Lord of the Ring

(Jenn) This week, while I was feeding Henry, I realized there was something hard on his leg. As I lifted up his shorts, I found a canning ring around his thigh, snug with his diaper! I knew that he was playing with that ring, but he hadn't been playing with it for a while. He had been using it as a garter (or a leg bracelet?) for at least several hours without me noticing! We had a good laugh, and I had to think that such serendipities can only happen to babies.

Henry Makes Strides!

Henry has had a walking breakthrough! He has been making progress for the past 3 weeks or so -- walking along furniture, walking with one of us holding his hands, and taking a few steps before diving into Mom or Dad. Tonight, he just walked wherever he wanted to go. We estimate that he walked 10 feet (or 20 steps) without help! You're right, he's only 9 1/2 months old, and yep, he still can't crawl! This kid marches to the beat of his own drummer. Take a look at "Our Videos" (see Links, left) to see the latest "foot"age!

Our New Organ!

(Jenn) We are reaching our 3rd anniversary, and my sister Kati said a couple should have a piano by the time they've been married three years. That's when someone gave them their first piano anyway. So I have been praying pretty hard that someone would give us a piano (or that we could miraculously come up with the funds to buy one). Anyway, Heavenly Father didn't have a lot to work with here in the Paterson 2nd Branch, so He got us an organ instead. It's definitely doing the job! This picture is the Elders helping Ben carry our new, beautiful organ up the stairs. We are very grateful!!!

Henry is Growing Up!

(Jenn) Meanwhile, Henry is changing every day. He is finally creeping along on the floor (almost crawling), but he really is much more interested in walking. This week he decided that he no longer wants to sit or lie on the floor. Instead, he wants to walk everywhere, but he forgets that -- wait -- he can't walk yet! So I get to be his personal assistant, holding his hands as he excitedly goes wherever he wants to be. In order to save my back and to help me get my personal time back, we have a new goal for him to be walking within a month -- we practice every day!
If you want to see movies of Henry and all the cool things he can do, you should check out the link that says "Our Videos" on the left!

The Brooklyn Bridge

(Jenn) Henry fell asleep on our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It is at least a 30-minute walk, and a breathtaking and empowering experience, if you haven't done it. We enjoyed the breeze, the view, and the pizza at Grimaldi's when we got to the Brooklyn side.

We'll blame the wind for my eyes being closed!

The Big City

(Jenn) Last Saturday we took our first trip as a family into Manhattan. Really, I can't believe it took us a whole month to get there! We have been so busy getting settled into our New Jersey home, and I haven't quite mustered up the guts to take Henry on the train by myself. Still, we made it, and it was a blast! I was nervous that Henry wouldn't like the long commute, but he made a hundred friends on the train and subway. He was in Heaven! We have several more trips planned for the future!

9/11--5 years later

(Ben) I was in Guatemala when 9/11 happened. I had only been there about three weeks, I was still very lost as far as the language was concerned, and so when the clerk at the post office tried to explain to me what had happened, I was totally lost. Throughout the day I got all sorts of stories: New York had been destroyed, all the planes in the US had been hijacked, the Pres. Bush had been killed, etc. It wasn't until that evening that I finally went to our branch president's house and watched CNN to get an idea of what had happened. It was so strange to be in a foreign country, so far removed from "real" life and have something like that happen. It was never real for me. It was just a movie.

Fast forward five years, and I found myself on a subway that literally goes right through the WTC site at 8:30am every morning. Sept. 11th had never been real for me until Monday, when I was able to look around in the train and see a lot of people who were probably very nearby when it happened. Perhaps they had just sat down in their offices when the first plane hit. As we came into the WTC pit, the subway grew quiet and everyone's eyes were on the windows, looking at steel beams and giant storm pipes, most of which are left over from the wreckage. After exiting the train and climbing up to ground level it was packed with news crews and protestors (who claim 9/11 was planned by the Bush Administration), of course. But overwhelmingly the site was filled with people who just wanted to be there. They were putting pictures of loved ones on the wire fence that surrounds the site, or singing, or taking picutres, or staring up at the huge flag that had been draped from the World Financial Center just to the west. It was truly moving for the first time for me.

Anyway, I wanted to share that with everyone, since you weren't able to be here on the 5th anniversary. I can't help but think how Pearl Harbor in a way defined the "WWII" generation, and to some extent Pres. Kennedy's assassination defined the "baby boomers." How will 9/11 define us?