Happy Birthday LAUREN!

May is birthday month in our home. Lauren turned 6 years old today! Happy Birthday!

Six years ago, this beautiful thing entered our lives:

Lauren was born on a Saturday morning before Mothers Day. This year we get to celebrate her birthday and this holiday on the same day! I'm happy to give up my "day of rest" to make her day special. We spent the day at church, spending time with friends, and decorating Lauren's birthday cake.

Lauren was born during a busy time of our lives. Brandon was graduating from Medical School, I was working full-time, and we were getting ready to move to California to begin B's residency program. So at four-weeks old, Lauren moved to Sacramento. And she spent her first five years growing up as a California girl. But she has done great in Boston and can say she is truly a city-girl now.

FINALLY! Lauren finally turned six years old. This has been a big wish of Lauren's since last fall when kids in her school class started turning six. And I'm sure as her friends start turning seven, she will start wishing for her next birthday. This goes along with wishing her front teeth will fall out. Somehow this seems fun to her, since everyone else is loosing their teeth. So maybe now that she is six, she will lose a tooth and the tooth fairy will come.

I just attended Parent Teacher Conference with Lauren's teacher last week, and I couldn't be prouder. I really couldn't ask for a better evaluation. She is doing excellent in school. She loves to learn and to be challenged. Her teacher says she does well socially and that she is kind and well-liked. It has been amazing to see her reading and excelling at school.

She loves to dance and perform. She loves Primary and her testimony of Jesus Christ is growing. She loves ANY type of craft project and she has just started soccer and yoga after school during the week. I hope this level of interest and activity continues, and I hope that I can keep up with her! She can be emotional at times, but I think that is expected with girls in general! :-)

One very important thing to mention about Lauren is that she is her Daddy's girl. She loves Brandon more than anything and loves to be by his side at all times when he is home. She is also a great sister to Elle and loves to cuddle and hug her.

We love you, Lauren!

Spring has Sprung

This tree in our neighborhood has been so beautiful this past week. Spring has SPRUNG! Everything is blossoming and the bright green of New England is returning. The seasons are so amazyingly unique here.

Here is a picture of the same tree in January. Burrrr! I am so glad the weather has turned for the better. We love it!

Happy Birthday Elle!

Three years ago, on May 4, 2005, Elle Marie joined our family. She was a cuddley 9 lb. 2 ounce beautiful baby girl. Brandon really liked the name Elle from Elle magazine and Elle Macpherson fame.

Elle's first year flew by. She was a great sleeper and eater. There were no major illnesses, but we knew thumbsucking was in our future!

At two years old she loved to be outside and climb, climb, climb. She loved parks and playing with friends. She grew to love her "blankie" which is still at her side today.

Today, our three year old loves to pretend. She is always asking me to "pway" (she has a hard time pronouncing the letter "L"). She loves to play with Barbies, Polly pockets, and My Little Ponies. She always starts out our pretend conversation with our playmates, "Hewwo, What's your name?" She could spend hours playing this way. She loves to watch Disney Princess movies and dance to princess music. She also loves to dress up and to play with her friend, Allie.

Sadly, she is STILL sleeping on a baby mattress. I have taken down one side of her crib, so that she can get in and out. But this girl is so tall, it is actually pathetic that we haven't purchased a twin bed for her. It is on my "TO DO" list within the next couple of weeks.

Her favorite response is always "three minutes." And she brillantly counts in Spanish, thanks to Dora and Diego.

Elle and I are constant companions these days. While Lauren is at school and Dad is at work, we spend our days shopping, cleaning, playing, and maybe watching a little TV.

Elle, we love you!

The Value of a Penny

Lauren is obsessed with earning money.   This morning she asked me if I would give her money if she organized her clothes drawer.  I said, "I'll give you a quarter."  Of course this wasn't enough, so she said, "Will you give me a quarter and a penny?" I said, "Sure."  And she said "Yea!!"

Yesterday she wanted to give a cashier her dollar bill so that she could get "more money" in return.  

