What a great December!

Christmas time is really my favorite time of year. I love the holiday lights and parties and spirit. I love spending extra time focusing on the Savior's birth as well as spending more time with friends and family. It is actually an extra special time for Kenneth and I because it is our anniversary on December 17th - so we get to celebrate that as well.

For some reason this December has seemed even more eventful than most. It was the debut of Kenneth's new band Post: (of which I am actually a member, but I think it sounds a little weird to say "our new band." It sounds a little like Dr fünke's 100% natural good time family band solution. ) Post is actually pretty sweet - which you can hear for yourself if you check our myspace music page. We only have one song posted - but there should be more coming soon!

Kenneth and I also saw the best movie we have seen in a long time. We actually went back and saw it again 2 days later - which is something that we NEVER do. The movie is Juno and it is an independent film with Ellen Page and Michael Cera - who may be one of the greatest actors ever..




Kenneth and I performed "Anyone But You" at our BFF Christmas party - which actually isn't helping with my claim that we are not a new age family band. So, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

December also means winter in New England for us - which this year means SNOW! It has actually been so bad that I have been sent home early from work twice and church was cancelled this week. I have to say, even though I don't really love the snow - there is something really great about snuggling up in a blanket and drinking hot chocolate while the world turns into a wintery wonderland outside. Of course our car is now burried in snow.. At least it doesn't look like this:





Look how cute Kenneth is in his winter gear :)



And finally, this month Kenneth and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! We are officially an old married couple. Any time now we will receive our old married couple starter pack with houseplants we call our children, doilies, and plastic coverings for our furniture. Nonetheless I am reminded that I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have such a super fantastic husband. Kenneth: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

But lets be honest - who wouldn't love this cute boy?




Now it's time to pack up our things and head home for Christmas - hooray for fun times and family!

And in case anyone was wondering - my Christmas crafts are officially finished - my sewing machine has been stored. I thought I was done a few weeks ago - but then of course I started one more project (a christmas quilt for my employers with pictures of their cute kids on it). But it was really the last one. I am officially ready for Christmas to come!!!!





Merry Christmas! I hope your December is as great as ours :)

It's Official - Christmas can come!

After weeks of working on all of my Christmas projects - I am finally finished!! I don't know who is more excited Kenneth or me.. When you live in a small 1 bedroom apartment there really isn't anywhere good to put things while you work on projects.. Which means that since October our house has looked like this:





My Christmas quilts, however, are all finished and now they look like this:





HOORAY!!!

Our best day ever! A look back...

The day you have all been dreaming of is here. The photos have finally been developed from my cute little brothers wedding.. I know most of you had given up hope that you would ever see Kenneth and I dressed as cotton candy and/or the final members of a barbershop quartet. Behold the glory...

Our New Groove

Kenneth's exciting news this week is that he has finally found the musical outlet he has been lacking since we left his old band-mates in Salt Lake City. That's right, a new wave of musical innovation is cresting on the Boston horizon! While it is true that the whole band has yet to rehearse together (their percussionist/keyboard player has been unavailable due to an anthropology event in NYC) the first few jam sessions have been very promising.

Though not a keyboard player by trade, Kenneth has been flexing his synth muscles, and rocking out with some crazy-fat-seventies-analog sounds (thanks to his new m-audio keyboard, and a library of software vintage synthesizers)!
Mike has a new found friend for life in his shiny black jazz bass. He is a newcomer to this side of the microphone, but brings a lifetime of listening experience. Any musician can tell you, the most important part of playing music, is listening to music. His finely tunes ears are already telling his fingers what to play, with exciting results.


Chelsea brings years of piano training, and a voracious appetite for rhythm to the party! Though she has yet to play with the band, they have already been missing her incredible beats. As both boys have participated in drum circles with Chelsea at home, and around the campfire, they know what she has to offer, and eagerly await a full jam session.

These pics are from a quick musical get together at our place.

Amelia's Paper Mache Vase

So, I have now documented Amelia's vase and I thought I would pass the pictures on to the world. You can't really see the vase behind the huge bow and very large tissue paper flowers... but you get the idea.

