Lillie through one month

Here's a look at some moments from Lillie's first month of life:



We'll continue to add pictures to this album as she gets older, so you can check back here or click on the slideshow for the link to the album.

And for those of you who are really baby-crazy (like we are here in Charlestown), you can watch this somewhat long youtube video too!



I just got back to work today from taking some leave, and Carey doesn't go back to her office until February. We've had Carey's parents here right after Lillie arrived, and my mom just finished two weekends here. More visits by both of Lillie's paternal grandparents and aunts are coming in January. We can't wait for all of you to meet her!

Hope everyone is doing well. Merry Christmas!

Life Update!

I've had a pretty eventful couple of months so I thought it was about time to post an update on the family blog.

I graduated from Dartmouth in June (see left) with a Bachelors degree in History and Government. I was so happy to have the whole family there -- we're standing in front of my dorm building in the picture. It rained and rained all the day of graduation, and the ceremony was held outdoors, so we were all pretty bedraggled by the end of it. It was sad leaving campus and my home of four years, but I'm hoping to go back for a visit sometime soon.

I've been back home in Anchorage ever since, and spent most of the summer sleeping in late and catching up with old friends. I also spent some time poking around at job opportunities, and made a couple of trips back East for interviews. In August, I was offered a great job working as a business consultant for Oliver Wyman Management Consulting in Boston. The job starts in January, and I'm all geared up to move out there and move into Conor's old apartment on Beacon Street! In the meantime, I'm getting some use out of my degree and substitute teaching High School Social Studies in Anchorage. It's fun and flexible, and I'm enjoying my last few months at home before the big move.

That's all of my news as of late -- hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Moira

Its a Keeper!!

After many trials and tribulations in the homebuying circut, we've finally landed the big one!
It's '27 craftsman with the original . . . paint! I guess it's time to buy all 20 seasons of This Old House!

Andrea and I are, of course, stoked! We'll be living in the upstairs apartment while we "refurbish" the downstairs and try to get me graduated. Since this might require the sort of effort that you'd like at least recorded, we've set up a blog of our own so that our friends, family, and investors can view the damage. . er. . . progress.
www.dederandandrea.blogspot.com

We hope to hear from you all soon
D'n'A

sunset from my front lawn

a nice litle jem i caught the other night. enjoy!

I bought a house!

yep, my very first home! i've dubbed it a post-war shotgun ranch. it's a cute three bedroom in portland's newest up-and-coming "fo-po" (foster-powell) neighborhood. couldn't be more excited!!!!

i've got to thank my parents for their support and encouragement - i even got to use dad's lawyer (go larry!) when the seller got a little greedy!

First Harvest

It's not the size that matters...right?

Gregor's Graduation - Up close!

Here's be better view of Gregor receiving his diploma. ;-)

~Kathy

Gregor's Graduation

It's official! Gregor has his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering (with a concentration in aeronautical engineering)! our luck, for the first time in 20 years, it rained on graduation day, forcing commencement at Worcester Polytechnic Institute to be held indoors. That limited the seating, so while Armen, Elissa and I, along with Conor and Carey, were able to attend the ceremony, Gregor's girlfriend, Liz, and her mother watched the streaming video from another spot on campus. (Imagine that - a technical school having the capability of providing commencement online!) Armen and I couldn't be prouder!

It was a great event, with plenty of pomp and circumstance and regalia - but none of the extemporary hand springs and levity that are par for the course at a UO graduation, however.

Afterwards, Russ, Drew, Tess, Kyle, and Liz and her mother and father joined us for a meal to celebrate. There were toasts all around to the graduate and plenty of cards, gifts and good times. We'll be doing it all again next spring when Gregor expects to "walk" for his Master's degree!

There were 700 graduates at his commencement - causing a little "where's Gregor?" We found him, though...can you?

~Kathy

Happy Mother's Day!

Coming Thanksgiving 2007...

Meekins Memorial Bench

It's in! The Meekins bench in the Anchorage Park Strip has been installed. (There will be additional rockwork around it.) It's located on the south side of the park along a walkway at G Street. Here's a photo of the bench that Genie took, featuring a couple of Maddie's friends.

I don't know about you, but whenever I see a bench and read the inscription, it usually leaves me wondering who were these people and why would a bench at this location have been significant to them?

