Downtown Adventures

After being gone for so long during the summer we decided to meet up with some friends downtown.  The plan was to go to the Franklin Fountain and get some ice cream.  However, we ended up having some time to wait and went for a little walk downtown.  We ended up seeing Christ Church (#97,) the church of the founding fathers.  Benjamin Franklin attended services there, as well as George Washington and John Adams.

Sitting in the Presidential box, aka. George Washington's and John Adams's pew

This church is one of the oldest in our nation and yet it's really not that old.  One of the tour guides pointed out that while this church is over 300 years old, it still is no where near as old as buildings in Europe. Our tour guide explained it in another way.  He said that no one is really a natural born American.  What he went on to explain is that everyone in America came from someplace else including Native Americans.  Americans have not been here longer than about 9 or 10 generations.  We really are a new nation.

But as Americans, we still ended the outing with ice cream at the Franklin Fountain (#93.)

15 at 15

- Started walked at 13 months.  He loves his new freedom.
- Has eight teeth.  They have started to come in like crazy.  The weird thing is the only bottom teeth he has are 2 molars.  Good thing I know I good dentist.
- His 15 month stats are: 20 lbs 2 oz(14 percentile), 30.5 inches tall (30 percentile), and 18 inches head circumference (16 percentile.)
- Thinks it's so funny to go up the stairs by himself.  Probably because he knows it's naughty to go up them without mom.  He'll sneak over there and go up a step or two and look to see if I'm coming.  When I come get him he squeals with delight.
- Definitely a daddy's boy.

- He is such a messy eater.  He loves to wipe his dinner on his face, front, ears, high chair, basically any place he can smear it.
- He does this little shruggy shoulder thing that is funny to watch.
- Loves talking to babies.  I watch a little 4 month old boy a couple days a week and Nathan loves hanging out with Russell.  He gets this great big smile every time he sees him and is pretty good with him.

- He still loves bath time. If by chance I've left the bathroom door open he will toddle in there and try to get in the tub.
- He went to see the dentist for the first time.  No, it wasn't Brad.  Nathan did pretty good and he loves the toothbrush they gave him.
- He likes to play this game where mommy will chase him around and he'll find dad to save him.  He thinks it's so funny to be able to run away.

- Loves going to play the piano.  More specifically he loves pressing the buttons on the keyboard.  He will climb up and get the programmed songs going.  When we were in Minnesota, he was pretty disappointed when Grandma's piano didn't have buttons to push.
- He insists on only taking one nap, but it's a good 4+ hours long.
- Loves being outside.  He'll pat on our backdoor letting me know he's ready to go, which is like a 100 times a day.

- He think's he is pretty funny.  Well, we think he's pretty funny too.  He's always finding something to laugh about.

Zack Comes to Philly

Sometimes it is hard to describe how we know Zack.  Brad first met Zack when he was serving his mission in Denver, Colorado.  After they both got off their missions they both went to BYU and ended up having several courses together including Men's Chorus.  Well, Brad got to thinking, "You know who would be a great couple? Zack and Karen (Brad's cousin.)  They would be perfect together. But if I set them up then it would never turn out."  Well, little did Brad know that Zack and Karen had already gone on their first date.  Now, they are married and expecting their first baby.  So Zack is our friend slash mission buddy slash cousin.

Anyways, we were so excited when Zack let us know he was coming on a business trip to Philly and wanted to play tourist.  We showed him around the usual spots, Independence Mall, Reading Market, Art Museum, and Valley Forge.  We love it when people come and we can show them around.  And it was great catching up with Zack and looking back at mission photos.  Thanks for coming Zack!

A Day Late

I have been anticipating our 5th anniversary for some time now.  I've had it all planned out with what we wanted to do.  There was going to a nice dinner out on our actual anniversary and then the next day we would go on a road trip to a beautiful woods with lots of waterfalls called Ricketts Glen.  It was going to be busy since we were getting home from Minnesota the day before our anniversary, but we really wanted to celebrate this momentous day.

Right before we were leaving Minnesota, poor little Nathan started to get sick.  All he really had was a fever and was grumpy.  We endured our flights home with our feverish little boy (during which he only had one major tantrum luckily.)  However, that night (the night before our anniversary) he was so so sick.  I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night.  The day of our anniversary Nathan was still very grumpy and only took an hour nap.  Which meant I was good for nothing on the day of our anniversary.  Having just gotten back after being gone for 2 weeks meant the only food we had was in the freezer.  I couldn't even make us a good meal.

At least Brad planned ahead and sent me flowers. He's so thoughtful like that.

We ended up celebrating the next day with a nice dinner at home and spending time as a family.  Here's to all eternity together.  Love you Brad!

Minnesota: Part 2

We did actually spend some time in Minnesota on this trip.  There's nothing quite like being home for awhile.

Minnesota: Part 1

The part where we were really mostly in Wisconsin.

During Brad's break we made a trip to see Brad's family in Minnesota.  Alissa and the girls, and Grandma also made the trip out.  And while we were there we took a trip to the family cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  It doesn't get much better than a cabin right on the lake. Oh sweet relaxation.

I just so happened to have my birthday during this trip.  Maybe it was because it was such a momentous birthday (I did turn 25, you know), but I am pleased to say that I had probably my best birthday ever on this trip.  We went to a little Norwegian place for breakfast, which I particularly love.  This was followed by a trip down Main St Hayward which included Tremblay's Olde Tyme Candies (aka, the coolest candy shop ever.)  The best part was having Ella show me around the shop.  There's nothing like having a 4 year old take you to the candy store.

Later that evening we went to the original Famous Dave's for dinner.  Complete with a birthday firework.  This was followed by my first time go-carting.  I loved driving with Anna because she would get so excited to see people on the track.  Then to top this birthday off we watched a beautiful sunset on the dock.  I couldn't ask for much more than that.  My 25th birthday was more than I expected.

The rest of our time at the cabin was filled with jet skiing, smores, Coop's pizza, mini golfing, puzzles, lots of delicious food, and amazing sunsets.

But this wasn't all of our time in Minnesota. . .

Gettysburg

Did you know it is the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg?  That's a 150 years.  We took a day trip across the great state of Pennsylvania to go see the battlegrounds.  It's quite a humbling place.  There isn't a lot there, just big open fields, a few wooded hills, and lots of monuments to the men who fought there.  We borrowed an audio tour and read "The Killer Angels" before going to see Gettysburg.  Even though we were seeing empty fields, we were able to imagine what it looked like 150 years ago during the battle.  It's incomprehensible to me how many men sacrificed their lives during the battle of Gettysburg.  51,000 casualties in 3 days. It makes you appreciate your freedoms a little bit more.  If you ever get the chance to go, I'd recommend going to see this hallowed ground.