Brothers Weekend 2011

This weekend Kenneth's 2 older brothers came to visit us. It was So. Much. Fun!

(*this amazing photo is of Kenneth and his brother Russell when they were little - cute, right?)
I don't have time to post all of the awesome pictures from the weekend.

Mostly it just looked like this:

Happy Kenneth Day!

Today is Kenneth's 32nd Birthday!

We had so much fun - mostly because both of his brothers just happen to be here to celebrate with us :)

Rather than writing a list of reasons why I love him, I have decided to give you 32 pictures that show why I'm glad Kenneth was born.

I know, he's really cute, right? I am so grateful for my birthday boy :)

An Anniversary (by guest blogger, Kenneth)

Nine years ago today Emily and I did something that at the time seemed foolhardy: we told each other, "I love you," for the very first time.

I know you must be asking, why was that such a foolish thing to do? Because Emily was only thee days from entering the MTC, to prepare for eighteen months as a missionary in Venezuela. Any of you who have been missionaries, or who have at once time "waited," for a missionary will recognize this as a classic blunder. Every mission is chock full of missionaries who suddenly met their soul-mate just before they left. How many of these did you know? How many had received a "Dear John," or "Dear Jane" before they returned home?

A couple of days before this exchange, Emily and I had taken a short day trip from Salt Lake to Manti to attend the temple together. Sure, we could have just gone to the Salt Lake temple, or Jordan River, or Bountiful, or Provo, or. . . you get the idea. But, I think we both liked the idea of just spending the whole day just being with each other, whether in the car, in the temple, or in the AMAZING malt shop in Ephraim Utah.

The picture you see above was taken in the parking lot of the temple that day. This picture hangs in our living room, and when visitors ask we tell them, without any exaggeration, that that's the day we fell in love.

Here's the truth: we did fall in love that day. The blunder was not, as it turns out, that I told Emily I loved her before she left the country, it was waiting even two more days to tell her how much she meant to me. I have been loving her more every day for the last nine years, but I would give anything to go back and tell her in that first moment in Manti, to have had two more days knowing the joy of her love.

And the winner is.....

BOSTON!

One more year of walking around Walden Pond..

Swimming at Crane Beach..

Vacationing in Kennebunkport, ME..

Eating at Border Cafe...

and Zaftigs...

Walking the Freedom Trail..

Spending time in the North End and eating yummy pizza and canoli..

Visiting our ancestors graves in Newburyport..

Plus so many other new adventures to come. We love Boston! And we are so happy to stay :)

Now the question is - Do we stay in Brighton or do we move to Needham?

Pros of moving - Kenneth's fellowship won't require him to go to school everyday, or even every week.

I would work 1 minute away from work instead of 40 - which would be lovely, since I work 50 hours a week.

We could adopt this kitten:

We could live in this cute apartment:

With this view:

(I know I am 30 and most of my friends live in houses that they own right now.. but we're still in school - a nice new apartment is exciting news for us)

This apartment costs quite a bit less than the one we live in now.. Plus it has a deck and a storage unit.

Pros of staying in Brighton:

We are so close to the city..

We love our ward and our neighborhood..

We have good friends near by..

We hate moving..

Hmmm.... Decisions decisions.. We are supposed to let our management company know this week whether we are staying or going.. What should we do?

Quilting with the Kiddos :)

One day, a few weeks ago, I brought some quilt blocks to work to iron while the kids were napping. Jay saw them and got excited and asked me if I would teach him how to quilt.

So, on his next day off from school we went to the fabric store and they each got to pick out their own fabric and we made these cute little quilts:

They each embroidered their own name - with a little help from me - and we tied them together.

It was so much fun! And they were so proud of their work. I love seeing them cuddle up with their little quilts :)

Two Good Things...

First of all, thanks for all of your comments on my last post. I am glad that so many of you love Jane Eyre just as much as I do, and I am glad that you still want me to post things on my blog :)

The most interesting thing going on in our lives right now is that we are spending a lot of practicing being patient (I know, it doesn't sound very interesting to me either). We just found out that we have to wait until April 15th to find out if we will be living here next fall:

Or here:
Kenneth is up for various fellowships in both places and we are on the edge of our seats waiting to find out which one it will be.

Either way we'll be happy. We love Boston. It has been a good home for us these past 5 years. But DC sounds really fun. We love the city and we have friends close by...

We thought we were going to find out in March, but it's not actually happening until mid April. Seriously, the wait is killing me!!!

Jane

Kenneth and I went to see the new Jane Eyre movie tonight. It was so lovely. I really love Jane.

I definitely recommend it.

Also - Is anyone out there that still reads this blog? I am thinking about posting on it again.. But only if there are still people out there who will read it...