For those of you who may not know, the park strip is near to Gramma's house, so, as we were growing up, we spent a lot of time there - playing tennis, softball, having BBQs, hanging out, skating in the winter. Also, that's where Russ' little league baseball team played (sponsored by Hustlin' Russ Auto Sales) and where Grandpa launched Anchorage's little league football. (Ask us sometime about the field striping fiasco that involved pancake mix.) Of course, the big bonfire to celebrate statehood was at the park strip and so many other communtiy events were held.

So, for our bench's inscription, I tried to describe Gramma and Grandpa and convey the importance of the park strip both to our family, personally, and to their contributions to the community. It will say:

Russ and Adele Meekins

Anchorage Pioneers Who Often Used the
Public Greenspace of the Park Strip
To Build and Celebrate Community

In Loving Memory,
Meekins Family

Hope you like it ~Kathy

Press Time

Hey everybody,

The intrepid Boston Globe just published a story on the work my lab does and what I've been doing for my Master's. But alas, I ended up on the cutting room floor and the undergrads that work for me get all the camera time.
This is probably the best short description of my research so far, so take a look!


PS. More big news to come hopefully

beautiful nicaragua

i had an amazing time backpacking in nicaragua for two weeks with my good friend sage and i'm already figuring out when i can go back!

photos speak louder than any words i can write...

What Happens in Las Vegas...

Well, I will tell you that Armen and I were in Las Vegas March 17-22. We visited several casinos and we did win money. There is no evid...I mean photos, but trust me, we made a lasting impression. We also saw Penn and Teller shoot each other and live to tell about it (pretty amazing!).

Naturally, we dined as several of the strip's finest restaurants - no buffets for us! While there, I attended an American Marketing Association workshop (the least I could do, since the City of Eugene paid my way) which left Armen on his own for a day a half with a rental car armed with a "Neverlost" navigational system. I suppose we'll never know the whole story on that... Anyway, we had a good time and do plan to return.

Next stop for us - Worcester for Gregor's graduation in late May, then, maybe, hopefully, Portugal! More on that later.

Kathy

Paris!

On Valentine's Day, Carey surprised me by telling me she'd planned a trip to Paris for my 30th birthday....but we would be leaving that night! She'd packed my bag, and we left for the airport straight from work. I couldn't believe how well Carey was able to surprise me with this -- and it caused quite a commotion at the office!

We barely made it out on time with bad weather all along the East Coast, but once we got there, we had three and a half great days in France.
It was the first time either one of us had been there, and I had a chance to use my French that I'd studied for so long (it came back very quickly).

A lot of things seemed to surprise us: The people were nice, the prices weren't awful, and the weather in February was very mild (40s to high 50s -- that's balmy by Alaskan standards!). We got to do a lot in just 3 1/2 days, and if you want to see a photo-log of our trip, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/conor.sullivan/Paris and select the slideshow.

And of course I have to mention the food. We definitely enjoyed some fine dining and great wine, but Carey and I seemed to favor the crepes you can get on the street (Nutella with Grand Marinier was a favorite) and the Belgian beer. For breakfast, we're still missing the pain chocolate and a chocolate chaud or a cafe creme. It sounds like it wouldn't be good for you, but I'm sure it's really healthy because everyone there is so skinny.

What a surprise, and what a great way to spend my 30th. We've only been back a couple of weeks, and we already are thinking about when we'll go again. Who wants to come with?

Conor's 3-0

Conor turned 30 on Friday, but his celebration really started 2 weeks ago with a surprise trip to Paris! We had such a great time...it was hard to leave. Here's a pic from our party on Friday, his special cupcake and candle (it was too hard fitting 30 candles on such a little cake!)...pics on Paris still to come. Happy birthday Conor!

i'm leaving for nicaragua on wednesday!!

travelling around for 12 days with the fabulous sage asher (daughter of joanne asher of saks cafe in anchorage).

send me your addy if you want a post card :)

muah!

Skating Nationals in Spokane 2007!

Drew and Julia with the now "famous" bear. We all signed the bear's shirt and Peyton, Shanleigh and Nyah threw him onto the ice after the long program.


Shanleigh and Nyah with the Bear.

Me and Tess in front of Spokane's premier shopping center. It was really fun to see signs in the windows of so many businesses showing their support!

Drew and Julia during their long program performance. Death Spiral and a lift. (Photos taken from our Luxury Skybox thanks to Kevin and his super rad lawyer!)





Drew and Julia currently in first place!

He's Wiki!

Some light reading to get caught up your favorite skater...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Drew_Meekins