Together At Last

April in Arizona

Henry and I spent the past three weeks in Arizona. A lot happened while we were there.

First and foremost, Charlie and Cassie's little girl, Jaynee, was born on May 1st. Oma, Sydney, Mia, Kendall, Aunt Aly, and I threw little JD a birthday party to celebrate her big day.

I also got to go to the wedding of an old mission companion of mine, which was twice the fun because I got to see a couple of the other girls from my mission whom I hadn't seen in years. It was really great. Catania bus station on transfer day great. (The bride and I served here together.)

We also were lucky enough to have a quick visit from Dad in the middle of our trip. He was in town long enough for a quick game of golf with Opa and a trip to our favorite gelato shop with our buddy, Meghan. Seeing him for such a short time made us miss him even more.

Henry made a lot of progress during this trip, and had a blast playing each day with Oma and Opa. No one on earth smells as good as Oma or has acquired her skills at toasty hugs, and Henry already knows that any time spent with Opa is sure to be filled with fun, and that he needs to have his laughs ready. He already misses those two.

We always have a great time in Arizona and this trip was no exception, but we really missed Dad and can't believe how long we have been away from him. We are thrilled to be home with him again. We love that guy.

Happy Birthday Tea Party

In honor of baby J, Oma and I decided to throw a birthday tea party. We invited Syd, Mia, Kendall, and Aunt Aly. We all dressed up and had cucumber sandwiches, fruit, heart-shaped cheese slices, and strawberry cupcakes. We sang Happy Birthday to Jaynee, drank pink tea with our pinkies up, and made toasts to the birthday girl. Sydney, Mia, and Kendall spent most of the time making trips to the bathroom (was it my cucumber sandwiches, or just a heart-felt effort to keep their hands extra clean so they could hold Henry? We'll never know for sure.), Kendall added an impromptu game of golf/cricket -- which went along great with the tea party theme, and Opa and Henry ended up crashing the girls-only festivities just as we were finishing our first round of finger sandwiches. Overall, it was a success, and we heard a rumor that the girls requested another tea party the very next morning. Welcome to the world, little Jaynee!

Tummy Time!

Kennie's Purple Seat

Before Henry was born, his cousin Kendall decided to give her beloved purple seat to him. Since that time, the little seat has been sitting in Henry's closet, waiting to be used. I remember looking at it and thinking that it would be a long time before Henry was big enough for it. He has been growing so much lately both physically and cognitively. He is getting stronger and is outgrowing all of his smallest clothes. Just this week he had his first laugh (as witnessed by Aunt Aly) -- a big, deep, throaty, fantastic laugh. He sits on his changey-table each morning and talks to Mamma endlessly, and this weekend while we were watching General Conference, he was singing along with the choir during a couple of the musical breaks. He is fascinated by everything. With all of this recent growth, on a whim, we decided to pull out the purple seat and see what he thought of it. It was a hit. He was so proud to show Mamma and Daddy that he was sitting up all by himself. Thanks, cousin Kennie! Here are some pictures.

Like at First Sight

One of Henry's favorite things is his stuffed monkey, Don Vittorio Emanuele (Don Vito, for short). He loves to see him in the morning and he loves to cuddle with him and try to eat his face. He really became attached to Don Vito from the first time he saw him. They're about the same size, so that might have something to do with it.

Family Pictures