Happy December

Hi All,

Sorry it has been almost a month since we've posted. Things have been busy. This past weekend we went to NYC for Kyle's work Christmas party in Staten Island. We left MA at 9am on Saturday morning after dropping Rosie off at my mother's house. Our plan was to meet up with my sister Maura in Brooklyn. We arrived in Brooklyn around 1:30 thanks to my fantastic GPS. We hit a little traffic in RI and on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, but overall we did pretty well. Having the GPS gave me such a sense of security because I knew we would not be lost. Last time I went to NYC, this past March, with my mom and sister Megan, we got really lost in the Bronx and I did not want a repeat of that. The GPS may not always give you the most direct route, but it does get you where you need to be. I just switched the voice to a woman with a British accent.

We went to lunch with Maura at a delicious Thai place. Then we went to an awesome cafe called the "Tea Lounge" where I had the best latte. http://tealoungeny.com/

It was so awesome to spend time with Maura. She will be in Australia for Christmas with her new partner. We are REALLY going to miss her! I love my sister :)

I was really impressed at how clean Brooklyn is. There was no trash anywhere. What a difference from Boston. It was neat to see the Christmas trees for sale on the sidewalks.

At around 5 pm ,we headed to Staten Island and checked in at our hotel. The party was located at a really neat place called "The Old Bermuda Inn,"which is apparently haunted. Tami-did you hear that? Below is what I found online about it:

This period restaurant is located in house that dates back to 1814. Allegedly, the house is haunted by a young female apparition. It is said that woman is occasionally seen walking through the dining air and ascending the main staircase. Diners have reported getting a momentary chill or feeling a hand stroking their arm or hair.

Everyone was super nice that Kyle works with and it was so nice to meet everyone. We left the hotel the following morning around 9 and got to my mom's house a little before 2pm. Rosie was SO happy to see us. We missed her so much!

Kyle & I at the Xmas party

A few other minor updates:

1. We have a front loader washing machine. Yahoo!!! Thanks to Dad & Barbara (They moved and were going to leave the washer and dryer until they heard we were about to buy one.) I love being able to do laundry so easily.


2. We sent in the $ to start the home study and the Social Worker is supposed to call me at work today.


3. Our Christmas tree has been decorated for over a week. We'll take pictures soon. It is the tallest tree we've ever had. I think it is almost 8 feet.


4. I have only 2 more Christmas cards to write. Overall, we are in really good shape with our shopping.
5. I've gained close to 15 pounds since the last time I was weighed-hence the double chin in the photo-I'm so upset!

Can't wait to hear from you all.

70th B-day, Cait's mom and the Adoption Journey

From the far right- Kyle, Heather (sister), Alyssa (niece), Caryl (mom) and John (brother)

Hi Everyone,

We haven't written in awhile and wanted to give a little update. Last weekend we had a 70th b-day lunch for Kyle's mom at local restaurant. Above is a picture I took at our condo after lunch. It was a very nice day and Kyle's mom was really happy to have all her family together. I am missing from the picture and so is Jay (Heather's husband.)

Here is a shot of the delicious B-day cake!

My mom had surgery this week and she stayed over our condo Friday night. We had a lot of fun. A few years ago, I came across an article in Real Simple magazine on interviewing your parents. I have been wanting to interview my mom since I read the article b/c it gives 3 pages of questions to ask. I just thought it would be neat to have an oral history of my mother , so I recorded her and got lots of info. Some of the questions were things like "What is your favorite book & why" and "What is your best and worst childhood memory?" It is nice to know that I will always have her voice to listen to.

This is a shot of Alyssa and Rosie. Alyssa LOVES Rosie sooo much! You can also get a glimpse of our new rug that is under our kitchen table!

This weekend was be pretty low-key. I hung out with my mom yesterday and watched an awful movie (The Age of Innocence.) Kyle & our brother-in-law Jay headed to the new Bass Pro Shop near Gillette stadium (where the Patriots play.) They both loved it, but since it just opened and it was completely mobbed. To my surprise, they came home empty handed. After that, we headed out to dinner at the Olive Garden and met up with Heather (SIL) and Alyssa (niece pictured above.) After dinner we went to Pier 1 b/c I had a gift certificate and then Target. It is Amazing how easy it is for us to spend money at Target! I love that store!

Today Kyle got his hair cut and he looks so handsome :) He gets his haircut at the local mall, so I went with him and did a little Xmas shopping :) Now we are home and have about an hour before we have to head to our nephew Garrett's family birthday party. On our way out to the mall we ran into our neighbor's new black lab puppy! OMG she so beautiful. I can't wait until we have a house with a yard so we can get Rosie a sibling. Oh, speaking of expanding our family... we finally sent in the adoption application. I am now waiting for them to call us to set up the home study! We are excited but we have a lot of work ahead of us.... Ok, hope everyone is doing well. Much love from us.