New York City

Central Park

 A couple weeks ago Jared's sister Jenessa and her husband Eddy were in NYC to celebrate Eddy's graduation (go Eddy!) so we decided to join them.  We truly had the best time and the kids were troopers.  Jenessa and Eddy are so fun to hang out with.....now if they just lived closer.

 

 Jenessa and Eddy                                              Ground Zero           

Brighton is always doing funny poses.

Ummm..........

Gettysburg

Jared and the kids visit with Mr. Lincoln

 One of our favorite things to do is to drive to a nearby town to explore and then grab lunch at a local eatery.  We are so lucky to live so close to so many cool places.  A couple weekends we cruised over to Gettysburg which is about a half an hour away and did just that. 

 

My boy in a girl's hat.

Brighton's Fifth

I can't believe the boy is five! His birthday was over two months ago, but I am a little slow getting things posted lately. We had a fun but very simple party for Brighton this year. Jared went on Brighton's preschool field trip with him and kept him out of the house until Addie and I were able to get Brighton's surprise

party ready. When Jared and Bright got home, Jared hurried and hid with Addie and I before Brighton could get in the house. Then we jumped out and said, "SURPRISE!" We didn't invite anyone else over this year, but that is kind of what made it perfect.

Brighton's favorite color is "rainbow" so he was super excited when we cut into his cake. I overheard Brighton lecturing Jared about not eating all the cake while he was sleeping.

This is me trying to pretend Brighton is still a baby. And that is Brighton trying not to laugh at me.

Addie was cwanky all week because she was jealous that is was going to be Bright's birthday. Aunt Julie sent Addie some presents so that Addie would have something to open. When Addie opened her sunglasses she was so excited, and she pretty much has worn them every day since. She even tried to sleep in them.

Brighton said the day was "perfect" and "the best day ever" and it really was.

Dress Up

 Boys and girls are not the same.  That seems like an obvious statement but it is really true.  Brighton has never shown any interest in dressing himself up.  The only thing he is interested in is taking his clothes off.  The kid is a streaker.  Seriously, he pretty much strips down to his boxers every time he walks in the door of the house.  Guys!  Addie on the other hand loves to get herself all dressed up.  I had to laugh when she she came down the stairs dressed in this number.  You can tell she is just so pleased with herself.

Bright

Brighton has been going to preschool five days a week this year. This week will be his last week...I can't believe how fast it has flown by.  This is his school picture. 

Addie

Addie watching TV from the stairs after she wakes up from her nap.  It really cracks me up when she does this.  If you ask her to come down she says, "No, I'm ok".

Six Months in Pictures

We built a house last fall and moved in a couple days before Thanksgiving. We love the new house and the kids love having their own rooms and bathroom. We have plenty of extra space and we love visitors so please come visit! (We live 2 hours from Washington DC, 3 hours from NYC, and 30 minutes from Gettysburg.)

Christmas 2010

We ripped out all of the flooring on the main level of the house and installed hardwood flooring at the end of December. It was tons of work and a huge mess for a while, but it looks really great now. I promise to post pictures of it at some point. We still have a bunch of projects going on in the house so our house constantly looks like a construction zone.

Travis and Rachel came for New Year's and this is the only picture I have to show for it.

We haven't had real snow in years since we spent our last 6 in North Carolina, so it was fun to play out in the snow. Love these kids.

Hiking in Pennsylvania.

We've been doing a lot of exploring since we moved to Pennsylvania. One day we decided to drive around and see some covered bridges in the area. Then we toured an old pretzel factory and had the yummiest lunch in Lititz at Tomato Pie. Jared often has days off mid-week so we do a lot of little day trips like that.

Jared and Brighton are twins. Seriously though, Jared dresses like Brighton whenever he gets a chance.

Travis and Rachel came for Easter and we had the best time. We really hated to see them go. We are so glad we still have family within driving distance. I wish I had taken more pictures. You can check out a better posting here.