One Year Older

On Sunday I celebrated my 26th birthday. This week I had someone ask me if I was turning 21, and someone else ask if I was turning 30. I guess somewhere in the middle isn't so bad.

The wether celebrated my birthday by becoming beautiful and much cooler, and Henson celebrated by making it easily through a straight hour of sacrament meeting. It was a quiet, lovely day, filled with cake and lots of time outside.

Fun day for photos

It was a beautiful day outside, and we had fun taking some impromptu photos. I tried to get the dog to join in, but he was content to sit under a tree.

I caved...

Yes despite my better judgment I finally gave in and got a Pinterest account. I held out for a long time, but after searching for something and having all the results come up as Pinterest pins I joined the club. And yes, although I don't spend much time on it, I do now understand some of the obsession. So for those of you who are members of the site, I have now joined you. For those of you who think it is a silly craze like I used to, I now give you permission to mock me.

Mothers day weekend in Florida

This is my first time blogging and posting pictures from my phone, so please forgive any formatting issues.

In May we spent a week in Merit Island Florida, which is Near Coco Beach. It was the first time for all of us visiting the Florida beach, and Henson's first time at the ocean.

In fact this trip was full of firsts for all of us. Some of them included

-Henson's first flight (and he was a trouper, even sleeping despite his usual no sleep in public policy)

- Henry and I went jet skiing for the first time. Since we were staying with my parents try watched Henson while we tried it out. We took turns driving, and it was a lot more fun than I anticipated.

- Henson's first time at the beach. He loved it! At first he didn't know if he liked it and had to figure it out, but by the end he was grabbing our hards and walking toward the water. He also unfortunately liked eating sand.

- My first time seeing a live crocodile. We had lunch our last day at a little place on the water, and from the deck you could see crocodiles in the water. They were pretty far away, but still fun to watch.

- My first massage. Henry and I took advantage of the non-DC prices and we each got a massage. It was very relaxing.

All in all it was a fun and relaxing trip.

By Popular Demand

OK, so a few of you who read this blog have been asking me for an update on Henson, and demanding more recent pictures. So this post is for you.
My little guy is now 4 1/2 months old, which is hard to believe. At his 4 month check up he weighed in at 15lbs 10oz and was 26 inches tall, which is apparently way above the average hight for his age. This explains why all of his shirts are either too short or too wide.

So here is a quick update on what is new with Henson.

He has started to sit in his high chair.

He and the dog have become great friends.

He can now sit up for nearly 3 full seconds by himself

He got to try rice cerial for the first time this week (not really a fan yet)

Silly Accomplishments

I realized this week that sometimes the things I am most proud of are the smallest silliest little things. For example, this week I cut my hair 100% by myself, and it didn't turn out too badly! Granted it's nothing complicated or special, but I was pretty pleased with myself since I've always been too much of a coward to do more than a trim or bangs before.

So to celebrate my accomplishment here are some pictures of my mediocre hair cut. (Please forgive the bad pictures, I took them myself and the batteries on the camera were dieing so there was no opportunity for a re-do).

A Short History Lesson

Since Henry is spending this week in Monterey, CA for his EMBA orientation course, I thought it would be appropriate to learn a little bit more about the school he is attending. For those of you likewise curious, here is a little bit about the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

The school was first established over 100 years ago in 1909 in Annapolis, MD. At the time it was only for Navy officers and taught courses in Engineering. The first class was made up of 10 officers and 2 instructors, with enrolment expanding to 25 students in 1913.

It wasn't until 1945 that the school became a fully accredited, degree granting graduate institution. At this point a new location for the school became necessary. In 1951 the US Navy purchased a hotel and the surrounding grounds in Monterey, CA, and the entire university was moved 3000 miles to where it is today. The campus has been expanding ever since and now covers 627 acres, but the hotel that was purchased still houses the main administrative offices.

The Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, CA 1945

The student body has expanded from the origional 10 to nearly 1,500 today, most of whom are uniformed officers from one of the branches of the US military, but also includes officers from over 30 other countries as well as a small number of civilian employees.

So that is where Henry is spending his week. And while Henson and I miss having him home, we are so excited that he has such a great opportunity.