New Mexico

We were in New Mexico for about ten days and had a wonderful time!

We visited with friends:

Kathy and Hector:



Their son Tristan with Sasha:



Stephen, Neda, and their daughter Sophia:






Caroline and Patrick, though I only got a picture of their beautiful daughters:



And of course, the family:

The Pyburns:





The Los Alamos extended Pyburn family, (this is Pat's step-mother, sisters, kids, and nieces)



The McKinney-Caldwell family:









We took Sasha roller-skating:



Bowling:





Ice-Skating:




Up to a snowy crest: (James is showing us ocean fossils at the top of this mountain!!)





The Children's Museum:







These were taken before we left:


Sasha and James building a cabinet for Sasha's thousands of books!



Ice-skating in Houston!



Sasha wanted to help me with the laundry, so I asked her if she could put the clothes in the dryer. She couldn't reach all the clothes, and this is what I found when I checked on her:



We had an amazing time in New Mexico, and Patti and Pat fixed up our room so beautifully. Thank you!!

Birthday Party and others...

We celebrated Sasha's birthday a week earlier than her actual birthday. She had a great time!

Sasha helped us prepare her birthday cake: my Mom's famous "Maria Cake," (made with "Maria" cookies).

Here she is making the lemon juice: (also in the picture are the beautiful flowers James got me for our anniversary-five years!)




Layering cookies:



Spreading the cream mixture: (then it gets refrigerated over night, and then topped with whipped cream and strawberries)



Her party:











Her favorite part, getting ready to blow out the candles:



She helped us serve all the guests:




The next are from Thanksgiving with James' aunt Adrienne, some time spent with Jane and Brad, and some other random pictures:

Time for a quick update. Sasha is no longer going to school. We took her out for several reasons. We weren't fond of some of the teaching methods, plus Sasha wasn't happy there. She had some good friends, but she was losing interest in school. Maybe we'll find a better school, or perhaps we'll keep her out for a few more years. We don't know yet.
We put her in a ballet class instead and she is really happy! I didn't take a lot of pictures of the class but I did get some sweet, short videos if you want to check them out (click on Videos of Sasha on the right).
We visited with our friends Jane, Brad and Federico again and there are a few pictures of that fun outing. There are also some pictures of Sasha's baha'i children's class, as well as of a parent's day at Sasha's school from several days ago. (We got to go in and let our kids show us the work the usually love to work on).

brief update, lots of pictures

First thing's First: I'm pregnant!! We are all extremely happy! Due date is June 9th!

This blog doesn't get updated very much because we've all been busy! James works all day, Sasha goes to school half day, and I take advantage of the morning to do the assignments for my six classes!
James is pretty happy at work, he's starting to find his place in the team and is learning a lot.
Sasha seems to be happy at school. It's hard for her to leave home in the mornings, but she never wants to leave school when I pick her up, and the teachers say she has a lot of friends. James takes the car to work, so I walk to pick her up everyday. It's a nice, 15-minute walk and my only exercise of the day. Then Sasha and I walk back together and that gives us the opportunity to talk about each other's day.
She has been excited about writing, particularly numbers. Below is a picture of her number-writing. (My numbers are at the top). She also loves to pretend to be the teacher.
In this picture she's the teacher, crossing her legs and reading me a story:




Sasha has found a way to sit through the Baha'i Feast. She packs her backpack with some of her favorite things, and during the administrative portion she works quietly with them. As shown here:



The rest are pictures of a few outings here and there, including a visit with our dear friend from Costa Rica, Jane. We went out for lunch at a really nice place with a huge yard for kids to run around in, sand boxes to play in, and horses to feed. We went with Jane, her husband Brad, and their grandson Federico.

card games, swimming and dancing

Those three activities are Sasha's favorite at the moment.

She loves Ballet. She hasn't taken any classes yet, but we read books about it, watch short ballet videos, and I've taught her the basic steps from what I remember as a child.
When we go to the pool, she challenges herself with something new every time. I posted a short video on youtube of her diving down to the bottom of the pool. And another of her trying to imitate the flamenco dancer from Riverdance.

She dances in her room in front of the mirror, and even has an attentive audience:





She's a pro at Uno, Old Maid, Go Fish, Pick up Sticks, and Crazy 8s.

From here and there...

