A year later...

Seems important that I should write something here. Just by chance I noticed that my last entry was a year ago today. Oh what a year it has been. Everything that I had hoped it would be as well as much of what I feared it might.

The love, the support, the amazing feeling of being home. The missing, the yearning, the displaced feeling of being a woman who craves tradition and the love of my people finding myself rewriting what all that means. All of these things coexist with each other in a way that is nearly indescribable. At the very least I would have to have a better handle on it all to begin describing it.

But...we are thriving. My kids are growing and learning and are so surrounded by love and family that I honestly give thanks every day for what they have. The ways that their lives have grown, the new connection they have to the seasons and life outside of the concrete jungle of Haight Street. I am rekindling old friendships while slowly forging new ones.

Being home in New England has brought me a new level of calm even in the midst of very real struggles. I had become so accustomed to life in the city that I was unaware that there was a level of vigilance that I was constantly maintaining. It wasn't until I came home to our small town, quiet life and the familiarity of daily rhythms here, that I was slowly able to recognize how much I had missed it all. It is a really difficult thing for me to articulate but it is almost as though I had dulled my love of this place out of sheer necessity. To make peace with my choice to live in California for the rest of my days. So much so that even now, a year later, I can be startled by the realization that my entire body is responding to the smell of wet leaves or the sound of the newly formed ice singing when you skip a rock across it. It is much like embracing that friend you haven't seen in years yet you realize the moment your hands touch and your eyes meet, that no matter how much time has passed your connection and love remains. For lack of a better word it is magical.

I try to hang on to these moments when I am feeling melancholy and wistful for my friends. For that is what I miss, not my lovely apartment of 20 years that so many people considered their home away from home, or the vibrancy and buzz of city life. It is my people. Those who watched me grow and helped me sort out who I was and who I hoped to become. The ones that supported me through my days bringing me laughter and clarity while we celebrated and grieved together. Those who watched my children come into this world and pledged with their words and actions to love them forever.

So it is December 22, 2011. Tomorrow is my birthday and soon after it will be Christmas. I have so much to be thankful for and so much to allow myself to feel sad about. Life remains beautiful and complicated.

With that I welcome 2012. With all it's ups and downs, surprises and curve balls. It promises to be quite a year.

December 2010...the changes are big...

I am going to scratch something out here...come hell or high water. I will for a moment ignore the mountains of work left to do, forgive myself for my rusty writing skills and just write something already.

We are doing it. We are moving our family across this great land from our most urban of nests here in San Francisco, to the small little town of my childhood.

I can hardly believe it. The past few weeks have been a blur of packing, saying goodbye, anxiety attacks, joy, sorrow, excitement with a pinch of honest to goodness fear thrown in. I can hardly believe it. Did I say that already?

Everything feels intense and bittersweet, packing up this home of mine. A place I have lived for my entire adult life. Sifting through memories and objects and emotions. Feeling numb then feeling everything like a punch in the gut. I don't think it will truly begin to sink in until I am walking out the door with the boxes piled high around me. If then.

So much to look forward to in our future...family, nature, seasons, home. But so much to mourn from the present....friends, community, security, comfort. I think I will do this, this writing thing. Try my best to capture what is most real about this transition, share it with those who think of doing the same thing or just love us enough to care.

I am struck with how much going "home" feels at once comforting and familiar yet terrifying and unknown. But we are doing it. Leaving the city and heading out to a frontier of our own making.

I have never experienced anything as excruciating that feels as right.

What a difference a couple of months makes...

This boy is something else....he never ceases to amaze with his drive towards mobility. (love the head bonk on the camera at the end...Papa was at the helm).

The boy is mobile!

Unbelievable....our boy turned six months last week and this week has taken it upon himself to really start crawling. A full month earlier than his sister did (I just went back and checked the blog). He has been working towards this moment for at least a month now. I can't even believe how determined he is. I am seriously in trouble with this one. He was rolling his way around the room at four months...sitting for real and without needing any help by five months and now this. As you might imagine Bert is beside himself with pride. You see we are always hearing that Stashu looks just like Rhea and that Rhea looks just like me....but the physical determination and finesse that both these kids have is all Bert. So check it out (please ignore the super dark video and the floor littered with playsilks, baskets and all manner of wood toys)

Not bad huh? Yep..that's our boy.

