Leaky Apartment

My cell phone rang tonight; it was my sweet friend and neighbor Janelle calling. I knew it was pretty late in New England and the call was probably about something not good. Yep, I was right. Our apartment was leaking. Apparently there was so much snow in Boston that any poorly sealed places were letting water in from the roof. I guess there was too much snow on the housetops! (I'm thinking to myself is this a problem every winter? I don't get it...Doesn't it snow in Boston a lot? Why is this such a problem?) Thankfully Janelle's husband Ryan who also happens to be our home teacher found the problem and stayed there until it was fixed. As far as we know our things aren't damaged and the leaking has stopped. We really feel blessed because it could have been much worse; now I'm just a little paranoid that the carpet and ceiling might be compromised and of course that there could be MOLD when we return. Thanks to the Holt's for their love and service to us while we've been away.

Delays, New York, and First Class

This is Brad posting, (rare, i know).  Well, I was supposed to fly home on Saturday.  At the time we were getting a lot of snow in Boston.  About 6 inches had already fallen by the time I got to the airport.  My airline said that we would have a minor delay, about 20 minutes or so.  Two hours later we finally took off.  I ended getting to JFK right as my connecting flight was taking off, and missed it.  After waiting in line for about 4 hours to rebook my flight, I was told I couldn't leave until the next day. :(  However, on the up side the only seat left was business class.   So, with 24 hours to waste, I decided to go see NYC.

I went to Times Square and had a look around.  I also got to see the 2009 that will be lit up when the ball drops on New Years Eve.  They're a lot smaller than I thought they were.

Times Square also had a few interesting places I'd never seen before: a public bathroom and lounge sponsored by Charmin and Duracell and a place called M&M's world.  Pretty cool.

I finally went back to the airport and boarded my plane (it was on time) and flew home in a nice, comfy first class seat.  Gotta love free first class upgrades.

Danielle is Back!

Well Danielle finally made it back from her semester abroad in London. She arrived happy but exhausted and down one bag (that bag was sent to Orlando and took awhile to get home but luckily nothing important was broken)

David and I left Brad in Boston to study for finals. We flew to Phoenix the day before Danielle did. Minus one dramatic diaper change the trip was fairly uneventful and David really did a great job being on planes for six hours. Danielle said she had it worse with twice as much flying time but I don't know...traveling alone with a kid is hard work!

Freedom Trail and Santa

This is about all I have to say about touring the Freedom Trail again on Saturday. BURR. I think my Dad really enjoyed the tour but it was DANG COLD. It was fun to get out and do something in Boston but we have now been on the trail three times since July! David did really well too. He and I warmed up in the National Parks building while my Dad and Brad finished the guided part of the adventure.

It is David's first Christmas and we just couldn't miss out on the opportunity to see Santa at the ward Christmas party. We thought David would freak out and he didn't but he just wasn't too sure about the guy in the red suit...

Better luck next year I guess.

Two Days at Home

Playing horsie with Grandpa.

David really enjoyed all the attention he got from my Dad. They played hide and seek, horsie, and hats. David loved taking hats off of my Dad's head and putting them on his head.

Since David and I were getting ready to leave for a month I told my Dad this wouldn't be the most exciting vacation; he seemed just fine with that. I went to several Dr's appointments and did a lot of errands while my Dad stayed home and watched David for two whole days! It was raining the whole time anyway, but I still felt a little bad he didn't get out. It was amazing how much I was able to do when I did have my little guy tagging along. Thanks Dad.

Dental School Christmas Party

Brad really wanted to show David off at his dental school Christmas party so my Dad and I made the long drive into Boston to oblige. David is beginning to be a little weary of strangers but Brad still had fun make sure that David met almost everyone he knew. :)

There was a raffle and my Dad won a BU sweatshirt! This was funny for a number of reasons. First because my Dad isn't a student and second because he really loves to buy souvenir t-shirts and sweatshirts from wherever he goes. He even got to shake hands and pose for a picture with the dean. I missed photographing that...my Dad also made friends with one of Brad's professors. I don't think we'll ever forget the night my Dad won the raffle at BU.

Brad and David. I think this is a really good picture of Brad.

Grandpa Comes to Visit

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

My Dad came to visit us this week. Brad picked him up at the airport via public transportation then we all met for dinner at Bertucci's (a little Italian place near the T stop) David seemed to like all the attention he got from Grandpa there. Grandpa gave David a little gift when we got home and David looked at the mouse and kept saying "Oooo" I don't know how much he cared for the book; but I'm sure he'll love it when he gets a little older.