London Town

So I just realized that I never published a blog about our trip to London. It was a wonderful experience, and I loved that Evangeline got to join Greg and I on our trip. We left on Father's day out of St. Louis and flew over night which worked great for Evangeline's schedule.

We downloaded a lot of shows and games on the iPad to keep her occupied in the airport and even gave her her own head phones. We tried to limit her watch time, but it was great to have this to fall back on. Also we had some great stuff Evangeline's Pen Pal Madelyn sent for her trip. Monday morning we arrived in London at Heathrow International Airport and met up with Kasey one of the other students who was staying at our flat. Kasey, Greg, Evangeline and I took a cab to our flat in the Edgeware neighborhood (30 minutes from city center on the Northern Line). Our flat was great, it was a three bedroom three bathroom townhome with a sun room and outdoor patio.  We loved the neighborhood and all the fresh produce stands everywhere we went. Monday was basically shot because of out long trip. So we didn't really get out to see the sights until Tuesday morning. Evangeline and I headed to Green Park and Buckingham Palace and then to Kensington Park.

She spent a good amount of time in our ERGO carrier. A life send when we were in London, because the Tube stops don't always have elevators that are good for a stoller. 

 

In Kensington Park we made it to the Peter Plan Themed Princess Diana Playground. We loved the giant swing and the water pond there. 

Wednesday we went to the Tower of London with our Phd friends Joy, Kasey and Roma. We had a great time making fun of the Beefeater tour guide, seeing the crown jewels and learning about all the poor souls who died there.

Evangeline loved riding the train, especially when Joy was there to hang out with.

Exciting Summer

I just made a photo book of our United Kingdom trip last week! Thought I would share it:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Celebrating the Season

As I recently mailed out Christmas cards with this blog listed on them I thought I would do a short "year in review" post. This year has been full of ups and suspensions. I think the theme for this year was push forward and persevere.

Catching up with the Perreault Family

Last year, after spending Christmas in Weest Palm Beach and Wellington with Greg's mom, sister and grandmother, we returned home and rang in the new year with our friend Kyle, Brenda and James McCommis. Then we headed to Boulder, Colorado for the annual religion and media conference where Greg and I both presented papers. Mine was an ethnography of an online church and Greg's was on religion in video games. We loved our little family trip and all the learning and cuisine that Boulder and Denver had to offer.

Then Greg and I both got back to work. Greg in his second semester at University of Missouri Journalism School and I in my first semester as a adjunct teaching three courses in the journalism school. We had visits from Greg's dad and his wife in January, my parents in February, and my sister Sarah in March. Evangeline spent time in her play group with friends Claire and Penny. She moved from rolling on the ground to crawling and then to pulling up.

We worked and studied hard, as Evangeline grew from a baby into a toddler. She learned how to walk at 8. 5 months just in time for our trip to Texas in May. In June we started back at work and school. i took a crisis communication class to begin my Ph D program. Greg also took on a job at Religion News Service for the summer and I worked on a book proposal for two professors at MU.  We went on a lot of walks and tried to keep cool as the summer got hotter. We also hosted a foreign exchange student from Spain. With her we explored Kansas City and St. Louis. Evangeline really loved her visits from her grandma Carri in July, and Grandpa Jacques and G'ma Rachel in August.

Fall rolled around and we started another school year. Greg in his second year and I in my first year as a Ph. D. student. Evangeline was now a full-fledged toddler and into everything. We took family trips to the apple orchard, farmer's market and played in the leaves in the yard. Evangeline also celebrated her first birthday surrounded by more than 60 friends and family. Her father, grandfather, uncle and aunt made her a box castle and her grandma made her a home-made cake. Greg was able to get his 1967 Ford Mustang running again with some help from his dad and a few local mechanics. It still needs some work, but it was nice to know she can run around the block!

In November, we attended the National Communication Association Conference in Orlando and took Evangeline to the Hoop-dee-do Review and spent time with several friends and professors from Georgetown and Mizzou. We also got to see Greg's mom and our friends the Painters.  Greg presented a paper on Kingdom Hearts. For Thanksgiving we stayed home, ran the Eat A lot Turkey Trot and cooked for friends who stayed in town for the holiday.

