MN Baby Shower

Last weekend was a wonderful time with family and friends back in Minnesota. Maria came home to Minnesota the same weekend for a big hair show and she brought 10 of her co-workers from DC. I can't believe my parents were able to juggle a baby shower and hosting ten Aveda hair-stylists (they spent the night) in one weekend.

It is incredible how many boy babies my good friends are having. We all grew up in such a "girl world" and it is really funny we are all having baby boys. Here are some pictures of Drea's twin boys (10 weeks) Micah and Mark. They are such good babies!!!

Here is my cousin Tony with his baby Sonny. He is experimenting with drinking from a glass.

Maine - Part 2

Here are some pictures from the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception.
Hurrican Gustav threatened to bring heavy rain for most of the day, but it held off until we were indoors for the reception. The wedding was held on an island, just a short ferry ride from Portland. I did look like a drowned rat after running from the ferry to the car (in high heals nonetheless). :)

The day after the wedding was absolutely gorgeous. We took advantage of the nice weather and explored the regional parks along the coast. Gosh I am looking big! The baby was pretty quiet all weekend - but I really wanted Hugh, Joanne and Nathan to be able to feel the baby kick. Before we left for the airport (bottom left picture), I felt him moving and Joanne was able to feel a kick.

Maine - Part 1

This picture captures my extreme fatigue after the flight from Istanbul to NYC and finally to Maine. At 7 months, I wasn't experiencing any problems sleeping. I was so tired at the airport that I slept soundly for 3 hours on the floor of the JFK airport. This picture was taken in Portland, Maine at midnight (my body said it was 7 in the morning). I wanted to go to sleep so badly and I wasn't really feeling the photo op.

These pictures capture the next day in Maine. After sleeping for 9 hours I felt like a new person. We had a wonderful day with Jason's grandma and brother Nathan. The pictures are from the most photographed lighthouse in the US and right before the rehearsal dinner.

Back to Turkey

I am way behind in posting on the blog... It was such an exciting 3 weeks! We spent about a week in UK, a week in Turkey, a weekend in Maine, and a long weekend in MN for a baby shower... Wow... I think I've gotten a lot of the travel bug out of my system (good timing as well). I do savor the quiet flights where I am not responsible for the crying infant on the plane. Next time I am on a plane, I think it may be a different story...

Here are some pictures from Turkey. Unfortuntaely our camera deleted a bunch of pictures from our friends Rana and Jake and their baby. Rana - do you have any you could send me?

Here we are visiting our good friend Eddie and his family. We are eating *delicious* lentil soup.

These pictures are taken at a new park in the center of Adana, Turkey. We hung out with and Eddie and his brother and nephew. The picture on the bottom is the "nautilus" equipment in the park.

Hermitage, UK

Well I have fallen behind in my blog - it has been a busy week or two. We are now in Maine for Jacob Roberson and Emily's wedding tomorrow. I will add pictures in a few days from this exciting chapter in our trip.

Here are pictures from our time in Hermitage, UK. Here is Jason and I teaching a dozen UK students. I've also added a few pictures from a run we did through the public byways that cut between people's horse farms and property. It was so nice to be in 70 degree weather (especially in light of the 105 degree temps in Turkey). One day I couldn't really run, and I enjoyed walking the trails. The next day, I was actually able to go about 3 miles and it felt great. I realized I've only bought 3-4 articles of maternity clothes - I tend to just stretch out my shirts, as evidenced by the white running t-shirt. What a gut!

The sign shows a little bit of British humour... The picture is a shoe stepping into dog doodoo...

London Times

Here are some photos of us in London: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Chapel, and London Bridge.

Oxford

We hit the ground running Monday. The best part of the day was meeting up with our good friend Jacqueline. It was so good to spend time with her. We have lived together for the past 4 summers, and she stayed in Scotland this summer, so it was really special to reconnect. Here are some pictures of us walking around Oxford. These photos show the last sunshine we would see for almost 4 days... England is gloomy... Check out Jason's English breakfast - we hear it separates the men from the boys...