Had To!

Ta Duh!! There she is . . . Rachael Russell.

This little girl is growing right up!

I love her!

and her mommy!

Hello Summer!

For Memorial Day we went to the beach with tons of friends from the ward. The day felt different from Memorial days in my childhood. We've always celebrated in somewhat more patriotic ways, but it was a great day to get away from the city and to get some sun...perhaps too much sun for Nate and I. Sunblock is our new friend for the summer. If you can't tell by the pictures, I'm a little obsessed with the girl in the pink hat! Little Sadie had a darling new swim suit, lots of new words, plenty of snacks to share, and a love for the sand! We took the train with Becky and Brandon in the morning. Nate can't get enough of Caden. Needless to say, we had tons of fun and we all got in the ocean this time, not just the boys. We had a blast. Now it's back to business. Seven more weeks of school, and then we're off to St. Louis for a family reunion. Can't wait!

Dear Beach,

Thanks for distracting me from midterms!

We'll meet again.

Love,

Rach

Happy Valentine's Day love Naveya

Where to Begin?

There is so much that we haven't blogged about. I didn't really blog about our summer, or any holidays, or any changes or events that have recently occurred. So here is a recap.

June- We went to TX for a week to see Nate's brother return home from his mission, but he ended up getting an extension and didn't come home until July. We made a trip to the beach and called it a summer vacation. I went to St. Louis to see my Hoefelmann family after that. My trip overlapped with my Dad and brother's trip so I got to see them and it was great. Nothing better than Ted Drewes with Dad and a nice summer BBQ with the family. My cousin Karri had recently had a new baby girl, so it was my first time meeting Launa. I was also able to be there when my cousin Elizabeth announced that she was pregnant! It was a tender moment and she is due any day now. Hoping I can make it out there again this summer to meet her little guy, Riley!
July/August- Nate and I spent the 4th of July in Washington DC. We were on TV with Aretha Franklin on PBS for the Capitol Concert. I don't remember if it was July or August, but we made a trip to Palmyra and Niagara Falls with The Gibson's. Great memories!! We went to the Palmyra pageant and it got rained out with two scenes left. What we saw of it was awesome! We'd love to go again this summer. In August we celebrated our 2 year anniversary and my cousins Kristen and Karley came to visit for a girl’s trip just a week after we moved into our new apartment. It was so much fun to have them here and experience NYC.

Palmyra Pageant

Frozen Custard in St. Louis

Me with Launa and Lily

Elizabeth just told her mom she is pregnant!

Me with 3 of my 4 brothers and Dad

Kristen and Karley in Time Square

Kristen and Nate love to be goofy!

Sept- We went to Utah for my niece’s baby blessing. It was a quick trip, but it was so wonderful to see my family! We also saw Nate's brother Brent for the first time sine he had been back from his mission to Milan, Italy. (He'll be getting married at the end of April so we'll get to go back to Utah for that!) We also spent a night in Rexburg. It was so much fun for Nate and I to spend time together. We loved the drive to Idaho and seeing friends from our Idaho days. Rexburg was beautiful as ever.

Sept/Oct- Honestly, everything is a blur. Nate started studying for the CPA exam. He would come home from work and study till bedtime...nothing has changed or will change until next Fall probably. Sometime around there our friends the Abels came to visit and stayed with us for a couple of days. There were lots of visitors that stopped in and stayed a night or two during the summer, but we were so glad to see the Abels! In October Miss Sadie turned one and we went to her first birthday party! My mom came out in October for her own birthday! We loved having her here and she was really happy to see our new apartment (elevator/dishwasher and all!) It is always fun to have her come and sad to see her go, but hopefully she'll get to come out for her 50th too!! Some time in Oct or Nov we went with some friends (including Sadie bear) apple picking and decided that should be an annual outing.

My niece Naveya! sweet girl

Friends from Idaho: Brett, Eric, Julie, and Julie's comp. from mission

The Pecks and Broden, The Ellis' (just had new baby!), & us!

Cherise, Barbara, and Amy Abel

Friends at Grimaldi's under Brooklyn Bridge

Apple picking!Sadie

Nov- We were very blessed to have a couple of Thanksgiving feasts! We were able to spend an early Thanksgiving with the Gibson's. Kris' family was in town and we had a blast getting to know them and then seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with them from Kris' office in Herald Square. It was an awesome view!! Thanks again Kristi-Lynn! Then, we spent Thanksgiving Day with the Monroe's and the Weirs. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving and we were really happy to spend it with great friends!

Macy's Day Parade

Thanksgiving at the Monroe's

Dec- Oh December! In December, Nate's brother Aaron and his wife Sam came to visit us! It was their very first time to NYC, but it wouldn't be their last trip. Sam stayed with us to see a doctor in NYC. Sam made herself well acquainted with the city while Nate and I continued working our regular shifts. We became fans of toasted marshmallow shakes from "STAND 4" thanks to Shannon! We all made it out of NYC and home to Texas within a day of each other right before the big snow storm. It was the Lauritzen's first Christmas with all of their boys home in 5 years due to all of their mission's over lapping. Nate's parents made it an extra special Christmas for all of us, and we all went a little overboard on the gifts. It was a nice break from our busy lives in the city. We hadn't even had time to think about Christmas until we got to Texas. Nate spent the entire trip studying for the second part of the CPA exam. On Christmas Eve, Nate received the good news that he had passed the first exam. Upon returning from Texas Nate took the second exam and we are still waiting for the results. So we have two down, and two to go! Go Nathan! In December I started training for a half marathon with Melissa Monroe and we are still going strong. Dustin is awesome and runs with us too...now if we could just get Nate out there with us. Nate doesn't handle the cold too well...and the rest of us have all invested in winter running gear so we are official. haha Our races are coming up in April and May.

