Tuesday, April 12, 2011

To my darling mother

Today we are celebrating the birth of the most wonderful woman I know.
I can only hope that I look this fabulous at her age {which I won't disclose on the internet} and after giving birth to and raising eight children.




















Happy Birthday, Mom!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

N.Y.C. Day 3

Okay FINALLY! Here are pictures of our Saturday in New York! As per the usual disclaimer, there are a LOT of pictures.


I'll let you guess where we went first...














Even the Subway stop lets you know you're on the right track















A dear President



















We didn't really think through the fact that we were going on Saturday morning, so it was packed with kids. But it added to the fun of it all!














We saw all sorts of things

Elephants



















Other dead animals














Huge minerals














Indian canoes














Ancient trees














Probably the whale that swallowed Jonah














Human skulls














Giant meteorites














And of course.....

DINOSAURS




























It doesn't bode well that we already look pretty exhausted














Then we decided to cross through Central Park to get to 5th Avenue. It's not exactly as clear as you'd think just going West to East, and once we were in the middle we thought we'd never find our way out. But the views from inside are so classic New York















































Eventually we did find our way out, and surprisingly right where we wanted to be!














The beautiful Metropolitan Museum of Art














I like to pretend that I'm in Gossip Girl....you know, just an average day eating yogurt on the steps of the Met. =)














Upper East Side






































Then it was down the street to the amazing Guggenheim





















































































Then it was downtown a little ways to see some historical New York landmarks

Bergdorf...I wish.














F.A.O. Schwartz of course!



















The candy shop from every child's dream. That soldier is made completely out of jelly beans.



















Barbie fooseball!!! Siara and I would have gone crazy for this.



















And....the Big Piano! Turns out that nowadays you don't just get to jump on it like you're Tom Hanks, you have to pay money and book a time. But seeing it was just as cool.














Just down the street, home at last.














So many designer shops, so little time. Or money. Whichever. You do just feel a little classier being on this street though!














Per our dear friend Jess, Shake Shack was an absolute must while we were in NYC. So we ventured out for some dinner.




























The only places to sit are outside, so we almost froze to death waiting for our food.














But it was, honestly and truly with no exaggeration, the BEST hamburger and fries we have ever eaten. And we've tried a lot of burger places all over the country/world. This rivals my original Burgerville favorite. The Gale family may kill me for such blasphemy, but YUM.














Our last stop of the day was a ride to the top of the Empire State Building. We figured we did Top of the Rock during the day, so we should get the view from the Empire State at night.



















Umm...that may have been a mistake. The wind was blowing so hard we could hardly take a picture without the camera blowing away!










































But it was worth it, because the views are incredible.




























Okay, Empire State building was ALMOST our last stop. We had to go through Grand Central anyway, so we made another little pit stop at Magnolia Bakery. I'm in heaven.














The Grand Central cupcake














A delicious end to a very perfect day.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

A bump. A nursery. A baby shower.

I swear I'm going to finish out the New York blogs. They just take so long and I've been so busy and a million other excuses. But for now, here is a quick update of what's been going on!

I am 30 weeks pregnant. Can you believe it?! Baby is head down, I'm measuring exactly 30 cm, and I have now officially surpassed Austin in weight. Ugh. Here's a snap shot of the belly.



















We've also pretty much finished the nursery. We finally got our crib mattress, and put up a little shelf of things to inspire him to be a sailor. Austin's mom sent us some of Austin's darling baby clothes, including the little saddle shoes that fit perfectly into the display. And Ashton made us the vinyl letters for the sign with that adorable saying. My contribution has been to make bibs and little baby booties that didn't really turn out looking fantastic, but it's just my first try!

























































































Grandma Ann has also sent us outfits aplenty for this lucky little boy. He is going to be the best-dressed baby around! But this one is the most important if he's going to carry the Keaton name.



















We are working on finding him the perfect BYU outfit too! So him and Grandpa Gale can watch games together, but only if Pop Pop learns not to yell so much during them. =)

Wednesday night was the big SURPRISE baby shower for Brittany! Sadly I did not get a picture of the actual surprise, if anyone else has one let me know!

































We crammed a lot of people into our little living room!

Diaper cake, cupcakes, and cookie favors courtesy of Ashton. I am ever impressed by her ability to make things scrapbook-worthy.















































Brittany's face opening presents was priceless, I love any pregnant woman's reactions to cute baby things!! Little Henry is now well-equipped to come into the world in June!

























































Our guest of honor with two of the secret party planners














Emily is pretty pumped about this baby.



















The happy pregnant couple














The ACTUAL happy pregnant couple!