Dear Santa...

Helena wrote her own Christmas list this year -- I helped with the spelling, of course.

Who can translate the best?  Go!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope to get to see some of you while we're in the heartland!

-Emily :)

Skiing, Nutcracker, Parties, Teeth

I feel like I've been running around half crazy for a week now...getting last minute shopping done, visiting family in town, doing our normal 'stuff', baking, packing, holiday partying, organizing....ahhh!  We leave for Kansas on Wednesday -- we're driving -- may the force be with us.  We're armed with DVD players, songs, books, colors, stickers, and good attitudes.  :)

A few things (I love lists these days!):

1.  I got my first ski day in last Thursday thanks to Ash's Aunt Deb who watched the kids for me while she was in town at her condo at Snowbird. (Thanks Aunt Deb!!  You rock!)  I went skiing with two old timers who are friends of hers and had a great time.  I love skiing with people who have things to teach me and who KNOW the mountain.  Anyway, despite a very dry December so far (and thank goodness for snow making machines), the snow wasn't too horrible.  I only fell once and made my first tram ride in the winter to the top of Hidden Peak!

2.  I took Helena to see the Nutcracker this past Saturday.  It was fun to do something just her and I.  It doesn't happen very often, for sure.  I took her to a play last Christmas and she kept calling it a movie -- same with the ballet.  I think she liked it even though she kept asking me when we could leave and why they weren't talking (all totally NOT in her whispering voice!)  At intermission she made sure to stop and tell the usher that "We were going to be right back!  We're going to the potty!!"  Embarrassingly, halfway through the second act I noticed this bad smell and realized that H-dog had a bad case of the farts.  And then she told me she had a bad case of the farts (also not in her whisper voice).  Evidently we need to go out in public more to practice our manners.

3.  We had fun the last two Saturdays at some holiday parties.  Jason & Audrey's cocktail bash was lively as ever -- Ash had a little too much fun and slept in his tie and dress clothes all night on the couch.  This Saturday night was Ash's company party and it was a lot more mellow.  One of the highlights for Ash was watching  a slide show of his work peeps and projects and trying to race his co-workers to identify which bridge this one was in the picture and which road project that one was.  Lord.  After yelling out some erroneous project names myself to participate ("That's Willowlake Road!"), I said "Honey, you surely realize HOW NERDY this is, right?"  Time to go. :)

4.  Here's a silly video of Harper 'brushing his teeth'.  He moves his head, not his hands, and yes, that is him spitting on the ground that you're looking at.  And then he falls at the end.  Because, I swear, he does that EVERY TIME I shoot a video of him.  Boys.  So silly.  Oh and as a bonus you get to hear Helena butt in and boss me around.  Welcome to my life.

-Emily :)

Wino

Great news!  I found some babysitters!  And they're across the street and they're cheap!  Hooray!  Let's hope they do a good job the next two weekends and we'll be all set!!

So yesterday afternoon said neighborly babysitters came over to our house so I and the kids could meet them and chat.  They are sisters and in early high school and play sports and are smart and good kids and reminded me of me and my friends in high school.  Kind of.

So I'm chatting with them and I go up to the kitchen to get Harper's milk and one of them says -- "Oh cool, I like those bottles you have on top of your cabinets.  They're pretty.  What are they?" 

(If you've never been to our house in Utah, the theme of our kitchen decor is WINE.)

"Ummmm, they're wine bottles."  I say.

"Oh, cool....do you collect them or something?"

"Um, well yeah, I guess you could say that." (As I gaze at the 50+ wine bottles lining the tops of our kitchen cabinets.)  Then I make up a story about a project we're planning on doing with them...you know, to make it seem less alcoholic.

So now I'm hoping they don't go home and tell their mom that we have obviously drank inordinate amounts of alcohol and we scared them and then they can't babysit for the heathens across the street.  That's why I told them I'd pay them double what most people pay them (which to me seemed like 1987 levels...poor girls!).

One thing I enjoy about Utah is that every once in awhile I am reminded that I in fact live in a place where 14 year old girls have never even seen a wine bottle.  AKA Mars.  Thank the good lord there's snow skiing.

-Emily :)

Harper-- 17 Months and a Little Bit

Whoa! Where did the last year and a half go?!?

Newest Words/Phrases:

Harper's getting very good at repeating most words....so listing them all would be hard.  Kind of crazy that just 3 months ago he was just starting to say words consistently.