Our Special Time

On my second day at my new job Amelia told me that she would be needing some one on one time with me - without parents or her sister Penny. This proved to be a tall order, since Amelia is in school every day. I can't just drop Penny off at the park so that Amelia and I can spend time without her! Luckily, it has worked out that there is one day a week that Amelia gets out of school early enough that I can put Penny down for her nap once we get home. This day (Wednesday afternoons) has been lovingly deemed "Our Special Time." We spend the time doing all kinds of activities from reading books to playing with games and toys and doing fun art projects.

This week our art project was paper mache vases! It was so fun. I made them in 4th grade as a mother's day project and thought it would be a fun one to re-create. Now granted I was in 4th grade when I did this project and Amelia is only 4... but I had full faith in her abilities and she actually did really well.

Here are some pictures of our vases:






Amelia's vase is now adorned with a big pink bow (that she picked out herself) and some tissue paper flowers. It hasn't been documented yet, but I can assure you that it is awesome.


And, in the spirit of not excluding anyone - here is a cute picture of penny :)

I've been tagged...

Actually, I have now been tagged by not 1 but 3 different people and I have yet to respond.. So before I get hit again, here we go..

4 Jobs I've Had:
1. Nanny
2. Administrative Assistant, Primary Children's Medical Center
3. Global Support Specialist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
4. Assistant Kindergarten Teacher, Bennion Elementary School

4 Places I've Lived:
1. Boston, MA
2. Salt Lake City, UT
3. Valencia, Venezuela
4. Murray, UT

4 Favorite TV Shows:
1. The Office *This should really be 1-4 - we are Office junkies
2. Friends (Yes, we watch it on DVD)
3. Scrubs
4. The Biggest Loser

4 Vacations I've Been On:
1. Disneyland - wahoo!
2. Kennebunkport, ME *Blog post and pictures coming
3. New York, NY
4. Viva Las Vegas :)

4 Favorite Dishes:
1. Sushi
2. Crab...Shrimp...Scallops - basically anything seafood
3. Chili's Southwestern Cobb Salad
4. Bertucci's

4 Places I'd Like To Be:
1. London and Paris *this summer hopefully :)
2. the Beach
3. Australia - hooray for the Santi's!
4. Anywhere with Kenneth (and no work or school)

Tag:
1. Liz
2. Merilee
3. Ginny
4. Kenneth

Neapolitan Dreams :)

Ok, so a lot has happened this month, and we are working on getting pictures and postings for them... But since I seem to be procrastinating more than usual these days I have decided to start with what I have and post some pictures from the wedding excitement. Now, don't get your hopes up too high. We have not, as of yet, received any pictures of what Kenneth and I wore (quite fancy!).. That will come later. You will, however, get a quick glimpse into my cute little brothers wedding in a segment we call "Neapolitan Dreams." Which may not make sense to any of you that are not aware that the whole wedding was themed in the colors of Neapolitan ice cream - pink, brown, and ivory.

Here is my little brother - isn't he cute?



I know what you're thinking.. You're wondering if we are twins. Well, although we are both tall, dark and attractive - no we are not twins. He is actually 2 years younger than I am. But people make that mistake all the time.


And, here is my adorable new sister-in-law, Sara




And of course, here they are together (well sort of, but you can imagine what they would look like if they were standing together).




You migiht be thinking - wow they look young, maybe they aren't ready for a big step like marriage. But after seeing the following pictures I think you will agree that although they may be young, they have a lot of life experience - I mean, this kind of danger really prepares you for anything:





Hopefully there will be more pictures coming soon - perhaps some featuring Kenneth and I in our wedding attire. (aka-kenneth as the 4the member of a barbershop quartet and me as cotton candy) It's a good thing I love my brother so much :)

Also soon to come - pictures of my cute new charges, Amelia and Penny - who I love already- me and Kenneth in Maine and a super fun grown up sleepover party with some friends of ours. Stay tuned!

Our Great News!!! (we're not pregnant...)

