Fun faces

Here's happy Henry from the beginning of August

The counsins have bonded

Kaylin and Henry have been able to hang out quite often starting with a few hours after Henry was born and as far away at Talent, OR. Here are photos of them together on May 18, 2010 the day after Henry was born and his first day at home

And here are photos from July 21, two months later:

A Densley girl in for the weekend

On what happens to be our last weekend in Baltimore before the BIG MOVE on August 21 Julia, a friend and roommate from college, came to visit.  We were successful in luring another roommate from college, Tish, and her family to come up from DC for some quality Baltimore time.  After picking up Julia at the airport (after she had a CRAZY flight) we went straight to the Inner Harbor to meet Tish and her 5 week old baby, O'Connor, for breakfast and a little walking around.  We missed all the other Densley girls!

Do you think Julia was having fun at breakfast amidst all the baby breastfeeding action???

On Sunday we went to DC to meet up with one of Julia's friends from grad school. The weather was great for most of the time - especially while we enjoyed a stroll around many of the monuments.  While Julia and her friends went to see the Lincoln Memorial, Scott snapped a photo of me and Henry:

Right before Julia left we went out for some wonderful Lebanese food - even Henry enjoyed some ;)

Melanie comes to town

The day after I returned from Oregon my best friend from high school, Melanie Rodman, came to visit for a few days. We enjoyed our old favorite - Rice Krispie treats

Had fun reunion-ing with Melanie's good friends from college, Lily (and her two sons the oldest of whom is in the photo) and Beth

And of course had a great time with Henry - Melanie is GREAT with kids!

Two weeks in Talent, Oregon

While Scott travels in Bangladesh for 2.5 weeks I am in Talent, Oregon (5 miles from Ashland, OR) staying at my Aunt and Grandma's house.  My sister and her daughter Kaylin joined us for the 2nd week and on the overlapping weekend other family members drove up from Chico, CA.  We had everyone from my mom's side of the family, except for my brother Joe, in town. Henry had a lot of fun meeting everyone! 
Great Grandma, Nana

Aunt Nancy with her granddaughter, my first cousin once removed, Emma:

Cousin Aaron and his daughter Bess:

Of course Henry likes being sung to by Emma, Nancy, and the dogs:

At one point Nana played a ~scrabble game with a Henry theme that ended up being a great photo op:

One day we visited the Rogue Creamery and a fancy chocolate shop:

As an added bonus, we also got to celebrate my cousin May's 30'th birthday which included a home-made pinata and a trip to Lithia Park:

Unfortunately, Sarah's husband / Kaylin's father could not come on the trip because he had to work.  Some mornings he would make a video on his iphone and send it to Kaylin.  She would giggle so much watching them; I snagged a photo one morning:

.More photos to come later....

4th of July in Greensboro, Vermont

The annual Merrill family reunion in Greensboro, Vermont over July 4th was fantastic as usual. Henry had a great time meeting his great grandparents, uncles, cousins, and so many other family members related through the widely branched Merrill family tree. Days consisted of walking to visit with family, exploring Greensboro, eating lunches and dinners with 4 generations of Merrills, and relaxing afternoons by the lake.







Scott and I enjoyed sunsets and lazy mornings on the dock at the A frame cabin built right on the lake shore by Scott's dad, brother and father so many years ago.






















The Metcalf's - cousin Leigh and her daughters Abbey and Maddie:

 Cousin Dierdre

 Scott's brother, Grant:

 Henry's great grandma, Mary:

 Four generations of Merrill men:

Playing by / in the lake:

Of course the highlight of the week was the annual 4th of July parade full of antique cars, huge tractors, and unique "performances" by a local group called Bread and Puppet. Perhaps the photos will entice you to come next year!

Packing inefficiently on our first road trip with a baby challenged Scott's car packing abilities and made it hard for me to find the baby...

Counting down the days until July 4th 2011!

Scott goes to Lebanon; Becky and Henry head to Williamsburg

Henry and I jumped at the chance to spend a week with Sarah, Drew, and Kaylin in Williamsburg while Scott was on a business trip to Lebanon. Sarah and Drew did a great job of pampering me by not letting me cook, clean, or even lift anything. Ahhh, so relaxing. I spent my days reading while hanging out with Henry and looking forward reunions with the gang.

Kaylin remembered her cousin Henry and, again, was so happy to give him kisses and hang out with him every chance she got.


You can see in this photo that Kaylin did not like the fact that her seat belt, and Henry's seat belt, prevented her from holding his hand...or maybe just poking at his belly button.

I just thought I would throw in a photo of Henry totally passed out in the Moby Wrap. This thing works like a CHARM in calming him down while keeping the person carrying him super comfy.

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of Kaylin in her cute swimsuit splashing around when we went to the neighborhood pool. I'll be sure to do so next time!