• "I want ____!"
• Calls Helena "EE-AWW" and my mom, who goes by Meemaw with the grandkids, is "Mee-Mo."
• Ho-Ho-Ho!
• Says "YES!" with vigor --  more like "YEEEESSSSSSS!!!," like if you won the lottery.
• Help Me! (Also used in the context of if he wants to help someone else)
• Increasingly good at animal sounds (all of the standards plus sticking his tongue in & out for the iguana sound)
• Mommy Coffee (not kidding...and also used for wine and cocktails)

Current Fascinations/Obsessions:

• Elmo
• Cookie Elmo (aka Cookie Monster)
• Trucks, Backhoes, Buses
• Juice
• Sausage
• Chips (tortilla, chocolate, and kale-- well rounded, he is)
• Christmas Ornaments (as well as hoarding them in his room)
• Frosting
• Riding his car
• Fish tanks

Eating apple pie and frosting (cool whip) at Thanksgiving.

Hates:

• Diaper changes
• Sharing (almost as much as his sister)
• Sleeping through the night
• Coming in from outside

- Emily :)

Morning Quotes

(After Harper woke us all up at 5:30 this morning....)
'Mom, it's so early I'm having trouble buttering my pancakes.  I need to sleep more."

She also thought she heard someone knocking on our door this morning.  My response...."NO ONE WE KNOW IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF UTAH IS AWAKE RIGHT NOW."

-Emily :)

Recaps

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We've had visitors -- Ash's brother Alex and his girlfriend, Emily last weekend and my mom for Thanksgiving.  So, a little busy for blogging, unfortunately.

Here's some snippets of what's been going down around here lately. :)

1.  I've now officially been sick 3 times in the last month.  Two of the times I was incapaciatated for 24 hours -- which hasn't happened to me since around 1999.  Pretty sure there's nothing left for me to get.  Thank goodness the kids have escaped thus far (knock on wood).  Ash hasn't, however and my mom was sick on Thanksgiving, too (boo!).

2. I joined Jazzercise.  And even though it has an old lady reputation, I really like it.  It's fun, there's free-ish childcare, it's very close to my house and it puts me in a good mood.  And I've lost 3 pounds.  (Partially from #1 above, as well).

3.  I switched Harper to cloth diapers to try to help his skin issues.  More on this later, as I have a lot to say.  However, it's not AS BAD as I imagined it could be, but I do wish Harper didn't poop 3+ times a day.

4.  I just realized every number in this post is a 3.

5.  Ash & I get to go on a date tonight.  Finally going to see 'The Help' and go out to dinner.  Thanks Mom for babysitting!!  The awesomeness of a worry-free and financially free babysitting experience makes me want to move home.

6.  Speaking of babysitting, I need a new sitter so if anyone in SLC knows someone good for occasional weekend evenings, message me.  My old ones have all grown up all of the sudden and I'm coming to some major dead ends on any other leads.

That's all for now!

-Emily :)

The Princess and the Golfer

Happy Halloween everyone!

We had a fun weekend of friend/school parties/pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating/parades today. 

Helena was scared to dress up because she thought that people wouldn't know who she was.  Seriously.  There was actual crying about this.  I reassured her that her costume wasn't that good.  I'm not sure if she gets my humor sometimes.  I remember when I was five, I thought the same thing about my mom painting my face blue to complete my Smurfette costume. Then I was peeved nobody knew who I was....just a girl in a white dress.

Here's our Princess Presto from Super Why.  Go Spelling Power!


With Dad as Buzz Lightyear.

Getting ready to trick or treat!

Harper killed it as a golfer. Although I felt bad because after wearing this, he now definitely knows the word "itchy" and what it means. :)  He caught onto trick-or-treating FAST.  Saying, "TREAT TREAT!" and "Thank you!" and "Bye!" almost every time!  Bonus of the allergy issue, mom and dad immediately pocketed all peanuty items...you know, for safety.

-Emily :)

Soup Brain

I've been tired lately.  Ash out of town for three days last week, Helena up puking in the middle of the night two times, plus my normal middle of the night insomnia, plus Harper's still insistence on not always sleeping through the night equals a grumpy, tired Emily.

Saturday morning Ash is home finally and I was preparing soup and cornbread for a friend's Halloween party that evening.

