish sign representing Burger King came into view.  I swear I heard choruses of angles.  Many of you might not know this about me, but I avoid fast food.  I’m not a big meat eater to begin with, but I reserve most fast food experiences for emergencies.  After days of packing, cleaning, driving, shopping and getting lost all with Ira practically attached to me, I was exhausted.  This was a caloric emergency.  I ordered a fat sugar injection in the form of a large Oreo shake and fries and I didn’t even wait to put my foot on the gas to start stuffing my face.   And the shake, oh  man, it was so picture perfect.  It even had this whipped cream oozing out the top.  Well, it wasn’t real whipped cream.  It was something that belongs in the cool whip, marshmallow family, cousin to the stuff inside Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies.  But it was soooo good.  So deliciously, artificially, satisfying.  So that pretty much sums up the move.  Maybe not a stressful, but stretching experience that drove me to enjoy and even love a fast food experience.  Mmmm.  Cool whip family.

Other highlights about the move:
•    Anthony!  I cannot tell you how happy I am to have him back.  A month is too long. 
•    Homemaking:  I’ve always associated this with cross stitching and knitting, but I’m realizing that I really like it!  I like the challenge of taking the blank canvas of an empty apartment and making it into a refuge.  I like the interior decorating, artistic curatorial, music selecting, baking, culinary arts of it all.  It’s good to have access to our kitchen stuff after a summer of living out of boxes.
•    Danbury:  It’s awesome.  Ira and I have taken many walks and have discovered that there’s lots happening.  Lebanese, Indian and Jewish festivals, free concerts in the park, farmer’s markets, etc.  Prairie Home Companion just had a show here the other day!..and we missed it.  But it’s still cool.
•    The ward:  Very nice.  Lots of families just a few years and a few kids beyond us.  A great demographic for advice collecting.
•    Ira:  He is so great.  Yesterday I took him for a checkup and vaccines.  He has stretched out over the summer.  He’s in the 90th percentile for height at over 28 inches long, and in the 45 percentile for weight at 18 lbs.  His head has gotten bigger.  In April it was in the 25th percentile and now it’s in the 75th.   Details details.  I must be a mom.  Anyway, he’s doing well adjusting to solids.  It’s sooo nice to finally have a high chair.  In PA, I was feeding him in my arms, kind of using my arms as a strait jacket, but somehow he would use lightning fast action to whip his foot into his mouth, and I’m not sure how… but in a fraction of a second rice cereal would be EVERYWHERE.  High chairs are nice.
•    We’ll post pictures of our place when we put our last finishing touches on it.  Come visit!

Life in an Airport

I've started work! I'm currently in Detroit, MI at a month long training called 'Boot Camp'. The first three weeks have been quite the experience. 

Now back to Boot Camp. The best part has been making connections with people from all over the globe. They've put us up at the hotel attached to the airport which definitely has its advantages. The first week of training was held at the hotel, since then we've been going out to a nice new facility they located too. It's build next to an old rock query they turned into a lake. It's actually pretty nice. They have a walking trail around the lake that is a little over a mile so I get out and walk it most days. 

The bad part has been being away from Sharon. I'm grateful she has only had a handful of days where she's been with out the companionship and company of family or friends. Sharon will be coordinating the move to Connecticut this week. I'm praying everything goes well.

As we settle in the blog should start to be more consistent again. Speaking about work and the blog I feel I should put the disclaimer out that this is a personal blog, not a professional blog. The opinions and thoughts expressed here in no way reflect the official opinions, thoughts, or views of my employer.

Summer Nomad Adventures

June 14th, 2010

Hi Family!
Mom doesn't know where we are, and Allison was thoroughly confused with our travel plans, so I thought I'd send a quick update on where we are and what we've been up too.

Last week, we drove from Marietta to Niagara Falls where we spent a fun day or two with the Romeros. We flew out of Buffalo the next day and landed in Las Vegas. We drove to Phoenix the next day to hang out with the Ellsworths, and after 3 days met up

with the Quinns back in Las Vegas. Early this morning, most everyone headed out to hike for 4 days in Havasupi....did I spell that right?...and Valine and I are watching babies and chillin' at the resort.

The Romeros are doing great, and our prayers are with Ruben as he prepares for heart surgery. They're so fun! Our time in AZ was a blast. Our first day there, we had ice cream three times: morning snack, afternoon snack, and on waffles for dinner. Ah, it's good to be an Ellsworth. We had lots of fun at the Heard Museum and Science Center, and just hanging out playing games and watching movies. I hope we can have a back yard like theirs some day. I felt like I was living with the swiss family robinson.

