Great Roger
You would probably love to read about something different than our trip, but I have to include this last part because it is an important detail. The day after we left on our trip, we found out that Brad's Maternal Grand Father passed away. We weren't sure how this would affect our plans. We then found out Saturday Morning, that the wake was going to be on Sunday. So, we packed up our things and planned to head out that evening, and drive through the night to get home. We ended up leaving at 4:30 with plans that Brad and I would switch off and on driving while the girls slept. When all was said and done, we arrived home at 5:30 A.M. and Brad had driven the entire 13hours. What a trouper!

(this was the usual scene, Gwen lounging, and Liv zeroed in on her show....thank goodness for the portable DVD player!)

In our family, Roger Pomeroy was better known as Great Roger. A nickname coined by Liv. He was a vibrant Great Grandfather, with a wicked happy laugh and a great Maine accent. His Great Granddaughters were the "apple of his eye." He called Liv on the 9th of every month to wish her a happy birthday, until she was 2, and he never missed a holiday to dote on his sweet girls. We will miss him, but are so glad to know that we will see him again.

“Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life. …

“What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?”

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985)

I found this quote on a friends blog, and adopted it. I published my blog into a book a while back, and ever since have been inspired to record my little portion of the life experience. My hope is that someday my children and their children will be able to look back at these books and see what their life was like, and how much we love them. This quote now resides to the right--> just below the pictures =0).

Spring Break: Part Two (Washington D.C.)
We spent two days in D.C. with another one of Brad's roommates, Kent, and his family. The first night Brad took Liv to the Zoo while I stayed behind to let Gwen get some MUCH needed rest. After our busy day in New York City, it was nice to be in a city that Brad and I had both been to previously, so that we didn't feel the need to make sure to see everything. We just took our time each day visiting the highlights, and letting the girls run around, and play. D.C. is a very neat city. It is amazingly clean and perfectly manicured. All of the spring flowers were in full bloom, That meant I was in heaven....and so were Brad's allergies =0). But, he was a trooper =0).

Here we are in Arlington National Cemetery:
A reverent, patriotic, beautiful place that makes me feel a great sense of gratitude for the Soldiers that sacrifice for me and our country daily.Tomb of the unknown soldier, changing of the guard

And, us seeing some of the other main attractions in the capitol:

Right after we walked away from the front of the White House, this helicopter, along with two others flew right over our heads, and this one landed on the front lawn of the White House, while the others continued on. We were told that this is the safety protocol when the President is traveling via helicopter. That way, when he is traveling, you don't know which copter he is in. So, I guess you could say we saw the president when we were in D.C., and he was within 300 yards of us =0). We also got to tour the Capitol Building. Elizabeth had some connections and was able to get us a personal tour of the senate floor. Her friend works in one of the Cloak rooms. She told us all kinds of interesting facts about the way the Senate works. One interesting fact, is that there is one particular desk which is always known as the candy desk. It's drawer is always filled with candy and senators will often get up from their seats to get a piece of candy. She let us take a piece.One of the new sights we were able to see was the World War II memorial. Brad and I both have Grandfather's who served in the 2nd World War, which made it special, but it was also an amazing structure. I wish I could have taken a picture to really show you how neat it was. It is shaped like a large amphitheater with a grand fountain in the center, and a reflection pond just beyond it. Thank you Kent, Elizabeth and Annika for a great time =0)! We can't wait to see you again!

Spring Break 2008: Part One (NYC)

Brad had this past week off, so we planned a two part trip to New York City and Washington D.C. We only got to spend one day in New York City (sorry to all of our friends that we didn't get to see while we were there!) But we made the most of our short day. We were able to stay with one of Brad's college roommates and his wife. We started out early and took the train into the city. LaMar took the day off and showed us around. Our first stop was Rockafeller center where the "Today Show" is filmed. This was one of my favorite stops because the Pink Tulips they had planted near the fountains were gorgeous. Next, we walked toward Central Park and on our way, we stopped at Trump Tower, went inside to see the pink marble and have a little Donald Trump icecream. My Coconut Sorbet was incredible, and Brad's Mango Sorbet was equally yummy =0). We also stopped by the Disney store on our walk. Liv was in Heaven. Just to help you imagine what it was like. Take any Disney Store you have ever been in, and multiply it by 20 times. They had the most amazing princess dresses. They were gorgeous, almost worth the $90.00 they cost =0).After that we finished our walk to Central Park and found a nice little spot in the grass where we sat down and let the girls run around for a while. We also waited for LaMar's wife, Amy, who met up with us after her morning classes. Gwen was in Heaven once Amy arrived. They were fast friends, and Amy was our saving Grace, considering Gwen hadn't slept well and was beyond tired. Central Park was a neat place. It was very refreshing to be among the flowers and singing birds right in the middle of a bustling city.After our bit of relaxing, we headed off to FAO Schwartz, the HUGE toystore from the movie, "BIG." They did have the big piano there, but my favorite part was the doll section. They had a hospital nursery set up where the baby dolls were behind glass, and they had a woman dressed up as a nurse there who would bring a baby to you and let you hold/rock her. It was so cute and so realistic. The girls got to choose dolls that looked like them and then the nurse would put the doll in a hospital baby cradle and wheel it out. I'm sure Liv didn't realize how realistic it all was, but I thought it was great =0).We also stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral, and walked through.Next we had our first NYC cab experience when we took a cab from there over to Time Square. NYC traffic is fascinating in and of itself. The cabs have a whole system of their own, and somehow with all of the commotion, they get where they want, and its fast! Time Square was neat.
After Time Square, we took the Subway to Ground Zero, and then to Battery Park where we saw the Statue of Liberty.Next we walked past wall street where Brad paid homage to the Bull =0). And then to the Brooklyn Bridge. Last but not least, Amy and LaMar surprised us by offering to watch our girls so we could go to a Broadway play {I have to add here, that Liv was SO excited to have a party with LaMar and Amy, she kept asking me when it was time for us to leave them, and then she would talk to LaMar about the cookies he promised her =0) }. Brad got our tickets while the rest of us ate lunch. He chose Phantom of the Opera, and it was Amazing! The Actor's had amazing voices and were also very powerful emotionally. We loved it, and got back to Amy and LaMar's after midnight. Phew, that was a full day! I think we were both asleep before our heads hit the pillow =0).