I'm making wonderful, beautiful butternut squash soup (my new fall food obsession) and finishing it up by pureeing it in batches in my food processor.  From scratch, gluten-free cornbread is in the oven. 

In the middle of my cooking bliss there are two kids whining at me for this and that...fast forward the movie, mom!, where's my milk?, where's my car?, on and on and on. 

Sidenote:  I now totally understand why my mom would sometimes get frustrated with my siblings and I when we were little for always asking her where things were.  Why is it the mom's job to know where every single little trinket, toy, shoe, blanket, etc. is at every single moment in time?  To quote my mother (and I often do these days...) "I don't know!  It's not mine!  I can't keep track of everything that everyone owns!" If Ash asks me where his shoes are one more time....;)

So yeah, my soup.  I'm pureeing the final batch and all of the sudden I notice my food processor making a weird noise, like it's stuck, and then I see a paper towel in a weird spot.  Hanging out of the top of the bowl.  OMG.  I did not just do that.  Upon closer inspection, yep, I did.  Pureed a paper towel into my soup.

Cut to me thinking for a couple of minutes if I could somehow salvage said soup to serve to people who aren't my immediate family.  Will they notice it's a little 'chunky'?  Maybe I could strain it out? 

Down the drain...

These are thoughts from a not-thinking-clearly brain.  I still had two-thirds of the soup that wasn't contaminated.  People will just have to eat less, I finally decided. :)

And then I realized, dammit, I burnt my cornbread.

And I have since had seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Still running a deficit, but much better.

-Emily :)

Substitutions

Ash: "What is it, an empty bag?"  My sentiments exactly.

But, it was actually not bad.  Replaced egg-ish thing needed in the batter with 1/4 c. applesauce and all was well in our 6 a.m. Saturday pancake world.

I also made these Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies with gluten free flour this weekend and seriously, they were some of the best cookies I've ever made.  I had to freeze half of the batch so we wouldn't eat all 55 of them!

So, this week I'm thinking, "Yay for experimental cooking!"

-Emily :)

Helena Quote of the Week

Background: Helena calls all of her nether regions her 'bum'.
Scene: Before bathtime, kids are running around naked....

Helena to Harper: "Wow Harper, you have a really long bum!"
-Emily :)

No Longer Nutty, Eggy, or Doggy

This week we found out that Harper is allergic to peanuts, all other nuts, eggs, and dogs. 
 

Poor little guy at his appointment....:(

We're hopeful these are all things he will grow out of, but for now, we're trying to figure out how to manage this.  His peanut allergy is the most problematic since, you know, it's capable of killing you.  I have done several peanut exposures with Harper in the past few months which resulted in hives and rashes and nothing worse, thank goodness.  But, the doctor says depending on how much he would/could ingest he could at any time have a more severe, life-threatening reaction.  We will know next week from a blood test his likelihood to grow out of the peanut allergy.  He will likely grow out of the egg allergy.

(Sidenote: I wouldn't recommend putting yourself in the situation of having a toddler's blood drawn.  It took four adults.  It was bad.  I almost called the whole thing off when the 16 year old CNA started off being in charge...um...no, not gonna work.)

So, I'm still deciding how to deal with this situation in terms of how I cook, what everyone else is allowed to eat in the house, etc.  Here's everything I pulled out of my pantry that contained stuff Harper is allergic to.  It actually wasn't as bad as I was afriad it was going to be.

So, throw in Ash's fairly recent decision to follow a gluten-free diet and the fact that eggs and peanut butter are two of Helena's favorite foods and we've got ourselves some fun cooking times around here!  Maybe I'll just start a restaurant out of my house!
I'm definitely still processing things.  I did make a list of about thirty dinners that I can make that 'agree' with everyone.  So, that's good.  And we're lucky that Harper is a very good eater -- for instance he loves kale chips and has even eaten some salad! 

I'm wondering if any of my 'readers' are dealing with this as well with their child (or themselves) and has any resources or ideas that I can tap into.  So far I've got two epi-pens and a "what allergens are in chain restaurant food" app on my iphone.

-Emily :)

Cash and Carry

So I've told this story a lot in the past month to family and friends, but want to make sure I document it here.  You know, so I can remember to put it in the baby books. Because without this blog, I remember nothing. Ha!

So, we all know how much I LOVE driving my 2002 Caddillac Deville.  Thinking she might help in persuading her father that I need a new car, I have repeatedly expressed my disdain with my ride to her.  She's way better at nagging than I am (surprising, no?).

