happy holidays

we were otherwise occupied this holiday season so we didn't get out official holiday cards. but we wish everyone a very happy holidays!

william joshua forrest

our little b was born december 12 at 11:25pm. weighing in at 7 lb 9 oz and 21 inches long.

we are smitten with him.

cradle 2

the much anticipated cradle made by grandpa shafer arrived safely! it has met and exceeded all expectations. it was fun to unwrap.

and it has the perfect place in the corner of the room.

now we just need a baby.

head of the charles

one of the benefits of living near harvard square is that the charles river is just across the street. so it made it really easy to go to the head of the charles this year. i happened to arrive during the men's 8 races.

it was a beautiful day and crowds were everywhere.

cambridge you've been good to us.

cradle

baby forrest is due in under 6 weeks. and the best news of the past week (even better than the giants winning the world series) was this picture.

thanks dad for building such a beautiful cradle! we are so lucky and thrilled that you have a woodworking hobby! we can't wait for it to arrive and look forward to giving it lots of use (hopefully that consists of many hours of a sleeping baby).

byu homecoming

ben's mom was honored by byu and given the alumni 'service to family' award and so we all went out to utah for homecoming to celebrate. the weekend was filled with lots of activities such as a luncheon where all the honoree's were highlighted and given their awards.

jon, aaron, katie & kurt all ran in the 5k fun run.

debbie and grandpa hutchings rode in the homecoming parade.

of course family photos were involved. lots of effort was made to get the babies focused.

and the homecoming football game where byu came through with a great win.

congrats debbie - we are so proud of you and loved being there for all the fun!!

fall trips

with summer over, fall approaching and baby only a couple months away we decided to take some last few road trips. one to montreal and one to new york city. montreal was up first. we spent the majority of our time walking around and just taking in the city.

we even rented the public bikes - it was a great way to cover a lot of the city.

one evening we went to the botanical gardens and saw the chinese light show.

next up new york city. we ate at yummy restaurants, saw good friends, and checked out the high line, a park built on the above ground on old railroad tracks on the lower east side.

washington dc wedding

cousin ryan from virginia got married over the summer so mom and grandma hayden made the trip east for the celebration. since it's a rare occasion that our west coast family makes it east i decided to go to washington dc to see them.

the wedding took place at the washington dc temple - my first time visiting and only mom's second time back since she got married there.it was a quick trip but i had a great time with family. here's the first 4 generation photo, baby forrest is growing in my tummy, but he's present.

twins wedding

twin sister cory got married to lucky eric at the end of august in salt lake city. the ceremony took place at the county clerks office so we got to take pictures of the ceremony,

the new mr. & mrs. davis.

the whole shafer family was in town for the event

the day following we all headed up to beautiful park city for zip-lining and the alpine slide. no pregnant ladies allowed so kristen and i took photos.

congratulations to cory and eric!

summer 2010

we've had a lovely summer. some highlights were a day trip up the maine coast,

a red sox game at fenway,

sailing in boston harbor,

and comparing baby bumps with christina on her visit to boston.

we moved

we recently relocated within cambridge to the harvard square area.

we love our new place, it's residential while still being an easy commute, it's next to the charles river, and we have a back patio so we finally got a grill! ben's made many a delicious burger for us this summer.

graduations

early this summer we traveled to both arizona and california to attend brothers high school graduations. first up was class president aaron.

in addition to graduation we went to the lake and shared our baby news with the forrest family.

then christian, who they let walk, but didn't give him a diploma due to a fee. yes we mocked him for it.

congrats to aaron and christian - good luck both of you at byu!

ragnar relay

in may ben gathered 11 friends, 2 vans and ran 198 miles relay style from connecticut to boston as part of the ragnar race. it took them 27 hours in total, no stopping at night, and they came in 50th place out of 200 teams. they all got to cross the finish line together.

i got to volunteer and bring teams into and out of a checkpoint.

go cambridge crawlers.

spring

it's been a lovely spring in boston. highlights include the blossoms in the public gardens,

an easter egg hunt with josh and ny'eshma,

a big temple visit with the leroy family,

and a visit to the john adam's home.

europe: last barcelona highlights

the trip finally and sadly had to come to an end. a few other barcelona highlights included the market off las ramblas where we tasted many delicious fresh fruit drink. i loved all the colors and so much food.

on our way to church we found lots of great graffiti.
good-bye europe. we hope to visit again soon.