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The whole reason for my trip home to Missouri was for a baby shower! My parents flew me back and my friend Mandi, Aunt Shirley and Mom put the shower all together. I couldn’t wait to see some Missouri friends and to enjoy an afternoon together. Of course I wish I could have had an entire afternoon with each person but I’m thankful for the time I had.
Mandi made all the wonderfully delicious food…shrimp wontons, crab dip, chicken salad sandwiches, shortbread cookies and tuxedo brownies…
And the beautiful cake…we went with a green and brown theme…
Party favors/prayer candles…a wonderful idea picked up from friends in Vancouver…when they hear I’m in labor they’ll light the candle and pray…
My mom with one of the prizes…green and brown chocolates!
Kristy, Emily w/ Hunter on her lap, Julianne, Hannah & Olivia…
Mandi & Jennifer (who is due 2 weeks before me!)
Bonnie (Lucas’ mom), my Mom & Angie (sister-in-law)…
After food and mingling it was time for some games. First we played a guess the baby food game…
Jennifer & Jess sniffing it out…
Our other game was hilarious. When Mandi and Jesse visited us recently, Jesse filmed Lucas answering some questions about babies and fatherhood. Lucas’ answers were not the most serious but they were funny. :) I might try to post the video on here sometime but for now you’ll just have to enjoy the screenshot…
After the games it was time for presents…
Hunter decided to help me with them…
Quick story behind this next picture…first of all I’m bawling my eyes out and that is why I’m hiding behind the frame. :) My mom made this when she was pregnant with me. She has now passed it on to her first grandchild and wrote a little note to the baby on the back. I was really hoping she would pass this down to me and it was so touching to read her note and to remember what the stitching says…I still have it memorized after all the years of seeing it…
“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, for babies grow up we’ve learned to our sorrow, so quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep, I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep”
Once the cry fest was over we took a group picture…Back Row Standing L-R: Aunt Shirley, Kristy (friend from church), Alexandra (friend from church), Jennifer (friend from college), Mom, Angie (sister-in-law), Emily w/ Hunter (friend from church), Mandi (friend from high school & college), Bonnie (mother-in-law), Abby due Nov. 22! (married Lucas’ best friend and now friend of mine) Front Row Sitting L-R: Cindy w/ Lena (high school Pom coach and now friend), Jess (friend from grade school on), Julianne (friend from church)
And finally me with all the hostesses…Mom, Aunt Shirley and Mandi…
Besides enjoying the wonderful shower, I also enjoyed staying in Springfield the entire time. Normally when I visit MO I end up going to West Plains where my parents now live. But my mom and dad splurged a little and we got a 2 bedroom suite at a Marriot. My mom and I got into town on Thursday and then my dad came up on Friday evening. In between some shopping with Mandi on Friday and getting ready for the shower we enjoyed lots of yummy food…Steak N’ Shake, Pasta Express and even Nakatos on Friday night. And I was able to see all of my family minus my sister in Boston!
It was such a great trip and I’m so thankful for all the love and support!
-Shannon
When I visited Missouri last week, the first thing I did was go and see this little guy…
He was celebrating his 3 month birthday and thankfully I was there for the festivities. Ok so there weren’t any festivities but we did have some fun.
He is getting really strong and can hold his little head up for awhile…
I thought this little expression was pretty funny…
Eli- It was great to finally meet you and next time we see each other you will have a new cousin to play with!
Love, Aunt Shannon
This is my final installation of my “Visit From Family” series and as you can probably tell my parents were here for a good chunk of time and we tried to squeeze in as much as we could. As a closing to their vacation we decided to take a trip up to the Hudson River Valley. Lucas has spent some time up in Stony Point, NY this summer with his field education but I had never been up that way. We went all the way up to the Hyde Park, NY area and stayed in some rustic cabins at Mills-Norrie State Park.
We settled on this area because of the historic homes to vist and the scenary. We jump right in seeing the houses and started off our first afternoon with a tour of the Mills Mansion. This was the only house that I was able to take pictures in so I snapped them up.
