evan, lindsay, nina, elena and esther

This post is an ode to the brooklyn botanical gardens. Not in full summer glory yet, but there were beautiful magnolia and cherry trees in bloom, and other wonders. An ode to all sorts of creations, as we get ready to meet this newest little creation. (please come soooooon!!!!!!)

Are so good!


She was called a boy twice on Friday. I think I need to do something about that. The Star Wars tshirt probably doesn't help. She IS wearing a skirt though hey!


Balancing a sippy cup on my "ball"




Jonfen and Megan








The ghost of graduation presents


We made this discovery at the alexanders. Lovely Bethany also cooked curry and delicious peach ginger cobbler. Well what can I say we are going to dearly miss these folks.

Black and white delights








When Nina sees this picture she's going to wish she had been there to play with Penny!

What I mean by the title is, I have a ball for a stomach. See for yourself.



How I know that this is a fact (other than the photo above):

Three or four times people have said something along these lines to me, jokingly: "I'm glad you remembered to bring the ball" (including one person today! haha)

But here is the real PROOF that my tummy is perfectly spherical like unto a ball:

Two weeks ago I was sitting on a chair near our kitchen table. Emily and Vaughn were over. Emily was holding Vaughn, who was piercing my tummy with his gaze, without blinking, for quite a while. Chuckling, I pointed to my stomach and clarified, "tummy!" in case Vaughn wasn't sure what to make of it. He was quick to correct me without any hesitation and said, "BALL".

Case in point. An 18 month old just doesn't lie, it's impossible.

hahaaaaa It was so funny. He still points at my stomach and since then he's been taught that there's a baby in my tummy, so he now says "baby". It was really funny while it lasted.


Since Nina was 11 days early I figured I'd assign myself an alternative due date to my actual one which is August 1st. So the "nina" due date, as I call it, is next Wednesday, the 21st! BTW isn't it amazing that Nina was due a day after I graduated, and this girl is due a week after Evan's graduation? Who plans these things?

I had another weekly midwife visit. The verdict is I'm a time bomb. I wish I just knew how long the fuse is. She has dropped and is lodged down low and there's only one place for her to go. Considering that I had false contractions on Monday night, painful and steady enough to keep me up for three hours, is maybe a sign that I'll deliver soon. Attempts at self-induction such as water aerobics, touring the BFA exhibits today with my grandma and aunts and uncle, biking, and lots of walking, have all failed. I admit they were all pretty leisurely attempts.

People ask me if it's hard being pregnant right now - mid/late summer in Rexburg. Surprisingly no. We had kind of a heat wave a couple of weeks ago and are about to have another, but our basement apartment has really come in handy. It stays so nice and cool! I count my blessings.

There have been so many fun times these last few weeks. Camping at Heise with Kendra, Joel & Lily and their family Chris and Lindsay. Playing at Egan Lake at the sand dunes was another fun time. It's this lake that is no deeper than a foot - the most amazing natural wading pool that goes on forever and ever. Nina loved it. Here are pictures taken on Sarah Miskin's camera. I'm grateful she captured this memory, of Nina eating mud. (we tried so hard to keep her from doing this, I swear!!) :





Last Saturday Bethany threw a baby shower for Shauna and I. Shauna's due date is exactly a month after mine. I wish I had taken pictures. LOVED hanging out with a lot of the people we're going to miss in Rexburg. It might be one of the last times before we leave. And the 'birthing' mini plastic babies game was short lived but hilarious. They were frozen in ice cubes and the first person to get theirs out or "birth" their baby, won. It was also awesome to have chocolate fondue and other amazing treats to enjoy.