Playing Santa

Rhea's love affair with Christmas continues. She has taken to "playing Santa" which is a delightful game which entails filling up bags with presents, placing them in the corner of the room where our Christmas tree used to be and watching with unabashed enthusiasm as you "open" your presents.


This game can go on and on and on she really never tires of it. Here are the spoils of a recent Santa adventure...

So sweet. Somehow my favorite part is the fact that she places them in the corner where our tree used to stand..somehow the mid century stereo cabinet works just fine in place of a glittering Christmas tree. The beauty of imagination.

In Stashu related news we are semi-mobile! That's right this little guy has taken to steam rolling around the living room to get to his intended destination. Hilarious. I wish I had video of this in action. I keep trying but he already has enough of an awareness that the little black thing in my hand is doing something different so he probably should stop and stare instead of move around. Instead I will share this picture of him pre-roll and lounging (if the definition of lounging meant high pitched happy screaming and arm flailing) on a blanket with Dawson.


I love his "little boy" hair style with the bangs brushed off to the side. The heart stretches further and grows more...yet again.

Early morning sweet baby overload...

I almost feel as though these pictures need no text. They are just so beautiful to me.


During a quiet nursing moment earlier today, I began reflecting on how much love my girl has for her brother. She LOVES this little guy...she really, really does. I was so worried about how Rhea might adjust to her new sibling and the reality of sharing me with a very needy little bundle of cries, bodily functions and nonstop nursing. But even in the earliest of stages before he became the master of the winning smile shown above, it was a very smooth and natural transition. In fact if I suggest "Mama and Rhea" adventures she always tell me they sound great...but then will inevitably wonder if we could bring Stashu along too. Same goes for story telling when I dream up intricate stories she will always insist that Stashu is given a staring role. It is just so heartwarming.

I'm hoping all this goodwill remains as he becomes more mobile, grabby and starts slobbering all over her toys.

I have decided to simply enjoy and treasure this time. I figure Rhea is building a very solid foundation of love from which all future interactions, both positive and negative, can eventually play out. At the very least I will have these words to remind her of her pure and sweet three year old rapture. What a beautiful thing to behold.

Nourishing Mama....

It begins tomorrow. My new pact with myself (and my good friend Shannon) that I'm taking time to get myself a little more back to...well...myself. This is not a New Years resolution nor is this simply about dropping the extra "baby weight" I am carrying.

This is about taking care of myself so that I can better take care of those around me.

It is so important to me that I model positive behavior for my children. But as a mother of a little girl, I am especially mindful that my own strengths, weaknesses, hang-ups, body issues...god you name it...can become a direct pipeline to my baby girl's developing psyche. With the rest of this world giving her ridiculous information about women and their bodies I know that I need to be careful I don't unwittingly reinforce the message.

So the F word is banned in the house (Ask Auntie Mary she will tell you..no fat talk in these parts). Compliments are accepted graciously without self effacing disclaimers (not easy sometimes). And we are generous with each other in noticing and celebrating our accomplishments. For the most part.

I am posting this here not only because of the public accountability factor but also to remind myself of why it is important for me to feel back in the strength of my body. This is not about reaching a certain size but about reclaiming that physically strong and active person I had been for so many years and introducing her to the Mama I have become. It's about bringing the best of both of these parts together for myself and for my girl.

Twenty Ten

So here we go...2010. I would like to state for the record that this is going to be our year. I am sure it is going to be a year of laughter, growth and dare I say prosperity. We all have it coming to us as far as I can figure....I mean honestly, how can you argue with this group of mugs?

We have Rhea's new baby as a stand in for Stashu...he was peacefully sleeping but was with us in spirit. Bring it on 2010....

Truer words....

I came across this quote on a blog I happened upon following a link in search of a good beeswax polish recipe. It brought tears to my eyes in that good way. A very timely reminder for me.

Cooking and cleaning can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm nursing my baby and babies don't keep.--Unknown

It also brought the realization that I have very few nursing pictures! Who would have thought that of something I have spent what seems like most of my time doing for the past three years. But I do have this sweet one of Rhea and Annie playing footsies during a long ago nursing session.


I intend to take a few nursing shots with Stashu...I just have to make it happen. Best I have is this one Rhea took!


Still sweet though...Oh my lovely babies.

Siblings

Just in case there was any question that these two are related I present photographic proof.

