Old Stomping Grounds

Last week was Westminster Spring Break so we packed up Zora and Noemi for 5 days in Austin. I (Katy) am still amazed by how well everything went. The girls were troopers on the 2 1/2 hour flight (albeit very wiggly and squirmy troopers), slept great in strange places, and were surprisingly cheerful even as we passed them amongst scores of new people (Zora seems to be moving beyond her "stranger danger" phase somewhat).

The weather was divine - high 60s and low 70s - so we spent as much time outside as possible, hitting up a farmers' market with good friends Jeremy, Karin, and their 1-year-old Gretta, and taking walks around our old neighborhood. Thanks to our friends Jen and Joseph Strickland, we even got to stay a couple of nights in the first apartment Mike and I ever lived in together - all 400 sq. ft. of it! The other few nights we spent with the Weber family - Sara, Seth, and Silas. Zora got a kick out of Silas' dragon toys. We ate boatloads of good food: brunch with friends Mike and Kirk (new find: siphoned coffee!), take-out from my favorite sandwich shop with dissertation advisor Jim, queso and Mexican Martinis with friend Leigh, and even a date night of tex-mex and margaritas our last night in town.

The visit made us miss the vibrant quirkiness of Austin, but we were glad to get home. It's been a hard winter with all the snow and smog here in SLC, but spring is on its way - no red air quality days this whole week and we can actually see our front yard again!

Zora enjoying the sun

Noemi enjoying her sun hat

ZoZo reading with Kirk

Noey cuddling with Jeremy

Dragon + Baby

at Mueller Park (Noey is so over the sun hat)

at the Mueller Farmers' Market with Jeremy, Karin, & Gretta

with Leigh

in our old apartment

like a true Texas cowgirl

Helmet-less

We had been told that the average baby helmet needs to stay on  for about three months.  So it was a nice surprise when Katy took Noemi in to see the specialist two and a half months after she got the helmet and the doctor set her free. 

Noey never seemed to mind it too much. 
But it does seems a bit easier for her to lift her head and it's one less thing for the parents to wash.

On the downside, she no longer has any protection from either her sister and her happy and excessive head-pat-pat-patting or from herself - toppling over and bonking her head on the ground. 

Now the question is - what to do with the helmet? 
It's  too personalized (molded to her head) to pass on, expensive enough that we don't want to just toss it into the trash, and too big to fit in a scrap book. 

Ideas?  If it didn't have air holes, we could make it into a boat for her first pet gerbil. 

Being Winter-y

We've had some serious snow recently and have tried to get out to enjoy it a bit with the girls. We've also had an inversion lately that makes the air in the valley soupy with smog, so we took a drive up one of the canyons for a snowshoe in the sun and fresh air.

During the last big storm we took a little walk...

And took the sled for a spin in the yard

The snow was gorgeous (and deep) for our snowshoe up in Mill Creek Canyon

Even Mowgli got to come!

Katy bundling Noemi

Mike toting Zora

How Quickly Things Can Fall Apart...

The Holidays (continued) with the Evanses

The Holidays (continued) with the Youngs/Magliozzis

Noey opening a present with Oma

Lucas, Noey, Katy, and Monique

The girls lounging with their cousins

Building a block tower with Aly and Oma

Cousin Ray feeding Noemi

Christmas morning at the Magliozzis

Noemi and Aunt Janet

Lucas being a good sport with Zora

Back East for the Holidays

We had a great visit back east to see both sets of parents, sisters and families, extended families, and friends.  However, the flights in either direction left room for improvement.

So many photos to share.  But because you don't want to see all of them - trust me, you don't - we will share a few here and a few there. 

Zora (with her pants on her head) and cousin Raymond

Noemi and cousin Lucas having a staring context

Noemi helping Aunt Chris with some knitting

Zora hanging with Uncle Nate

Grandmothers and Granddaughters

We had a nice visit with our good friends from college/Boston/Austin - Leah (pictured) and Chris with their twins - Charlotte & Emerson

Noemi nibbling on an appetizer while Zora holds court with the Young ladies - Oma, Katy, and Aunt Aly