Here he is... Nolan Scott!
Jenny and Nolan
And Nolan is the first BOY to join the Wallgren clan(not that he's a Wallgren, but you know what I mean)
So a big event for Matt and I...we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on September 2nd. We can't even believe it has been 4 years already! Time flies when you're having fun!
We went to this roof-top lounge downtown. We got there right around when the sun was setting and the view was so beautiful.
There's my handsome and wonderful husband!
So my camera ran out of batteries right when we were taking a picture of the two of us so we only have 1 individual picture of each of us from the night. This is the only picture of me from the night and the above is the only one of Matt. Ah well.Since I haven't posted in so long, I guess I need to give a little recap of our lives since we got home from Bolivia. We have little things from Bolivia around our apartment like stuff from the market that we used in our house in Bolivia or gifts from friends there (like my lovely blue teapot from Kate) and when we look at them it's fun to remember all the good things about Bolivia. Of course it wasn't all fun and good things but time really does seem to soften the memories of the bad. It's strange that we have already been home for 9 months now and it does feel like a long time ago now that we lived there. The biggest difference between our lives there and here is our schedules. We got pretty used to the relaxed way of life in Bolivia and it is a big shift to go from that to working 9-5 everyday plus the normal business that comes from living in the U S of A.
Both Matt and I work at World Relief which is a refugee resettlement agency here in Chicago. I work with youth and Matt is the donations coordinator. Even though we don't really work together, it's fun to drive together and bump into each other. We love working with refugees and it brings a sense of continuity between having lived cross culturally and now being in our home country (plus we get to practice our Spanish some). It helps knowing how it feels to be the foreigner, the one who feels completely stupid, out of context and comfort zone. It's nice to be able to say, "I know how you feel" and mean it. Of course I have no idea how it feels to be forced out of my home and leave my family without possibility of returning but I can empathize a bit with how it feels to be a foreigner. It is inspirational to get to know people who have been through so much and yet can still be joyful and hopeful about the future.
When we first got back we stayed with my parents for a few months then stayed with my sister Linnea and Cam and our two nieces for about 5 months. It was a lot of fun and we all got used to living together to the point that it was actually sad to move out. But now we are living in Lakeview and loving it! We feel more a part of the city than the last time we lived in Chicago because we are so close to so many things and can really take advantage of it all.
I think that's enough for now...here are a few pics from the past months
Last week we randomly went to Starved Rock for some hiking. It was really beautiful especially since some of the leaves were starting to change already.
The Wallgren sibs at Eric's big premiere for his first short film "Furnished". It was really good! I'm so proud of you and it is a great accomplishment, Eric!
Afterglow 2010. Amazing week as always.
When Matt and I babysat for all four nieces. It was lots of fun, a little crazy but Gwen and Sonja were great little helpers with the twins.
Just a cute picture of Caroline on a perfect summer day.
And here are both Caroline and Addison
All four of our nieces on Easter (Addison, Gwen, Sonja, Caroline)
Our trip to Florida back in March. Matt and I drove to Miami for a day which was a lot of fun. This is at South Beach...and yes, those are two dogs whose leashes are tied together which is pretty ingenious.
And on the way home we took a different route and drove through Georgia and some of North Carolina. We were trying to go hiking/camping in the Smokey mountains but the main road was closed off because of snow. I guess it worked out for the best since we would have been a little cold camping considering that all the clothes we brought were for Florida. Anyway, the drive was so beautiful...one of my favorites that I've ever done! And we were able to visit our friends from Bolivia, Ted and Caroline Mosey, who live in Indianapolis. This picture was from the Tallulah Gorge in Georgia. Oh, you've never heard of it? Me neither.