Thank You LaMar and Amy for letting us crash at your place, and making our trip Perfect! And, Thank you especially for being SO GREAT with our Kids. We can't wait to see you again!

The perfect Saturday

In case you are wondering, in my eyes, this is what a perfect Saturday looks like:

Wake up
Go to the gym, sweat
come home
grab something to eat
put the girls in the chariot
ride our bikes over the river to Bangor
find a quiet spot next to the river
watch the Kenduskeg stream races
ride our bikes back home
put the girls down for a nap
do some yard work
watch Liv have fun washing the car with her dad
take a shower in peace =0)
go to a friends house for dinner
chat while we listen to the girls giggle together
come home and drift peacefully off to sleep =0).

Now, here are the pictures =0)

This Recipe will convert you...
to Homemade Whole Wheat Bread! It is super quick and so yummy. And, since it rises in the oven, its not finicky about the temperature in your house =0).

Annie's Whole Wheat Bread (makes 4 medium-large loaves)
First: Mix-

2 c. white flour
8 c. whole wheat flour
2 heaping T. yeast
6 c. very warm water

for 1 minute, then cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

Second: Add-
1 1/2 T salt
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. brown sugar or honey

and mix. Then add-
4-6 c. more wheat flour and mix

third: turn on oven to warm
knead dough for 10 minutes
shape into loaves and put into greased pans (makes 4 medium loaves)
turn oven off and place pans in oven to let rise for 25-30 minutes

fourth: turn oven to 350 degrees and immediately set timer for 30 minutes.

fifth: ENJOY!!

If only I could post a scratch and sniff here so you could know just how heavenly my house smells right now =0).

Mount Hope
Our thermometers hit 75 degrees today and the girls and I wanted to take in every bit of sunshine available. I took the girls on a really fun, slightly unconventional, play date. We went to Mount Hope cematary. It was filled with wonderful places to imagine ourselves into a different world. We played in a land filled with Unicorns and Peter Pan, ran down hills and ate lunch. I think we'll be back soon =0).

Riddles
I love how talking to a child helps you see the world in a whole new way. Liv has always made up a new vocabulary for anything that she doesn't already have a name for. For example: when she was 2, a bath = "tubby", a lake= "big tubby", and thus, a boat= "tubby truck."

Here are a couple of riddles she has given me in the last few days-
1. "Mommy, I want you to sing the 'knees are gray' song."- I had no idea what she was talking about, even though she insisted that I sing it to her all of the time. So, to help me remember, she started singing it. It goes something like this-
"I am a Child of God and so my knees are gray =0)."
for those of you who don't know this children's song, this line actually says-
"I am a Child of God and so my needs are great...."

2. For the last few days, Liv has been telling me she wants to wear her "rhyming jacket." Yesterday I figured out which jacket she was talking about but still had no idea why she thought it was "rhyming." This morning I figured out her logic =0).
It is so fun to see what details these kids pull out of the world. I probably would have called this her pink rain coat..... or maybe her pink wind breaker.... or even her pink jacket with the hood. But I must admit it is a "rhyming jacket" =0)

Pinkalicious

Who knows how long this pink will last....The BR Clan needed a fun color and some fun pictures to go along with my new quest to make really
FUN CHILDHOOD MEMORIES for my kiddos=0).

Our Second Annual "Wet" Jordan 5k
(click here to see the 1st annual race)

We had a great time today running a 5k with Glen and Amy. The whole first portion of the race, I kept blinking to dodge the rain drops coming at me, I was praying I wouldn't run into something because I could hardly see =0). But, even with the rain, I would still have to put this into the category of
"I'm so glad we did it!" There is just something about being part of something like this that I really love! The four of us got 1st,2nd,3rd,and 4th place.......out of 5 that is =0) (there were more like 40 last year). The bonus was that the race was put on by the athletic training department, and after the race, they gave me an in depth evaluation of my knees and stride. They gave me a ton of information about what shoes I need, and what exercises to do. Hopefully this will be the end of my knee/running troubles! I am posting this picture to show how soaked we were after the race. You can see best by looking at Amy's hair. Just know that we are all much more beautiful when we aren't soaking wet, out of breath and freezing cold =0).
P.S. I am already wearing my free T-shirt =0).