Kodak Moment

During our trip to Utah, we headed up to Salt Lake to Temple Square, one of my favorite places on earth. My family has a little tradition of taking the kids up there every so often and taking pictures of us in front of the temple, the same stop where photographers take wedding photos. So we have a series of pictures of us growing up in front of the temple, which is cool because we grew up mostly outside of Utah.

So while we were there we took Claire to get her picture in the same spot. The pictures turned out kinda dark, they need a little Photoshop work, but I grabbed this picture and fell in love with it, and wanted to share it with everyone.

Number 100!!!

At the beginning of the year we, well... really I, noticed that we were closing in on our 100th post and have eagerly been awaiting this moment (I know I am such a nerd!).

Yet, when it arrived, I did not know what we should post on, plus I have been insanely busy with school work and Suzy and Claire have been in Utah and I have been left the lonely man in our sweltering apartment in Massachusetts.

We (I) had a wonderful visit to Utah, full of hanging out with friends, playing Wii (and beating my brother at bowling several times), blessing Claire, and being content in the presence of family. It was really hard to come back here all alone and having to put my nose back to the grindstone for the sprint to the finish.

Today I finished my one final and am down to finishing up my two projects and walking across the stage and I am DONE!

Well, enough about me, my life has been really boring, I will now entertain you with images from the first week of our visit to Utah...

We took Claire for her first official visit to BYU. She loved the campus! It was all springy and well manicured with freshly cut green grass and colorful spring flowers. She also enjoyed the big Y up on the mountain. After her first visit to UMass the week before I think BYU is in the lead for her choice of college!

We also headed up to Salt Lake to see my grandparents. We snagged this awesome 4-generation photo! I miss my grandparents, it is hard to see the deterioration in their health these past two years that we have been gone.

Here is another one with Suzy, Claire and I with my grandparents.

I don't know... maybe I am a horrible parent or something, but I love taking these pictures of the faces Claire makes when she is crying or upset. They are the best, and this is one of my all-time favorites to-date! Gotta love that hair!

Claire's Blessing

Claire had her baby blessing on Sunday. We decided to wait and do it out here so we could be with family. It was a really neat experience. I don't think I ever understood the love a parent has for a child until I had my own. Its amazing how instantly that bond is formed. I just feel so blessed to have her as part of our family.

I know I'm biased cause I'm her mom, but I really think she is the most beautiful baby. She looks so cute in her white dress. She's showing off her standing skills. She really love to be upright and standing.

Here she is with mommy, before putting on her sweater.

I think she will be a daddy's girl. Aren't they a cute pair. I just love them!

Although she looked so cute, she didn't even make it all the way through sacrament meeting without messing up her dress. She pooped on it and I had to go out and change it. She hasn't had a blowout for a long time, and so of course she had to do it on her nice, white dress. Oh well...babies will be babies.

We're having a great time out here in Utah. Casey is leaving to go back to MA tomorrow and I will stay out here and spend some time with my family. We will post more about our trip later.

Smiles and Easter Dresses

Claire has been smiling for a few weeks now. It is so fun to see her actually respond to us. I guess we are doing something right. :) She especially likes it when you rub her chin or move her legs.

Claire wore her first dress yesterday. I know, she's already two months old, but our church is generally very cold so I would just keep her in a warm sleeper. She looked so cute...although putting on a dress did nothing to her permanent mohawk. The headband helped keep the bangs down.

She loves her binkie so much that sometimes it is hard to get it out. Here she is with it in the bath.

And finally...this is what she looks like when she's not smiling. It looks like the binkie just fell out, which of course is about the worst thing that can possibly happen in little girl world. I see this face a little more than I would like. She's still so cute though, even when she is screaming. We sure love her and its so fun to see her budding little personality.

Happy Easter!!

I know there is a lot more to Easter than chocolate bunnies and eggs, but that's why we go to church. This just made me laugh...

I hope your Easter finds you a little better than these guys.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my favorite Dad's birthday. Its a big one, but I won't say which one. I would say 30, but that might be a little suspicious when his youngest child is 26.

Thanks for being such a great dad and grandpa. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. We're looking forward to many more years of learning from your example (more than just the sleeping example shown above) and enjoying your company. Thanks for everything. We love you.

Okay, one more...

So my last post was a video of people dancing in Belgium, it was a marketing promotion for a television show there. A friend sent me a link to this video of a marketing promotion done by T-Mobile in Liverpool's train station. Enjoy...

So the past several days I have been working heavily on my practicum project, the MBA equivalent of a masters thesis, and my project has proven to be quite... challenging. I won't bore you with the details, but it has been nice to have diversions such as these videos to occasionally break up the monotony and frustration I have been encountering while working on my project. Thankfully, it will all be done soon, though I still don't have a job...

The Sound of Music - Must Watch Video!

So we have been kinda boring bloggers of late. Not much to say about what is going on here. However, today I came across this fantastically fun video on YouTube and it brought a smile to my face and made my afternoon. Take 4 minutes out of your busy day to be cheered up and watch this video. Enjoy...