tales from a far-land

Josh and I hosted our first Passover as a couple.  We had ten of our closest family and friends attend the Seder.  I cooked a traditional dinner or matzo ball soup, beef brisket, carrots, green beans and potato kugel.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, even though, for most, it was their first ever Seder dinner.  Our Haggadah was casual and provided moments for us to reflect upon this Jewish tradition and history.  We even found some time to share in some laughs.  It was so much fun!  We are looking forward to hosting this holiday event again next year.  Here is a picture of our Seder table. As for Easter, Madilyn enjoyed an entire weekend of Easter egg hunts, egg dying and spring celebrations while modeling several different outfits and dresses. We had a blast watching her at each of the different egg hunts.  She really enjoyed "egg hunting" when it involved *literally* cracking open the eggs for cookies or candy.  She was disappointed when we tried to have her hunt r

Over the past month, Madilyn is becoming quite a "little person".  She is independent, stubborn, passionate, affectionate, decisive and so much more.  It is wonderful to see how much she grows day by day.  She is learning what she likes and dislikes.  And her vocabulary is increasing daily.  She already uses the following words: "outside", "shoes", "eye", "gee" (which we have interpreted as "good"), "Mommy", Daddy", "no", "uh-oh", "there you go", "please", "thank you" and "doggie".  We are thoroughly loving this stage of toddlerhood, even, if at times, she is learning how to test our patience and our boundaries. I wanted to share some of the photos that Yolanda has texted me (with her commentary) this past month of Madi as she plays ... or is that gets in trouble??? Climbing on Yolanda's luggage ~ "Doesn't know how to get off.  Help!&q

After a couple of really busy weekends, we enjoyed our first "no obligation" weekend by taking a family outing to the Phoenix Zoo with our friends, the Frybergers.  Wouldn't you know that we choose the only weekend to visit the zoo, when the temperature was seasonally above normal and actually broke ninety-five degrees.  Never did I think the first weekend in April would be that warm!?!  Neither Madi nor Nathan really seemed to mind the hot weather, however, the pregnant mom chasing the toddler quickly realized it *may* be a very long summer ahead.  Minus the heat, we really enjoyed the outing and visiting with friends.  The Dads and the Toddlers Madi and Nathan ~ "Hmm, maybe if I don't look, he won't notice that I am grabbing for his hand." "What?  Don't you want to hold hands?" Daddy and Madi Independently Walking Around the Zoo Playing at the Splash Pad Enjoying Her First Sno-Cone with Mommy

It's spring, so love is in the air.  What better way to celebrate ones love than to get married in Las Vegas!  And that is exactly what one of my sorority sisters decided to do and we didn't want to miss the party.  So, we, as a family, drove up to Las Vegas the last weekend in March to attend their wedding.  It was a wonderful weekend and a beautiful wedding.  I love weddings for many reasons.  Everyone is always happy.  It is a joyous occasion and everyone is always ready to celebrate. Secondly, it is a nice reminder for me of the vows one makes to their partner and it makes me strive to incorporate those vows into our life again.  I always leave a wedding feeling very lucky to be married to a wonderful man, a terrific Dad and a very patient and understanding husband.  Lastly, weddings are a great reunion.  It was so incredible to spend time with sorority sisters that I have not seen in years ~ catching up, laughing and creating new memories.  I miss them so much and real

As you know, Phoenix is a major hotspot for the numerous Spring Training games that are held daily at fifteen different  Cactus League ballparks in March.  I *love* spring training!  I don't know exactly why because I am not a huge MLB fan, but when Spring Training time arrives in Phoenix I try to get out to a game at least once a week.  I am not sure if I love it because weather is picture perfect or the fact that the fields are small and intimate and allow the spectators to be so close to the action of the game, or because of the traditional ballpark food of beer (which I did not get to enjoy this year) and a hot dog.  What ever the reason, it is America's pasttime and I really enjoy being a member of the Spring Training spectator club. Anyway, this year we decided to take Madilyn to her first Spring Training game.  I was a little concerned.  Nine innings is a long time for a toddler to stay entertained and sit still.  Heck, I usually cannot even make it through all nine i

On beautiful February Sunday morning, we just decided to venture downtown to visit one of our favorite places to take Madilyn, the Children's Museum of Phoenix .  As I have stated before, it is an amazing facility for children and adults.  Plus, now that Madilyn is mobile, she seems to enjoy exploring more and more of the activities it has to offer.  Here are a couple of photos of her playing at the museum: While we were in the museum, we discovered that across the street from the museum at the Heritage and Science Park, the 27th Annual Matsuri Festival was occurring.  The Matsuri Festivial is a Japanese cultural event.  There were exhibits, demonstrations, arts and crafts, children’s activities, bonsai displays, Japanese food, live entertainment and tons of people dressed as Japanese "Anime".  Anime is a Japanese style of motion-picture animation, characterized by highly stylized, colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sexuality.  We were very entertained an

The past month has been *CRAZY* for our family.  Springtime is upon us and our schedules have been consumed with numerous extracurricular activities.  Everything from enjoying a day in downtown Phoenix, experiencing all that it has to offer culturally, to driving north to Las Vegas to share in one of my Palmer sisters' special day.  We enjoyed taking Madilyn to her first official Spring Training baseball game and being able to visit the Phoenix Zoo while the weather is still beautiful.  We hosted our first Passover Seder for our family and friends and are happy to report that it was a big success -- a tradition we look forward to continuing every year.  Enjoy my next couple of posts as I update you on the adventures of the Farrell-Landers family "Spring Extravaganza!"