Life in New York

We've been here for about a month now. We are living in the basement of my grandparents' house in Romulus, NY right on Cayuga Lake. Though we are getting frustrated with the job search, we are still loving it here. The leaves are beginning to change and I, at least, am so excited because it's been five years since I've been in New York for Autumn. It's so good to be back with family. Nolan's two cute aunts are really getting a kick out of playing with him almost every day. Last but not least, our cat Emma is in cat heaven living in the country. In fact, we really don't see much of her anymore because she's generally out and about catching anything and everything that moves.



My dad and Patrick took Nolan and my little sisters to the Trumansburg Fair where Nolan had his first experience on a carnival ride. He also had his first experience with farm animals which he reacted enthusiastically to.

Here they are at the fair....

Our little family


This is Nolan and me in our apartment at my grandparents' house.

Nolan got a couch that folds out into a bed. He prefers the fold out mode and has figured out how to fold it out, jump into the bed part of it, and get himself under the covers. It's really cute.

A campfire is a weekly (if not more) tradition at the Murray home and Patrick and I like to join in when we can. Here we are eating dinner one evening around the fire.

Here he is that same night, eating dinner around the campfire.

Oreo Man. Nolan tends to get restless in the car because we spend a lot of time in it, so I like to have something (like food) on hand to keep him quiet. Well, this was the first (and last) time that I gave him an Oreo.

Nolan's First Birthday

Nolan's birthday was great. We had a big party for him at Grandma and Grandpa Murray's house with lots of family and friends. Nolan's bedroom has a bug/outdoor critters theme, so we carried it further by decorating for his birthday with bugs. I made the cake, Aunt Olivia made spider brownies (using shoestring licorice for legs), the kids at the party got grilled cheese sandwiches shaped like butterflies, and shishkabobs were served for dinner ("caterpiller kabobs"). Here are some pictures from the big day.


The cake... before and after.




The idea of giving your one-year-old his own piece of cake for his birthday seems silly to me, so I really wasn't planning on a mess. As can be seen, things didn't work out as planned because as soon as the singing stopped, Nolan dug his little sweet fingers into the big sweet cake. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as messy as things would have been if he had his own piece.

August 18

The weekend after we arrived in New York, my friend, Ronelle Howard, got married in the Palmyra Temple. It was so nice to see her happily married and it was a beautiful day. So, here are a few pictures at the temple.

Spokane

We spent two weeks in Spokane with Patrick's family in August. We had a fun time spending time with family and participating in all sorts of activities including croquet, ping pong ball racing, movie watching, Uno and Quiddler playing, baby holding, and a trip to the Grand Coulee Dam. We also celebrated our third anniversary while we were there and had the opportunity to see Jordan and Ginanne's family sealed in the temple. It was wonderful to be in Spokane and were sad when it was time to leave. Here are some pictures from our trip....



This is everyone: Patrick's parents, Doug and Cheryl, their six children, two daughters-in-law, and two grandchildren.

Nolan and Grandma Mitchell.

Nolan and his dad looking out from the top of Mount Spokane.



The following images are from the ping pong ball event which took place in a beautiful arboretum in Spokane...

Grandpa Mitchell, a.k.a. Dad, a.k.a. Doug... the camera man striking a pose with his tripod at the ping pong ball racing event.

One of the event participants taking a break. (Ping pong ball racing can be quite physically demanding)

Little Bud at the event... he enjoyed it as a spectator, putting his feet in the water and rocks in his mouth.