Big News!

I have several important items to bring to everyone's attention. Each one deals with one member of our family. I'll start with mine, as it's clearly the most exciting. I got a haircut! The humidity in Boston wreaks havoc with my long hair. I used to have stick straight hair, but in Boston, I have wavy hair. Sigh. I was tired of having it look bad unless I put a lot of time into it, so I decided to chop it off. I've had my new haircut for a week and so far I'm very happy with it. As a side note, Sophie was not so happy with the new cut. As soon as she saw it and for several days afterwards, she kept saying, "I don't like your new haircut. I want it to grow back longer." I knew she was coming around though, when one day she said, "I love your beautiful haircut, Mommy." I'm happy she changed her tune. And of course, here's a picture.


We'll move on to Sophie's news now. She has been potty training, hooray! When we went to Utah in August she finally started to get it and since we've been back, she's been doing pretty good. She can make it through naps wearing underwear and yesterday she conquered her fear of using strange toilets, when she went to the bathroom while we were apple picking (more on that later.) For your sakes, I don't have a picture of that, so instead here is a picture of us on a river cruise that our ward did. I love Sophie's crazy eyes, plus it shows a before-haircut picture of me.

And lastly, Loren's news. After much consideration he accepted a job offer in Boise!! He will start working full-time for Clearwater Analytics in June or July 2012. We are very excited, but also a little sad to leave Boston, so we're trying to make the most of the time we have left. Also, consider this a notice to all of you: You have until June to come visit us in Boston, so please come! Here's Loren with his hand-painted congratulatory sign and a homemade pumpking pie. I tried to write "Boise" on the pie with whipped cream, but it was still too hot so it just melted. I am so proud of all your hard work, Loren!

Rain in Maine

We went on a weekend trip to Maine at the end of June. We decided to go to Old Orchard Beach because some friends had gone a few weeks before and loved it. Unfortunately for us, the weather did not cooperate one bit! It was cold and rainy the entire time we were there, so no beach days for us. We drove to Portland one morning and went to the Children's Museum there, but other than that we tried to find things to do around the boardwalk and downtown of Old Orchard Beach. The trip was definitely a disappointment for me, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back and try again!

Eating my obligatory lobster in Maine. It was big! I eventually got tired of trying to figure out how to eat it and settled for the easy to find meat. Sophie was afraid of it!

Lobster fisherman Sophie, at the Children's Museum

Playing dress up on the stage. She was desperate to find a crown to wear.

Can you spot the crazy swimmer?

On the boardwalk, that sticks out over the water. Gray skies the whole time.

Playing around in one of the shops

Thanks to Loren wearing my Wellesley sweatshirt, we did meet an older alumna at the candy store, who asked us all sorts of questions about Wellesley. Ahh, connections.

Summer Fun

Here comes another one of my signature long picture posts. Yay! These pictures cover most of our activities before we went to Utah after the 4th of July. And if you make it all the way to the end, the last picture is probably one of the cutest things you'll see that day. Or ever.

While Loren's mom was in town for graduation, we went to Prospect Hill Park, which was where the first American flag was raised during the Revolutionary War. There is a big tower you climb up and you can look out over Cambridge and the surrounding environs and it's pretty cool.

Later that day we went to Walden Pond, made famous by Henry David Thoreau. There is a little beach you can swim at and there is a trail that goes around the pond and passes by the site of Thoreau's cabin.

Walden Pond is a place for deep thoughts, clearly.

Pond monster

Then of course we've been doing other assorted summer things, including lots of outings for playgroup, including going strawberry picking for the second time.

Painting picture frames for Father's Day presents

And as promised, the sweetest picture of all

Fire Station Visit

Here are some pictures from when Sophie and I went to visit the fire station with our playgroup. At first Sophie was a little hesitant about the fire truck, but once she saw her friends playing on it then she relaxed.

The wheel is as big as she is!