Now its Winter. We just left Missouri on Tuesday to spend our first Christmas in Texas in more than seven years, just in time to miss the first snow of the season. Last time we spent Christmas here was the year we got engaged.

 We wrapped up the semester successfully. Out academic lives consist of three parts, teaching, courses and research. Greg shadowed this Fall and will teach his first large lecture class (300+ students) in the Spring. I am not teaching this year, but I managed to pass my classes and will be taking four classes in the Fall. This next semester has a reputation for being the most difficult one in my course load. Greg has several papers in the works, and I am working on a paper concerning tornado warning messages.

The next year holds a lot of excitement. I'll be attending a conference in DC in January, and  Greg has at least one conference in DC in the Spring as well. We will celebrate my sister Catelyn's wedding in March and head to Florida for Spring Break and Easter. We plan to attend a few conferences over the summer as well as the Cates Family Reunion on Father's Day weekend in Arkansas. We look forward to these adventures and more and hope to see you all soon.

Almost in the most wonderful place on earth

This past week Greg and I attended the National Communication Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. It was a great trip and our first chance to introduce Evangeline to a little of Disney World. We arrived late Wednesday night and stayed at two different resort hotels while we were there, first the Wyndam Bonnet Creek and then the Swan and Dolphin. Our friend Liz picked us up from the airport and took us to our first hotel.

Before we left we had a light lunch at Jazz in CoMo.

Evangeline is such a great traveler as is her Panda bear.

Evangeline is a seasoned traveler and loves to watch the plane take off.

We arrived in Orlando and she was so tired.

Evangeline brushing her teeth, her new favorite activity.

Looking out the window at the resorts.

We were really tired after our night of traveling.

Hanging out at the Swan at the NCA conference.

Nana and Sherri came to visit. We walked around the Disney Boardwalk.

On the boardwalk.

Thursday we got a surprise visit from Greg's mom and we also got to see our friends the Painters and their girls. We went to downtown Disney and ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Maddie, Natalie and Evangeline had a great time.

First trip to Rainforest Cafe.

The girls hanging out at the Lego store.

Beautiful, happy Natalie.

Daddy introducing Evangeline to Legos.

Almost three months

It is hard to believe that a year ago there was no Evangeline in our lives. Greg and I had only begun to try to get pregnant, we actually found out I was pregnant the weekend of the Superbowl last year. It was weird visiting Denver this year and thinking that when we were there in 2011 our lives were so different. Evangeline had a lot of firsts on our trip: first plane flight, first ride on the airport tram, first TSA experience, first boarding past.... first academic conference. Greg and I really enjoyed the Digital Media and Religion Conference as did Evangeline. The conference was in Boulder and then we stayed in Denver for a day after the conference concluded. Here are a few photos from our trip.

At the Sink, Boulder, CO

Ice Cream at Bonnie Brae in Denver, CO (she looks interested).

First Boarding Pass, Second Flight

I love to hold my silver rattle that my ZTA Fairygodmother Katie gave me.

I'm writing a quick update because I just started back to work and I know things are going to be crazy for awhile. I'm teaching three lab classes at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. I really enjoyed my first two days of teaching. Here's what is new with Evangeline...

Evangeline playing with her Exersaucer, she loves the little globe in the center.

Evangeline is growing so fast. She responds to sounds now, makes kissing sounds with her lips and is able to lift her neck up at a 90 degree angle. She's now tall enough to sit in her Exersaucer on the lowest setting. She loves to stand-up while you hold her and her legs are getting stronger. She loves faces, and her own reflection. She also loves her new "Spot" book and her silver rattle. In other news my computer hard disk filled up from all the photos I have taken of my little Evangeline. I'm currently working to eliminate duplicates and make the computer useable again.

This week her Grandpa and G'ma are visiting. We'll try to post some photos of their visit too.