A Blogger I am Not

I am a bit surprised at myself . . . it's been almost 5 months since my last entry here. I was so sure I would post all the time when we moved out to PA. I'm sure I can find plenty of excuses - Claire, time spent on facebook, Jamison using the computer at night, way too much laundry to fold, etc., but no one really cares about all of that. The real point is I'm not much of a blogger. I'm happy when I actually post something, but it feels like more of a task than an outlet. But that's okay because at this point, I'm sure there aren't too many people looking at this anyway. :)

With all of that, here's a few photos for your viewing pleasure:








Christmas Eve carriage ride and visit with Santa at school








Crazy February snow storm! It shut everything down, but the kids didn't mind at all. 3 snow days and plenty of hot cocoa!












Little birds and lemonade stand









Visiting Valley Forge (photo courtesy of Paige) and St. Patrick's Day party!





Easter egg hunt bounty!





I have many other photos I'd love to add, but my to-do list is calling. Maybe in a few more months, blogging will make the list again. Until then . . .

Fall Time in Philly

Whew! Time is flying by a little too quickly!

A quick update from last month . . . October was a big month for family. My parents came for 4 days at the beginning of the month on their way home from their mission to the Czech Republic.

We had a fun time taking them to Linvilla Orchards to pick apples and strawberries (yes, in October!) and bought some Halloween pumpkins and yummy apple cider doughnuts. We also spent a few hours showing them around Longwood Gardens, which is one of our favorite places ever!

A few days after my parents flew home, Nana and Grandpa Willy came out for a visit. Again, the kids loved having family here, and thought it was great to have grandparents at their schools. We had several rainy days in a row so didn't get to go out and see as much as we hoped, but did make it to the Franklin Institute for the first time (and I know we took pictures, but I don't know what happened to them!), where we learned about all things science and had a great time!

Nathaniel turned 5 in October which sounds so big. He had a few friends over for a Lego birthday party and then we celebrated a bit more with Dad that night.

The fire station set - a big hit with the whole family.

Halloween was great! Paige's school has a pretty big Halloween parade, led by the high school marching band.

We'd had lots of rainy weather that week, but it cleared up for the parade on Friday and stayed mostly nice for Halloween on Saturday. (It started to sprinkle just as Paige and Jamison were finishing up.)

Our little trick-or-treaters - Nathaniel, aka the UPS guy, Paige dressed as Sacajawea (not Pocahontas, as she reminded everyone!), and little Claire as the bunny who thought she was a cat.

It's been a busy and fun fall so far. Maybe in December I'll let you know about this month. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone next week!

I love September!

I love September! I always have! And this has been a wonderful one so far.

I feel like I'm one of those moms who would typically be sad to see the summer end and school begin . . . but since it starts so late here, I felt very ready. The kids were ready, too, I think, and have really enjoyed starting school and classes again.

Paige, especially, has loved every minute of school. What a relief for me! I never had to move when I was young, and I imagine I would have been terrified to go to a new school at that age, but Paige couldn't be happier. She is going to a wonderful school with incredible resources, has a very fun teacher and a small class (17 kids!), and gets to ride the bus every day. I also thought the transition to first grade would be tough, and that she'd be exhausted at the end of the long day, but it's quite the opposite. She is so happy and bouncy after school and can't wait to tell me all the fun things she's done. I love those after school moments, and look forward to hearing all of her first grade adventures each day.

On the Friday of Paige's first week, we pulled her out of school a little early and headed for the "shore." Ever since we moved here, everyone asks if we've been to the shore. (I'm used to saying the beach, but it's a little different out here.) Anyway, I thought we better sneak in a trip before it got too chilly. (It actually was supposed to rain the whole time, but somehow we lucked out, and didn't get any rain until our last hour in NJ.) So we drove just a little over two hours to Lewes, DE and spent part of the afternoon and evening there, and then took the ferry to Cape May, NJ the next day where we spent the rest of the day. The kids were thrilled with every little thing we did, and can't wait for another trip. I love that they are so easy to impress!

The kids on the ferry ride. How fun to look out and see dolphins as we crossed over.

Busy Paige, loving every minute.

Nathaniel holding a horseshoe crab. They kind of grossed me out, but Nathaniel was intrigued.

Little Claire, ever the charmer, can go from screaming bloody murder to smiling "cheese" and posing whenever the camera comes out.

Jamie and Claire

Water + sand = one happy girl

Thanks for taking our picture Paige. I can't remember the last time there was a picture of just the two of us.

This week the kids started swimming lessons, Paige started ballet, and Nathaniel started karate. I'm spending a lot more time in the car lately, but right now it's all fun and new, so I don't mind too much, especially since it's September. :)

This month is such a special one . . .

August is birthday month for our girls. Paige just turned 7, and Claire just turned 2. Since we celebrated with friends in Utah back in June, we just kept it simple. The kids helped me decorate Paige's cake and we had a family over for a birthday dinner the night before.


