Trick or Treat

Brooks is number one

Somebody had a first birthday today...

Brooks Mattias Hahl is good-natured, curious, strong, and very, very determined. He talks like a caveman (lots of gentle grunts and screams) and we love it when he gets a mischievous gleam in his big, long-lashed eyes.

Brooks got to wear the Korean birthday costume today, just as Caleb and Chase did on their first birthdays. Then we set out the traditional three options:

• a piece of string - a long, healthy life
• a pencil - brainpower and scholarship
• A $100 Monopoly bill - prosperity--basically "Free Parking" for life

Caleb chose the pencil on his first birthday and Chase chose the dollar bill. Now that we all have a sugardaddy in Chase, subsequent brothers don't need to feel pressure to make lots of cash. But Brooks made an interesting choice--his big decision is the last picture on this blog post, so read on...

We got a great book from Zoezoe and Pop-pop. Brooks really liked the flaps and the truck sounds.

Chase gave Brooks a ball game that both boys really liked.

Caleb decided that Brooksie's hair looked different at age 1, and Chase wondered if Brooksie would start walking today. (Not yet!)

The Curious George book that Charlie and Cassie sent us was an instant classic.

And this was my passion project of the day-- our Spot the Dog cake. Brooks starts grunting and waving his hands and feet whenever I mention Spot (quite often, actually), so we decided he'd like something like this. Brooksie got to eat the big brown spot.

What a great boy we have! We feel so lucky to have him.

And by the way...

He chose the pencil. Go Professor Brooksie!

Bring it Back! Sawkiws in Boston

We're going to hit the rewind button here and reminisce about our AMAZING visit from the Sawkiws this summer. Here are a few things we experienced:

A boat tour of the Boston harbor in triple digit heat

A romp in the fountains by Faneuil Hall

A maypole dance with Uncle Oliver at the Louisa May Alcott home

Some good old-fashioned tree-hugging

A trip to Fenway to watch the Sox (Sydney came with the adults!)

A trip up to New Hampshire to see the Collinses

A miraculous escape by Kendall from a locked bathroom door at Aunt Christine's library

The best of New England cuisine

A visit to Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings--too bad we couldn't fill the last three ducks with Henry, Jaynee and Graham!

Eagar anticipation for the swan boat rides

Sheer happiness on the actual swan boat ride

The official Freedom Trail tour--a first time for all of us

Front row tickets at every stop, to boot!

Pondering and reflection at the Old North Church

Best Subway ride ever! (everyone was looking for skeletons and severed hands after the stories our guide told us about what the subway builders unearthed. Then someone pointed out an ad of a zombie and all the kids freaked out.)

A miniature version of the Lexington Battle

And a lovely picnic in Harvard Yard.

We wish we could do this every day with you, Sawkiws!!

Oh, and let's not forget:

Awww, yeah!

First Homework Assignment

Caleb got his first homework assignment for first grade this week. We weren't paying close attention the entire time, and he put his own interpretation into this assignment, especially the last question.

Awesome! Let's hope the teacher rewards him for thinking outside the box.

I have lots of pictures to post from this summer and fall, and I'll be working on that all week, but in the meantime, here are some videos we shot today---

Caleb--no training wheels!

And here's Chase riding his bike.

Here's Caleb saying the 23rd Psalm. He memorized it over the summer in exchange for zipline tickets from his grandparents!

Bruno in Florence

It's been one month since we got back from Florence--not too late to post pictures, right?

Here's Brooks at the Philadelphia International airport, all set for his first overnight flight. The pajamas were cute, but ultimately wishful thinking...Brooks woke up around 3 a.m. (or was it 9 a.m?) and wanted entertainment for the rest of the flight. Between Zoezoe's walks around the cabin with Brooks and the movie The Tourist, we managed to avoid a total baby meltdown.

And here we are in Florence on day one. Nobody knows what time it is in this picture! But you can see the Duomo in the background.

There were a lot of street artists near our hotel.

