Birdland!

A few weeks ago Andrew surprised me and took me to a Ravens Preseason game. It was ugly, but we won! And we went with fun new friends from our ward!

The next night was Mormon Night at the Orioles! We didn't win that game, but still had a really good time! Did you know that at any MLB game, you can move seats after the second inning. We always buy really cheap tickets, and then move down to REALLY good seats. It makes it way more fun. :)

These are our post-second inning seats. 

Andrew is good at everything he does.

I play on a co-ed indoor soccer team. We are decent. We don't win much, and every week as I leave to play Andrew loving says, "Have fun! Don't lose!"

A few weeks ago, our goalie pulled a muscle and was out. I volunteered Andrew to come play for us. 

He's kind of amazing. 

I knew that. But my team didn't know! And they loved playing with him! We won 4-3. And at the end of game, they said things like, "We played better because of him. He's just so positive!" And I agree, I totally play better when I'm playing with him. 

The other thing about Andrew is that he does things about 110%, no matter what they are. Which means he played really hard, and I'm pretty sure he cracked a rib on one dive/being kicked. So I think that was his only game for a while. 

Maybe someday we'll play on a team together. 

Warming up. All by his lonesome. 

MVP Picture. 

So happy to play together! We even had babysitters come over!

Proof that we won! And I even scored!

Maren Skis

So, it took me a while to figure out how to make it easy for me to post videos to my blog. And I figured it out. So prepare for an onslaught of videos!!

Here is Maren Skiing on our ski day last month. She was a natural. First day skiing, EVER!

We went to Utah.

 Lydia helped me pack. Well, she really got out ALL my workout clothes...while I packed. 

 Miracle of miracles, the flight out to SLC wasn't full, so the little lady got to ride in her carseat! Heaven on earth for mom. 

 Just checking out the view.

Grandma had some super fun Lydia-friendly apps for her to check out. Which would you choose: Broccoli or Ipad? 

First day up on the slopes. Heaven on earth.  

 Lydia out for a walk. 

 Lydia's view on the walk. 

 skiing. 

Olivia wore this scarf one night to dinner. It was so adorable.  

 Lydia continues to practice taking things out of drawers. 

Mom helped me fix a nagging split in my finger with super glue. While the split was fixed, other problems were created. 

Going to BYU-I to visit Caitlyn. I don't know whey people complain about Rexburg. It was 45 and sunny with no wind while were there. ;)

 Visiting with Grandma Coy!

 This is how we spent A LOT of our trip. I got a sinus infection, and Lydia was teething. But what better place to be sick that at grandma's? I mean, you have someone else to fix your food, and several people interested in taking care of your baby.

 Oh, and we continued to empty drawers of all sorts.

 My last day there, Maren and I went up to Solitude. Maren had never skied before, and she was awesome!

 Since Maren is a beginner, they set her binding SUPER loose, and her ski kept coming off. On our second run I attempted to fix it. That ended poorly. Luckily I knew Mom had some super glue at home (from previous experience) and we just super glued this all up, with no other fingers getting involved. :)

I own a snowboard people. And I am still terrified everytime I go. I only snowboarded the last hour of our trip, and it was really fun, but I still much prefer skiing.  

No ski trip is complete without a yuuuuummmmmy treat after. So we stopped at Bruges Waffles and Frites for authentic Belgian Waffles. You need to go folks. You NEED to.  

 On our way home!

 First day up. Pictures do weird things sometimes in blogger. 

Sleeping baby right before I had to wake her up to go to the airport. 

Great trip. Next time the sinus infection is not invited. Neither is the teething. But otherwise, we'd do it all again in a heartbeat. 

Trail Run

Lydia and I went for a trail run today on the North Central Railroad Trail. It is a trail that used be a railroad that runs from Pennsylvania down to outside of Baltimore, Lydia slept through the first few miles of the run, and really liked it when she woke up. But about two miles from the car, she lost it. It's good cardio training to run with a crying baby, it makes you run a lot faster than you otherwise would. 

Go O's!

 I think maybe I was always destined to move to Baltimore. I mean, everyone should take their T-ball days so seriously. (Brent, I have noted that you were a Dodger, LA in your future?)

 Well, no fair weather fans here. The 90's were decent days for the O's. Cal Ripken was in his hay day. But the last 15 years have been rough: Not a single playoff appearance.

Until this year.

And although the O's lost to the Yankee's on Friday night in game 5 (Game FIVE people, this is pretty good for our hometown boys) it was a really fun season with lots more reasons to cheer than usual.

Our City doesn't always have a lot to celebrate. It's fun when we can rally around one cause. And the O's gave us that reason this fall. :)

On our way to Lydia's first game, earlier in the year. 

Lydia becomes a certified fan!

"Not now, Mom, I'm watching the game!"

Happy to be an O's fan!

Maryland Day of Service

Last weekend our Stake participated in the Maryland Day of Service. The stake sponsored a 5k run or 3K walk with proceeds that benefited various food banks. Oh, and there was a dessert auction. We loved that if exercise wasn't really your thing, you could just buy dessert.

And after the run, there were hotdogs. Another amazing decision by the organizers. :)