Weekend in New York...

Last weekend Kaz, Jade and I went to New York. Kaz had an audition for the New York Ballet Orchestra and I decided to make a social visit with my amazing friend Carrington, her husband, and three kids. Why not? So, we drive the 11 hours there (broken into two trips) and spend a lovely long weekend there.

Kaz did an amazing job at the audition. In fact, he was one of two people offered a trial with the orchestra the following week. We packed up, drove back, and put him on a plane for a Wed. rehearsal Sat/Sun. performances. Today we found out that he did not get the job but boy am I proud of him. He's advanced at every bass trombone audition and I am fairly confident that he will have an orchestra job soon.

As for the trip, it did start out a little rocky. We were 35 miles from our hotel the first night when we ended up stuck on I-80 in PA for 5 hours. An extremely fatal accident had happened about 8 cars ahead of us...3 people died. I am thankful that we were just a little behind. So, by about 3am, we made it to our hotel only to get up around 7am to go the rest of the way.

It only got better. We enjoyed some good quality time with Carrington and the family. We spent a lot of time playing inside with all the toys and hanging out for dinner. I love being able to just talk and not have an agenda (although I am a planner by nature). It was a nice break for me.

Here are some photos. I am always amazed at how little I photograph these days. I need to get into the habit again...






Click here to view photos

Playing Catch-up

We've been trying to get it together ever since last weekend and I find it extremely difficult to do. We spent last weekend in Chicago. I had a pet trade-show I wanted to go to and we visited Kaz's family and a couple of surrogate aunts while we we were there.

We left late on Fri. night and arrived in Chicago around midnight (not my idea of fun). Jade had a really tough time being there. So much so that she almost always had to be in mommy's arms while we were there. We left Sun. late afternoon and have been going ever since.

This is Kaz's granny. All the chinese kind of freaked her out but she made it.


Here's Kaz's surrogate aunt's. They both live in an assisted living community. Jade scored a bunny puppet and a stuffed dog while she was there.

Labor Day Weekend...

Jade and I had a packed weekend over Labor Day.

Sat: Jade spent most of the day with Grandma while Kaz and I went to watch some professional beach volleyball in Mason, OH (near Cincinnati). We actually saw some Olympic Gold Medalists play. It was about 87 degrees out so I was glad that Jade stayed at home.

Sun: Party at Aunt Teri's house near Indianapolis, IN. All day swimming and eating- can't get any better than that.

Mon: Kaz had the day off so we took Jade to Young's Dairy. It is about 25min. from here. They have a lot of kids things to do and a small petting area. Jade loved the goats.

The goats were domesticated enough to let her get really close- she loves to give animals hugs!

New York, New York!!!

Okay, so it has been a little while since I've updated but thought this would be the best time to do it.

Last weekend, Jade and I went for a surprise visit to see my very, very good friend, Carrington. Carrington and I used to work together in Oregon at Guide Dogs for the Blind and have been friends ever since. Her 30th birthday was this month so her gracious husband flew us in to hang out for a few days. Did I mention that Carrington and I were also pregnant at the same time? However, instead of one little bundle of joy, she has 3!!! They were born 10 days before Jade.

While we were there, we did manage to get out and see Central Park, go to FAO Shwartz and grab a little nibble at a Starbucks. Central Park is quite spectacular especially after some new snow.

So, what does it look like to have 4 babies in a 2 bedroom apartment in Manhattan? Well, take a look. Not so bad was my first impression. At least, Jade didn't seem to mind that there were 3 others like herself. It almost looks like a Where's Waldo book. Gabriel, Amelia, and Abigail (whose middle name is Kimberly).

I was completely awestruck with how well she was able to handle the triplets. Most moms probably wouldn't even bother getting out of their pajamas in the morning but she still manages to take a shower every day, give everyone some one on one attention, feed, clean, change diapers and put everyone down for naps.

It was great to be able to catch up and talk and just hang out. It makes me realize just how much I miss her.