Happy Birthday to Me!

As of Sunday I am officially 26 years old, and my wonderful friends planned an incredible day to celebrate! I was told nothing ahead of time, they did the whole thing themselves, all I was told was to be in my church clothes at 12:45. The girls picked me up and took me to the Huntington Gardens, a beautiful place not far from here full of greenery, gardens, museums, and a tea room. We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea for lunch, spent a couple hours wandering the gardens, taking random pictures and enjoying the beautiful weather. Then, they took me home to change and picked me up an hour later--we ended up at Ryan and Alethia's apartment where they had spent time preparing an incredible fondue dinner complete with a cheesecake factory cheesecake for dessert and mai tais for our beverage. Sophie had come up with a theme for the night of "Coffee and Books" so everyone gave me something that had to do with coffee or books--gift cards, favorite books etc. She also made up a quiz of random questions, like how old was I when I taught myself how to read, or what my favorite kid book and adult book are, or what do I always order at a coffee shop--people didn't do so well, but they tried :) Here are some photos from the day:

The gift basket they gave me, full of all of my favorite things :)

Tea and dessert at the Huntington Gardens (they also made me wear the tiara headband and carry a wand all day...)The four of usSophie taking pictures of the koi pondBecca and Sophie things were a little chaotic as they tried to decide how to pose!Check out the attitude!there was an incredible bonsai gardenImmitating the statue Posing for our engagement photo...The mai tais Sophie madeBecca, Christina, and PocketOur incredible kitchen crew--they did a WONDERFUL job making a delicious meal! Seriously, who doesn't love cheesecake?! The books I was given, I haven't read any of them so I am very excited to get started! Sad that I started classes yesterday!

Bethie's latest adorable-ness!

Who doesn't love pictures of adorable babies?! Especially when they are of a baby I love a lot! Jean sent Elizabeth's July photos, and I thought I'd share them with all of you because she's just so darn cute :) Hopefully I'll get to spend some time with her and her mommy this fall either when they come down to LA to visit or if I can make a trip to Anchorage in Dec...so here are the newest pictures of the cutest 9-month old around!

Bethie LOVES the pool and apparently will keep her sun glasses ON, which very few babies do!

Riding the carousel with mommyvery cute morning face!Bathtime!

Time to eat! Feed me faster! (I've been on the phone with Jean and have heard her screeching because mom doesn't cut bananas fast enough...she likes her food!)

She has also learned how to wave and apparently demonstrates this new ability with much frequency and enthusiasm

Providence

And here are the photos from my time in the actual city of Providence :)

Megan and I overlooking the citythe Rhode Island state capitalthe happy newly wedsThere is a statue of Roger Williams (the founder of RI) overlooking the city, as if he is standing guard.

my "neph-puppy" TaylorSo despite the fact that Taylor is multiple times their size, he seems to be skittish of the cats. Anna has his ball, and he refuses to get any closer than this to it--he made no effort to get it back!Megs and Nathan cooking enchilladas on Sunday night for dinnerAnna likes to hide in anything, here she is in the coffee tableDorothy--aka "Doodles" attacking poor pigletI am not a huge cat-person, but these two really are sweet!

the cat mansion Megan and Nathan built one weekend for their cats

Taylor learned how to give high-fives!

their new home that they bought this summer...and all the landscaping that my parents and Nathan's parents and sister did in July--nice job guys! It still looks great!

Walking our way to Freedom...or Somewhere...

After I left to Seattle, I flew about as far east as one can get--all the way out to Providence, RI to visit Megan and Nathan (and their dog Taylor, and two cats Anna and Dorothy). We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend enjoying a beautiful couple days in New England. I had never been there, so they showed me all over their new home and the surrounding area. On Saturday we took the train into Boston, where I had always wanted to go but had never been before. We walked the Freedom Trail, took the train out to Harvard (and decided we gained a few brain cells just by wandering around the campus), and had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures from my time out east: Nathan humoring me posing on the freedom trailBoston CommonsJohn Hancock's gravePaul Revere's graveI found the city of Boston to be such a crazy mix of incredible history and modern day lifeFanueil Hall, a huge marketplace, even includes a fallout shelter--guess I know where I'm headed if I'm in Boston during a nuclear attack. Boston has one of the most moving Holocaust memorials I have ever seen. I also got excited because the word "Remember" was written in Hebrew on the ground...and after my long summer of learning the language I got very excited to see it while out and about!Megs and Ithe brother and sister

The Old North Church where Paul Revere hung the lanterns to let them know the British were coming.

A beautiful city

the Harvard library

Harvard--sorry, in Boston that would be Hah-vahd