So one night at bedtime Helena asks me how much money a new car costs.  Thinking I'll teach her a little finance lesson I say, "Well, cars cost A LOT of money...mommy and daddy have to save their money for a long time to get one."  She then asks, "Like, how much?"  "Thousands!", I say.  "Wow, that's a lot!!", she replies.  She falls asleep, no more questions, gazing at the 18 piggy banks in her room.

So fast-forward four days and we're in the car on the way home from school.  The conversation goes like this:

H: "Mom, when are we going to get a new car?"
Me: "Well, I told you , we have to save up our money, so I'm not sure."
H: "But MOM!  When are we going to get it?"
Me: "I don't know, Helena.  Probably in the next year or so."
H:  "What are we going to do with Harper when we go get your new car?"
Me: "Ummm....well....I don't know.  I haven't planned out that far."
H: "But what are we going to do with him?!?"
Me: "Well, Helena, we'll probably just take him with us.  Why are you worried about this?"
H: "But MOM!  Harper can't go with us!"
Me: "Why Helena?  I really don't understand."
H:  Well, he can't go with us because he 's not going to be able to help us carry all of that money!"

Because, you know, of course we have to take all of our ACTUAL MONEY to buy a car.  That makes total sense!!  Modern banking and loans are total B.S.-- she's so forward thinking.  Ha!

-Emily :)

Helena Quote of the Week

"Hey guys...I want to be a mom when I grow up, but I also want to be a dad, so I can ride a bike."

-Emily :)

4!

Helena turned 4 on October 4th....oh my, I can't believe she's this old already!  We had a really fun day starting with peanut butter pancakes and then a trip to the Jump and Bounce.  Then we had a tee ball game followed by pizza, presents, and cake.

Helena posing with her requested Hello Kitty cake and her beloved cars.  (Maybe we should have made a car cake?!?)

There may have been some clandestine frosting licking....

Grandpa Larry, Grandma Teresa, Great Grandma Millie, Great Grandpa Bill, Great Aunt Jodie, Great Uncle Terry and cousin Matt were all on hand to celebrate with us.  Helena (and Harper) so enjoyed having family around to celebrate the special day.

Everyone...except Ash.  Thanks for taking the picture, honey!

Us explaining to Helena that she has to make a wish....

Me and Harper at Jump & Bounce....I'm not going to lie, that place makes me tired...and sweaty.  (Thanks for the pic, Aunt Jodie!)

Papa Larry and Helena sliding down at Jump and Bounce.

Playing with her new marble maze. :)

Playing with Harper in the yard...

Stuffing her face with cake after tee ball.  "Best cake she had ever eaten..." she said.  I'll take that. :)

We're so lucky to have such a smart, sweet, hilarious daughter.  We love you so much, Helena.  Happy Birthday!!

-Emily :)

Hey Batter Batter

Helena had her first t-ball game last night.  So cute, so funny.  It's pretty chaotic as well, but great for her to get the experience.  Her friend McKinley from preschool is playing as well and Helena told me she was excited to meet more new friends as we were walking up to the field.

They play 3 'innings' and don't really keep track of outs or try to get anyone out....just 'field' the ball and  everyone gets to take a turn at bat.  Helena hit three good ones and outpaced all the boys on her team once to field the ball.  After the fielded it, she came over to the sidelines to give me a hug.  It's so funny how at this age all of the boys are INTO IT...while the girls are just like...OK, whatever.  :)

Obviously they didn't take shirt size requests...:)

Ash showed up as she was first on the field and she repeatedly yelled at him "DAD!  DON'T WATCH ME!!"  I thought it was funny...Ash was annoyed. :)  Harper repeatedly ran onto the field to help out...crazy kid!

I'll try to take a video next game...my camera battery died on me halfway through yesterday. 

Go Orioles!!

-Emily :)

Snapshot Harper -- 15 months

Sliding fun with Helena.

Harper's newest words:
"Down!" (said for up and down...as in 'mommy please hold me, or let me jump on the couch')
Chips
Ball
French Fries (still working on broccoli and blueberries)
Bowl
Animal noises for cow, sheep, cat, lion, duck, chicken
Fish
Uh-Oh Spaghettios! (spaghettio's is very unclear, but consistent)
Thank You
Please
Signs for 'More' and then points at himself
Blocks
Books
Yes
"This!" - said when he wants you to give him something, pick something up, look at something, etc.  I bet he says 'this!' 100 times a day.
Shoe

Harper's first 'car cart' ride at the grocery store.  Blurriness is very indicative of the entire trip....  Yes, we are those people at the grocery store.

