What's on top of Faneuil Hall?

Dear everyone. Having neglected our blogging duties for the past {ahem} two months, we are dutifully taking this holiday afternoon to update you on our goings-on. We are spending the summer in Boston with the Hahl Family: Belmont Chapter while Josh completes a 7-week internship in town. Did I say spending time with the Hahls? I guess a more accurate description would be, occupying half of their house (not to mention Caleb's entire play area), eating their food, taping up their windows so that Henry's room is dark enough after that glorious 4.30am New England sunrise, having Elise cook for us, and running up their electric bill. They have been good sports about it all -- especially Cabey.

Here are just a few of the many perks so far:

• Grapenut Ice Cream
• Blackberries the size of Henry's fist
• Harvard Square
• House Hunters International
• FRIENDLY'S
• The North End
• New England forests
• Concord & Lexington
• Treasures of wisdom from the talking Donald Rumsfeld doll Ain got for her birthday
• The sweet comb-over Henry has grown since our move here. Yes, we know it looks like a baby toupee. We've been told. But you should see how he oozes with confidence.

Seriously there are not enough days to see all that this place has to offer. Here are some of the pictures we have taken over the past month. Hold on to your hats, everyone, there are a lot. Happy Fourth of July!

Concord and The Old North Bridge

Our Trip to New Hampshire and Vermont

Henry Hanging Out with Mamma and Donald Rumsfeld

Henry Fix

blog update coming soon...

(and yes, we might have accidentally melted all of h's suckers by leaving them in boiling water too long.)

Little H

Breadstuffs

Henry is quickly approaching the six-month mark, and Josh and I decided that today would be the day that we would try to give him his first solid foods. The following video sums up the experience much better than any description could. Enjoy.

By the way, before we threw out the goop, I bravely (?) decided to take one for the team and taste a little bit of the cereal to see what all the commotion was about. It was the the worst thing I have ever tasted (well definitely in the top 3 worst things I have ever tasted, next to drinking milk from the bug glass growing up whenever I got in trouble and the cento pelle that they serve as street food in Palermo). Poor guy. I think we'll try again once he's old enough to handle a McFlurry.

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!