Evelyn's wedding

This is Serge, Evelina, me, Benjamin, and Sarah at Serge and Evelina's reception. What fun!

A Russian Wedding

Here I am with Ben at Evelina & Serge's wedding. I love the Russian culture, and I have been to many Russian weddings. I love the traditions that Russian's have, with the big dinner reception following, and the many courses of Russian food. Plove (sp) is my favorite, though not everyone makes plove quite the same way. I really like the way Sarah's friend, Galina, makes it. Anyway, back to the wedding. This time (obviously) it was a little different for me, because I had to go feed Benjamin, and take him out when the music was too loud, and things of that nature. But it was still wonderful to be with all of my Russian family and friends. (Okay, so technically they're not related to me at all, and most of them probably don't think about me, except when I make it down there maybe once a year. But, hey -- I have good memories and good feelings when I'm with them.) I look forward to going to Jessica's wedding -- much further down the road.

Ben's Flight

Ben's not quite sure what to do, as he holds our boarding pass and waits to board the plane. We had a wonderful, fast, time in Sacramento. It was so good to see Sarah and Andrew again (though we had just seen them the month before), and it was great to see Nate again. I think the last time I saw him was last November. And, Sarah and Andrew's "new" house did not dissapoint me. It is amazing!! Unfortunately the air conditioning was on the fritz while we were down there, and the temperatrue was in the hundreds. Ugh! But, Ben did very well -- both in the heat, and with the plane rides. He actually didn't fuss one bit, except for a little bit at the end of the flight back, because it was getting close to feeding time. :-) What a good baby! :-)

Our Baby Boy

Our baby boy, Benjamin Stephen Hadley, is a precious addition to our family. He will be six weeks old this Friday, and will be going on his first flight. He and mommy are flying to Sacramento to visit Uncle Andrew, Aunt Sarah, and to see Uncle Nate for the first time. We will also be visiting all of Uncle Andrew's family, as we attend his sister Evelyn's wedding. We will see how baby Ben handles the flight. What a big adventure at such a young age. :-)

Here's Ben sitting on his grandma Hadley's lap. In this picture he is four weeks old.