New York Trip

So after spending a week in South Carolina, poor John headed back to work and Molly and I headed off to three weeks in New York. We had a great time and Molly loved playing with her cousins, aunts and uncles. We had a great time in Washington D.C. celebrating Nana's 70th birthday a little early. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera charger so most of the pics from our trip are on my moms camera. Here is a small offering of our epic trip to New York.

On the way to Maura's birthday luncheon. She had just woken up and got the tag team change/dress from Aunt Katie and I so this was probably only five minutes after waking up. We loved the groggy/crusty face and couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Not a happy camper!

She perked up as soon as the birthday girl arrived! Love this picture.

We were lucky enough to get a few snow storms while we were visiting New York. Thanks to Luke and Barbabra for letting us borrow some of Finn's old snow clothes.

Going for a walk in the snow with Nana. This is the last time we saw the hat and gloves.

Pops taught Molly what became her favorite trick.

Where's Molly?

The sneak attack from the upper left hand corner was always a favorite move.

Contemplating with Nana after a nap.

Meg with local celebrity Ed Heinsohn. Great job Ed, keep it up!

With Jeannie and Aine.

Wearing Great Aunt Barbara's sequenced Mickey Mouse slippers - a bit hit!

At the Foldy's playing with cousin William.

Molly and William became fast friends and bonded over lunch. It was fun to see them playing together.

William is really starting to look like his dad these days.

Katie's bowling team after Paddie Mo and I rooted them on to victory.

Now everyone switch places!

Patrick giving his team some pointers.

Heinsohn even stopped by to join in the fun.

A parting shot before putting Katie in a cab, she wasn't feeling very well but was a real trooper and held it together like a champ.

Checking out Nana and Pop's backyard one last time before heading to the airport.

Surprise!

Upon arriving home, Molly saw, and immediately loved, her Christmas present from Nana and Pops. Thank you!

Molly reading a book in her new favorite spot.

It was such a lovely visit! Thank you so much to my family for being so great. Special thanks to Luke and Barbara for hosting a lovely dinner and of course my parents for all the meals and fun. Molly misses you a lot!

New Years in South Carolina

After celebrating Christmas in California, John, Molly and I headed off to South Carolina to see John's mom and sister Gayle. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot, visited Beauford, went swimming and had a great New Years Eve celebration. Unfortunately Molly and John were both sick, but we didn't let it spoil our fun. It was so nice to see the family and we had a great visit overall.

Molly opening some presents with a little help from Dad.

Enjoying the beautiful weather in Aunt Gayle's backyard.

On the way to lunch with Grandma. If you look over Ruth's right shoulder you can see a blue heron, one of the many beautiful perks of the area.

Our New Years Eve Extravaganza! The food was delicious, it's too bad John didn't feel well enough to enjoy it. Thanks again to Ruth and Gayle for being great hostesses and taking such good care of us during our stay.

Christmas At Last!

We just returned from a long trip so these pictures feel very old but it was such a great Christmas that I needed to post pictures. We visited the Christmas Carousel at Tilden Park which has been a family tradition for years, then we baked Christmas cookies for all our friends and neighbors, and of course, we topped it all off by opening lots of presents.

Molly made a friend watching the train.

Looking at all of the lights is always a lot of fun.

Our tree looks a little barren on the bottom because Molly kept taking off all of the ornaments. They sought safety at higher levels.

I could not turn my back for a second without turning back around to see Molly diving into a fresh batch of cookies. I guess she was our quality inspector.

And she took her job very seriously!

We wrapped up our cookies in colorful paper and put them in decorated bags for our friends and neighbors. Each bag had samplings of our homemade fudge, Hershey kiss cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies and, of course, sugar cookies.

Delaney and I were partners this year and she was a big help taking full control over two recipes!

Christmas morning present opening was fun. Molly decided to model Delaney's gift immediately and she looked great.

Everyone was happy to open gifts, even Ginny got in on the action and she's Jewish!

Delaney's enormous PJs.

Molly was a great helper, I would give her a present for Darby or Deleany and she would happily walk it over to them. After she got her own gift though, and realized how fun it was to tear open presents, she started trying to open all the presents herself and I lost my helper.

Blue dog was pretty pooped after all the excitement.

Molly's favorite gift!