Polish Fest 2007

Kielbasa. Pierogis. Mmmm. We went to the Polish Festival in Clinton Square for the food, and we were not disappointed. But the highlight of the day was our non-Polish trip to Friendly's ice cream, where they were serving up free cones. Bless Friendly's and their Hunka Chunka PB Fudge.

Onondaga Lake Day

Despite the hot, muggy, hazy weather, we had a great afternoon picnicking and walking at Onondaga Lake. The highlight: an hour spent with four sailing enthusiasts on the screened porch of the Onondaga Yacht Club. Ahoy!

X-Ray Specs

Jeremy never tires of this joke...

Yum!

A Year in S-Y, N-Y

Today we mark the one-year anniversary of our arrival in scenic Syracuse, New York. How time flies! Of course, in so many ways it seems like yesterday we finally pulled up to Westcott Street after five days on the road to be greeted by the severe heat and humidity that seems to characterize May 31 in Central New York. But I will say that I never would have imagined then, staring at the gently sloping floors of our first, funky apartment here, that we would come to love Syracuse as much as we do today. Moving into our new apartment after four months certainly helped, but it's more than that. We've put down our roots here, much as we tried to do in Montana, and much as we hope to do wherever we live, regardless of duration. It's just our way: live your life in such a way that you're always sad to leave a place. I know we'll be sad to leave Syracuse when that day comes. But in the meantime, we'll melt on the hot days, freeze on the cold ones, and enjoy as much as we can of everything in between.

There and Back Again...

After a whirlwind two weeks in Utah, we are back in Syracuse. We had a wonderful time visiting family and friends, enjoying the wonders of springtime in Utah, and packing more into a single two-week period than we had done in the previous two months. We took lots of pictures, but won't sport with your patience by posting them all here. Perhaps I'll put together a slideshow...

A few highlights from the trip:

• Clara's blessing


• Seeing all of Jeremy's sisters and their families, as well as Jeremy's parents and his Utah grandparents


• Seeing Rachel's parents, both sets of grandparents, and the ever-enjoyable Megan and Chris--not to mention most of Rachel's aunts and uncles and their families. We only wish Naomi and her family could've been there!


• Visiting with wonderful friends


• Visiting Sam's grave


• Going to the Thanksgiving Point gardens for the first time!


• Relaxing and watching movies without feeling guilty about what else we should've been doing!


• For Jeremy, going to Idaho to scout out the sites for his dissertation research


• Roasting hot dogs in Rachel's parents' fire pit


• Seeing Jeremy's parents nearly-finished condo


• Visiting good ol' BYU with Sarah, Chan, and Marlo--then miniature golfing with them later that day


• Swimming with Jeremy's family


• Going to the Hogle Zoo with Jeremy's family(Clara was enthralled...with her pacifier...)


• Lunch at Setabello's (delicious flatbread pizza) and Cafe Rio with Jeremy's family


• Lunch at the Red Iguana with Rachel's parents (oooh, yum!)


• Having an ever-full fridge and pantry of pure deliciousness to eat out of at Rachel's parents' house (we feel seriously deprived now that we're left to our own devices)


• Enjoying our beautiful nieces and nephews


• Attending the Jordan River Temple with Rachel's family


• Countless other events both great and small that comprised a wonderful trip!

Now we're back home trying to work around Syracuse's schizophrenic spring weather. Is it hot or cold, dry or humid, cloudy or sunny? Who knows? But we're happy to be home, and other than a sickness for Rachel (including Pink Eye, good grief!) and an unfortunate incident involving an exploding pyrex dish (with thankfully only a minor injury for Rachel), we are truly enjoying our summer. Thanks to everyone who took such prodigious care of us while we were in Utah! We hope to return the favor if you're ever in Syracuse.

One more week...

Mercifully, Jeremy will be done with the first year of his PhD just one week from tomorrow. It's been quite a semester, filled with Hurculean effort on Jeremy's part, but once again it looks like he'll pull through with flying colors. The man is a machine, truly.

Despite a hectic and stressful April, we've worked hard to find time to spend together, even if it just meant meeting at the park for lunch on a rare pleasant afternoon. And thank goodness for Sundays! Even though we often reach Sunday night with mild feelings of dread at the coming week, we also reach the evening feeling content with so many hours spent as a family. Here's to another April gone!

A mid-April snowstorm, as seen from Clara's bedroom:


Clara's latest: twiddling her fingers. What a great time!


Daddy and Clara after one of our picnics at Thorndon Park (you can tell it's a beautiful place when the leaves are out!).


Taking it easy after a long day at church.

"Helping" Daddy write his paper

A brief taste of spring

We can't help but brag about our beautiful weather this weekend: mid-70s, not a cloud in the sky. We'll be back to more "seasonable" weather by Tuesday (in the 50s), but we're loving this while it's here! I just wish the landscape were a bit prettier; we still have very little evidence of seasonal change in Syracuse other than the temperature!

Why we're all a bit SAD in Central New York

We are suffering from a severe dearth of sunshine in Central New York, so I went to our local weather website to see if we'll have any reprieve in the next week or so. Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: see for yourself in the following excerpt from the forecast...

In reference to an upcoming storm: "Unlike most winter nor’easters, there actually isn’t much cold air in place preceding the storm. Instead, this storm is going to become so strong it will ‘create’ its own cold air. Lots of rising air and heavy precipitation will help in the cooling process. The period of greatest strengthening will come later Sunday into Sunday night and this is when we expect mainly snow. Here in Central New York (including the Syracuse area) we stand to get a foot or more of snow from the storm by mid day Monday. Stay tuned, we will have more on this approaching storm throughout the weekend." (Yes, the emphasis is my own.)

Someone, please make it stop!

Happy Easter!

Crunchy Crunch Clara and Her Organic Adventures!

Clara's grocery cart debut happened last week in the glistening aisles of the West Hartford, Connecticut Whole Foods Market. She was quite taken with the selection of impossibly colorful organic produce. Clara and I were in Hartford to visit with my Dad, who's currently on assignment there with IBM. We may go back if he's still there when the weather turns warm!