We also spent the evening checking our Hyde Park and couldn’t pass up a quick stop at the train station.
The next day we visited the Vanderbilt mansion which was pretty amazing. Since I couldn’t take any pictures inside I had to settle with pictures of the grounds.
The highlight of the trip for me was touring FDR’s home and Eleanor’s house. I thought it was really interesting to learn more about the Roosevelts considering the time we currently live in. And after learning more about both of them I have to say that Eleanor was one amazing woman. I always thought she was but learning about her life only proved it to me. So first we enjoy FDR’s library and home.
Winston Churchill gave FDR this pipe and can you see why it is so amazing?…
…it creates FDR’s profile with the shadow. Lucas now says he wants one of these but with his own profile. :)
The FDR museum also had a section dedicated to Eleanor…
And a few pictures from the tour out at her cottage…
I really enjoyed going up the Hudson River Valley and it was so refreshing to stay in the cabin. We made a campfire each evening and even enjoyed falling asleep to the rain. What a great time together and I’m glad my parents were able to come and visit!
-Shannon
During the visit with my parents I happened to have a midwife appointment scheduled. I invited them both to come along with me and they were very excited to do so. I thought that we might get to hear the heartbeat but I wasn’t sure. When we arrived they met one of our midwives and enjoyed talking with her. Then we went on the search for the heartbeat. She wasn’t sure if we would be able to hear it but sure enough little Nacho was beating away! Lucas and I had only seen the heartbeat so this was the first time to actually hear it. Both my mom and dad teared up and cried a little. They are pretty excited about this little one. :)
After our eventful morning we headed off to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Instead of going all the way into NYC we took the ferry from the NJ side. It was heavenly! There weren’t any crowds or lines or anything annoying like that. From the NJ side you leave from an old train station so again my dad was in heaven. First we spent some time looking around the station…
…and then we were off on the ferry.
Even though it was a little rainy we enjoyed the day and the cooler weather. But I’m pretty sure the day was a bit of a wash because my parents couldn’t stop talking about Nacho. I wonder if they even remember seeing all the sights. :)
-Shannon
One day after I dropped Lucas off for the train to NYC, I took my parents down to Philly for the day. I thought my dad would especially enjoy this because he loves history. We had thought about taking a side trip to Gettysburg but it just didn’t happen. So Independence Mall would have to do. After grabbing lunch at Pat’s Steaks, some the best cheese steaks in the city, we headed around town to explore…
We caught an afternoon tour of Independence Hall and I really enjoyed hearing about all the history in this place. We were even able to take a look upstairs since it was open.
Once we saw as much history as we could handle we headed back to Princeton and stopped at Babies R’ Us to look around. It was great to be able to share the baby excitement with my parents and it was surprising to see how excited my dad is. I loved showing them different things we are thinking about and getting their perspective. It turns out you really don’t need all the “stuff” to have a baby, just a lot of love and patience. I already knew this and Lucas and I don’t plan to go overboard with baby stuff but it was still fun to look around with my mom and dad…soon to be Grandma and Grandpa. :)
-Shannon
After our big trip to NYC we needed a day to recover so after enjoying church in the morning we spent the afternoon/evening in Lambertville. This town is a nice little town along the Deleware River that has cute little stores and restaurants. We wandered around town for a bit…
…and then decided to enjoy dinner at the Lambertville Station Restaurant. As the name implies this restaurant is set in the old train depot and with my dad loving trains we couldn’t pass up dinner outside on the patio.
Our dinner was great and afterwards we enjoyed a nice walk across the bridge to New Hope, PA and then ice cream whem we got back to Princeton.
It was a nice relaxing day in contrast to the hustle and bustle of NYC.
-Shannon
Recently my parents came to NJ for their summer vacation. I was excited for them to come but we’ve had so many visitors and I’ve been so tired with pregnancy stuff that it took me a little while to get good and excited for their visit. However, once they were here it was great. The day after they arrived we spent the day in NYC…
We decided to take a bus tour around the city and we were able to see lots of different places and enjoy riding instead of walking. First we went through midtown…
We made our way to the Village and hopped off the bus to enjoy some cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. I think I’m slightly obsessed with them but since I’m not too close to the bakery I’m able to keep myself under control. We enjoyed the cupcakes in honor of my dad’s birthday! After our quick stop in the Village we hopped back on the bus and headed downtown to Battery Park. We decided to take the Staten Island Ferry to enjoy some views of the city.