Our great news of the week is that Kenneth got funding! The specifics are still being worked on, but basically BU offered him a graduate assistantship - which means that he will spend five hours per week with two different professors, doing whatever it is they want him to do... In exchange, they are paying for some of the bills. Whatever they want to pay is fine with us.

TIme she's a flying

It's crazy how time flies! Just two more weeks with my sweet little Sam, since he is moving to Duxbury with the fam. In case you weren't aware, that is the bad part of being a nanny: saying goodbye. So, we have decided to make the most of our time together by engaging in non-stop-merry-making! We began at the Rainforest Cafe. If you haven't been there, and you have a little one who likes animals, I highly recommend it! Sam was squealing with delight! Alas, how will we top the excitement? sky diving? Bobsledding? It's too bad we missed Pamplona... there's always next year, with Amelia and Penny (my new little friends in Brookline!)
Peace

Our 1st anniversary - kind of...

Wow! I can't believe we've been in Boston for a whole year! It seems like just yesterday that we were packing our little car and saying goodbye to our family and friends. At the time it felt like we were going so much farther than just across the country. However, we have been here a full year now and we both agree that coming to Boston was the best thing we've ever done. Living here has truly blessed our lives. Kenneth loves his program and I love being a nanny. We have made so many great friends and our ward is awesome. Kenneth has even been persuaded to go camping - which I think proves that east coast living = magic. We have had so much fun discovering New England. Hooray for Boston! Here are a few pictures of our first days here....

Isn't Kenneth cute sitting in our sad empty apartment? Actually I think this is how things looked when the Elders Quorum came to visit and suddenly decided to bring us dinner and offer us furniture.. I guess the simple life pays off.. :)

Here are my cute parents on our first love seat. Doesn't it look comfy?

This is how everyone should spend their first night in Boston - Go Red Sox!

And finally, here is my dad - obviously broken up about leaving us in Boston. Luckily everything turned out ok :)

Candlepin Bowling, Yay!

Kenneth and I were recently introduced to the incredible of sport of candlepin bowling by our great friends Chris and Robyn. It was invented in 1880 by a man here in Massachusetts and people in the area get really excited by it. In fact, I have yet to find a regular bowling alley anywhere in Boston. You play with smaller balls - about the size of a shotput. And you knock down pins that are really tall and skinny. I have included photos to illustrate:


I submit this as further evidence that for a good time all you need to do is come to Boston :)

For a good time call.....

Well, as more and more of our friends go away for the summer, it has been suggested that we don't know how to have a good time. Let me assure you that we do. We have exciting parties every night! I mean, just look at this picture - do those look like the faces of people who don't know how to party? I think not!
Actually this week we have just been doing a lot of last minute getting ready for our one and only WICKED AWESOME SUMMER VACATION! To the glorious vacation spot of Utah... [fun vacation music should be playing in your head right now].
That's when the party really starts. As long as we can make it through our 2 crappy layovers without too many delays. Luckily we will have some exciting reading to keep us busy - midnight harry potter party - here we come!.. Unfortunately we are not geeks, so we will not be dressing up as witches and wizards. Hopefully they will still give us the book.
Anyway, our next post will be coming to you from fabulous Salt Lake City, so stay tuned for some real excitement!!

Strawberry Picking!

Summer in Boston is so much fun! Sam and I (Sam is the little boy that I nanny for - he's the one in the superman shirt) went strawberry picking this week. Every season the farms out here host different activities, and right now just so happens to be strawberry season. They give you baskets and you get to go out into huge fields to pick (and eat) for as long as you want. Sam and I went with a friend from our ward and she bought 40 lbs worth of strawberries! Sam and I didnt go that crazy, we just got a small basket for each of us (just enough for Kenneth and I to make a delicious Strawberry Shortcake). I think Sam took home more than that in his tummy though, he was definently sick from eating them by the time we left. But it was a fun day for us none the less. We can't wait for apple picking season!

Welcome to our Blog!

Kenneth and I have finally given in to peer pressure and started our own blog. Here we plan to post pictures and news from our adventures here in Boston. Hopefully we can inspire you to come visit us..We love guests! And also, Boston is such a great city, we want to share it with you :)