Molly discovers make-up....

I think these pictures pretty much explain themselves...

Christmas Preparations and Traditions

We decided to break with tradition this year and prepare for Christmas at the beginning of December instead of 3 days before the holiday. We actually got the tree up before November 30th....a first for us! With the stress of finals, it's easy to forget about decorating and getting into the Christmas spirit. And then I wonder why I feel like such a grinch. We made it our goal this year to try and focus more on the spirit of Christmas than other things that seem to detract from the true meaning of the holiday.


To start out we got our tree up and decorated and started our Christmas tradition of reading the Forgotten Carols.

When we lived in Utah, one of our traditions was to go and hear the Salt Lake Symphonic Choir sing at Temple Square. I have missed hearing them sing for the past three years so I guess you could say I decided to make my own "Christmas performance" this year. To fulfill a personal goal, I prepared and performed two piano solo's for our ward's Choir and Creche on December 4th and 5th. I was very nervous having not played a solo since about, oh, high school...so 15 years ago. But I practiced and felt they went very well. I also accompanied my friend while she played her flute and accompanied our ward choir.

Something new that we did this year was to make gingerbread houses. James is finally old enough that he can help and actually enjoy the process.

Steve wanted to make the gingerbread from scratch so I said, "Go for it"... then he realized how late it was so we cheated and bought a kit. But Steve made gingerbread cookies the next day. I kept telling him how sexy he looked in an apron so hopefully he'll make more cookies. By the way, the cookies were divine!

So tree up: check, attend a christmas performance: check, play christmas music: check and still in progress (I love Christmas music), start a new tradition: check, listen to First Presidency Christmas Devotional, tonight. Anything I forgot????

I think I actually feel the Christmas spirit this year.

Thanksgiving

Like so many away from family around the holidays, we spent Thanksgiving with wonderful friends...and what a phenomenal Thanksgiving it was! There were 4 families gathered at the home of our friends: 7 children and 7 adults. The food was delicious, conversation was good, and the company was awesome.

We started the day with some exercise...mostly so we wouldn't feel so guilty when we indulged in the dinner and pie. James and Steve went for a bike ride and Molly and I went for a 5 mile run.

That evening, Steve became popular with the kids when he started reading stories...

James wowed us with his talent on the drums...

A sure sign of a good Thanksgiving dinner...

While we have a lot to be thankful for, we are especially thankful to our friends who invited us over to share the holiday with them. Though we were disappointed we couldn't make it to Ohio to be with my brother and his family, we had a very enjoyable time. This is the second Thanksgiving we have spent with them and we felt just like family. Thank you.

Happy Birthday my love!

Steve is now 34 years and two and a half weeks old. Wow, he's old. (Who wants to guess how old he acts????) To start out the day (November 14th), I made him strawberry waffles with real Danish Dessert. Then as we were planning our afternoon, our evening plans fell through. So Steve decided at the last minute that he wanted to go to New York City...So off we went! We visited the Metropolitan Museum so James could see the armor and the Egyptian Mummies. Because we couldn't use a flash, I didn't get very good pictures. Then we found a little corner restaraunt for dinner. Because we got home late on Saturday, we had apple pie, sang Happy Birthday, and opened presents on Sunday. I hope you had a good birthday my love!

Day off

Last Wednesday the 11th, I had the day off for Veterans Day. I spent the day the best way possible: with my kids. I put Molly's hair in pigtails for the first time (adorable! Yes, they are a bit lopsided, but it was my first time...and she kept wiggeling), then when we took lunch to Steve at school and had a "photo shoot" in his painting studio (He wanted some ideas for paintings). I wish I could have more days like these. Truly enjoyable!

Happy Halloween!

Oh the joys...

While we have been here in Connecticut, Steve has taken on the daunting task of getting the kids ready and dropped off at daycare before he heads to school. You smile because you can only guess where this is heading...As you all know, it is really hard to get two kids dressed and out the door happily and without any tears or mishaps, and its nearly impossible to get two kids ready and out the door when you have a time deadline to meet ("Dad, Molly is stinky...Look Dad, I took off all my clothes while you put Molly's clothes on...Dad, Molly spilt all her milk...How come Molly is wearing my underwear on her head? DAD!!!! DADDY!!!"). Now you are chuckling to yourself because you can relate all too well...No matter how hard Steve tries, no matter how early he gets up or how fast he goes, something always goes arwy...

Last week Steve was having a rough morning and was wondering how much worse it could get. He was downstairs getting ready to fix the kids eggs for breakfast when James called him upstairs. While he was tending to James, he heard a strange popping sound, then he started to smell something and soon the house was filled with an odd smelling smoke. Steve ran downstairs to discover that his cell phone was cooked more than the eggs were...and there weren't any eggs on the stove! Apparently when he was called away from breakfast preparations, he set his cell phone down on the stove (we have a flat top stove) and the burner was on. Needless to say, it was beyond saving. So if any of you have tried to call Steve, he isn't ignoring your call, he's just not able to take any calls at the moment...