Ashlynn's TWO!!!

While in Colorado a few weeks ago we celebrated Ashlynn's second birthday with my parents, my brother Patrick, Steph, and her little cousin, Adam. She was so fun. Here are a few pics & videos.

Niagara Falls/Palmyra

A spontaneous trip to Niagara Falls/Palmyra, NY (for the Hill Camorah Pageant). At 3am upon arriving in Buffalo I got to wondering if this long weekend trip was a little TOO spontaneous. I felt like Joseph and Mary upon their arrival in Bethlehem. But after stopping at about 5 "inns" and a long story (one that involves being chased out by a bed bug and a moth) we found ourselves on the better side of luck when we heard that there was one mothless, bed bugless room left! Happy Day!!! Hmmm... just thought of something... maybe that's why Ashlynn hates bugs???

D.C. For The Fourth!

We've unfortunately been cameraless for the past few months and have, as a result, had little to post. I'm suspicious that there must be a curse on the second child in a family. I grew up hearing my sister claim that she was less photographed than I and I've since heard every second child echo that sentiment. So I was determined to try to become the exception for Tayler. We're off to a bad start though with our video camera & other camera battery both lost/stolen 2 weeks after she was born. We finally gave in and replaced those now so here's an update. Forgive us Tayler!

After 2 intense months of school we FINALLY had a weekend without daddy being in the library at some point. So we were SO excited for this 4th of July weekend to go get a little change of scenery. We've been eager for this specific trip to Washington D.C. for a very long time and for a number of reasons. Upon arriving in New York City almost 3 years ago (WOW, 3 years ago!) Shannon & I set a goal to go to the Washington DC temple to do work there for my family. The last time that I had gone to the temple there was about 27 years ago when I and my family were sealed together!!! So on Saturday we did just that. Ashlynn is exactly the same age now that I was then (23 months). What a special day!





During this same period of time we've also hoped to be in DC over a 4th of July. We loved it! We of course saw all the usual monument sites on the National Mall and made sure to take a long, cool stop inside the Air & Space Museum (it was HOT out there!!!!). But thanks to our great friends down there we also attended the 4th of July concert on the lawn of the Capitol bldg from which we watched the fireworks, too. it was unforgettable!

Introducing Tayler Day!

Our baby girl #2 was born this weekend on Saturday afternoon! She and Shannon are both doing amazingly well. Shannon's recovery has been relatively, I dare say, comfortable; even requiring a few reminders yesterday to "sit down", "you just had a baby", and the like. And the baby is beautiful and healthy. The fast labor of about 4 1/2hrs aided both of them, I'm sure. Last time we spoke to much of the family we still didn't know her measurements, or her name for that matter, and we have yet to send/post a lot of pictures. So let's fix that. Here's the skinny:


Oops, wrong skinny. (This was Shannon's last pregnant picture as we were leaving for the hospital.) You were probably expecting something with respect to the baby:

We finally named her last night: Tayler Day Reed (Day is also her Grandma Reed's middle name)
She weighed 7lbs 2oz and measured 18in long (not including her sweet mohawk, dude)!

Ashlynn got to see her yesterday (Sunday) afternoon for the first time. She was SO intent on her; whimpering when Tayler whimpered, shaking her finger at nurses who attempted to wheel her out of the room, and SO excited to hold her as you'll see in the video...

More pics

PA to GA!

With a week off last week and 22 inches of NJ snow we thought, "What better time to head south?". So that's what we did. We got to see 10 states and the District of Columbia! Needless to say we covered a lot of ground, making it all the way to Atlanta before coming back. We were so excited to spend some time with some great friends along the way and see some very cool sights and scenery including Gettysburg, PA, mountains (I forget how much I miss them until I see them again), the Georgia Aquarium, Coca Cola World in Atlanta, the Atlanta temple, and a cold Clemson baseball game. Excuse me, to be true to local culture, being in South Carolina it was not a baseball game that we went to. Rather, we went to a baiseboul gaime where we gout ta sie the Taigas baet USC! I loved hearing the accents!

These Are A Few of Ashlynn's Favorite Things

As Ashlynn has begun to make her likes and dislikes very much known since my last post, let me post some pictures and videos of some things that she loves:

Snow -




All of the above was from the first storm of about 13 inches about 3 weeks ago. A second, and even bigger one, came through just over a week ago leaving us 22 inches! Crazy for Manhattan! Those actually made February the snowiest month in New York City history. Here's what we were left with during the second storm. (By the way, here's our new car, too):


(It's sad, to me, that my daughter has developed to habit to, whenever we walk outside, immediately shrug her shoulders and say "cold!". It's about time we move south.)

Golf -

(She just got these a few days ago and has hardly put them down since then. This makes daddy very happy!!!)

Fish -




Feeding the duckies -


And, my favorite, dancing -


But there is one thing that she's not so fond of...


The giant balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. What?!?!?! What kid doesn’t love those? I‘ve dreamt of seeing the parade since I was a kid so I took Ashlynn to see it a few months ago. We had an AWESOME location - 42nd and Broadway in Times Square - from which we could see everything. Noisy concourses of fatiguing bands; no problem. Weird looking, unnecessarily tall clowns; great. A truly endless crowd of coffee-drunken New Yorkers; all the more people to convince how cute I am. Colorful flying personified animals; SCARY! Okay, when I put it that way, flying personified animals don’t sound so cute. Of course, a giant green ogre flying through Times Square sounds like a sight that could leave me in tears as well. But I thought she would like it. Instead she cried at every...



single...



one...



at least for an hour. Well at least she enjoyed the rest of the parade.



(I don't think she had seen Horton yet at this point)