Last Nutshell

This is my last giant post of Boston.  We planned on being there for 2 years, but Sterling caught wind of a research opportunity in Switzerland.  He thought the job looked cool, and decided to apply, just to measure his marketability.  It was narrowed down to 3 people and he was one of them.  He interviewed (via Skype) one day, and she called and offered him the job the next.  She wanted someone to start January/February.  Well, since I was due in February we had to move it up so that I could still travel.  This also meant we had to give her an answer stat, so that our visa paperwork could be started.  So after long and stressful deliberation and prayer, we decided to go for it.  We've always talked about living abroad, the kids weren't in school yet, and after residency/more kids it seemed less likely we would take an opportunity like this.  This left us with about 1 month to get everything in order to go.  I should save all this for another time, but needless to say, we just had through Christmas until we moved.

We went to the Head of the Charles Regatta.  It was pretty cool; neither of us had ever been to one before. 

Then we went to a park to run around and a man found this frisbee in a tree, got it out, and then gave it to Cohen.  So nice!

We got Cohen's Halloween costume.

Our costumes for the ward party (we took Spiderman with us. The scissors didn't last very long...and to be honest, neither did my paper). 

We headed to Salem to check out some Halloween festivities.  It was a little underwhelming, but still fun nonetheless.

Cohen's 3rd birthday.  We made pancakes for breakfast, he wanted McDonald's for lunch and then we had just our little family celebration in the evening.  

He got a bike!  He was SO excited.  Every time we went to a store with a bike, he had to ride it, so this was perfect.

A sweaty head from bike riding to blow out candles and eat some cake.  A baseball cake of course.  The boy loves his baseball.

Opening a quilt from Nana and Mapa....one side is Boston Red Sox, the other is Atlanta Braves.  His face says it all.  =)

Cohen's two besties, Isla and Gracie, had birthdays within days of his.  So we thought one big birthday party was the way to go.  And Halloween happened to be the perfect day.  We did the party in the morning and they all wanted a Super Hero party.  That worked out well!

We (the three moms) made super hero masks for everyone to wear for the party and then take home. The kids had a great time!

Cohen's super hero banner hung up in his bedroom until we had to move.  It was so cute!

Cute super heros!

Then we went home for nap time (wishful thinking) and then all met back up for trick-or-treating down town.  It was packed with people, but it was fun!

Some of these places looked like they should've been in a Good Housekeeping magazine.  They were crazy!

Cohen was out by the end of the night.  He didn't budge getting on or off the subway or into the car.  He's never been that asleep before.  We started to worry there was something in some candy he ate.  But nope, he was just that tired.  The day was just too full of fun!

Then my sister and brother-n-law came up for a visit! (Really, he had a dental convention, but what better excuse to come visit).

I got a friend to watch Cohen so my sister and I could have some fun.  It was SO nice!  We went to the best Italian restaurant....

...and then to the gardens

and we walked around and sat and talked.  It was just perfect!  Later we all met up for chowder, and the next day we got Kane's Donuts (the. best.) and explored some more!

It was such a nice visit!

Fall

And Christmas time.  Sterling loves NYC, especially at Christmas.  So we made the trip to see the Christmas decorations.  It was fun!

Cohen loved every bite of that hot dog!

Ice Skating in Boston

A picture of the little man

The movie theater near our house had free movies each week in December, so we went with some friends to see Polar Express.  It was Cohen's first time in the movie theater.  He was enthralled!  He sat straight up on the edge of his seat the entire time, haha.  He was even too focused for popcorn and treats.  =)

We got our tree early since we knew we would be moving right after Christmas.  Cohen picked our tree topper and put it on.  

We had lots of ornaments at the bottom.  =)

It was an interesting Christmas.  It wasn't what I had envisioned (since I hadn't planned on moving to another country).  We each got one gift, that we could bring with us and our apartment was empty.  I was sad to not be able to do all of the Christmas things I had wanted to (life was just too crazy), but it really made us focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  

And then we finished packing and headed out.