Taylor's visit

Andy's brother, Taylor, came to spend five days with us. The wonderful part of his trip was that we didn't plan anything except one trip into the City. That being said, Taylor got to enjoy lots of baseball practices, kids playing outside, schooldays, and Wii Star Wars. I'd like to say the highlight of his trip was the Empire State Building, but if you ask the boys it was, hands-down, playing Wii Star Wars. Please come again soon, Uncle Taylor! We had an awesome time.

Rachael's first subway ride!


Uncle Taylor has been telling the kids for the last year how they need to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I think he finally decided he had better come to visit to make sure this actually happened. So, thank you, Taylor, for helping us mark this off our list. :)

Cute Rachael

Just a quick post so you can see Rachael. We've got LOTS more that's ready to go... like school plays, our "new" place at West Point, Scouting Ceremonies, baseball, Taylor's visit (etc).

But for now, please enjoy Rachael Grace.

Rachael's Grace

Rachael Grace was baptized on Sunday. Her Godparents, Dan and Angie, were able to fly in for the ceremony and it was great to have them here. We celebrated with a small reception, and the Ankosko cousins from New Jersey came up for the day.

My friend, Amy, let me borrow her daughter's Christening dress. It was gorgeous.


First the water, then the oil. Fr. Matt was very generous with the oil, but Rachael reached for more.

Fr. Matt, Dan, Andy and Rachael. The Godparents with Rachael.


Our first family portrait. :)


Group shot outside of the Chapel.


Crazy cousins!

It was a wonderful day. We are fortunate to have such great family and friends. Nate told me today that he wanted to have Rachael baptized every day... he always has enjoyed a good party.

Easter

Susan, I'm not sure how you post so regularly with four little kids, but I am always impressed...and not only do you post regularly, but your posts have always happened within the last couple of days (if not hours). Not the case here. So thank you, all, for not giving up on our blog, and enjoy our Easter pictures from last month. :)

We ended up with 4 dozen Easter eggs, and we ate egg salad for far too many meals, but we sure had a good time dying the eggs.


Thanks to the new clothes even the boys were excited about dressing up. Grandma, you rock!

We had an Easter egg hunt outside with all of our friends, but it didn't last very long. It was in the low 40's and very windy. We had a second Easter egg hunt indoors where they found more eggs and a Webkinz.

Spring Break

We decided to make the long drive to St. Louis and Olathe for Spring Break. Rachael really needed to make the rounds, and we know it's important to instill Jayhawk Fever early. My sister, Kelley, and her girls came to Olathe too, so we had quite a family reunion. Andy's brother, Wally, and his wife, Diane, also spent an evening in Olathe. They maybe wish they hadn't, though. Long story short, we got hit hard with a 24-hour stomach bug (which we were nice enough to share with everyone), and I'm not sure anyone will ever want us to visit again. We ended up with only one day in Olathe and one day in St. Louis where no one was ill. So, we didnt' get many pictures. Infact the only day I took pictures at all was the day we spent in Lawrence. If you haven't been to Allen Fieldhouse in the last few years it is worth going. The displays are pretty amazing...and the National Championship trophy from last year is really quite impressive. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

The kids with Phog Allen. * Andy showing them how it should be done.
Mom and the Giant Jayhawk.



The NCAA Championship Trophy for basketball and the Orange Bowl trophy for Football. Awesome!


I'm not sure what a Mermaid Jayhawk has to do with anything, but Brittany sure loved it. :)

Cute little Rachael, back home, who managed to not make it in any pictures during the trip (along with Pop-Pop, Uncle Dan and Aunt Angie, Uncle Wally and Aunt Diane, and Grandma and Grandpa). It sure was great seeing you guys...sorry we didn't document it better. ;)

February visits

We were lucky enough to get several visitors in February. My sister, Kelley, came with her daughter, Zoe, for a long weekend. We had a wonderful time. Zoe was very excited to finally meet Rachael, and, as always, the older cousins had tons of fun playing together.

My brother, Dan, also came for a couple days. He looked great holding Rachael, though there are no pictures to prove it. Brittany, Alex and Nate were super excited to see Uncle Dan. He is always willing to throw them around and give piggy-back rides. What more could a kid want?

NEW Rachael Pic... for Skeeter

Here is Rachael TODAY, Skeeter... well, the middle pic with Alex was three days ago. The rest should be "fresh" enough for everyone... even Skeet on his 111th Birthday :)