Rhea Sue at 19 weeks......

Stashu Paul at 19 weeks......

I rest my case.

This one is for my Mom....

So much is happening....the time is just swirling around me and in the midst of it all lives are changing, love is expanding, and milestones are noticed, celebrated, and then promptly forgotten as new milestones take their place. Life with two...it is amazing...and awe inspiring..and, at times, downright exhausting.


The holidays were really something to behold...Rhea was so entranced with it all...the magic was really very alive. Tangible even. We are a lucky, lucky little family of four. Something about seeing our stockings all together, seeing Stashu's name in beautiful gold script, made it all so real. Here we are living the moments that will hopefully become the memories my children will cherish on down the road. Again I can't express how lucky I feel. So I'm going to rely on some pictures to help me get this blog moving again.

Our Autumnal season began with a lovely lantern walk through Glen Canyon...I had joined other parents from Rhea's preschool in lantern making evenings full of laughter and sticky glue and impressed even myself with my ability to make a working lantern and embrace my crafty side. During our lean financial times this season this crafty side was an absolute bonus...and actually found our little family crafting together in ways I never would have imagined. Here is a shot of some of the lanterns hanging in the trees while we all sat around a bonfire in the woods (in the middle of the city..but you would have never known) eating baked potatoes, drinking hot cider and generally enjoying each others company.


Then came Thanksgiving...a sit down affair for 18! This shot is of Rhea giving the blessing before the meal. (and yes..I have since taken some of those finger prints off the windows behind us! You can also see one of our lanterns hanging above the table) Not everyone is represented in this shot but it is the best one I have..and it was a wonderful day full of thanks with a mix of old friends and family..new friends and lots of laughs.


Our tree hunting the next day was HILARIOUS...I happen to have a recap I sent to our friends Jamie and Samy and I will share it here because I recorded this when it was all fresh in my mind and don't think I could do it better a second time:

Man oh man did you miss a madcap fiasco of a tree getting adventure yesterday. We decided to try a new place...drove almost all the way to Santa Cruz (in the on and off rain and with an on and off screaming baby) to arrive at a very quaint tree farm. Fire pit, giant swings, all you could eat marshmallow's...and no trees. That's right all the trees were dwarf sized and crazy looking. Oh and did I mention it was pouring while we trampled through the mud looking at the deformed dwarf trees? With Evelyn screaming because of a marshmallow incident. Oh and Mary got car sick and had to duck behind said dwarf trees to relieve herself.

We left that place and headed back to 92 now with a baby that was screaming nonstop..and stopped by the side of the road to purchase an already cut tree. Yeah. And mine is short narrow and crooked. But I am pretending it is perfect because Rhea thinks it is so I have decided only to express my true feelings via email....would be outrageous to make her think her Christmas tree is anything less than perfect just because I'm such a weirdo. I'm sure once we have it all decorated it will be beautiful. So to make a long story short if you were going to miss a year..this was the one to miss! We will be back at Mackenzie ranch from here to eternity from now on.

This picture from Evelyn really captures it all :)


Okay..now the italics won't shut off...but I will not let this deter me from getting this post out!

Our next big celebration was Rhea's birthday...her third birthday to be exact. I can't believe my little girl is getting to be so much of a big girl. Below you will find pictures from her special school birthday, her new birthday ring and a shot just after she blew out the candles at home! My favorite memory of that day was the way she really thought about her "birthday wish" for a good long time before blowing out the candles. That and the amazing dollhouse that all of our friends chipped in to get for her.

Our next big celebration was our annual "Fake Christmas"...and I can't even believe I don't have a single picture from that evening. It was really a beautiful gathering. Sit down for 19 (needed to one-up Thanksgiving) and purely magical with all the kids really bringing home the spirit of the season. It might have been my favorite "Fakemas" to date.

Then of course...Christmas...oh my I don't even have the words for how sweet it was. Rhea running to check the cookies to see if Santa had come...her excitement at actually getting her "baby with the pacifier on her wrist" (that Santa had spent hours looking for to make sure it was of the phthalate free variety). And her overall joy. Unbelievable. I am in love in a whole new way with the Christmas season...who could have imagined. There are so many shots I could leave you with...but will pick just a few.

So there you have it Grammy...Merry Christmas...I love you.

Big Girl Bed...