Current fascinations:
The toilet
Toilet paper
Not leaving anyone alone when they go to the bathroom
Bats
Balls
Golf Clubs (wooden, toddler ones)
Sidewalk chalk
Picking Tomatoes (1 for each hand!)
Planes
Any big vehicle on the road that's not a standard car or truck


Hates:
Diaper changes
Sharing

What?  You know you don't like diaper changes or sharing either....

- Emily :)

Rollercoaster Madness

When we went to Michigan, we decided to take advantage of free babysitters (thanks again Grandpa Ash & Grandma Maggie) and take a little mini-break to Sandusky, Ohio to visit Cedar Point -- home of some of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world.  Months ago, Ash bought us VIP passes to the park...I told him not to tell me how much that cost...but it was worth the money, for sure.

Here's what VIP at Cedar Point means:

Our own personal staff escort for 10 hours (except for a one-hour lunch).  Everyone, meet Matt!  Michigan State senior, career Cedar Point intern, and all-around good guy who is a major roller coaster NERD.

Matt fast walked with us everywhere....told us where the best ice cream was, the best place for lunch, walked us up ALL OF THE EXIT RAMPS TO GET ONTO THE RIDES FIRST IN WHATEVER SEAT WE WANTED (yeah, that part rocked), he held our sunglasses and cameras when we went on rides...yeah, Matt rocked.  Matt also thought Ash & I were like 24.  Bonus points! Ha!  Can I say rocked any more in this paragraph?!?

So we hit it HARD at the park...Ash was on a mission.  We did 30 rides total, including five times on this sucker:

This baby gets up to 120 mph in like 4 seconds.  I had to scream loud every time so I didn't lose my lunch.  Matt told us a real astronaut rode this and said that the G's were almost as intense as the Space Shuttle.  Whoa!  We sat in the front every time, I think.  At the end of the ride, we literally had dead bugs all over us.  It was intense.  And fun.

Hard to believe this was actually the first time Ash & I had been to any type of amusement park together.  I knew Ash was pretty hardcore about roller coasters, and I thought I was too, but about halfway through the day, I had some very nauseous moments.  Which NEVER happens to me.  My mom said it's because I'm old, but I think since we were able to get on all of the rides so quickly that my body just needed to sit still for more than two minutes after awhile.  I seriously almost puked very high up in the air on top of a crowd of people.  That's when I told Ash we HAD to break for lunch and I ended up lying down for 10 minutes in a booth at Famous Dave's.  But after one hour of not spinning, flinging, turning, or going at high rates of speed (and some corn muffins and a Pepsi), I rallied and was good for the rest of the day.  Matt said we were pretty intense VIP-ers.

Do I look windblown?  I was windblown..  (Also, unintentional use of black & white photography here...silly Matt switched the camera settings. lol.)

Cedar Point is in a beautiful spot for an amusement park...on its own island in the middle of Lake Erie.  And if you visit, save up the cash for the VIP experience.  You won't be disappointed.

-Emily :)

Busy Weekend



My running buddy Rosa pumped at the starting line. :)

I know, it's Thursday and the most current thing I can think to write about is last weekend....but, it was a good one...I promise!

Started off Saturday running the Tooele 10k race with my friend Rosa.  It was my second 10k (the first one I ran two weeks ago) and I'm proud to say I did really well (for me).  No medals or anything, but I finished in the middle of the pack and improved my time from two weeks ago by eight minutes.  (This is the part where I should mention that the race was entirely downhill. Full disclosure here.  There were 3 hills at the end, though.  Which wasn't nice after running as fast as you can down a canyon.)  For some reason I was SO SORE after this one...just now getting over it.  I guess downhill works different muscles...is more jarring...no idea.  We got a good laugh at the hillbilly-ness that is just west of the Oquirrh Mountains from Salt Lake City.  Part of the race was through an open range cow-grazing area...so we dodged some livestock and ran over several cow grates as part of the race. We also witnessed a broke down car or to on the race road and had a portion of the race on a dirt-ish road. :)  It was fun!
After the race, I headed home to relieve Ash of his morning kid duties so he could ride his bike before I headed for a girls overnight staycation in Park City with some SLC friends.

