A Note to Our Readers

A note to our readers... if there are still any left out there!  In case you didn't realize, I am woefully behind on the blog.  I try, but man there are a lot of pictures to post and not a lot of hours in the day to do it in.  So I've decided I'm going to skip ahead to 2015 and start posting those updates.  I'll keep working on 2014 as I can, but I want to record this year's memories while they are still fresh.

So keep your eyes on updates, both old and new.  Or subscribe to the blog and you'll get notification whenever I manage to put out a post or two.  Thanks for reading!

Weekend in Massachusetts

This weekend we went to Massachusetts.  We hadn't been since Thanksgiving so besides just seeing everyone, we also celebrated late Christmas!

Enjoying the sunhine

Hi cutie!

Aaron opening his Christmas gift

It was a really cook buckle toy from Mimi and Grandpa.  Perfect because Aaron loves buckles!

All of the kids got really cool tops from Kim and Jeff; here they are spinning together

Cam was excited about new Legos

And Leah was ecstatic about her Anna costume!

Ella helping Aaron with his top

Leah and Ella decided to go out and play.  It was chilly but bright and the sledding hill was calling them!

Weeeeee!!  I love the look on Leah's face, she is having so much fun!

The rest of the kids saw the fun they were having and decided to join in

Top of the hill

Cameron trying out a snowboard

And taking out Jack in the process

Cousin pile

More snowboarding fun

Uh oh, watch out for Leah!

He ducks under her sled...

....and recovers!  Good work Cam!

Backwards sledding, what a goofball

 Happy girls love playing outside

Everyone came inside and had some hot cocoa to warm up.  I love this picture of Leah and Lucia.

All of the other pictures were at Kim's house, where everyone went for the day on Saturday.  We stayed in Swansea with Mimi and Grandpa though.  Here is Aaron at his favorite spot in the house - at the window, up on the stool, watching the birds visit the bird feeder.  It was so cute, he got so excited every time a bunch of birds showed up.  He watched for a long time.

Another Business Trip - Destin, FL

At the end of January, I had a conference in Florida.  It was very nice to get away from the Syracuse winter.  The conference lasted all day so I didn't have much time for sightseeing, but the resort that the conference was at was really nice.

View from my hotel room

The hotel was on the bay side

Beautiful sunset view

One of the nights I had oysters for the first time.  They were delicious!  I was so amazed at how much I enjoyed them.

One night I went over and checked out the beach

It looks like a nice beach, but I didn't get to spend more than 15 minutes there.

But in those 15 minutes, I did get to see a lovely sunset.

The next morning I went for a quick run.  Out on one of the piers there were a bunch of pelicans and other sea birds sitting out on all of the pylons.  It was pretty cool.

Kristin's Trip to Seattle

I had a business trip out to Seattle (well, across the Sound from Seattle) and although most of the time was spent in meetings, I had a little time for sightseeing.

The view from my hotel - when tide is out, the small bay is even more empty than in this picture.  When tide is in, it is almost as high as the road.

Silverdale marina.  In the summer there are tons of boats... in January, not so much.

Another beautiful Silverdale view

Blurry, but one of my favorite meals that I always have to have when I'm out there: pho from Chung's.  Yum!!

After a bunch of meetings in Silverdale/Bangor, it was time to head back over to Seattle to fly home.  Any time I have a chance to, I always take the ferry back over to Seattle.  It is a beautiful ride (almost) every time!

This isn't a great pano, but it is taken from one of my favorite spots on the ferry, up on the second deck with the wind in my face.

Speaking of windy!

This was a lucky ferry ride, we had an amazing Rainier view the entire time.  So, so beautiful!

Seattle city view

Looking back towards Bainbridge Island

I love the ferry at sunset

Or pretty much any time.  I just love the ferry.

The Sound is a shipping lane so there are always tons of huge ships to see.

More Seattle

And another view of Rainier

I had a few hours to explore in Seattle before my flight so I went to Pike's Place market and wandered around.  I took these pictures for the kids, some cool veggies that they hadn't seen before.  They wished that I had actually bought the vegetables instead of just taking pictures of them!

Another great trip, I love Seattle!

Cameron, Leah and Aaron Meet Connor

Connor was born a week ago, but the kids have all been sick with colds, fevers and all kinds of other things that we don't want to expose a newborn to!  I've been over to see him a few times, but we wanted to wait until the kids were better before we brought them to meet him.  They were all going nuts, so excited and dying to meet him.  Finally, this Friday they were all well enough to go over and meet their new cousin for the first time.

Leah and Connor

She loved checking out his tiny cuteness

Cameron and Connor

He said that he remembered when Aaron and Leah were this little.

What a tiny little peanut

Cousins!

I love Aaron's face in this picture - he was so excited with Connor.  He kept looking at him and laughing hysterically and saying "Baby!"

Checking out the tiny footie

What sweeties

Really, could he be any more adorable?

Little Mama wanted one more turn holding Connor

Kisses?  Or maybe just breathing in that sweet baby goodness of a newborn?  Either way, so cute.