"Philadelphia, not LA..."

If you don't recognize the title of this post it is from a song Dave and Stu made up as missionaries (I mainly put it on because it talks about Philly). Well, I would have finished our Philadelphia posts on this post however, the blog sight decided that it could no longer download pictures so I just took what I could and I will have to write more later. Sorry to drag it on :)

On the Saturday before we left we went with Tyler and Becca to a Cuban Restaurant in downtown Philly. It was called Alma de Cuba and it was a really nice restaurant. When our server came to take our order he first tried to get us to order some cocktails etc. and we all asked for water. It was like a switched flipped and we were no longer of interest to him, kind of like he was thinking "Let's get this over with."

When he came back for our actual food order I proceeded to only want to order some rolls because I had been sick (you don't want to know the details) which made him even less happy. He tried to offer other dishes that he thought would be good on a weak stomach such as - a sandwich with Di Jon mustard? Um... that doesn't work for me. But he did suggest tapioca pudding. So I thought that if I couldn't order liquor to appease him I could order some tapioca pudding. Below is a picture of said tapioca pudding.

Oh, did I fail to mention that this restaurant is kind of fancy? That coconut shell right there, that is my tapioca pudding. Because the coconut is still in it there was not much room for the tapioca, maybe three bites. On the leaf next to it are some mango bars. Mmm... they were actually pretty good. And both of these food items are served on top of ice. I'm sure you are wondering what the brown flakes are, they are shaved coconut. Talk about presentation.

After we ate at the restaurant we went over to the tourist area of Philadelphia, I wanted to see the mint but sadly the mint is not open on Saturdays. We took a picture in front of Independence Hall. You can barely see it in the background there between the quote rock and us.

While on our excursion that day Dave and I had a wonderful time trying to feed Patten lunch. It was pineapple and ham which I though was pretty good but Patten didn't take to it too well. Since we've come home he has learned to like it.

On Sunday we went to church with Becca and Ty. That was definitely different compared to church in Salt Lake. It was a fun experience. It was mothers day and the Primary kids sang in sacrament meeting. There was a great spirit there. After sacrament meeting I went with Becca to her Sunday school class. The kids she teaches are great. They were practicing a play of one of the members favorite scripture stories for a "going away" celebration because a lot of the members were leaving soon because school was out and a bunch of people had graduated. Her class was doing the story of Abanadi. Becca asked if they remembered the story from a few weeks ago and one of the kids, name Surprise, piped right up and new every part of the story. It was awesome, Becca was beaming (and rightfully so) because he remembered what she had taught. I had to leave her class a little early because Patten was having a hard time. I ended up in the mothers room and met some sisters from there. They were all really sweet. After I finally calmed Patten down. I went into the Primary room where Dave, Ty and Becca were. The kids were making flowers for their mothers. But sadly not all of the kids had mothers. One of Becca's girls said this to Dave and Dave said " You can give it to my wife." And she beamed. I have the flower sitting on my dresser drawers right now.

Well, that is about the end of the trip. We'll tell you more about the middle of the trip later when we can get the pictures to upload.

Buggies and Stuff (Philly continued)

Kristin and I spent Thursday in beautiful Amish country.

On Ty and Becca's recommendation, we took off Thursday morning to visit a portion of PA I had never seen. We took the 76 to the 202 to the 30 and ended up in Lancaster county - home of the Amish.

Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of our Amish visit. The Amish are partly to blame because they don't allow pictures - however our own forgetfulness played a large role as well.

First, we visited an Amish furniture store. Everything was hand crafted - and most things custom built. A nice Amish man ran the cash register (??). We loved this store - perhaps in ten years we will buy something from it.

Next, we visited the town of Intercourse, PA. We ate lunch at Plain and Fancy. For those with deep pockets Plain and Fancy offers an all-you-can-eat Amish buffet full of everything Amish. We went for the regular menu - Kristin partook of the best Homemade Pot Pie she has ever tasted, and I enjoyed a roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes. So good.