And here is a picture of my fiction workshop at the Villa Rossa, the place we held class every day. Wonderful people, great ideas, lots of cucumber sandwiches.

It was a small class this year, but that meant we got a lot more attention than we would otherwise. We worked with a wonderful author, Jill McCormick, who was worth the trip herself.

Mom and I made a priority of revisiting Vivoli's, home of the best Florentine gelato, the tourist books say. Mom loved the place as much as Oliver did last year. (Muchissimo!)

Brooks got excited about this wooden car in a toy shop.

This one was a little harder to figure out.

Here we are by San Miniato al Monte--a monastery at the top of a HUGE hill with no handicap ramp. It got even more complicated in the rain...but here we are, and what a view! The singing in the monastery was beautiful, too.

We tried giving Brooks baths in a few different places, but the bidet idea never worked as well as we hoped it would...

Mom, Brooks, and I hired a driver to take us around the Tuscan countryside. He convinced us to go to Montecatini Alto--a little town we had never heard of--and to ride a tram up to the very top of the place. It was a great idea. Here we are at the top of the hill.

Here's another view.

Have you ever wondered what a millionaire would eat for lunch in a place like this? Wonder no more. That's "antipasto millionaire" in the foreground--fried dough, cheese and carpaccio. My theory is that some Red Sox fan came here and made everyone think he was a big deal. He demanded fried dough to remind him of home, and just like that, antipasto "millionaire" was born.

After Montecatini Alto, we zipped over to Pisa to take a quick peek at the tower. When you're under the slanted part, you start to wonder how strong the external supports really are...pretty exhilarating!

After Pisa, we headed to a town called San Gimignano. Gorgeous! It has to be one of the most beautiful places I've seen.

Here's the entrance to the city. There were so many great shops in the little path you see--it took us about two hours to walk 100 meters.

Brooks was fantastic on the trip.

But somebody from church told us that his name translated to "Bruno" in Italian. For the rest of the trip, that's what we called him. Here's our little Bruno at church, in the arms of a very baby-hungry Italian woman. She just sort of walked him around for ten minutes after Sacrament Meeting. Not sure how he felt about that...

After church, Mom, Brooks, and I took a walk around the Pitti Palace. This place is universally ballyhooed for its boring architecture, but the Boboli gardens behind it are stunning. We went to an art exhibit and a fashion exhibit to the great outdoors.

And that's it! Thank you Zoezoe for making this possible and for helping me to actually see the touristy stuff this time! You did a wonderful job with Brooks. And thank you to Oma and Opa for bravely watching the older (tougher) two boys in Massachusetts. We owe you big time!

George Washington is a Bruins fan

Here are a few pictures from June, a big month for a certain hockey team in Boston. It was also the month that Caleb graduated from kindergarten and my parents came to visit.

Here we are in the Public Gardens: Me, Brooks, Chase, Mom, and George W. there in the back.

Even the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues had their own Bruins jerseys. Here's Nack.

We took a ride on the Swan boats, of course. Chase wasn't very happy about the idea in the beginning.

But he ultimately came around to it because it's hard not to like a swan boat ride. We're excited to take the Sawkiws the Public Gardens in a few weeks.

Also in June, the kindergarten soccer season ended with a lot of trophies and even more doughnuts. Success!

Last day of kindergarten. Caleb gained a ton of confidence this past year, learned to read well and made a lot of friends. Here he is with his wonderful teacher. A big part of me wishes he could just stay in kindergarten forever! I love dealing with a world where the biggest stress is making sure that Caleb's Lego keychains are properly fastened to his backpack, where it's cool to play "Book of Mormon Stories" on the piano for the school talent show, and where the only peer pressure is to see who can lose a tooth first.

But who has time to get emotional when you can be thinking about a splash party instead? Here's Caleb with Niel at our ward's Primary activity. They had a lot of fun going down our homemade waterslide, which went over fewer tree roots than last year's slide!