Here are a few of the last pictures of Sasha and her classmates:






My brother, Ali, came to Boston just before we left for New York. We were so glad we were able to see him as well as his brother and sister, Deany and Carlos. Ali was there helping Deany get moved in to her new home!

from the left, Ali, his sister Deany with her fiance (I forgot his name), and her son Brian, Ali's brother Carlos and his girlfriend with her daughter:





Ali showing Sasha how he carries his daughter:











At the Houston Children's Museum:

The Museum just opened a new section called Kidtropolis. As the name indicates, it is a city just for kids. Children can shop, eat, vote, and even get a job and earn their own money! (all pretend, of course).

Here she's working as a veterinarian:






Here as a waitress:




As a cashier at the grocery store:




In line at the ATM, happy to be depositing some money!



Depositing her checks. The computer registers her card and tells her how much she has in her savings, each time she returns!




Back from Costa Rica

On our way back from Costa Rica, our flight, which was supposed to arrive in Houston around 11 p.m., had mechanical problems and other delays, and didn't arrive until around 4 am!

It started out alright:




But towards the end we were very tired.
And this is not a picture of a pile of bags and sweaters...



...it is a picture of our daughter, covered in any piece of clothing we could find while we tried to sleep in that freezing cold Florida airport until we were notified of the arrival of our fixed plane:



We got home around 4:30 and slept in!

Hanging out at home:






Some pictures of our home:

Family Reunion Pics on Facebook!

Dear Family and Friends,

There were too many pictures of our trip to Costa Rica to post here. If you have a facebook account you can view them there! (It's much easier and faster to post on facebook).

Here are two group shots:

Costa Rica (part 2)

Britt and the boys arrived!
For breakfast, we ate Mima's delicious pancakes:




Playing Guess Who together:



Our neighbor, Gary, let us use his pool!



We had some people over last Sunday for a BBQ.

Layli and Amelie:



Sonny:



Martita, Sasha and Britt




Ela playing Golf:



Cutie Amelie!



Dylan and beautiful Samba:



Sasha and Samba:



Lilia with her granddaughter:



Richard, Brenda, Mom and James:

Costa Rica (part 1)

Our long-awaited family reunion has finally come! James, Sasha and I arrived a couple of days ago. Here are pictures of our trip thus far.


At the airport with Daddy:



She always says 'Hello' to the pilots, and this time around they let her sit in the cockpit and press some buttons! (This happened before take-off of course).



Exhausted on the plane:



Playing Guess Who with Titi:



Finding new ways to swing, while entertaining her beautiful cousin, Ela:



Eating Jocotes!



Titi is so good with kids!



We went for a walk downtown, and tried to visit my father's grave, but the cemetery was closed.



Cousin love:







Sasha loves her Titi:



and her Mima:




We can't wait for the rest of the family to arrive!

Who knew jumping in puddles was so much fun...

A few more from Patti and Pat's visit. On their last day we went to a baseball game. : )

Houston part 2 - Grandma and Grandpa visit!

Grandma and Grandpa (Patti and Pat) are here! It has been so great to spend this time with them! We'll be very sad when they leave us tomorrow. : (

Since they arrived we've gone to the beach:

Flying a kite with Grandpa!












Ice skating!!

So excited to get her ice skates!






She looked like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz with her wobbly legs, but she had so much fun!




Walks in the Woods:







Hanging out at the house:






Eating out, going to the Mall, the bookstore and the Museum:

Houston part 1

We've finally settled in our new home in Houston!

Sasha at the airport in New York:



On our way home, happy to be in our own car (no more taxis, buses, or trains)



Our first meal in our new home (but without all our stuff, the meal was a microwavable dinner on plastic plates!)



Helping Daddy by "reading" the instructions to set up her table:



When she realized that we were far away from her friends in Boston, she began to miss them. So we decided to get some nice stationary and send them each a letter.



She dictated and I wrote three, short and very cute letters to her three closest friends. Here she is reading them back to me. They said something like, Dear ______ I was in New York City in a very tall building. My new house has a pool. You are my best friend. love, Sasha



We went out to explore our neighborhood. We live right next to a big park, which has a golf course and the Houston Zoo! We also live one block away from the Children's Museum, The Museum of Science, and the Museum of Fine Arts! Needless to say, we live in an area called The Museum District.




Cutting up strawberries for pancakes in our new kitchen!



Finding her old toys and clothes:



Reading her old books: (a lot of these things had been in storage for a year)



It is VERY hot here, but we're not complaining. It feels good to be in the heat after the never-ending New England winter! So one has to keep cool. Here are a few ways:










Making new friends:



Washing her dishes:




James also found some of his old "toys." His Juicer! Here he made carrot, orange, pineapple!