Following Plain and Fancy we ventured to the Kitchen Kettle Village. A small Amish strip mall. There we ate wonderful fudge (although a 1/2 lb. cost $5!!), watched Amish woman make jam, ate lots of said jam (over 100 flavors all with one open bottle for sampling), and visited a handicraft type store full of wooden stars (you know those trendy wooden stars folks in Sandy, South Jordan, Salt Lake, Daybreak - okay everywhere - have hanging on their walls?) - which made me wonder if the stars originated with the Amish or with the trendy...

Finally, we enjoyed our ride home through the Amish country side. The highlight of the day happened on our drive. We saw three children, all under the age of 10, riding in a horse-drawn-box (the horse looked the size of a pony). The box had two plastic wheels, perfect for trudging over rocks and such, and barely fit the three children. A blonde haired 9-or-so old boy held on to two reins serving as the driver. They flew around a corner, almost knocking out all three children, smiling all the time. It reminded me how I often disregard life's simple joys. Those three children looked content to ride around in their box all day long.

Great fun. If you ever have the chance, make sure to visit Amish country in PA - unlike anywhere I've ever been.

Our Second Home

Last week Kristin, Patten and I ventured to the City of Brotherly Love to visit my brother Ty and his wife Becca. The trip was so much fun we cannot possibly fit it into one single post. Therefore (doesn't that word sound official?) we will explain our travels in multiple posts. I (Dave) will handle this first installment - and Kristin will contribute down the line.

We began our adventures on Tuesday May 6. After arriving in Philly at 4:30 we went to Ty and Becca's house and shared a Hawaiian pizza from the local Pasqualli's (sp?) pizzeria. It was great. The picture below shows how happy that pizza made us after a full day of flying (especially since we are too cheap to buy airplane / airport food and thus were STARVING!) (in the interest of full disclosure, this particular picture was not taken on that particular night - but it still gets the point across).

On Wednesday the 7th Kristin and I tromped around Philadelphia while Ty spent the day in his cardiology rotation and Becca watched the General. First, we visited Penn's campus. We were happy to see our good friend Ben there to greet us. He and Kristin bonded instantly.

Next we ventured to Drexel University's campus. Becca will attend Drexel this fall for nursing school. While no dignitaries on par with Ben Franklin showed up for us in Drexel, I did convince the local dragon to pose for a shot with me.

After Drexel we marched on to my old mission stomping grounds. I served in the Singles Ward, twice, on my mission and we covered Penn, Drexel, and many other campuses. The picture below shows Kristin outside of my apartment on 36th and Powelton. The complex serves mostly students but somehow we missionaries infiltrated the premises back in the day. Kristin even got to see the local elementary school (which sits across the street from shown apartments) on recess - quite a sight.

While we tromped around Philly, Becca played with Patten. They had a great time. I'm not clever enough to include a link to Ty and Becca's post - but if you look over to the left, yea right there, you'll see a link - "Ty and Becca," and if you click on it you will see (about 4 posts down) some darling pictures of Patten. Thanks to Becca for watching him so Kristin and I could see the city.

Tune in next time for more Philadelphia adventures.

Alive

Say goodbye to yet another semester. Monday, April 28, I took my last final. After finishing that last test I realized I need to develop a "finals are over" tradition. I know Ty and his friends watched a movie following each semester, other friends go out to lunch, or golfing, or some other such fun event. I need to get on the ball and figure that out.

But, in the meantime, I'm just glad to be done. I spent Tuesday, all of Tuesday mind you, with Kristin and Patten. We visited my family's Millcreek cabin (only looked at it though due to snow), ate 3 (count 'em) meals together, and Patten and I changed the headlight on Maxi (our Nissan Maxima). He played more of a minor role in the actual light change but I greatly appreciated his moral support.

I hope other folks get to experience this feeling of freedom. I've decided semesters exist simply so they can be finished.

