Aunt Jane comes to town!!

We love it when Aunt Jane comes to visit. It was her spring break so she came out even though we don't live in San Diego anymore. It was also my birthday that weekend so we were all able to celebrate together. When I asked her what she wanted to see her only reply was "I want to see the place where Jenny runs through the water up to Forest Gump", the Lincoln Memorial of course. We actually spent her first day at H&M. She was like a girl gone wild with sticky fingers. I've never seen someone have so much fun shopping. I forget how great H&M is now that it's at my disposal whenever I need a "fix." In the past the Etherington's only hope was when we went to New York with Mom. She got some cute clothes and looked adorable in everything. I envied her flat stomach and skinny legs. I can't wait to get back into shape after this little guy comes out. Jane is so low key. Once we got home she took a three hour nap and we just hung out the rest of the day.



The next day I think we wore her out. We went to see Chase at his new office. He left work early and we toured most of D.C. (or all the hot spots) with a necessary stop at the Cosi Sandwich Bar..my absolute favorite.
One of my favorite things to do when I'm in Utah is go to the grocery store with Jane. I try my very hardest to embarrass her as much as possible(only because I know it drives her crazy...I'm so mean). Usually I dance up and down the aisles and make a complete fool of myself as she whispers in her most angry tone "Abby stop...I am going to leave..stop it right now." Although she seems totally sheepish at what I'm doing, I always see a slight smile on her face. I feel it's my duty as her older sister to break in some "I don't care what people think of me" dance moves. She also received a pair of billy bob teeth from yours truly for Christmas. We'll see how well she uses them:-) So, to embarrass her a little more I made her "skip" in Freedom Plaza with me. This is a 9 year tradition. Anytime I am at Freedom Plaza I skip "High and Low." I don't exactly know why this tradition originated but Jane has now been added to the list of people to grace the plaza with a skip or two. Those of you who have made the list...you know who you are:-) Jane was totally embarrassed. I love it!!

We ate brunch at Artie's the next morning because it was my birthday and that's all I wanted. Chase asked if there was a restaurant I was craving for dinner. All I wanted was Artie's delicious Briche French Toast. If you haven't tried it yet, you're in for a real treat. Chase gave me my big gift which I was supposed to receive for Christmas but felt too guilty keeping. I finally got my camera that I've wanted forever. I've always loved photography and I don't think I could ever make a living out of my talent (or lack there of) but I really enjoy capturing that perfect picture. I still must have felt guilty for having it because I was too scared to play with it for the first couple of weeks. I am still so grateful. Thanks Chase for giving me something I REALLY wanted:-)

Jane is an amazing artist. For my birthday gift she brought her water colors and painted four adorable pictures for Jack's (I think that's his name) room. They turned out so cute and I'll post a picture as soon as I have them framed. I am positive they'll be worth something one day when Jane is a rich and famous artist. I felt a little bad putting her to work while she was on her break but I had to take advantage of the small space of time I had to have her paint for me...she's that good.