Family Visits

Don't you just love it when family comes in to town! My mom came for a week and a half to help out and boy was it nice to have her. Katelyn loved every minute of all the attention and spoiling. My dad came out for the last few days of her trip and even caught a track meet while he was here. He snagged 3rd in the high jump and 2nd in the shot put (I'm not a proud daughter or anything...). His 3rd place came behind two previous olympic jumpers. Next month he's competing in France. Not too shabby for a guy in his 50's. We loved having them so close for a few days. Also my grandpa came with my aunt to spend a day with our little ones. It was so cute to watch Katelyn cuddle with her great-grandpa.

Sarah Starley

We made it home today, Hooray! Sarah Starley was born February 7, 2008 at 12:27 in the afternoon. She weighed 6lbs 6oz and was 19 inches long. She is now weighing in at 5lbs 12 oz; she's so little!!!! Katelyn is very excited about 'her' baby and points out all the facial features to anyone who is interested or not. Sarah has her Mama's ultra long fingers so we may have to invest in a piano someday. Thanks so much for everyone who has helped us these past few days. We feel so blessed to have these two little girls in our home.

9 degrees of Starleys

So I tried to be cool like Bryce and Amy and when a longlost friend blogged me I thought I should check if I could link back to us. I started with Sarajane and ended up jumping all over the US. I found some other pastel artists out in the big ol' world and it was a lot of fun just to see how familiar so many families were. Like when you go to the mall and think hmm...do I know them (but I never really do)? So thanks Devin and Monica Brady for connecting us back through Joey and Katie. If you ever have 15 minutes give it a try.



Okay so this really doesn't have anything to do with the post but Katelyn has been very into wearing her bookbag lately. Not even two and ready for school!

Match Results

Here we come California! Nate's been matched to the VA hospital residency in Palo Alto, CA. Here is a picture of the hospital and a map highlighting where we will be. Also Palo Alto is home to Stanford University. It will be exciting to be so close to San Francsico and we heard our good friends, Brendan and Elizabeth Selway will be about 25 minutes from us. Nate starts on July 1st but we may have to be there for orientation type things at the end of June. Isn't it exciting!!!

Katelyn's Winning Smile

Sorry so many posts...I couldn't help myself. Katelyn and I were dancing to Tim McGraw's Just to See You Smile and having a great time. Nate snapped the shot and we finally captured Katelyn's winning grin.

Cool Things About Atlantic City...

So Nate, Katelyn, and I decided to take one last adventure over MLK weekend before the new arrival comes. We had a super fun time swimming in the indoor pool and shopping the outlets. We stopped into the Atlantic City Historic Museum and learned a lot of interesting tidbits about the place.

*Salt Water Taffy was invented here in 1880 by Mr. Enoch James. (Our hotel concierge hooked us up with a free box of taffy because we couldn't find any souvenir shops that were open on the boardwalk).

*The Miss America Pagent is held here but apparently Miss Atlantic City never competes. Instead she is the official "greeter" of the contestants. I guess the first girl decided it would be unfair and started the tradition of hostess.

*Ever wonder where Boardwalk and Park Place have reference? Monopoly was founded in A.C. and based off the streets, railroads, and electric companies.

*In 1930 when Planters opened a shop on the boardwalk they had a Mr. Peanut strolling with crowds (Disney based his amusement park characters from the Mr. Peanut mascot).

*The first Ferris Wheel was set on the boardwalk made out of wood (the first steel one was at the Chicago World Fair).

*It's the first boardwalk created and it was taken down and stored during the off season for the first few decades (it's over 6 miles long).

*The steel pier originated the famous bareback horserider 40 ft dive into a tank of water (anyone seen Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken?).

Anyway there is all sorts of cool stuff to see. The casinos have only been here since the 70's so now it basically looks like Vegas on the beach.