We are excited to visit Ty and Becca in Philly next week, followed by the start of my new job and a summer full of no school (other than counter-terrorism research for my professor). Should be a good few months.

Patten's Many Faces

What a month. As you will see, our family had lots of fun in March.

First - Rolling Patten. Patten decided he was sick of laying on his back / stomach. So, he set out to roll over. Here he is following rolling from his back to his stomach. You can see him thinking, "hmm... that darned arm... what am I going to do about that."
And so Patten decides "aha! I'll shift my weight to the pelvic region and remove my arm." Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for his parents, it took him a good 20 minutes to pull out his arm. But eventually...
He did it! Victory! Rolling over is now common-place. In fact, if we put him on the floor and mind our business for 2 or 3 minutes he undoubtedly changes orientation and position by the time we return.
In addition to Patten's rolling antics, we celebrated Kristin's birthday in March. We got together with a few good friends (from left to right - Scott, Henry (or Henrizzle), Jake, Jacy, Lex, Kristin, Patten, and Mikea - I know our friends have cool names) - we played games, ate food, and had an altogether great time.
Next - Moose Stroller Patten. That moose outfit is his most expensive and prized outfit - it comes from some fancy store (naartje?) and supposedly is fine clothing for youngins.
Ahhh, Mischievous Patten. I don't quite know what to make of this picture - other than the fact that it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the 800 blankets Kristin stuffed in the contraption to make him fit in it. Way to go Kris!
And here we see Easter Patten. A charming young man dressed in sky blue and donning a killer smile. Disregard his dad, please.
More Easter Patten. But, luckily for him, his mother matches his beauty in this picture (unlike his dad in the last). Didn't I get lucky?
Hang with me - we're almost done. Here we see Reading Patten. I came home from meetings last night to find my adorable wife having a Read-a-thon with our beautiful son. I doubt he got much out of the reading aspect, but man he sat right up and hit that book with his fist over and over again. Perhaps he gained some knowledge of Persuasion via osmosis... either way it was about the cutest thing I have ever seen.
And finally - Smiling Patten. Patten sure loves his mom - this picture proves it.

A Utah Man Is He

Can you believe it took me this long to get him in a Utah shirt? And the best part is, I did not even put him in the shirt. I walked out of our bedroom one day and Kristin had slipped him into her MUSS shirt. I definitely married the right girl.
Here is a picture with Uncle Ty. I mostly post this so Becca can have a copy (your welcome, Becca). But also to say it was fun to have Ty around this weekend. He got Patten ready for bed, wrapped him in the magic blanket, and even checked on him after he feel asleep.


This just might be my favorite picture of all time. I believe those are my hands helping him stand - I don't know what I did to get him to smile like this, but it sure is cute. He loves to stand, just loves it. In fact, he often refuses to sit because he'd rather stand.
And finally, Patten's first walk. Kristin and I love going for walks. Unfortunately the General joined us during cold weather and we haven't been able to take him for a walk. So, the first halfway bearable day (all of you RSV-fearing mothers would have vetoed this) Kris and I took him out for a stroll. You can see from his outfit that it really was too cold for a 4 month old to be on a walk.

At 4 MONTHS?!?!?

We always knew baby Patten seemed a bit old for his age.

But when Kristin came home on Tuesday and informed me that the pediatrician said it was time to begin the "jella (I mean rice) puddin (I mean cereal)," I was astounded.

Luckily, I didn't write this post that day - because in the subsequent days I've overcome my initial shock. Now I just to get enjoy feeding out little boy.

Before I get to the eating pictures, how about a good Valentine's Day smile from Kris and her boy! (The truth is I don't know how to get the darn pictures to post underneath each other rather than on top of each other, and by the time I figure out they are posting on top of each other I've already posted pictures that I wish were on the top...)

Now for the eating - doesn't that look good!

Time for another bite.

At some point, I trust, he'll enjoy his food. For now, it is simply a test of endurance for his parents to force feed him the entire bowl (and I believe more ends up down his chin than in his mouth).