| A Month in America - April
2004 |
| |
| Learning to BE |
|  It's
sure been a month full of changes for me!
I've learned to sit up by myself, eat food, and communicate!
Mind you my vocabulary consists of eeeeeeeeaaah and ppppthththh,
but I'm working on it! |
|  Aunt
Shawn carried me and took me on a beautiful walk around the block.
It is gorgeous this time of year, as everything is beginning to
bloom. |
|  This
tree is right around the block from where Memom used to live.
My daddy (holding me) used to come and sit on this tree when he
was a little boy. We stopped on the way down to visit Nana one Thursday.
To see more photographs of me during the Month of
April, click here:
Devon's April
2004 |
|
|
| Meditation |
|  We
are having such a great time here in Glenside with the family.
We have been relaxing and taking long walks with Devon. |
| 
We have been attending a few meditations at the Won Buddhist Temple
of Philadelphia, which happens to be just around the corner!! |
|
|
| Fun with Shawn and Chris |
|  We
have had great food and have discovered that the way Shawn and Chris
live their life is very similar to the way we do.
We have spent long times chatting, sharing and having fun together.
|
|  Shawn,
E.J and Chris have been building websites.
Check out the website we built for Chris here:
Chris
Pistorino - Bassist |
|  Everyone
totally loves Devon and we know they will be sad to see us go.
We love being in Perth so much but the down side is that we miss
being around our families - and they certainly miss seeing Devon
grow up …even though we share a lot via this website.
Chris has been teaching Devon how to play the bass and Shawn has
been showing him the xylophone! |
|  Mom
Mom America and Coach have been “Devon sitting”, he
has been great.
Shawn, Chris, Amanda and Tom all adore Devon and have been keen
to hang out with him.
Tom doesn’t even live here anymore but has practically moved
back in to spend as much time with us as possible.
We love their company. |
|  The
weather has been getting much better; I have even been out in shorts
and t-shirts many times now. Spring is definitely in the air!
We have contributed lots to everyone here.
He has helped Mom to clear up the third floor and create space there.
16 big bags of stuff went to Goodwill, and many more were thrown
out. |
|  We
looked at some of the things E.J. wrote when he was a young boy.
His principles and values haven’t changed too much. He is
still a big advocate for PEACE on the planet!!
E.J. helped Dad to get a new computer and to get it all set up
and installed, it looks and works great!
I have heard funny story after funny story especially from holidays
to Montana. The stories have inspired us all to have the Montana
Camping Reunion in the summer of 2006. So we will be back
for then at least if now before…looking forward to it.
|
|
|
| Food is Fun! |
| 
I'm beginning to EAT food... I'm not used to it, so it does get
all over my mouth, but it is YUMMY! |
|  I
even open my own mouth!!
See more fun shots of my month here:
Devon's April
2004 |
|
|
| Easter Morning in America |
|  The
Easter Bunny came to visit us in Glenside.
Two of them. (And I swore I would never dress
him up!! oopps! Just this once eh?!)
We got Easter Baskets overflowing with chocolate, chocolate-peanutbutter
(yum) and Cadbury's Creme & Fudge filled eggs.
This sure was a treat. In our home in Australia we are almost sweet-free
(except for honey) so to receive a BASKET FULL EACH of chocolates
and yummy candy (and one extra basket for Devon...which he can't
eat!!)...YUM!! |
|
|
| MORE Easter Celebrations... |
|  Since
we've been in America both Devon and I (E.J.) have put on 6 pounds
(1/2 a stone).
Devon's supposed to, though.
I blame it on the GREAT cooking,
A special thanks to Memom. If your food wasn't so delicious I wouldn't
be tempted to eat three grilled-cheese sandwiches on each visit! |
|  We
spent Easter Day over at Memom and Poppy's too!
Great company and great food... a delightful combination!
See more pictures here:
Easter Dinner at the Iatesta Home, USA |
|
|
| The Keswick Diner |
|  Two
saturdays in a row we went to the Keswick Diner, a short walk from
the Clark house.
I love the 'diner' approach to food. You get what you want, quick,
and it tastes good. Go USA! |
 
|
| 
Mr and Mrs Brown were also there and they joined us for a delicious
breakfast.
Thanks Mom and Dad, the breakfasts were delightful. |
|
|
| A day at Aunt Patti's... Devon
has his first pony ride! |
| |
|  We
had a great time over at Auntie Pat's.
She made us a beautiful lunch and Devon had a great time with the
horses, dogs, rabbit and cats!
Aunt Pat is a true animal lover. It was great to let Devon interact
with all those different animals.
You could see him studying them... then slowly reach out to touch
them... it was so cute!
See more photos of this Animal Adventure click here:
A Visit to Aunt
Pat's Petting Zoo Farm |
|
|
| Family Visits |
|  This
month we went several times to Memom and Poppy's house in the country.
Devon is so adored by them…Poppy doesn’t want to put
him down!!
Devon enjoyed his visits (as you can see) especially lying in the
grass and the cuckoo clock that Poppy made years ago. |
|  Here's
Devon and Poppy waiting for the clock to crow!
It's nice to get a chance to share my grandparents with Devon.
They're so much fun!
Devon, of course, took to them instantly!
|
| |
This is one of my favourite photographs.
Devon and Poppy.
|
| 
Devon enjoys the food at Memom's too! |
|
|
| Family Visits - Thursdays
with Nana |
|  On
Thursdays we went to Nana's house down in North East Philadelphia.
She is going to be 100 this August! We
have recorded her on video, all her stories and we want to edit
them and turn it into a video.
She is such an amazing lady and so vibrant. She goes down to have
lunch with the Mayor soon along with all the other people from Philly
who are turning 100 this year! |
 Thursday
is the day that Memom and Poppy go and visit, helping Nana do
the things she needs to do around the house, banking, etc.
That meant we had another chance to eat Memom's
food!
|
| And another chance for Devon
to play with his great-grandparents. |
|  One
Thursday there were other visitors.
Hannah and Sophia, my cousin Jane's children were over to visit
Nana too! |
|  Devon
sure enjoyed the company!
Hannah shared some of her favourite songs with Devon who took it
all in. |
|  Devon
even tried to give Sophia a hug!
So cute! |
|
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| We LOVE Devon... |
|  This
really has been a magical time for Devon.
Imagine having your Mum and Dad with you all the time, on vacation,
and then all this adoration and love. |
|  What
a beautiful start to life Devon is having and it shows!!
He is so contented, so peaceful, so much fun. |
| 
He only cries very gently if he is hungry or tired and the rest
of the time he is just so contented.
We love him so much and just love being parents. |
|
|
| The CLARK Picnic |
|  Last
month you might have seen the Five
Generation Reunion with Mom-mom America's side of the family.
Now it's Coach's turn to introduce
his grandson to his side of the family.
Devon
meets the CLARKS! Read
and see all about it,
click here. |
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|
|
...
onward to May 2004