He also joined a baseball team! Here we are at his game. It was a very hot day, can you tell by Sasha's face?



Here he is after getting his first hit:



And hanging out with his best cheerleader! (Sasha was so great, shouting "great job, Daddy!")




First trip to the Children's Museum:





Sasha's room: Her easel and table:



Her Montessori activities:



and Kitchen:

New York City (part 2)

Sasha got a lot of these rides:



And some of these stops:



We did a lot of walking, particularly this day. We walked through Chinatown, Little Italy, and ended up at Katz's Delicatessen, a popular deli for both locals and tourists. Katz's has served lunch to many writers, actors and politicians, and has appeared in several movies: When Harry met Sally, Donnie Brasco, and Offbeat, to name a few. The walls are covered with photos of lots of it's guests, as you can sort of see in this picture.



Rockefeller Center:









A familiar pose in New York City: looking up





Times Square:



Behind is the New Year's Eve ball:









Ready for breakfast at a nice little place near our hotel. Not only did Barry have a good eye for great places to eat, he was an excellent tour guide of the city where he went to college. We got a great tour, visited key places, and had a schedule that allowed us to see various things in one day, but was flexible enough to allow Sasha to have her midday naps.



Reading to grammy and grampy before breakfast arrives:




On our way to the Planetarium and the American Museum of Natural History... with a stop-over at the playground, of course.





Getting another ride on Grampy's shoulders:



"We have a problem," says Grampy.. Sasha being oblivious...



The only picture we got of the Planetarium. We saw an amazing show inside where the narrator talked about the beginnings of planet Earth, the formation of the moon, the future of our galaxy, among other things, all while watching these amazing images and sounds effects. Sasha really enjoyed it as well!




On our last night Barry and Kathy gave us a special treat: They took care of Sasha for 4.5 hours while we went out to dinner and then to a Broadway show! We saw The West Side Story.

Wearing her special outfit that Grammy got her in Chinatown, and waiting for them to arrive:



Sasha being silly with mommy before we left:



Back in Times Square, after dinner, getting ready to go to the show. It was an amazing show. I had recently watched an old movie and noticed how all the actors were able to sing, dance, and act. I compared the acting of those days to todays where the actors don't display such a range of talents. It was incredibly emotional and I was on the verge of tears at the end of each act, not because of the story (which was very good) but because of the music, the voices, the acting, the dancing, the emotion, the talent. It was an awesome experience! James and I are so grateful!!


We left the next morning to the airport. Next stop: Houston!

New York City!! (part 1)

We left Boston! Here we are on the bus heading to the train that would take us to New York! We spent a few days there with Barry and Kathy, before heading to Houston.



Sasha entertaining herself with a gift from our former landlord, who told her to open it after she got on the train. It was a great gift! She's drawing what she thinks New York city will look like:





She entertained herself for a while longer before falling asleep.



She had been up practically all night the previous night with a tummy flu... :(



Four hours later we arrived in New York. Here's James checking out the very tall buildings through the window of our taxi!



Barry and Kathy were scheduled to arrive soon after, but their flight got delayed due to bad weather. We decided to walk around Central Park:





And then went up to the top of the Empire State Building! Here we are climbing the stairs (we opted to climb the last several floors rather than wait in long lines for the elevator)



Amazing views!



The next day we went on a three-hour cruise that took us along the New York Harbor, circled around the Statue of Liberty, and past the beautiful city skyline. Even though I was up and about a lot of the time with Sasha, I was impressed by the amount of information given to us by our tour guide, who shared a lot of the history of the area as well as other interesting tidbits.









After some lunch and a long nap for Sasha, we walked to FAO Shwarz, a huge toy store on 5th Avenue. Surprisingly, there were no interesting toys. It was more interesting to walk through the store, walk on the enormous floor piano,



Try on the endless varieties of hats,





And check out the amazing lego creations!



Hanging out at the hotel:




Heading out in the morning for breakfast



Stop-over at Starbucks:



On our way to visit Ground Zero:



This is where the Twin Towers used to stand:



We visited a Twin Towers memorial center where they had pictures of the victims, stories from eye-witnesses and families, pieces of the building and even a window from one of the planes. It was very emotional to see these things, and to try to explain it to Sasha.


I will post the rest of the trip tomorrow...