The Palmer Tale

Spring Break

This was officially Shawn's last year having a spring break since the second year of P.A. school is rotations. Kind of a sad thought, but then again, that much closer to having a real income! We live close by so many neat and historical places, so we filled up our spring break with some good adventures and a few days of getting things done.
Our friends the Butlers watched Kanyin for us all day on Wednesday, so Shawn and I could do the the NYC thing. We got a really good deal on Cinderella Broadway tickets. We loved the show! It did take us longer to get there. To make a long story short, the show was at 2, we got off the subway at 1:57 and SPRINTED about 3-4 blocks. Right when we got there, the guy handed us our tickets and then picked up the phone and said, "their here, start!" Still not sure if he was just pulling our leg. I thought I about had a heart attack I ran so fast and was so worried we wouldn't make it. SOO glad we did! The show was so amazing! When Cinderella turned from rags to riches, her dress was literally changing as she was twirling. It was seriously so cool! I didn't know they did magic on broadway. :) Shawn did feel a little out of place being one of the only males there, but he still liked it :) We explored Time Square, which was so crazy! So many lights, people and shops etc. It was such a fun day and it was nice not having to worry about Kanyin.

We drove to Staten Island and parked for only $7 and then rode the FREE ferry to the city. It was super fun

We passed the statue of Liberty on the way

I can now check off NYC broadway show off my wish list

Maybe next time we can get into the Late Show

M&M world! Chocolate everywhere! It was amazing

time square

Heart of Time Square

We took a day to recover from NYC, and then decided to explore the historical Valley Forge. It only took us thirty minutes to get there!
The more I read and learn about George Washington, the more I respect him and wonder how he did what he did. It was a really cold day, but that didn't stop us. Kanyin was a trooper. It is a neat park, because you can walk or drive the whole park and they have monuments recognizing some that were apart of the encampment. We also got to tour George Washington's headquarters/house. I am excited to go back this summer when it is warmer and they have reenactments.

Kanyin was set to go! Wish there was room for the three of us in that stroller, it was a chilly day!

My favorite monument

Love this picture

Shawn and one of his heros

George Washington's house

What a good "last" spring break.

Fox Chase Farm

I often pass this cute farm while driving. I notice that they were having a "Maple Sugar Days." I looked it up and it seemed like a cheap family friendly event, so we decided to go. Plus it was a good study break for Shawn. I am so glad we went because we had so much fun and learned that we want a maple tree. This is the time of year where the sap is coming up the trees, so all the trees had little spigots that only went into the tree a few inches with a bucket attached. This is us trying to see if there is any sap.

Once they collect the sap, all you have to do is boil is for a LONG time and ta da...you have syrup.

Behind us is boiling sap magically turning into syrup

This farm is used for four H events etc, so they had lots of animals for us to see. Kanyin loved loved the horses! Now whenever I show her a picture of a horse she gets so excited and she says "sstt sstt" I guess that means horse in baby language. She wasn't the biggest fan of the goats, but she did love the pigs. I don't know why Shawn decided to pet the pig. Actually it was trying to bite him, so that is probably why, but his hand smelt like nasty pig for a long time.

We even got to try the syrup. We would have loved to buy some, but real syrup is a little on the pricey end. We will probably stick with the fake stuff while we are living on the student budget.

Shawn and Kanyin learning about maple trees.

The old farm house

Just had to throw this one in there.

and this one.

Moral of the story is we had a grand old time at the Fox Chase farm and are hoping to make it back to the sheep shearing day! Love living in the east. So much to do!

Kanyin is ONE

No wonder babies have to sleep all the time...they grow so much in one year! Kanyin turned one on February 25th. It's hard to believe a year ago, our lives changed completely! After having a baby, I decided that birthdays should also be a day of celebration for the mom. It took a lot to get Kanyin here, so I think I should get a cake or something. :) I really can't imagine life without her now. Thank you to those who helped celebrate with us and sent her packages etc. She is a spoiled happy little girl. Her birthday ended up not being all roses though....poor girl got her hand caught in the oven drawer while her birthday cake was baking and got some really nasty burns on her fingers! I felt so bad. I still feel really bad. Especially when I get comments in the store like "oohh her poor little fingers." They are pretty much healed now, but it was for sure a traumatic day for the both of us. What I don't get is she still wants to play with the oven drawer.

Kanyin took her first steps a few days before she turned one. She could walk, she is just hesitant. Growth wise, she is pretty average, except for her head which is in the 90th percentile. Not sure what happened there.

Kanyin has turned out to be quite the character. Some of her LOVES include:

-Dora the Explorer whenever I ask if she wants to watch Dora she says "de de de" and gets really excited

-Cheese She could eat cheese all day if I let her

-Books This girl loves to read. Especially Dr. Seuss books. Sometimes I will find her surrounded by toys, and there she is looking at a book. Her favorite thing to do in the car is look at pictures in a book. She has just started talking gibberish while she is holding her books. SO so so cute.

-Play Chase (especially with her dad) She loves it when we get down on the floor and say "I'm gonna get you!" She will turn the other way, scream and crawl as fast as she can.

-Baths no matter where she is or what she is doing, as soon as she hears that bath water running, she is right there ready to go.

-Walks Kanyin is usually always on the go, except for walks, she is usually really content and enjoys the outdoors.