Way to go Nate

...........
Katelyn in her room with 'Pooh'.................Taking a break to ask for 'Fish'

Nate and "Babykins" decided to surprise me a day early and took me out for a fun-filled evening at Applebees and Target. We ate til we were stuffed and played hide-n-go-seek in the aisles at Target. Nate splurged on a Kitchenaid mixer for me so I feel like a real chef now. I even came home from the purchase and made a cake from scratch and icing to boot. Note to self...I should have started with rolls or something I have made before. Nonetheless it was wonderful fun! As a super sweet topping my in-laws present came in the mail. Illustrated scriptures to read to Katelyn (oh alright so I can look at them too), a book of poetry with religious themes, and dinner at my personal favorite Cheesecake Factory (I can't mention the rest because Nate might steal them from me...j/k). Oh and my parents replaced the lost 'masterpiece of plane travel accessories' aka Personal DVD Player we misplaced on the trip to Utah. Katelyn has already claimed it as hers and has changed refering to the TV as Melmo (Elmo) and now says Pooh. Occasionally she has been able to refer to it as Tee.

Birthday Blues Buster

My birthday makes me melancholy for some reason even though I am really not very old. So in an attempt to stay positive I have compiled a list of accomplishments since my last birthday...



Discovered first hand that flour snufs a grease fire (poor missionaries had a later dinner)
Made the one year mark with Katelyn on nursing (didn't think we'd make it)
Ran half-marathon (I'm really not a runner, so big deal for me)
Danced at Roseball (I have two left feet)
Snorkeled in Hanauma Bay (after my sea turtle encounter yrs ago wasn't sure I could)
Completed 5 pastel pieces (1 being Katelyn's portrait) & my first canvas painting
Learned to sew quilts, make cards, and bake Chocolate Chip cookies (so domestic)
Read Jesus the Christ and even guided a few discussions on it

Realize how lucky I am to have a roof over my head, food in my pantry, and Nate and Katelyn cheering me on in my endeavors.

Tomorrow marks the start of my 26th year and new adventures await.

December Tasks by Katelyn

Just click on the picture to see it enlarged:


Taste Tester


Secret Shopper


Retirement Party Thrower


Stocking Snatcher


Fashion Coordinator


Book Critic


Belly Button Exposer


Helicopter Pilot


Trail Blazer

Family Pictures

Thanks Amanda (Long) for helping us out with the pictures. I must send a shout out to Becky and Lori because they generously offered a few Sunday afternoons to take pictures but we had to keep canceling due to the lovely Thanksgiving shiner on Katelyn's eye. So Christmas Cards may not go out but...here's our family photo. Katelyn's shirt says "I've been (scribbled out-Naughty) Nice all year". Merry Christmas guys!

Cute shot of Katelyn

Well Heather was right on top of things and sent this pic from the Turkey Trot we had at Liberty Dam. Katelyn wanted to push the stroller most of the way. Wasn't it such a beautiful day!

This one is at the spillway of Liberty Dam.

Building Forts

Nate got a little ambitious and built a fun blanket fort for Katelyn to explore. We had to take it down because well...it took up the whole living room.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so nice. Nate was finally home after a few weeks in West Virginia. We celebrated by playing in all the leaves around our apartment. His sister Heather and her crew, Dan, Grace, and Davy were able to come down from Connecticut to hang out for the weekend. We started the beautiful day with our own Turkey Trot to Liberty Dam and took some fun shots climbing on the rocks...(Heather if you are reading this can I get copies sent?) Then I made my very first apple pie and Heather/Dan did pretty much everything else. What a feast. We played a few rounds of pin the hat on the turkey and ended the affair with all the cousins in the tub together. Friday we went down to DC to enjoy the monuments and really experience the 20 degree drop in temperature from the day before. Thanks guys for making our weekend such great fun!




Charging Katelyn and watching her tumble in the leaves!


My apple pie

Pin the Hat on the Turkey

Rub a Dub Dub...Cousins in the Tub!

Katelyn about to go on the Metro

Meeting the ducks in the Reflecting pool

Taking the steps to Lincoln Memorial