Thanks Mike and Steph

The kids were thrilled to have a little package come in the mail with their names on it. What could be inside??? Nothing more than the most attrocious looking fake teeth. They absolutely love them! Cheers!

Playgroup at the Beach

The kids were super excited to hear that we would be having our playgroup at the beach. Fortunately there is another family with girls just about Mary and Anna's age.

As you can see, Brooke is working her magic trying to make a new friend. Needless to say she can be a little over zealous- but always well intentioned!

Sweet Aleia- not such a fan of the beach, but a pretty good sport.

Lillian also wished we would have stayed home, but no such luck.

Our 4th of July Celebration

The Red Coats are coming! The Red Coats are coming!

We were all pretty beat after the long drive and all the unpacking, so our fourth of July celebration was very simple. We were tempted to head down town for the famous Boston Pops, but just didn't have the stamina to take the kids out late and join the masses. We decided to check out the Minute Man Trail and visitors center. It was pretty amazing to realize that we were at the actual place where the commencement of the Revolutionary war took place. It was great too see how the kids caught on to the meaning of what we were celebrating.

Just a fun tree on the trail.

So much for Paul Revere being in this photo. Luckily Jacob's head still made it. I guess we are grateful someone was willing to take the photo for us.

Our Baby is 9

MARY

Tender-hearted, kind, sensitive, loving, determined, motivated, hard working, beautiful, clever, creative, helpful, bright, believing, trusting, curious, and capable.

Mary has changed and grown a lot this year. She has gone from being a little kid to a little lady. She is so fun to have around. We are really enjoying her and appreciate all that she does in our family. She is so willing to pitch in and help her parents and siblings. She does a fabulous job as the biggest sister. We love our Mary.

Mary turned 9 just a few days after arriving at our new home. She decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced. I tried to convince her that it would be cool to be the only girl who never pierced her ears. She replied in a very "c'mon mom" voice, "Mom, I don't think that would be cool at all."

Of course I have my ears pierced, so after consent from her father, we got her a gift card to get her ears pierced. She has such issues with pain and shots, I thought she would hold out longer before she would be willing to go through with it.

Happy Birthday to you....

Just look at those lovely ears. Fortunately they did both at once, and she survived the experience quite well. Anna decided that if it didn't hurt Mary too badly, she wanted her ears pierced too. So many benefits to not being the first born! Needless to say, Anna can't wait for her birthday.

Fun in the Museum

Hello Boston, Here we come!

Well, we made it to Boston after a never ending drive across half the country. It was very clear to me why we usually drive through the night on long trips. The kids did pretty well and were good sports, but it was long for all of us.

This is going to be our home/neighborhood for the next 2 years. It is a very nice area, and all the neighbors have been very welcoming. After leaving Columbia in 100 degree weather, it felt like spring when we got here. It promptly rained for 3 days straight, but now it is very nice and we are appreciating a pleasant summer despite the reality of a long winter.

After weeks of preparing for the move and several days of unpacking we headed out to the Children's museum for a break from the monotony. While this is my first experience actually living in a large city, the driving has not been as dreadful as I expected. I do spend a lot of time making up for wrong turns, but at least everyone around me is quite calm. There have been a few times when I thought I might chuck the lady in my GPS out the window. So far she has proven to be indespensible, a little nerve racking mind you, but there is no way I could live here without her constant barrage of directions.