-Emptying the kitchen drawer it's pretty much a ritual now that while I am cooking she empties the tupperware drawer. At least it keeps her happy and allows me to cook. She just started learning that there are other cupboards and drawers with exciting things inside. Most of which are not baby safe, so we need to do something about that.

We have loved being parents. It has been such an enjoyable time with lots of learning experiences in between. Shawn and I thank our Heavenly Father through prayer for bringing Kanyin into our family. It is a great responsibility becoming a parent. Whenever I think about all the negative in the world today, I get nervous about being a mom. I think about Kanyin going to school etc and how I hope what she learns at home will help her to be a strong girl. I love this quote:

"Raising our children is a much greater responsibility than we can do alone without the Lord’s help. He knows exactly what our children need to know, what they need to do, and what they need to be to come back into His presence. He gives mothers and fathers specific instruction and guidance through the scriptures, His prophets, and the Holy Ghost."

—Cheryl A. Esplin

This does give me comfort knowing as long as ask for the Lords help and stay on the right path doing those little things to have the spirit in our home, he can guide us and help in raising children.

Happy Birthday Kanyin! Click Here for the link to my photography blog where her one year pictures are posted.

I also made this video to document her first year. My goal is to do this with all our future children as well. We will see if that really happens :)

Sometimes the video won't work in blogger. So here is the link if it won't work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GDiYNWvzFA
Happy Birthday Kanyin

A few days late

Simple Pleasures

Sometimes the smallest things give babies the biggest pleasure. Kanyin's new favorite activity is to stand on our bed and look out the window. So many things to find out a window! Oh I just love this little baby. Actually I just realized that she is almost a toddler and I have to stop calling her baby soon. That really kind of hurts my heart. Why do they grow up so fast?!

Our first visitors!

The Wrights live in Utah and decided to come and visit us over the long weekend in January.The Wrights are our close friends. Shawn grew up with Justin so they have been good ol pals since they were wee ones. It was sooo fun to have them here! Their little boy Ryker and Kanyin got along so well. It was the cutest thing to watch them interact. We did the whole Philadelphia tour, which was such an adventure! Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, watched a rally, the famous "love" park, philly cheese steaks. Friday Shawn had school, and Justin volunteered to take the babies so Heather and I could have a shopping day. It felt so good to have a girls day out. Sadly Sunday night they found out that their apartment in Utah flooded! It wasn't the best ending to an awesome weekend. But things are coming together and they should be able to move back into their apartment soon. We loved having them and miss them already. We love having visitors.... hint hint. :) We live so close to so many neat historical fun things. I hope we get to it all while we live here.

Standing in line to see Independence Hall. It was really cold!

the famous love park

love park

confessing to the "bishop"

Justin the gymnast

Cutest thing ever! Ryker started pushing Kanyin in her stroller

They were good about sharing

Reading Termal market

One of the rooms in Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell

Not only are they helping with dinner, they are wearing aprons :)

Washington D.C.

I served my mission for the LDS Church in Washington D.C. I loved loved my mission because of all the people that I was able to meet. When we found out we were moving to Philadelphia, I was excited because I knew how close it was to D.C. I could bring my little family there! So to start of Shawn's Christmas break, we celebrated, by making the two and a half hour drive to D.C. Oh man did we have such a great time. We started our trip by going to the Visitors Center at the Washington D.C. temple. The Visitors Center has a Festival of Lights every year. There is a free concert every night in December and there are so many lights, nativities etc that bring the Christmas spirit. It was so neat to go back. The Visitors Center was completely redone and it looks amazing! There is such a special spirit there. If you are ever in Washington D.C. I highly recommend it. We were able to meet up with Jenny, Kristen and her family (sisters I served with) and another dear friend from the mission, Koshell.

We stayed with the Gordy family for the night. I helped to teach Ramona and Pat while I was a missionary. Ramona was baptized a short while after I started my mission. I love these two so much. They are such a strength and example to me. I am so grateful I was able to meet them. If you ever want a spiritual pick me up you will have to check out Ramona's blog here. They spoiled us so much while we were there!

Our day in the city consisted of the National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, eating hot dogs from a street vendor, yum yum :) and we ended by going to the white house to see the national Christmas tree. That was pretty neat to see. Even though we weren't to impressed with the decorating of the tree (I feel like some malls have better decorated trees), they did have a littler tree for each state. We found Pennsylvania, Colorado, but could not find Idaho. Of course it was way in the back tucked in a corner decorated with potato ornaments.

Sadly it was around this time when we noticed all the flags were half staff. We asked someone why and he told us about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Our hearts were so broken. All that kept going through my mind was "an elementary school?? really??" I did my student teaching in a first grade class and I just kept thinking about when we would practice the intruder drill and get all the kids under a table, lock the door, turn the lights off and keep them quiet. They were so scared even though it was just a practice. I cannot imagine what it would be like for real. Those teachers, and others that losted their lives for the children's sake will always be heros. I just could not believe it and to think what is happening with our world is so scary. I still think about and pray for those families that were affected and hope that they find peace. I know those little ones are with our Heavenly Father and are in a good place.

Brother Brewer is outside the Visitors Center every night during the Festival welcoming people. Ice, Rain or snow he is still there! IT was so good to see him!