4th Anniversary

Our anniversary (May 24th) fell on a Thursday this year and Thursdays are Laurel's weekly shift at Western Albemarle Rescue Squad. The crew chief sent us off for a dinner at Cocina del Sol here in Crozet, so we were able to celebrate in style. It was a little different celebrating our anniversary in uniform and with a baby along (to say nothing of running ambulance calls), but we had an enjoyable time and enjoyed our outdoor table. Here's to many more years together!

Autumn Graduates From PSU!

We're more than a little late with this post...Autumn graduated on May 19th and we celebrated with a dinner in her honor at The Corner Room in downtown State College. Ray and his parents were able to join the Dennistons and Chrumas for the dinner. We also enjoyed the ceremony as it wasn't too long! Autumn has been going on interviews at various schools in the Westchester, PA area as she will join Ray there after their June 30th wedding.

Roadtrip

Grandpa and Violet drove us back from State College after Autumn's bridal shower. Grandpa worked the pedals while Violet did the steering, shifting, and windshield-wiping. It was a pretty nice ride with scenic views and a stop at Luray Caverns along the way. Lots of firsts for Violet!

Bluebird Update

This is the most recent photo of our bluebird house complete with nest! We have not looked inside in a few weeks because we think there may be eggs and we don't want to scare them away. From what we have read online, bluebirds will often hatch 2-3 broods per season, so we can look forward to having them around for a while! It took some time for the bluebirds to assert their dominance over the nestbox as there were some tree swallows and house finches who were also interested. There were many arial battles with dramatic swooping and diving that we witnessed and it wasn't clear from our vantage point exactly who had the uppper hand (wing?). In the end, it is the bluebirds who won out and we are glad.

Autumn's Bridal Shower

Lovely Bride
Bride with her Maids
Bride with her Mothers

Autumn's bridal shower was so nice! Sky, Violet and Laurel travelled to State College on Saturday to get there for the 3pm event. 35 people RSVP'd! It was a great time with the ladies from church and friends from RUF at Penn State. We developed the photos at a one-hour photo place and were able to get the scrap book 99% finished that weekend...what a fun time it was!

Violet in Video!

Cloth Diapers

We've begun using cloth diapers which we feel is much better for the environment. Violet seems to have adjusted to the change, though her appearance is much more chunky. She looks a lot like a Tellytubbie with the extra bulk of the cloth! The cloth diaper process is much easier these days...no pins, no rinsing, no rubber pants. There are velcro diaper covers that you put over the cloth diaper that hold it in place. We have a diaper service here in Charlottesville that picks up the dirties and leaves a stack of clean ones for the week. It is a bit more challenging to carry around the big cotton diapers, but we are getting used to it and so far there have been no leaks!