A Saturday Night in New Orleans

Most of you know that the last Harry Potter book came out on Saturday at midnight. Seeing that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, I got my book at midnight and read till about 1:30 am, woke up about 8 and started reading again. I spent the morning in Natalie's room (comfortable rocking chair!) reading while Tom was so graciously watching the kids so I could have some quite time. At 1 I had to take William to the church primary swim party while Tom took Natalie to the local war museaum to drop off his motorcycle (it's normally on display there.) By the time I got back from the party, all I wanted to do was lock myself in a room and keep reading! But, Tom had had enough of the "missing mommy" that I'd become, so we decided to take off for New Orleans for the night and have a good time. I'm glad we went, cause the family had a blast!




This picture is of Tom and the kids in front of the cathedral at Jackson's Square. This is where President Bush made his speech following Hurricane Katrina.

This is Tom and the kids waiting at Cafe' Du'Monde in the French Quarter for Beignets. The line turned out to be too long, so we decided to get the car and then get them to go in the car. Bad idea, especially since I had just cleaned my car! Powdered Sugar was EVERYWHERE! Thank heavens for leather seats-they just wipe right up!


On the way back to getting the car we stopped at a little spot where we could sit on the Mississippi River and watch the riverboats and barges go by. The kids really enjoyed the big boats!

William:Missionary/Weatherman

William has really been thinking about his future lately! There are two things he wants to be when he grows up, simultaneously that is: a missionary and a weatherman. He loves to see the missionaries at church in their suits and ties and little black tags. And he loves to watch the weatherman on tv do his forecasts, and then he tries to recreate them for us. It's really quite fun actually! He always has a way of making everyday just a little more exciting!

Natalie the dancer.

This is an old post from YouTube, but we always enjoy watching it, so feel free to check it out! I was driving somewhere and had put the soundtrack from "Lord of the Dance" on to listen to. I glanced back in my rearview mirror to see Natalie's legs flying! Either that girl is going to be a dancer or one heck of a swimmer! I caught it all on video with my cell phone, which is why the video is a little unclear.

A trip with Janice

We took a trip into New Orleans on Friday (July 13th) with our friend Janice. She had never been to the Aquarium there and since we are members we can get her in for free. I can't speak for her, but I know we had a great time! After the aquarium, we walked along the riverwalk and then got hot chocolate (in 90 degree weather-stupid, I know!) and beignets on the Mississippi. For those of you not from this area, beignets (pronounced "been-yea') are basically fried dough covered in powdered sugar. The kids love 'em! We got them from Cafe' Du Monde', which I guess is famous for their coffee and beignets. The original shop was in the French Quarter, but we prefer the shop on the Mississippi. Then we did a little shopping in the Riverwalk stores and headed home. It's always a blast with our friend Janice!

The first family blog!

Well, I'm doing it! After much persistence from a certain individual who lives in Spanish Fork, Utah who shall remain nameless, I've started a family blog so that people can keep up with the O'Briens no matter how far away they are! (We can call this friend "Melanie H." No, too obvious...we'll call her "M. Hoopes.")

So, where to start?!? I guess a quick overview will do. Well, we've lived in Southern Louisiana for a year now. We are currently in the middle of hurricane season, but there have been no major flares in the tropics so far; well, none that affect us here. That's good news! Tom loves his job with Lincoln Electric and has been doing well at work. I continue to try to keep my sanity while staying home with the two monkeys...I mean kids. William will turn four in August and starts Pre-K the end of August. He's really excited, especially to start the gymnastics program that goes with Pre-K. Natalie just turned 2 and is a sweet little girl...when she's not being bothered by "Wilwa!!!" (Her first spoken sentence was "Mommy! Wilwa eat bowl!" after William ate her snack that I had just given to her in a bowl.) But when he's not bothering her, they can be really good buddies.



Other than that, not much going on here! We're looking forward to visiting both families in Ohio at the end of August. Of course, this trip will also include trips to the Great Geauga County Fair! (No coincidence there!) Also, all of my siblings are going to be visiting my parents at the same time. I think the last time all five kids were in one place at once was at my wedding 6 years ago, so that will be pretty cool, too! My parents are going to have a house full!! It'll be great!