Aaron, Nate, Papa Noel, & Brent in Christmas PJs

Jan- I came home a little sooner than Nate to finish working my last full week for the Gibson's. It was a bittersweet week. I truly love Sadie and am so grateful for the opportunity I had to share in her first year. I've missed seeing her daily and chatting with Kristi-Lynn about the ins and outs of our lives. It was a busy week for everyone! I started school online through BYU-Idaho that very week. I have midterms this week. Sam and Nate both came back to NYC the same day and shortly thereafter Aaron came. In all, Sam was with us for about 2 months and in that time we all got to know each other really well! haha That's what happens when you put two married couples in a studio in NYC...craziness. We're glad they were able to come and gain the experience they needed, though it didn't go as planned. We love them and are grateful for all of the time we spent together over the Holidays and in NYC. In January we celebrated Melissa's birthday! hurray. She had her party at our place and it was a hit. (She has been more diligent in her blogging so catch up on her page for details :) ) When Nate returned from Texas, busy season officially began with JPMorgan's earnings release...He has been getting home pretty late, but I've kept busy with school, running, and good friends who take care of me.

Sam & Aaron

Feb- We also hosted a super bowl party with the Monroe's this year. It was pretty sweet because Dustin hooked up his projector and created an 84 inch screen for everyone. (Again, check out the Monroe's blog for pics.) Parties in NYC are crowded and wonderful! This month we celebrated my 22nd birthday! woot woot (That was for Brent and Kate :) ) I was able to go to brunch with Kristi-Lynn and Sadie bear at Alice's Tea Cup! It was so much fun to catch up and to see how big Sadie has gotten. Thank you again Kristi-Lynn!! I got a priceless picture of Sadie sucking her thumb and sleeping on her mommy's back. Love it! My birthday was lots of fun between brunch, a movie, and pizza and games later on. Thanks to all who celebrated with me!!! Valentine's Day was sweet. We finally framed our picture of the St. George temple and made a goal to attend the temple more often. We are currently getting used to staying up much too late to watch the Olympics, working on our taxes...hmm, looking forward to Spring which won't come for a while, and loving our little apartment which is finally fully furnished! Nate says, "Hi guys!" Love, Rach....hopefully I don't wait another 6 months to update. We were just a little busy!

Sadie Bear sleeping after birthday brunch!

Baby Naveya

Here's my sweet brother and his darling daughter Naveya, who I like to call Nevy!! They call her NaNa bear. I'm a fan of Nevy! Love you guys. She's chunking up pretty quick. what a cutie pie.

The Details...

Last Friday was my 21st birthday. I wasn't sure how to feel about turning 21 and when I woke up that day I wasn't excited at all. Then, I went to work. When I got to Sadie's house (the baby that I nanny for) Kristi-Lynn (her mom) said, "Don't look in the kitchen yet. Sadie has a surprise for you!" So I waited until they were ready before I went to see my surprise. They were so sweet! They had decorated with balloons and a happy birthday sign, and they even got me Tulips! Very pretty. Kristi-Lynn had lit 3 candles on my mini cheesecake (that was heavenly!) and her and Sadie sang to me. It was fun. Then I opened my presents which were a new laundry backpack (which is amazing for hauling loads of laundry up and down flights of stairs! ) and they gave me a gift certificate to get a pedicure (which I've never had in my life, so I'm thrilled). Kristi-Lynn, Brett, and Sadie put a lot of effort into making my birthday special. Sadie even made me a purple card with her cute little footprints on it. I love it! She is over 12lbs now which is pretty exciting news. So thanks to the Gibsons for brightening my morning. Later that day I received a text from Nathan saying to be ready by 7 because he had a surprise. I met him at Grand Central around 7:30 and he gave me a dozen roses! They were pink, coral, and an orange-ish color. Loved them! We proceeded to walk to time square and he handed me tickets to Mary Poppins on broadway! We loved the show. There were a couple of parts that were different from the movie (of course), but it was fabulous. We especially loved the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious scene!! After the show Nate bought me a Mary Poppins snowglobe! I've decided to collect snowglobes and he is collecting mugs! One day when we have a house we want to have a New York/Memorabilia room for all of our fun stuff that we get out here. After the show Nate took me to dinner at Chevys in Time Square. We've been wanting to go there for a while. So that was friday night. On Saturday Nate and I went to an early movie 11:40 am and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. I totally loved it and I think Nate enjoyed it as well. We ran errands and were out all day, so we took our chances with getting into Serendipity...(yes like the movie...one of my favorites!) We had a 2 hour wait and went shopping in the mean time. When we got back we were able to get right in. It was perfect and we had lots of fun just being together. We shared a delicious "Forbidden Broadway Sundae," and on our way out we bought another "snowglobe" as my Valentine's present. In the morning before we left I gave Nate his present. It's a cute red mug with the words "Yes Dear" on it(a mug of course..we're so silly, but we love each other!). Overall, we just loved spending so much time together. We love our weekends together now. I'm sure glad tomorrow is Friday again!!! I love you Nathan. Thanks for celebrating all weekend with me and making it so much fun. I love you!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Rachael Dear!

I not only had an amazing birthday, but I had an amazing weekend. I'll explain later, but for now the pictures say it all!

More Family in St.Louis

These are fun pictures of the darling great grandkids! I'm holding my cousins baby Eva. The house is the house that I grew up in in Missouri. It's changed a lot. The picture with me in the middle is of my sister on the left and my niece on the right. We had such a great day!