After the ferry we stopped off at the South Street Seaport area. I had actually never been down here before so it was nice to explore a new area. We wandered around and decided to enjoy dinner at the waters edge overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge.
We hopped on the bus one last time and made it up to Rockefeller Center…
After hailing a cab we made our way to the Empire State Building where we had to twist my dad’s arm to go up to the top. We knew he would be disappointed if we didn’t go up but after waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours and being surrounded by a 1,000 of our closest friends at the top, we realized we probably shouldn’t have gone to the top at sunset on a Saturday night. Hindsight is 20/20. However, I was able to snap a few shots that make it feel like it was serene and nice when in reality we all just wanted to get the heck out of there.
Still we had a great day in the city and now my dad can say he has been to NYC. Although I don’t think he’ll be visitng again anytime soon. :)
-Shannon
This year we celebrated the 4th of July with a visit from my sister Megan. Her birthday is on the 3rd so we were also able to throw in some birthday celebration as well. However, before she arrived we enjoyed the Princeton fireworks with our friends Vivek and Jeanie…
This one reminded me of Harry Potter with all the green…
Or maybe I just have Harry Potter on the brain with the new movie coming out…but I digress…
We enjoyed our time with Megan and ended up celebrating the 4th by spending the afternoon having a picnic. We enjoyed wonderful weather and a lazy afternoon…
Megan made a halo with these flowers…
It was a great weekend!
-Shannon
This past week my Aunt Shirley and cousin Carrie visited us as part of Carrie’s high school graduation trip! Neither one of them had ever been to NYC so I had fun showing them around and they even headed into the city on their own for a day. This past weekend the three of us girls stayed in the city at the New York Helmsley Hotel while Lucas enjoyed a weekend at home by himself. We all enjoyed dinner out on Friday night followed by the amazing experience of seeing The Lion King on Broadway.
On Saturday we headed out for the day and quickly came upon a little street fair…
We made our way up 5th Avenue stopping at the Library…
…St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Tiffany’s and eventually making our way to Central Park…
On Sunday morning we headed off to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And even though I had just visited these places with Lucas’ parents I still enjoyed looking around and catching new views…
After our weekend in the city we headed down to Philadelphia for the afternoon on Monday.
After our quick stop at Independence Mall I dropped them off at their hotel for the night and then they flew back home to Missouri yesterday. It was such a great visit and I’m so glad I got to spend some extended time with them especially as Carrie heads off to Williem Jewell College this fall. I love you two!
-Shannon
This past weekend my Aunt Dodo (her real name is Gloria but we call her Dodo…long story) and Uncle Mike came into town to visit NYC. They lived on Governor’s Island (right beside Manhattan) for two years when my uncle was in the Coast Guard. They have always enjoyed the city and hadn’t visited in quite a long time. So after a conference in Maryland they headed our way and treated us to a night in the city! We stayed at the Marriot Marquis (seriously, check out the website) on Times Square and our room was A-MA-ZING! I arrived before Lucas and enjoyed a little down time in our room…
Here was the view from our room…
We spent our evening eating and drinking the night away by enjoying the Broadway Lounge overlooking Times Square followed by dinner at The View, the only revolving restaurant in NYC. Our food was wonderful and we leisurely enjoyed our three course dinner over some bottles of wine. Both of these place were in the hotel so we spent most of our time there. However, after dinner we did enjoy a quick walk over to Rockefeller Center…
The next day Lucas headed back to a retreat he was on for his summer field education so I spent the morning wandering around the city by myself. But not before taking a few more shots from our wonderful room…
This is inside the hotel…
What a wonderful treat! Thanks Aunt Dodo and Uncle Mike!
-Shannon
