Gavin was 9 months old yesterday. We spent the entire past month of his life in the USA, so here are some Gav-specific photos from our trip. (next photo: at the famous benches in Central Park that you always see in the movies)
With all the New Mexican food we ate in Albuquerque, Gavin ended up eating a lot of rice (pictured on his chin below) and tortilla chips. He also developed a taste for lemon wedges. Seriously.
Gavin's absolute favorite toy on the trip was a straw. He could be consoled by a straw and happily occupied for long stretches of car and airplane rides. 
You may have also noticed from previous posts that he started sucking his thumb this month. We do hope he grows out of it, but we've decided not to make a big deal about it now. Here are a few photos of him "eating" other things (a toy, a crayon box, an empty milk jug, his Grandma's glasses).
When we were with his paternal grandparents Gavin ate lots of ice cream and cones. I loved that they gave him empty cones to eat (and shared a bit of their own ice cream on the side), and Gavin loved it too.
There's really no unifying theme to these last few except that he's cute.
We really enjoyed our time with Jacob's brothers and their spouses while we were in DC. One of the highlights of the whole USA trip was meeting our sister-in-law Ashley (below), who married Jacob's youngest brother Jared while we've been in England. She's fabulous!
Jacob's older brother Jon and his wife Micaela and their kids Jacob and Emily (plus one on the way!) also live in the DC area, so we got to spend time with them.
And Joel (who falls between Jacob and Jared), along with his wife Emily and their daughter Brinly (plus one on the way!) visited from Ohio while we were there, and we were so glad they made the trip!
The above photo was taken while we enjoyed paddle boating. As always, it turned into a game/competition with the football and splashing. Here are more photos of the fun.
During Hurricane Irene Jacob initiated the creation of a 100-foot slip n slide, which was lots of fun. I especially love the brotherly togetherness in some of the photos and with the endeavor in general.
We spent a little time in New York City while we were in the USA. We were there for the earthquake but didn't feel it. And we were 
We got to Manhattan and pretty much made a beeline for 30 Rock, pictured below (we're huge fans of 
In the next photo you can see the Statue of Liberty between us (no, we didn't have time to go up--and we couldn't have taken Gavin anyway). Unfortunately you can't really see Gavin in the photo. 
In the next photo Jacob is sampling some of the famous New York pizza. 
In the next two photos, Gavin and I are in Central Park; and Gavin and Jacob are in front of the US Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
Just a few more: the Brooklyn Bridge (
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