Sleep in these parts has been hard to come by these days. Rhea has been struggling for awhile now with falling asleep and we had tried everything short of turning a crib upside down on top of her to keep her contained. Though I have to admit when Bert suggested it one particularly difficult night at around 11:45 it almost seemed like a good idea. Almost.

We finally went with the hard line....after the bedtime routine then it is in bed. If she comes out it is no talking headed straight back to bed time. Over and over until she gets that she really has no other choice. A mind numbing and frustrating experience if you let yourself think about it too much.

This past weekend we decided it was time to hype up the "big girl bed" and the "big girl room" and take the plunge and move her from our room into her own. She was so excited about us setting up her bed and her "silk" above the bed. As you can see in this picture she had to set her baby bed up beside her with a silk for her baby as well. She just kills me with the cuteness.


So just about a week into this new experiment and I would have to say it is a success. She still struggles a bit to fall asleep but nothing like the epic bedtime sagas of old. The first night she came into our room several times and needed help getting back to sleep..but then we had three nights where she slept all the way through the night! One morning she crawled into bed with me and told me that she looked out the window and saw the sun so she knew it was okay to get up.

It is so strange to have our room back to ourselves (well for a month at least). Those first couple of nights the room felt strange and empty and Rhea just too far away. Bert and I both had to check on her several times to convince ourselves she was going to be fine. But I am now finding that I really love having that space back. Without having to whisper and creep around before we fall asleep, Bert and I will stay up chatting away until way past our bedtime without even realizing it. It's like we have found a way to get a little bit of "alone" time just when we need it most.

There really is a baby coming...

Preparing for baby number 2 is oh so different...there is precious little obsessing about each and every change in my body (cripes I was still recovering from Rhea when I got pregnant again...and none of you need to remind me that it was just about TWO YEARS later). There is actually very little fanfare about the whole thing in general.

Sometimes I feel like I am in this pregnancy alone. With Rhea, Bert and I were constantly talking about "the baby" and wondering about "the baby" and hoping good thoughts for "the baby" and I was basically being waited on with all the sweetness of Bert's being. Lots of cut up fruit, glasses of water with straws and ice, spontaneous gifts of overpriced but delicious massage oil etc, etc, etc. Well this time around...not so much.

I know this is understandable given that on December 3rd 2006, the focus of our family shifted from being exclusively about the two of us, to being almost exclusively about Rhea. So now the way Bert shows the sweetness of his entire being is by picking up the slack with Rhea when I am feeling particularly tired, or managing the bedtime routine solo and basically just trying to take care of her as much as he can. But it does get lonely out here in pregnancy land...

But little Rhea, in her sweet two and a half year old way, has joined me on this journey in a way that I have realized I should take the time to appreciate more. She is so very excited about her "baby Stashu" and loves to give my tummy kisses and "squeezes". She is very concerned that Stashu has enough pacifiers and sippy cups (we actually had to go on a pacifier run the other day...nevermind that Rhea never used a pacifier as a baby), and the right car seat, and continuously asks about what he might look like when he comes out.

We have been talking a lot about birth so that I can prepare her for what she can expect and it amazes me how much she retains and how much she really seems to understand what is going on. Our midwives lent us this amazing book called Hello Baby and Rhea loves to read it over and over again. She delights in my giant belly and does her best to keep her elbows, knees and feet from too much rough contact. She has started to shift her behavior from pretending to be a baby (as she did early in my pregancy) to pretending to be a Mama and she is so tender and nurturing with her baby dolls that it always warms my heart and makes me feel that I must have done something right with her.

Here is a picture of her during a recent home visit with our Midwife Nancy. While Nancy was listening to my belly for baby Stashu's heartbeat, Rhea was doing this...


I honestly could not love her more than I do right now...but I think that all of the time and all of the time I feel my love stretched and my appreciation for who she is grow.

When we were interviewing midwives one said something that has stuck in my head. She said that second babies tend to enter the world in a much calmer way and with a much calmer disposition. She attributed this to the fact that less of a fuss was made of them from the moment of conception through birth and beyond. I have held onto that little nugget of knowledge whenever I start to feel guilty about things such as finding my ultrasound pictures on the floor of the car, or forgetting which week of pregnancy I am in, or realizing that I can't remember the last time I took a prenatal vitamin. Inevitably there are times when the panic starts to creep in and I think "how are we going to manage two children and what the heck were we thinking with this whole idea anyway and when am I ever going to get some semblance of my body back to myself and poor Rhea how is she going to adjust?????"