Amanda and Anne -- Troopers at about 36 weeks preggers.  :)  Or as one passerby noted on the street as we were out late drinking..."That's dedication!"  Ha!

Rosa and her Seven & Seven.

Jolena and Susanna -- who also had busy mornings doing a triathlon (J) and a 20 mile training run (S)!

The staycation was great -- I got to spend some quality time with new friends and also eat delicious food, drinks, smell the clean mountain air, hot tub on our balcony facing main street, and have a massage at the Deer Valley Resort.  It. Was. Fabulous.  And relaxing...which is what we all needed.

Heidi, hungover me, Amanda, Jolena, Rosa, Susanna and Anne -- outside the super fabulous Stein Eriksen Lodge spa at Deer Valley.

Thanks for the great time this weekend girls! 

- Emily :)

Helena Quote of the Week

First thing in the morning, yelling to us from the bathroom as we're eating breakfast in the kitchen:

"Oh, MAN!  Come on guys...why isn't there any toilet paper in here??!!"

What kind of a ship are we running anyway? 

-Emily :)

The D Trip Report

On the way to the 'burbs from the airport...

We spent six days in Michigan visiting Grandpa Ash and Grandma Maggie in early August. It was awesome to be in a cooler climate, and we had a blast catching up with everyone.  We spent lots of time chillin' on the back deck and eating some good food.

Harper and I on the deck, him eating spaghetti on my lap.  Needless to say I had to change afterwards.

Most of the family at the Cranbrook Science Center.

The kids on the deck in the fort Papa Ash built for them.  Helena was very impressed with Papa Ash's fort building skills.

Got in some fishing time.  A Galbreath family must!

Harper wasn't too into the fishing....

Maggie & Ash

Ash, Grandma Claudene, and Great Aunt Joyce.  They were stopping through Detroit on a bus trip they were on and were able to have dinner with us one night.

 

Ash's childhood BFF Ryan and his girlfriend Sherri.  So glad we got to catch up with him...one of the funniest people in the world to me. :)

Ryan's sister Lindsay's new baby Olivia with H & H2.

H in a fountian in the park...she's not so sure about it. :)

My favorite thing Helena said when we were in Detroit was after she saw a big building with graffiti halfway up one side she exclaimed, "Look Mom!  They're not quite done painting that building yet!!"
Another big thanks to Ash & Maggie for watching the kids while we had a little mini-break to Ohio....more on that in the next post.  After the kids had been there for two days with them Maggie commented..."My house looks like Palestine!"  Yes, welcome to my world with two young kids. :)

-Emily :)

Quick Zucchini Recipe

I made these Zucchini Fritters today.  And they were the bomb.  Helena even ate some.  So what if we bribed her with a dollar bill.

Meow, Ball, Uh-Oh Spaghettios!

Harper turned 14 months old this week....and he's quite the chatterbox lately.  In addition to what's on this tape, he can say thank you, please, cheese, down, bye-bye and this! (when he wants something you have).  We are officially in the "you're talking but I have no idea what you're saying to me" phase of toddlerhood.

Lawrence Mini-Break

My sister and I hit up Lawrence for a couple of days when I was in Kansas.  I decided instead of trying to run around and see everyone that I'd park my bum at a restaurant, cocktail in hand, and have the people come to me.  :)  I'm so glad so many could make it -- a few of whom I hadn't seen since we moved!

So, we all met up at the Star Bar inside Pachamama's.  It was lovely to see everyone and it ended up being this weird former KUEA employee reunion. Ha!  Evidently without KU Endowment I would be friendless.





Michelle & Erin -- two college besties.  Erin, coincidentally, was the only girlfriend in attendance who never worked at KUEA. :)



Kim and Andrea -- old work partners in crime.

Melissa, Amanda and Corrie.  Thanks for coming out ladies!

Old roomate Tracee (who is also 8 months pregnant) and her hubby Jim.

My former boss Kaela from my student job days and my sister Jessica.

In addition to this cocktail hour we were able to see a few other people who couldn't make it, do a  culinary tour of Lawrence (I hit up Wheatfields, Genovese, The Merc, First Watch....yum!), and attend my friend Erin's new Jazzercize class.

Here's her in all of her Jane Fonda-esque glory.  Her class was awesome and it kicked our butts.  Well done! 

- Emily :)