On her actual birthday, the kids and I went to the Please Touch Museum and had a great time. It was great for them, and great for me since they were completely worn out after running around and playing hard. We'll definitely be back!

The birthday girl with her new scooter.

Claire got a cat cake and a simple family party at home for her birthday. And all of her presents were books, which was perfect since she is fairly obsessed with books lately, and we go through about a dozen every nap and bedtime.


Last weekend we made our first trip out to the Washington DC temple. It was about a two hour drive, but much less eventful than we imagined and really quite beautiful and relaxing. The temple is beautiful and the kids enjoyed checking out the visitors center, temple grounds, and nature trail.


The kids and I are gearing up for school which starts this coming week. Paige just met her teacher and is very excited to be a big first grader! This may be a bigger adjustment for Mom than for her.

Summer Fun!

Many days I sit down to update my blog, but just feel like I don't have enough time. So, rather than make excuses, I'm just going to write really really fast.

Over a month ago we drove to Valley Forge, which is only about 20 minutes away. They have wonderful bike paths and we tried to teach Paige how to ride without training wheels while we there. Not our best idea ever, but we still had a good time seeing the sites and enjoying the beautiful day.


Here are some photos from a really cute place called Linvilla Orchards. They have a great playground area and then farms and fields all over. You can take a hay ride out and pick whatever produce is in season at the time or just buy it from their fresh market. Very fun! We'll definitely go back.






One day, the kids wanted to do a photo shoot just in our front yard. Here are a few of my favorites:




A couple of weeks ago we made a quick excursion to Ridley Creek State Park which isn't too far from our place. We were really impressed with how nice it is. In addition to some great trails through dense woods and nice grassy fields, there is a neat old mansion there with fountains and English-style gardens.


Our first trip downtown was fun, but we didn't end up doing all that we planned. We did make it to Reading Terminal Market for lunch. It's an amazing little spot, with every kind of food vendor jammed together under one roof. The kids opted for pretzels and pizza, which are very popular foods here in Philly, and Jamie and I ordered falafels. Yum!

This photo was taken at Jamie's boss's house. That frog guy was just too cute!


Okay, that's a few of the highlights from the last little bit. I'll try to add more later. Happy days!

Philly Fun!

I'm back . . . after another long hiatus. I keep thinking I'll become a consistent blogger, and, who knows, maybe now that we're far from home and friends and family, it might just happen. :)

Well saying goodbye was more emotional than I expected. We had been pretty busy and crazy trying to get things packed up and getting our house emptied and cleaned and I just hadn't had much time to let the emotions sink in. The last couple of days before we left, the emotions hit. Saying goodbye to such wonderful friends and neighbors was really hard. And saying goodbye to our house where we'd made so many great memories and grown so much as a family was heartbreaking for me. As we drove out of town, we said goodbye to the school, the little library, the post office, etc., and I just cried more and more. And we saved one of our hardest goodbyes for last. We met our friends the Jackmans at a park and said goodbye to them. Paige and Ashley have been just about the cutest best friends you've ever seen. And each of our family members gets along beautifully with the corresponding member of their family. (Well, Nathaniel has his moments, of course.)

Saying goodbye to best friends.

On the flight to Philly

So now we're here in Philadelphia (okay, the suburbs of Philadelphia), and are really loving it so far.

Jamie's parents were great to drive out with Jamie and then they stayed and cleaned and shopped and cleaned some more and shopped some more, etc. I think they hoped to get a little bit of a vacation, but it was pretty much just work. We were glad to have some time with them for a few days after we arrived.

Kids blowing bubble in front of our new home.

Kids with grandparents.

We lucked out and are renting a house on a beautiful street. There are kids all around, and our neighbors are incredibly kind, friendly, and fun. What a blessing!

We like our new ward a lot, too. There are lots of young kids. It's the first time we've ever been in a ward with a large nursery - over 20 kids - and we're not quite sure what to think. (Neither does Claire!) Again, everyone has been so friendly and welcoming, and it seems like there are great people everywhere you look.

I'm really thrilled to have a calling already. I was just called as the Primary Music Director, and couldn't be happier. It will be a lot of work, but even more fun! In fact, before we moved I was already planning my strategy on how to get the Bishop to let me be in Primary.

We were hoping there would be some fun 4th of July events here, and we weren't disappointed. The kids loved the Springfield parade and the fun events after.

Paige after some face-painting.

Our ward has a playgroup every week and, during the summer, they meet at all kinds of places. So far, we've only made it to one, but it was really fun. We met at the Tyler Arboretum for their Terrific Treehouse Exhibit. The kids had a great time!

Paige playing the cowbells. "I need more cowbell, baby!"

Claire helping to build a giant outdoor fort.

Nathaniel with a new friend in the birdhouse.

Cute little birds.

I'll post more later (and maybe sooner than later if things go well!). Ciao!