So during these times I think of Rhea and remember that we are actually giving her quite a gift with this new sibling. I think of how this pregnancy alone has already positively impacted her life and know that even with all the transitions and adjustments and compromises that are sure to come, there will also be moments of joy and sharing of love and understanding and downright bliss. I know that Rhea will have someone to share her childhood with, to remember the same things (though maybe in different ways), to laugh with, to cry with, to roll her eyes at across the dining room table when her Mama or Papa are on some kind of surely embarrassing tirade about something. These next couple of years may be challenging but I know they will be worth it not only in the end...but throughout the journey as well.

So bring it on baby Stashu...we are waiting for you and I'm thinking we will be ready.

Rhea and Annie....

It's funny after my last post in which I mentioned Rhea's ever evolving relationship with her friend Annie, I thought it quite timely when later that day I opened my inbox to the two pictures I am about to share.

I vividly remember when this first picture was taken just about two years ago, sitting on Mary's back deck enjoying the sunshine and marveling at how big the girls had gotten. Talking about how well they "played" together and how lucky we were to have each other. You can see my hand in the bottom right corner of the pool ready to quickly intervene in the case of toppling babies or the inevitable non-intentional, yet highly frustrating, toy grabbing from each other.


And this from last week:


I mean honestly. Would you look at these two...they just barely fit in the pool! Play dates these days are really chock full of action. Our girls have more fun together than you can imagine but they also scrap like sisters and sometimes will intentionally do things just to get a reaction out of the other (this behavior is fairly even on either side...I swear they trade off irritating each other). I actually heard myself telling one of them to "just ignore" what the other was doing the other day. A piece of advice I heard countless times from my own mother as a child. A piece of advice, I should mention, that I was NEVER able to take...so I'm not sure what I was hoping to accomplish. My guess is I was looking for some relief from the whining for my own ears. It made me laugh though as it just flowed right out of my mouth as natural as can be.

But for all their scrapping they are really sweet to each other as well. Rhea loves to recount stories of their time together (if you get the chance ask her about the time they took the bus home from the bakery). Randomly Rhea will ask to go to Annie's house or out of the blue declare "I love Annie". Though perhaps what sums up their friendship the best is when we are driving away from Annie's house after a fun filled day, Rhea will almost always exclaim "It is so nice to be with my friend!".

a year in pictures...

Oh my goodness gracious me. The title of the post really does say it all...I would like to state for the record that my lack of posting in no way reflects how much I value all the little stories and changes I witness daily. I somehow got really, really off track. An extended visit home last August...then some months of excuses I can't really generate...then this pregnancy! I say lets blame it on the baby...poor little guy is going to have to get used to being a source of friction sooner than later.

So without further ado...

August 2008: Here is a shot of Rhea and Evelyn hanging out at Packards. Josie rented a perfect little cabin on the water and we enjoyed some of our best memories of that summer all together. This has further cemented my resolve/fantasy of someday owning property on a lake, or river, or even a creek. Rhea was in heaven and so was I...


September 2008: Here is Rhea and Annie at another favorite swimming destination China Camp! As you can see in this picture Rhea and Annie are very good friends..and their love for each other has only grown over the past year. I feel so lucky to have been able to watch this friendship grow from the early stages of excited drooling and squealing, to parallel play, to this new world of make believe, stories and mutual admiration.


October 2008: Of course a picture of Lemos's farm is a must for any October shot! Here is Rhea giving all the love she can to a baby goat. She still loves animals so very much.


November 2008: Well...I feel I have to post this one...Thanksgiving Day our girl took a tumble of epic proportions. I still can hear the sound of her lip hitting the coffee table in my head and I honestly thought we were headed to the emergency room instead of sitting down for dinner. An executive decision was made which may have left a permanent scar on her lip but most likely did not leave a permanent scar on her psyche which I do believe Novocaine, needles and thread could likely have caused.


But for a little comic relief I will also add a picture of the sleeping beauties coming back from a long hard day of Christmas tree hunting!


December 2008: Okay...it is next to impossible to pick just one picture for the month of December as it is just chock full of fun and festivities! I will try and restrain myself a bit..