Somehow this concept of the value of money has been difficult for Lauren to understand. :-)

Patriots Day and the 2008 Boston Marathon

Monday was Patriots Day in Massachusetts. Ironically, when I first realized this holiday was coming up, I thought it was strange to have a holiday for our football team (New England Patriots) in April. However, much to my embarrassment, it turns out that Patriots Day is in celebration of the first battles of the Revolutionary War. (Of course!) There were re-enactments of the battle held in Lexington and Concord, which I would have liked to witness, but because it was held at sunrise... at 5:30 am... we weren't able to make it. But we did make it to another event held on Monday.

It was also the day of the Boston Marathon. Wow. It was awe-inspiring. I actually teared up as I saw the leading men and women run past us. The course entered Brookline around mile marker 23. So as the runners came near us, they were near the end. We watched near Coolidge Corner, just a few miles from our home. Sadly, Brandon had to work, so I had to manage the girls and take a few pictures without him. Now that I'm more familiar with the Boston communities, I'll always watch the Marathon in the future with more interest and more perspective.

Beacon Hill and the Public Garden

Next on our tour of Boston..... :)

Saturday after Lauren's friends birthday party and lunch, we headed into Boston for another day of sight-seeing. It was a beautiful spring day with plenty of sunshine but was a little chilly.

We walked up to the Massachusetts State House from the Boston Common. Can you figure out what is going on in our city right now? It has to do with THE Playoffs. Boston is celebrating another sports team success.

Behind the State House is a neighborhood known as Beacon Hill. It is home to beautiful streets that once were paved in cobblestones and continues to house the very wealthy and very lucky. I love this part of Boston. Turn of the century brick row homes sit side by side. Chimneys decorate the tops of the brick buildings, and you literally can jump from roof top to roof top, just like Mary Poppins. Many homes have flower boxes and with Spring arriving, many of them are fresh and colorful.

Close by is the Public Garden. We walked through and saw that the Swan Boats are out from hibernation and that the tulips will be in bloom very soon.

Boston's Children Museum

With a forecast of rain expected, we planned on spending our Saturday inside the Boston Children's Museum. It turned out to be such a fun day. We started off by taking the "T" into Boston and having some pizza for lunch at a favorite spot in the North End. The weather was actually beautiful (no rain). The sky was clear and bright blue. It wasn't too cold or too hot... I THINK spring is finally on its way!

After lunch we made our way over to the Children's Museum. When we first moved to Boston last summer, we spent a Friday evening at the museum. But this was the first time that we could go and spend the time we wanted and to see and experience all of the exhibits offered. Lauren was really looking forward to this day. The only "downer" was because it was Saturday, it was packed.

Before going into the Museum, and because it was so nice outside, we stopped and got the girls ice cream cones at the Hood Milk Bottle. Elle managed to eat an entire chocolate ice cream cone without getting chocolate ice cream on her white shirt! I was close by with a wet wipe handy and was willing to lick the sides of the ice cream so it didn't drip down the sides. :)

Inside we found ourselves exploring the Science Playground with golfball raceways, creating giant bubbles, building wooden sailboats, crafting finger puppets, and much more.
Another fun day exploring our home away from home.

Is There Room on the Feather Bed?

We have an actress in the family! On Wednesday, Lauren's kindergarten class (along with the other two kindergarten classes at her school) performed the story, "Is There Room on the Feather Bed."

Lauren was a brown dog, and with the five other dogs sang:

"Woof, Woof, Woof,

We can't relax,

The rain is pouring on our furry backs."

Other characters included pigs, skunks, sheep, geese, cows, hens, cats, a "wee" man and a "wee" woman. The kids did a great job!

Lauren had been sick over the weekend and missed Monday's dress rehearsal and Tuesday's performance for the school. BUT LUCKILY she was able to recover enough to be in the play. She is doing much better. Kindergarten is so fun!

Exciting Family News

After months of contract negotiations, excitement, tears, stress, and relief, Brandon finally signed his contract for an orthopedic surgeon position in American Fork, Utah!  He will be working at the North Valley Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery group, which is part of the Central Utah Clinic, a multi-specialty clinic with over 90 physicians in 19 specialties.  Brandon will be the only total joint fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon in the clinic, so we are hopeful that his total hip and knee replacement practice will grow quickly. 

We plan to move to Utah in August.  We are very excited for this next phase of our lives!

(This photo is of Brandon during a knee operation.  Isn't this amazing?)