Hanging with the Shields

Our friends from Provo, Jenn and Misha, now live in Arizona, but we were excited to hear Misha had a business trip in NJ... and he was bringing Jenn and Laila too!  They scheduled a weekend in NY, so we got to see them while they were out this way!  Yay!  

We were really looking forward to it and could not figure out what we wanted to plan to do.  Eventually we decided to head over by the Hudson and walk the High Line.  It's basically an old, elevated, outdoor train track, now park.  So we walked across it through some plants, overlooking parts of the Hudson and east into the city.  Really neat.

Marcus sitting on a bench that was in a fountain puddle thing.

Misha and Laila

Looking east to the city from the Highline

We had lunch at Shake Shack and then decided to make a pit stop at Marcus' office.  Chase decided for the first time in months to wet everything down to his stroller, that little punk.  So the fact that it was really cold and he had little clean to wear demanded we stop and warm up (and clean up).

Once they weren't so cold anymore, Chase and Laila played together.  Well, they didn't play.  They fought over occupying the same space.  It was pretty funny to watch.  :)  Not the best pictures, but there are some hilarious expressions.

And finally Chase's "What?  I didn't do anything!" look.  :)

Misha wanted to check out The Garage Antique Flea Market, so Jenn introduced me to the art of repurposing.  It's something I definitely have to work on...

On the way back to our apartment, Chase was getting pretty cranky.  That is until he noticed a guy through the window in the next car smiling and waving at him.  They waved, smiling, and hit the windows for several stops.  If you look closely, you can see the guy in the next car.

This picture is one of my favorites.  A good summary of the day.  

Chase= Oblivious.

Laila= Not impressed.  :)

We were so excited that Jenn, Misha, and Laila were all able to come out east and spend some time with us during their trip.  We obviously need to visit each other more because Chase and Laila need some more time to figure out that they really are good friends :)  Until next time...

Look Who's Walking Now

Every once in awhile we can get him to take a few steps.  I didn't even have to bribe him this time.  :)  Watch out world!  He's off!

Pictures of Pictures

You can ask Marcus, I was pretty adamant about getting a good picture of Chase around his first birthday.  I wanted to add a good picture to our collage of black frames in our hallway.  And thanks to Groupon we were able to do that for a reasonable cost.  And we've got them back, and my favorite one is on our wall!  Yay!  He wasn't necessarily a happy guy during the shoot, but we still got some great shots that really show his personality.  Just not his happy, smiling personality...

A picture of my favorite picture :)

I think it's so cute on the wall!

A little closer.  This really doesn't do justice showing how blue his eyes look in the picture.

"I'm ONE!"

Can you tell he has one little tear on his cheek?

It's so cute and so sad at the same time.

I just love this little guy.  And I'm so excited to have a few pictures of him around our apartment.  I think Marcus was also excited to get a new photo for his desk too.  Yay for being a cute 1 year old!

Speedy Gonzales

Chase is such a funny kid.  There are definitely a few things he really, REALLY, really likes to play with.  Like most boys in the world, the drum set is one of them.  The second the gate is down in the living room he books it down the hall to the drum set, which is really impressive given the temptations of cat food, a bowl of water, a litter box, and a bathroom along the way.  Rarely has he strayed.  

Don't believe me?

Looks just like Chase, no?

Pie!

All summer the youth in our ward have been doing a PIE (Personal Improvement Extravaganza) program where they've been earning slices of pies for things like scripture reading, personal progress goals, journal writing, etc.  Last night was our big pie night where they got to throw the number of (whipped cream) pies they earned at the leaders...  Yep.  Good times.  They were really excited-- we had a lot more earned that we had anticipated :)  And after that, we ate some pies.  I was assigned to bring a chocolate pie.  Of course I called Connie!  I was really nervous about making it since chocolate pies are usually people's favorites and this was only my second pie ever, so I documented the process.  I figured if something went wrong, I could retrace what happened.  So here's my pie adventure:

mmm... meringue crust

my helper

getting anxious waiting...

...testing it out...

...trying to figure out what he just had...

...reaching for more...

...yumm!  at least I had Chase's stamp of approval.

My finished pie!  It was actually the only pie that was completely finished off at the activity :)  I was excited it turned out well!  Thanks Connie!!!

Birthday Visitors

It's a good thing Chase has his book of family pictures because I think that really helps him recognize people when they come to visit.  He never has seemed too nervous around my family and will go right to them some times.  Thank goodness for technology.  :)  Chase was definitely a spoiled 1 year old with so many people coming to see him.  I'd say he was on his best behavior, but that still entails squeals, drool, and mashed food.  :)

He did enjoy having a buddy on the train!

Riding the Train

Especially after he started singing duets!  That's probably Chase's favorite thing right now...

We went to the Met on Friday, probably my grandma's favorite place in New York City.  Chase was a good sport for about an hour. :)

I swear, every time we go, I see a few of the same things, but mostly it's all new to me.

They had a big Egyptian courtyard on display, which I thought was really amazing.  It had actually been used for two brothers in Egypt but had been brought to America to be preserved because the river was going to destroy it.

We played in Central Park for a little bit while Mimi, Grandpa, and my mom checked out one more exhibit in the Met.  Chase discovered bark...

He didn't like it.

Crawling around in the grass

It was a beautiful weekend!  Not like last year when they came to visit...

Central Park Zoo.  We'll have to go there soon!

They have my favorite zoo animals :)

We love having people come to visit and were glad this trip was able to coincide with Chase's birthday weekend.  Chase definitely had a good time because he wore himself sick.  He's had a cold this week.  It's given me some time to clean up a bit, but it's so sad.  Luckily I think he's feeling better.