They gave plastic fireman's hats to everyone

Sitting in front of the truck

Sophie at the wheel. The kids could also ring the bell and of course, they did it constantly, so it was a noisy visit.

Last Days (at Wellesley)

As I'm sure you can imagine, my last few weeks at Wellesley were filled with end-of-year and end-of-college activities. I'm not sure if I got the events in chronological order, but here's a run-down of the highlights. First up, hoop rolling. This is an annual tradition at Wellesley where the seniors race across part of campus while rolling hoops. The winner gets thrown into the lake, but is supposed to be the first to achieve her dreams. Through a series of miscommunications I didn't end up with my own hoop, but my good friend Cyndhia let me share hers. And let's face it, I was carrying Sophie so I didn't have a chance of winning anyway.

The leaders coming down the hill.

Can you spot Sophie and I?

Struggling to get a family picture. "Don't pull Daddy's hair, Sophie!"

My friend, Amy, and I. She's from Utah, just like me!

Sophie loved being by the lake.

Making the Olympic rings with friends Anagha, Dora, Kimberley, me, Kate and Cyndhia.

Maybe someday Sophie will participate in hoop rolling as a student?

On the last day of classes there was step-singing, a bbq and a concert. Step-singing is also a Wellesley tradition where everyone gathers to sing together, but each class also has it's own cheer and taunts the other classes. Here is some of the gathering.

Cyndhia and I. The seniors actually get to stand on the steps, while the other classes are below them.

Afterward we went to check out the Senior prank decorations in the History department. Lincoln is thinking, "History has been good to me" while adorned in yellow accessories, my class color.

Then there was the Matt and Kim concert, where Gina was rocking out. They were really good, but so loud!

Me with Cyndhia, Kimberley and Nandita at the concert.

Finally, Loren and I went to Senior Gala, which was one of the events of Senior Week, after everyone else had left campus. It was at a restaurant on the waterfront.

Easter Happenings

Here I am again, planning another catch-up post. But since I last wrote I've been pretty busy, what with graduating from college and all. Cum laude. With honors. But I digress. My wonderful cousin took my "official" graduation pictures and since I haven't seen them yet, I thought I would pass the time by trying to get the blog up to speed. Again.

We ended up having a pretty eventful Easter, thanks to two egg hunts, plus Easter Sunday itself. The festivities kicked off with an egg hung put on by our church playgroup. The weather was a little chilly, but Sophie had a great time. I present Easter Egg Hunt #1: A Series

Sophie is sad. Why?

Because she doesn't have any eggs, obviously.

She did cheer up enough to pose for a lovely spring picture.

Let the hunting begin!

The second egg hunt was put on by our friends, the Gentry's. The weather didn't cooperate this time either. The hunt was scheduled to be outside, but since it was raining all the kids got to run around Christian and Laci's house! And let me tell you, they did not skimp on the prizes. The eggs were crammed full of yummy candy, plus they had pencils and bubbles for the kids to find, plus super delicious cookies for everyone.

Sophie and the host, yukking it up for the camera. Ignore me in the background.

Waiting while the Easter bunny finished his preparations outside the room. Sophie is showing off her new camera smile, in which she scrunches up her face and puts on a big smile.

Posing with her basket.

Sophie took over Berkeley's chair to enjoy her spoils.

I saved the best picture for last...

Happy Easter!

Where's Sophie?

Last night we had kind of a scary moment. I put Sophie to bed around eight o'clock, but shortly before ten Loren heard a noise from her room. He went to check on her but couldn't find her! She wasn't in her crib, so we turned on the light and were frantically looking around her room, in closets and in the other rooms in our apartment. We finally (actually it didn't take that long) found Sophie hiding behind the rocking chair in her room. She was huddled up with her hands over her head, trying desperately not to be seen. When we found her she burst into tears because she knew she was being naughty. Loren thought the whole thing was funny and I guess I do too, but I was really worried for a second when we had trouble finding her! Does this mean it's time to get her a toddler bed or is this evidence that she's totally not ready?