December 3rd: Rhea's 2nd birthday...oh what a day. So much fun, mayhem, and burnt sugar cupcakes to boot! Unfortunately Rhea deleted ALL the pictures off of our camera (she is some kind of whiz when it comes to instant interference with all things mechanical). The process of trying to retrieve them derailed our spontaneous picture taking for quite awhile. Another excuse I will use in my lack of blog entries...


I love that she is looking so shell shocked from all the festivities...Birthdays are kind of intense if you really think about it.

And then Santa came....bringing an amazing new play kitchen!


Christmas morning and stockings with John, Hai Nhu and Evelyn...


And then we were off to New England for Christmas in the snow with Grammy and Grampy and all our East Coast family.


January 2009: Unfortunately our Camera situation (and the hope that we would recover those lost pictures) made January extremely light on pictures. But we do have a sweet one of Grammy, Rhea and Henry!


Feburary 2009: Another meager month in the picture department...but here is a picture of Rhea on Valentines day in her sweet little sweater....a birthday present from Joe, Heidi and Baby Zak.


March 2009: Rhea dressed as a fairy for Ruby's 6th birthday party...what a fun day that was!


April 2009: Here are the girls opening their Easter tea sets from Grammy....Rhea LOVED that tea set..unfortunately we have had mass casualties on the tea set front. Least we have the picture to remind us of all the fun while it lasted!


May 2009: Another China Camp shot...you can tell Josie and Jimmy were here because her hair is so nicely braided. I was looking for a good shot of the three of them but alas they were all a bit too blurry...but I love how self sufficient she is these days...just sitting and playing with her sand toys.


Drum roll please....JUNE 2009! See...it is like I was never gone...a full years worth of images and now we are all caught up! Just in time for me to have a baby....and get all behind again. But on a positive note here we have Alex and Rhea romping in the water!


At the risk of having to eat my words...I would like to take this moment to proclaim that I am going to do my best to keep up on this blog. At least for the next couple of months before our little boy comes. Wish me luck.....

insomnia is good for something...

Honestly...I can hardly believe it has been this long. So much has been happening and life has been so full...and yet this blog has lain dormant...much to my mother's dismay.

I'm in the homestretch of this pregnancy...31 weeks and moving forward..and before I know it I will be posting something about our new little one and the joys/challenges of parenting two children. Well actually...I might be posting or I might just be meaning to post something.

Rhea has been amazing..truly just simply amazing. To try and capture all the ways in which she has changed and grown would be nearly impossible. She has an ever blossoming sense of humor (oh yes and poo jokes are quite hilarious in these parts), a sweetness that continues to shine through all the challenges of raising a two year old and an ever increasing vocabulary that only adds to the fun. She loves to tell and hear stories about her day and can get so excited while searching for the right word she will start moving her hands in front of her while saying "ummm, ummm". But she most often comes up with the word she is looking for and the instant frustration she used to experience seems to have ebbed just a bit.

I have so many photos to share that it can be a bit overwhelming...but I will start with an oh so sweet video of the girls "taking a nap" and singing themselves a little song (please ignore the unsightly vacuum and the weird angle of the video..we were really just capturing the moment as it happened).

Rhea loves to sing..and twinkle twinkle is one of her all time favorites.

Sunday in the Park

Sunday was warm and beautiful....what better place to be than the Park!!


I don't think Rhea ever gets tired of playing in the park


Run run run Rhea!


She loves strollers.......

Has it really been this long?

Well, it may look like we have abandon the blog, but we haven't. Our world is a crazy place and I'm not sure how much more crazy it can get but we shall see in August when Stashu Paul Sawicki arrives. Here is a little video I took of Rhea taking after her Papa and rockin the air guitar.
More to come soon...stay tuned!

Crazy Legs

I've been going through some videos and made a little movie that I like to watch because I miss Rhea.
Enjoy

More Summertime Fun!

Well it's official...we seem to have "misplaced" our camera. I can't even bring myself to write the word "lost" (though I fear that might be more accurate) because admitting that is just way too sad. I would like to blame my lack of posting on my lack of camera...but that wouldn't really be fair considering I have access to so many other great pictures taken by our friends and family.

Case in point....these beauties that were taken at the BBQ by Rhea's Nana....





I am still looking back on that BBQ with fond memories...it was just a perfect summer day. Stay posted for updates of our New England adventures!