We made it!

Well, we finally made it to Minnesota. We have been here about a week and just finished unpacking. Today we went out for our first adventure to the Como Park Zoo! We'll start with a picture from that and then I'll back track over the last 3 weeks or so.

Linnea and I with the giraffes today at the Zoo

So, we took 2 weeks to make the trek from my parents house in Massachusetts to our new home in St. Paul. On our way, we camped for 2 nights in Pennsylvania, stayed 2 nights with my aunt Cheryl and uncle John in Indianapolis, and then spent a whole week in the Wisconsin Dells area at a resort with 6 (3 indoor and 3 outdoor) water parks! Here are some pictures of our trek.

We left at the crack o' dawn on Monday morning (August 4th) and headed for Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame

Matt and the girls in the Hall of Fame

Linnea and I outside by a statue commemorating women in baseball

Linnea tuckered out from the Hall of Fame (and stuck in really bad traffic in PA)

Camping in PA

Our rest stop in Ohio

Linnea feeding Sonja some our her first foods, sweetotatoes

Linnea loving the water. She swam like a fish and loved to dunk her head under and swim underwater!The family shot at one of the outdoor water parks
Linnea and Matt in a raft on the lazy river

So, we have been enjoying our time here so far. Classes haven't started yet for Matthew but he's been studying his Swedish diligently. I'm enjoying being a stay-at-home mom. This past week we went to the library, took walks, played dress-up at home and enjoyed the fabulous playground that is right outside our back door.

The following are a series of pics I took of the girls playing dress-up. And really, what's cuter than babies in goofy hats?

So, that is it for now. I'll try to keep you posted more regularly. We do have new mailing address info, so let me know if you would like that, cell phones are the same.
We miss you!

Living with the 'Rents

Well, we've been living in Westfield for about 2 months now and things are going really well.

Here are some random thoughts/comments/pictures from that past couple of months.

Linnea still calls home "Nana and Papa's House" and seems to understand that we are still moving to Minnesota. When you ask her where Minnesota is she replys "Far, far away."

Sonja is growing like a weed, really. At her 4 month checkup she was 18 pounds and 27 inches long. She's a really good baby and happy nearly all the time.

Here she is today after she received her monogrammed tote from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Meg.

Linnea still misses Eleanor a great deal and talks about sending her letters and calling her on the phone. Although I think I get more weepy than she does when we talk about it.

We had a great 4th of July up at Lake Sunapee with our friends Mike, Nila and Hayden. Here's Linnea getting into the celebration.

Graduation, a Move, and a Journey to Sweden

Matthew with friends Ian and Austin

Well it is official, Matthew has completed his Masters of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He graduated on May 10th after three years of very hard work. It was, for sure, a bitter sweet moment for our family as it meant that it was time to move away from Gordon-Conwell, Faith Lutheran Church in Andover, and a lot of our friends. A couple days before our move we watched the Movie "Monsters Inc." as a family and at the end when when they have to say goodbye to Boo both of us (Matthew and Kristin) broke into tears. Linnea just looked at us like we were crazy.

Linnea and her friend Eleanor play with Sonja

Linnea has had to say goodbye to her best friend, Eleanor and she constantly talks about her every day. Sonja was seriously neglected during the packing process but by the blessing of God she is a very patient baby and was very good natured.

The process of packing and cleaning our apartment made us want to never move again. Alas this is not to be, we probably have three moves to look forward to in the next three years.

We have now moved in with Kristin's parents, Lee and Diane, in Westfield, MA for the summer. This means that the girls are getting spoiled we are saving some Money. We will be in Westfield until August when we will move to St. Paul, Minnesota were Matthew will begin to work on another degree while completing a Lutheran Residency, but we will only be in Minnesota until December because in January we are moving to Sweden!!!

No, not Sweden, Main... Sweden the country and yes we realize that January is cold in Sweden. Matthew has been offered a fellowship to study the preaching of a former Bishop in the Church of Sweden named Bo Giertz. You can read more about Giertz on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Giertz , He is best know for writing the novel The Hammer of God, but in addition to this his preaching is credited with having played a key role in preventing the breaking up of the Church of Sweden after the church decided to ordain women. We will certainly write more about this adventure as more details become clear.

If you are looking to get in touch with us e-mail always works and our phone numbers will stay the same until January because the are cell phone numbers. We would love to hear from you.

An Afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum. Linnea had tons of fun. Below she is making a puppet.

Now she is filing wood. I unfortunately missed the photo opportunity when she was sawing.

Below she is checking out Arthur's desk at school.

And now Linnea and Far Mar are on the Arthur TV show!

Linnea really enjoyed the green screen - almost as much as she enjoys walking her puppy purse!

She also spent a great deal of time "driving" the car with her puppy as her co-pilot.

And this is sweet Sonja having some "tummy time" this afternoon.

Far Mar Arrives!

Saturday was an exciting day. It was the day we picked up Far Mar at the ariport!
Linnea had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Far Mar so we all trekked down to Logan to pick her up. Linnea wore a dress and her sparkle shoes just for the occasion.
Linnea was also very impressed with the people-movers at the airport. It was one of the day's many highlights.

That afternoon we decided to visit the DeCardova Museum and Sculpture park with our friends Mike and Nila. The girls had fun dressing up for a "photograph" in the camera section.


Outside in the sculpture park was very interesting. We stopped here to pose for a photo with some cat sculptures. The park is actually very large and you can enjoy it without having to pay the museum admission and well worth the visit.

Rainy Day At Home

Well, today was a pretty wet and dreary day. Yesterday it was lovely and we played outside a bunch, but today we had to keep ourselves busy indoors. Linnea is having fun doing a "project" and "making something" for Far Mar (Matt's mom) this afternoon. Sonja continues to keep up her afternoon routine of mostly napping. So far Sonja's schedule is pretty good, she is awake most of the morning from 8 AM on and then sleeps away the afternoon. She is awake again around dinner until about 9 PM and then sleeps the rest of the evening. She still wakes up for 2-3 feedings at night, but we aren't complaining. So far we are pretty happy with the schedule. If we could only get Linnea to sleep in until 8 AM!

This is Sonja in the afternoons...

We are all getting really excited because Far Mar is visiting soon. We pick her up tomorrow morning at Logan and she will be staying with us for 2 weeks - what a treat!

Well, Linnea just told me she had an idea and ran off to her room. It's always fun to see what she comes up with. She has many "ideas" throughout the day. Most of them consist of having ice cream or another treat or having a friend over to play. I do feel a little bad about squashing her grand "ideas", but really what kind of mother would I be if I let her have ice cream for breakfast? Lunch maybe...

Sonja "Buzzing" Linnea's Belly

Linnea thought is was real funny when Sonja buzzed her belly. Actually, I think Sonja was trying to nurse and quickly got real frustrated. It was cute while the fun lasted and I snapped this quick picture!

The girls are doing really well. They keep us busy, of course, and on our toes. Linnea makes us laugh so much. Here is a conversation we had the other day on the way to church.

Linnea: "Mommy, I want a donut."

Mommy: "Donuts are treats and for special occations. When you do something good you can get a treat. Have you done anything that has earned a treat?"

Linnea: "I stayed in my own bed all last night."

Linnea: "No problem!"

Well, I thought it was funny. And she did get her donut.