Our few days with the Quinns have also been a blast. We discovered shuffle board, which I always thought was for old people, but turns out to be really really fun. Who knew? The boys and I have checked out the strip a couple of times, and spontaniously saw The Lion King Saturday night. We left here at 7:30 and made it just in time for the 8:00 showing. I've been wanting to see it since I was in eleventh grade and wasn't disappointed. Much of the music sent me back to Africa and songs sung from the bottom of the soul. I can only sing that uninhibited if I'm about a mile away from civilization.

This morning Anthony, Nate, McKay, Paul and Camille left for their mega hike, and Ira is napping, Valine is quilting, and Truman is playing with his little soccor ball and looking sweetly mischievous. Life is good.
I love you all!

Sharon


June 26th, 2010

Let’s see, since my last update we’ve cove

red lots of ground…literally. After Las Vegas we headed to California to visit my mission. I looooved it. We were able to Visit Aunt Janet, the Holbrooks, and then a handful of people I taught on my mission. I was happy to see that they were active and had been to the temple and sealed to their families. Is there anything in this world more happy than that?

Ira's been a dream travel baby, with the exception of all of his pooplosions. That's word that Allison taught me and I'll bet you can guess it's definition.

It's been so fun to be back with the Quinns and we're setting up visits with friends we haven't seen in what feels like forever. We're looking forward to the Quinn/Arave family reunion at the end of this week!

Love ya,

Sharon

                                                    Grandma playing with Ira in Las Vegas!

 Mesa with the Ellsworths!

The Holbrooks! Uncle Bob is recovering from his stroke well, but he says he still has trouble remembering people's names and anything math related. Janet is teaching Preschool and Zach and Alvin are cool!

Aunt Janet is as cool as ever.  She let us use her hot tub, gave a piece of her pottery and hosted a yummy breakfast with an old investigator.

We enjoyed the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield.  Mmmm.  All the free samples you want.  Their new flavors include Mango Chillie and Babywipe, and both taste freakishly accurate.

                                    Beautiful Fort Bragg along Highway 1.  This is at Glass Beach.





Avenue of the Giants
I'm proud to say that the whole avenue is in my old area.

                                                                 Ira's first camping trip.

Developing Ira

Ira's been growing up so fast. Every day we wake up he seems a little bigger. His fascination with mirrors continues strong. His silent laugh is slowly giving way to a cute little giggle. Yesterday we played peck-a-boo with him and he laughed more than ever before.We played more than 50 times and every time he laughed.

He is entering the stage where he wants to put his mouth on everything he sees. He will focus on something and slowly his mouth opens and he starts leaning toward it making little licking motions. It's cute. Along with that his motor skills are improving really fast. He is good at inching himself toward things and he is getting good at reaching out and grabbing things.

He loves bath time in the sink, he can see his reflection in the

faucet and tries to eat it.

Like I said he loves trying to eat everything.

He loves picking things up and of course putting them in his mouth.

Our New Home

Last week was a whirl wind. We've been waiting to hear where we would be working on our first rotation forever and were excited to learn we will be in Danbury, CT.

Tuesday morning we drove out to Danbury to find ourselves a place to live. We've been looking forward to this and also dreading it because we've been spoiled with Provo and Pittsburgh rent prices, I would say Danbury is at least twice as expensive as anywhere else we've lived. Connecticut also has some weird real estate laws we found out. Anyway, it was an extremely hot three days of patrolling the streets on the look out for a nice neighborhoods and places for rent. It was a head ache trying to get appointments lined up too. In the end we were able to get in and see about 10 places. We feel blessed to have finally found one that we feel comfortable with, it has nice landlord, Italian again, and below the average price for the number of rooms and space we have. It has a spacious bathroom and kitchen, a nice living room and master bedroom and two small rooms, one for Ira and one for guests/office/crafts. So if you want to come visit we would love the company. If you want the address email me.

There are many great reasons you can come and see us which can mostly be summed up in this phrase I heard the Honda dealership using on the radio, "We're minutes from anywhere". This says a lot about my first impressions of Danbury. Locally, nothing is more than 15 mins from anything else, and  more broadly we are only ten minutes from the New York border; thirty minutes from the coast, beaches, and some minor National Forests; an hour and a half driving to Downtown Manhattan (two by train); three hours from Boston; and four hours from Marietta and the Adirondacks.

The Exterior, we are on the second floor.

(This is an old picture, there was no snow when we were there, just a hot sun)

The living room, looking from the master bedroom. You can't see it, but there is a huge heater right next to me that is kind of ugly and we're not sure how we will work it into the interior design.

A nice spacious bathroom, those who have been in our Pittsburgh apartment will know how nice this is compared to what we had there.

Looking into our bedroom from the living room.

The kitchen, looking in from the bathroom.

Looking into one of the smaller rooms. Sharon calls it a midget house because the ceiling is a little lower

than typical and the windows aren't far from the floor.

The floor plan is a little strange and it has it's quirks, but like I said we feel blessed to have found a place that met almost all of our criteria(washer, dryer, room for Ira, etc) in the price range we set for ourselves.