July

My original plan (a couple weeks ago) was to just catch up on 2011 by December 31st by doing 2 posts for each month:one on Landon and one on everything else. Well, life never goes as planned and due to some unforseen circumstances and laziness on my part, it just didn't happen. So here we go doing it late! July was a crazy month for us! We started the month in Hawaii and left the evening of July 2nd, arriving home the evening of July 3rd. We've spent the last 2 Fourth of July's out of country, so we were SO excited to finally enjoy the Patriotic holiday! We were especially excited to spend in in Boston, which is probably one of the best cities for the Fourth! So much of America's history is contained in such a small area! We didn't know how much energy we'd have, as none of us really slept on the red eye flight, but we got up and went to see the town of Needham's parade, which was a big deal this year as it is the 300th anniversary of their town. We had so much fun with a HUGE group of friends, watching the parade.

*All the previous photos were taken by my wonderful friend Christy Brown. Check out her photography blog! Next ones taken by me:

Sharing binkies!

You better give it back!!!

Just kidding, we're pals:) They were so funny to watch together.

After the parade, we were tired and went home.

We had been debating for awhile if we would go downtown to the fireworks or go some place less crowded and more low key. We were still trying to decide, when we figured let's go for it as we probably won't have too many chances to do it. We were going to go with 2 other families, so a couple of the guys went downtown to stake out a spot right on the river for us. They had a great spot and we had a fun evening together eating pizza, talking, playing games, and listening to music as the crowds grew and we waited for the sun to go down. Our spot was perfect as we had the fence at our front and we used out strollers, coolers, and chairs to make a tight circle to keep kids in and strangers out! Pictures taken by Christy:

Pictures by me:

We realized the best way to have watched this show would have been from a boat! People were on jet-skis, canoes, kayaks, speed boats, etc. Some were swimming and some were eating, but all had a GREAT view! The tall tower is where Chris works (when he's actually in the office).

It's Lady Liberty! (Photo by Christy)

The sun finally went down! We could see the lights across the river where the Boston Pops were playing in the Hatch Shell. Maybe one day we'll make it there!

Obviously, I needed a tri-pod...oh well!

And they start!

I loved seeing the reflection of the fireworks in the windows of the skyscraper.

I had fun playing with the zoom:)

Christy got some awesome pictures of fireworks, and here are a few of hers:

Landon was such a trooper!

The next couple of weeks were all about packing, packing, and more packing. My sweet friends were so good to watch Landon, help clean and pack, and feed us. My mom, sister and sister's friend helped pack and organize and watch Landon too. Then my mother-in-law flew in to see Landon and to help us out. My dad helped us unpack and organize along with some friends (including a couple who gave up their date night!). We were so grateful for all the help! I was especially grateful since the packing and cleaning had been my job while Chris had to work. Ann Marie is a fabulous organizer, so we were grateful for her skills! We only moved .8 miles, but it was still a lot of work! Only a bookcase and crockpot broke (way to go packing the china mom!). Unfortunately, our nicest pieces of furniture couldn't make it up the stairs and around a tight corner:( I got a piano for my birthday last year and it couldn't make it up. It was easy to lose Landon among the boxes! He had a big grin on because we no longer lived in a horse-hair plaster apartment!

This bouncer kept him busy for about 10 minutes at a time so we could unpack!

Once again, we have no central air conditioning (we've never had it since we've been married and I swore the next time I moved it would be to a house with AC...oh well) and Landon was feelin' the July heat and needed a break from packing!

Landon and I were so sick of packing and unpacking and we needed some fun, not to mention the HOTTEST day of the year in an upstairs apartment without AC sounded like NO fun, so we had a swim day with friends at my parents' house. My parents were so kind to let me invite a group of people to their house. The water felt great and we had so much fun!(Pictures by Christy!) Landon loves his Aunt Diana!

Landon's first popsicle! He LOVED it! He cried when it was gone, so we ate 3 between the 2 of us!

We took another unpacking and organizing break to enjoy a fun evening at LDS night at the Red Sox! We got to together with some friends for a cook-out beforehand and then we took the bus to Fenway Park.

The next week, Landon and I headed with some friends to Hull to hang out at the beach! I forgot my camera, but thankfully Christy got some pictures! You can find them here. Landon LOVED playing in the soft sand and he especially loved eating it by the fistful. The sand covered his face, mouth, and hands! This summer was sad and hard as we had to say goodbye to LOTS of friends who moved away. I should have gotten more pictures of them, but this was a good-bye party for one of our friends who moved to Norway. (Beware the blurriness!)

We also got to head to Wingaersheek Beach for a few hours with some friends on the last Saturday of the month. It was SUPER crowded and the water was extra cold that day, even according to some lady who went to that beach every weekend.