My dad visited recently and we took a tour of Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole for a day with Grandma, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Ann. It was such a gorgeous drive. Kind of unbelievable. Fields of wild daisies and other purple flowers. Striking mountain grandeur. Buffalo crossing the road. At one point while rounding a corner we almost hit two baby moose and their mom who gallumphed down the road away from us. Here are a few beautiful pictures he took during the day:









Yet another great recent event - Evan's BFA show open house - where all the Bachelor of Fine Art students exhibited their final projects. I just felt so much pride for all the work he put into it. The project itself is an interactive website, but the display he created for it is so perfect. When we get some pictures of it taken we'll post them. We can't believe the kindness of a few VERY giving friends who helped Evan with the programming part of his project, soooo generously. It was fun to see Evan get the chance to introduce President and Sister Clark to his project. We had a good time meeting his friend and classmate Joseph's wife and their two kids. I'll never forget when their daughter Audrey stole my shoes and Nina chased after her to get them back. Then Audrey misjudged her placement and hurled her little 22 month self into a door while clutching my shoes. It sounds brutal but it was really, REALLY cute. And so funny.

Back to Evan's BFA, it's just awesome. Please check it out. - The hopefear project.

Traveling by foot,



by subway,


We met this blind man after the Yankees game. Seems like he was a local, and his plight was sobering. How do you get around via subway in a city like NY without sight? We helped him get on and then off at his stop (which happened to be ours) and directed him to his transfer subway. I hope he always has people who notice and help him out when he needs it.









by bike,


I think this was the evening we toured Williamsburg by bike. And then ate here. ohhh yum yum

Story time. On one of our last days we had bikes with us on the subway from Brooklyn to Battery Park. (to take the ferry to Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty) When we reached our stop I couldn't get off with my belly and bike in the way, but Evan did, and my phone was dead. NOooo!! I managed to get off at the next stop, get back on the returning subway and I made my way to our intended stop, Battery Park. Meanwhile Evan got back on the subway to the wall street stop and got off. HAHAAA I was so mad at him. He found his way back to the Battery Park stop, but couldn't find where I was at the ferry ticket booth in the park. Two nice strangers let me use their cell phones to call him and direct him. Soon afterward I took pictures of him in the park as a peace offering, to show my forgiveness for abandoning me and to say that I still love him and always will:





And he took one of me. It was sunny and warm.



Here are more pictures from the ferry ride.


Majestic, yes. To say the least.

We didn't actually get off at the statue of liberty, we were in a rush. But we did get off and tour Ellis Island. We LOVED it. There was a short explanatory video. I think I was the only one in there trying not to cry throughout it. Imagining all the people leaving their families and home lands, or arriving and then being split from their families, (or staying with their families) from all different backgrounds. The bewilderment and excitement of arriving at an unknown future. We could have spent a lot more time viewing the exhibits there and learning about the groups of people who passed through Ellis Island.





This day was memorable so I'll continue. After our ferry ride we biked up the west bike trail bordering manhattan island. We turned right at Greenwich Village which we hadn't seen yet, and got a nice little bike tour on the way to Union Square. Found a by-the-pound little bakery full of delicious french pastries.

sigh... I guess they didn't take it. We gave the east coast our money.

While Evan and I make it through our last week and a half as broke college students with a baby and one on the way (I'm due in like two weeks), I thought we could use a comforting reminder of where our money went and one reason why we are so broke - our trip east that we took in April. Maybe it will make daily mac and cheese with hot dogs seem worth it. I finally finished scanning all of the negatives from our trip taken on a 35 mm holga. (btw I actually calculated it!! Scanning them took about 15.75 hours. Over 400 pictures.) After I scanned them I went through and pulled out my favorites to add to the ones that we've already uploaded to Flickr. Some black and white. Some color. Some crazy. I think I'll break it up into a series of posts. If the posts suddenly stop, it may be because I went into labor and had a baby.

First we were in NY, (1 and 3 days respectively). Then we were in Boston for 3 days. Then we were back in NY for 8 days. This first post will just be snippets, some random favorite pictures. Some of these Evan used for his BFA project which is done and which is awesome!! Go evan!! I'm glad the dozens of pictures we took on this trip were useful.













Evan straddling time and space in a karate kid pose. A double exposure from cape cod and from Dave & Jessica's apartment.




Suvi & Logan, yankees game