Sherilyn's Day and Memorial Day

Loren is at a bachelor party tonight so I have no excuse to keep me from chipping away at bringing the blog up to date. The weekend after I finished my exams we took a trip to Denver to celebrate Sherilyn's (Loren's little sister) high school graduation. We also helped Sherilyn and Marianne (Loren's mom) get packed and ready to move to West Virginia. I know Loren was sad because it was our last trip to Colorado for a long time and that will always be his home, but it was great to see Sherilyn graduate and we were happy we could help with the move.

Sophie made it through the graduation ceremony with the help of her cousins, who fed her bits of graham cracker, but she conked out right after it was over.

Part of the McGinnis (and Nelson) family

Us with the proud graduate

Cut to Memorial Day. We had a relaxing family day, took Sophie to a cool park and went on a walk to the beautiful Mount Auburn cemetery. We finished the day with hot dogs, yum!

The Mary Baker Eddy Memorial

Life is full of surprises

Two amazing things happened yesterday:

1. Sophie let me rock her to sleep for a nap. That has not happened in months because we have trained her to fall asleep on her own in the crib, plus she is usually way too fidgety to sit still on anyone's lap. I felt very proud and happy that she let me cuddle her and put her to sleep. This is a more typical view of Sophie:

2. I ironed the big pile of wrinkly clothes that was in our closet. I rarely, bordering on never, iron. That's mostly because I'm too lazy, not because I enjoy wearing wrinkled clothes. Loren was very impressed.

Oh and also I lost my voice. Right now I am reduced to whispering and Loren keeps telling me not to talk at all (because he hates the way I sound). Now would be a bad time to call me on the phone. This is also surprising because I don't think I have ever lost my voice like this.

Missed May

I started off the year by doing so well on blog posts, but that streak was snapped in May. It could have had something to do with my end of the semester exhaustion and the stress of two students in the same apartment both dealing with finals and a busy toddler... but also I've just been a little lazy. To make up for it, I offer a collection of pictures from both April and May to sketch a faint outline of what the McGinnis family has been up to.

Marathon Monday at Wellesley - it's tradition for all the students to cheer on the runners of the Boston Marathon

The sign says, "Kissing since 1897" because all the students offer kisses to the runners. Sophie had a sign that said, "Kiss me I'm getting a tooth." Sadly, it was ineffective.

"Quiet as a clam" - Sophie at 16 months

I took at canoeing class to fulfill a PE credit. It was so fun!

My partner Caroline

Looking at the Wellesley campus from the other side of the lake

Happy 21st Birthday Loren!

I made him apple pie

Happy Mother's Day! Loren got me Gilmore Girls Season 2

Coming up: our trip to Denver and Memorial Day activities

Maple Sugaring

This month, or possibly at the end of March, some friends from church invited us to go to a maple sugaring farm in New Hampshire. As the spring temperatures warm up the sap starts to run. We ate a humongous breakfast at the restaurant first and then went on a short tour of the maple sugaring barn. We actually couldn't hear very much of the tour, but the food and company were good, so I think the trip was well worth it. It's always nice to get out sometimes.

Sophie with her twin Caitlin Yamamoto and her sister Megan on the swing. Grumpy old...kids!

Loren's pose is very manly, look at how his shoulders are thrown back

We are trying to teach Sophie how to use utensils. It's a messy business.

Sleeping like a baby. This was the first time we saw her do this, but then after this it's happened two or three more times. We just laugh and then move all her limbs back into the crib.

Easter

It's still April, so I'm improving slightly in the promptness of my posts. We had a wonderful Easter this year. On Saturday we dyed eggs, which Sophie didn't like because she wasn't allowed to touch the eggs. Then the Easter Bunny came Sunday morning and brought lots of candy and a toy laptop for Sophie. That night some friends from Wellesley came and ate Easter dinner with us. It was my first time making a holiday dinner and I may have overextended myself slightly, but everything was delicious and we had a great time!

Like Father, Like Daughter

Nintendo and Computers. Oh no, Sophie. People have always said she reminds them of Loren...

February Catch Up

February is a busy month - my mom's birthday, Valentine's Day, my birthday, etc. Let's just say it gets a little stressful for Loren because he constantly has to buy me presents. Poor Loren. That being said, it's full of exciting things and we had lots of fun doing them. Here are two events that I am slow blogging about, but didn't want to forget to mention.

1. Wellesley's annual Waltz n' Schmaltz

This is a dance that the Wellesley LDSSA hosts every year for other members of the student ward. Loren and I were special guests since we're not in the ward, but I am in the LDSSA (technically, even though I'm lax about participating). We had a wonderful time and it brought back fun memories of our first year.

What a sharp looking family!

The Wellesley LDSSA: Gina, Maryn, Kirsten, Kelsey, me, Kristal and Jesyka (minus Arbor who is on her mission)

2. My 21st birthday! I had a great birthday, thanks to Loren and my friends. Maryn and Kelsey made me cookies which we ate during institute and then Loren, Sophie and I went out to dinner that night. Sophie wasn't on her best behavior, but she must not have realized how important a day it was. Loren got me a beautiful dress, which I unfortunately had to exchange because it was too short, but he gest an A++ for the effort. Marianne sent me some of her beautiful, homemade scrapbook pages and my family sent their presents with my mom when she came to visit the next week.

No alcohol for this 21-year old!

Sophie got a kick out of my birthday card with sound

My beautiful cake that Loren made and decorated all by himself - thank you lovey!