Easter

In early April, Nancee came up to Idaho with her two girls while Troy was off working in New York for Baby Banana Brush and in Vermont to visit his brother and attend an App Development conference. It was lots of fun having Sadie and Erica visit. They came to my apartment and played with Freckles a few times, we ate good food and desserts, watched movies, and we even did an easter egg hunt with treasure baskets hidden at the end! Nancee, the girls and I also got our nails painted and we took them to the Carousel Museum in Idaho Falls one afternoon. Sadie was a little bit scared of the quick-moving carousel, and Erica told her, "Don't worry Sadie. I'll be right here so you won't fall off." What an awesome big sister! Thanks for visiting us girls, come again soon.

The girls got these adorable bunny ears in their Easter baskets!

Mommy liked the bunny ears too, apparently.

Matching church dresses for Easter sunday. I love Sadie's expression in this one.

Visiting Grandma Tutu & Aunt Natalee's office... and getting yummy dum-dums!

Being a true Phillips.

Ice cream!

This elephant seat was from a carousel over 100 years old!

This carousel went surprisingly fast.

Erica and Nat got sparkly blue matching toe-nails. You could tell Erica's an old pro at this stuff now. She was totally relaxed and chilling the whole time. She even got into the Vietnamese soap opera that was playing in the background.

Sadie was a little less comfortable with the whole process... but she did love her hot pink nails at the end of it. I think she was most put-off by the bad acting in that Vietnamese soap opera. I can't blame her.

Marissa & Mallory's Weekend in Idaho

In March, Marissa and Mallory came up to Idaho to spend part of their Spring Break with Tutus and Aunt Natalee. They earned some money doing jobs at the museum, and then they got to pick out something at Fred Meyer with the money they earned. We took them to go see the new "Oz" movie, which they loved. I didn't love the 3D... I'm getting too old and it makes me sick now. After that we went to the Pizza Pie Café for all-you-can-eat pizza. Yum!
We also took the girls to get their fingernails painted, and they got to get their hair done at our local salon, and they got to play arcade games at outer limits! It was a very busy but a very fun weekend. Marissa and Mallory always say they love Idaho, and we want them to know they are welcome anytime!

 

 

A short visit to North Carolina

Dad recently had meetings in Washington D.C. about a week apart, so he thought it would be fun to spend the time between at JJ and Jennifer's, which is just a short plane ride away. Mom decided to surprise Dad and spend the week with JJ and Jennifer too... but the surprise got really complicated, so she ended up having to tell Dad and JJ and Jennifer. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad visited at the same time a vicious stomach flu decided to visit. Nolan, JJ and Jennifer all came down with a pretty serious sickness, and Mom said she was really glad she was there to help give the parents a break while they were all sick.

Even though everyone wasn't feeling well, it was nice weather, and Mom and Dad got to spend some fun quality time with Nolan, who they hadn't seen in awhile. Mom took him to get his hair cut, and now he looks like a big boy toddler instead of a little baby. He's still dang cute though. They went on walks and read books, and did one of their favorite North Carolina traditions--visited the gourmet cupcake shop! (This delicious store is just down the street from JJ and Jennifer's house, and they were featured on a Food Network TV show!) They celebrated Nolan's 2 year birthday a little bit early by putting candles in the cupcakes and letting him eat it. Ever the gentleman, Nolan preferred to use his fork. He's just so darling! We miss you all a lot!

Cheerio!

Mom and Dad have just returned from a chilly visit to England. Although they loved visiting with Roo and Annie and Esme and Penny.... Mom said she was disappointed that the weather was almost as cold as Idaho.

(These pictures refuse to rotate from their original sideways position, no matter what I do to them)

They had lots of fun tending the girls while Roo and Annie celebrated Valentines Day in Poland. Roo and Annie also got to go out to dinner and to the temple while Mom and Dad were in town. Mom enjoyed long (but cold) walks around the village and town.

The girls are at fun ages, with Penny just starting to walk on her own as long as she has something to hold onto for balance. Esme is talking up a storm, with full and complete sentences, but Mom says there's no sign of an English accent yet (dangit!). She also said that it was fun to do Esme's hair in lots of different styles, and Mom was impressed that Esme actually let her hair be styled.
Another exciting thing that happened while in England was a very important meeting Mom had with our potential representative for the Banana Brush in the UK and greater Europe. They talked contracts and Mom delivered a whole suitcase of product.

 Esme's hairstyle rocks.

Penny is going for more of an "Elvis" look.

Nat Updates

Here's some updates about whats going on with me...

Its officially cold in Idaho now. (Meaning high temps in the 40s on a good day). Winter sucks, but it is  fun to bust out my warm snuggly clothes. Speaking of that, the other day I wore a beanie that matches one Esmé has... so either I have the same style as a 2 year old, or she's just really cool and on-trend. I did buy that beanie for her... so I'm gonna go with the second option.

I got a major upgrade at work... I have been working in a dingy, cold, windowless office for the past 2 years (notice the plethora of grandkid photos as an attempt to cheer up the space?) Finally, a beautiful corner office opened up for me. We spent a Saturday moving all my fetch from one office to the other and rearranging my stuff. Dad found this old relic of a vacuum and got to work. I thought he looked like a ghostbuster.

This is the new space. I love having the window! I'm still trying to remember where I put stuff during the move.

 Its "beginning to look a lot like Christmas" around my apartment. This is the first year I've had real decorations, and its fun to put them up. The tree came with lights already installed, which was a relief. Freckles likes the decorations too.

This is also the first year I've ever had a real working fireplace. I'm not sure how Freckles feels about that, though. Its nice and warm and smells really good. I love it!

 And, last but certainly not least, is school. I'm a few weeks away from finishing my first semester in the MBA program, and so far, things are looking great! Economics is my hardest class, so I was super excited to see this midterm score!

Happy Halloween 2012