A Tender Moment with Jane

I just have a few rules for Sacrament meeting in church.

(1) No leaving (get your drink & go to the bathroom beforehand!)

(2) If you can read, you sing the hymns.

(3) Quietly coloring is allowed for kids under 12 but only AFTER the Sacrament has been passed.

On #3 - I figure that they can sit quietly and listen to the announcements and start of the meeting for the first 15 minutes or so. It's good practice for when they are older and will need to be reverent for the entire meeting.

I used to take the crayons & notebooks but now Rick is in Primary he has the bag of stuff & has been packing them. Today when we sat down he handed them out right at the start (after 7 years on the High Council in our old stake, sitting with us in Sacrament meeting is new to him!) I reminded the kids "Not until after the Sacrament has been passed." Of course, my strong willed little girl wanted to push the boundary just as much as she possibly could, so started flipping though her book & turning pages.

"Jane" I whispered "if you can't keep that quietly on your lap, I'll have to take it."

"No, I like looking at it." she told me and continued to flip through it. I reached over to take it from her and she held onto it and pulled away. I quietly & firmly told her I was taking it because she couldn't hold it still in her lap. I pulled it out of her hands and put it under my seat. I looked over at her and she had big tears rolling down her face.

Right then they were saying the Sacrament prayer so I pulled her into my lap and cuddled her. As the young men passed the bread I silently prayed to my Father in Heaven to help me with this child he has entrusted me with. She is so strong willed, so stubborn and determined. Some days I am just exhausted navigating her emotions and our battle of the wills. I explained that I worried for her teenage years and the challenges we may face then. I asked for help in meeting her needs and teaching her, for more patience, more energy and more than anything to know what her unique need are.
Oh how I love this girl and want to do what is best for her!

As I sat cradling her and pouring my heart out, asking my Father in Heaven how best to partner with Him in teaching her, the sweetest spirit came over me and the words "STEADFAST AND IMMOVABLE" came to my mind. What an epiphany! I felt comfort and encouragement. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized that this sweet and spunky little girl can be a powerful force for good in the world. She can be a righteous influence amongst her peers. That unwavering will can become steadfast and immovable and serve her well when the ills of the world swirl around her.

It was a sweet, tender moment.

I am so grateful that I know I have the Lord to turn to as I raise these spirits of His. For the access I have to Him through prayer and the comfort and insight it can give me as a mother.

I am going to make sure that this scripture is on her wall, to remind me of that sweet inspiration as I parent her and to let her know that it is special for her.

"Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable,
always abounding in good works."
Mosiah 5:15
 

 I had the lovely and talented Apryl Stott (who did Jane's birth announcement) create this for her to hang in her room and remind us of this experience.

 

I am also so truly grateful to my "Janie Baby" and her lively influence in our home.
We really would not be without her for anything!

Pioneer Day 2011

We love Pioneer Day. Emily in particular just loves Pioneers & hearing stories about them and seeing how they lived. Each year we like to dress up and play pioneer games and have some activities to make us appreciate them & all they did so that our beliefs could flourish.

This year Pioneer Day (July 24th) fell on a Sunday. I figured we'd just do our Pioneer Games on the 23rd, until they scheduled our Worldwide Day of Service for that day. Soooo, we did it on Friday afternoon.

A few years ago Emily grew out of the little blue pioneer dress we have. I had her wear a skirt she had with a pioneer-y blouse the following year. Last year I said I'd make her a new dress but didn't get around to it & just quickly made her a long skirt & had her wear it with a blouse again .... promising to make it this year. As the day loomed closer I wsa feeling the absence of that new dress for Emily. Honestly, I was tempted to tell Emily, Jacob & Jane that I was too busy this year (with packing and moving & all the work of building the new house) to be able to pull it off, but that's the thing about traditions - it's well, tradition! They love it & I didn't want to break the fact that we do it every year. So at 10pm the night before I pulled out the ol' sewing machine to make Emily a dress. Don't look too closely at the pictures, she wore it un-hemmed (I'll get to hemming it later this week.)

We invited over a few friends and I split the kids into under 6's and big kids. It was super hot & humid so we did everything inside the house, with the exception of the hoop which the big kids started with on the back patio.

Those are authentic pioneer flip flops.

Jacob in his "coonskin" hat.

While they were doing that the little kids did the bean bag tossing game. Two cans are attached to a stick on opposite sides - there's a small bean bag & you have to toss it from one to the other by flipping the stick over while the beanbag is in the air. We copied it from a game we saw in Nauvoo and the kids love it. I really need to get Rick to make us another of these so we can have 2 going at once.

Then the big & little kids switched.

After those 2 games Emily read them a couple brief stories from pioneer children's journals

from "I Walked to Zion."

I had made 4 loaves of bread that morning before we went to swim team practice, so after the games and stories the kids shook cream in a jar to make butter.

They took it very seriously!

Then we enjoyed the butter on our thick slices of bread with cold milk. Probably just the snack pioneer children would have loved.

By then the taffy had cooled enough for us to pull it.

 I had left it bubbling on the stove when I ran out to set the little kids up with the hoop and had kind of forgotten about it for a few minutes. It got hotter than it should have by the time I remembered it. They could still pull it but once it had cooled it was more like hard candy than taffy. Oh well, they still liked eating it, I just told them not to try and bite it in case they broke their teeth!

Guess who still bit it?

Little Pioneer Children.

This is the last year Jane will fit this dress. Next year I'll have to make her a new one too. It has been such a great dress. I made it for Rebekah in 1997 for the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the pioneer trek. She and I met my mother, who had been gone for months walking from Winter Quarters and finished the last 5 days of the trek with her. Emily wore it and now Jane. That dress has seen some happy days for my 3 girlies.

I'm glad I pulled it together at the last minute because the kids had a great time and now it's still our tradition.

Jane's Primary Talk

{iPhone photo}

 Jane gave a talk in Primary yesterday. She did a great job and (just barely) maintained her composure even though a couple of her little friends started giggling.

This is what she said -

Prophets are Heavenly Father’s mouthpiece on earth.  They tell us what Heavenly Father would like us to do.

The current prophet for the Church is Thomas S. Monson.

I am grateful for the prophet to guide me in my life and I am excited to be able to hear him soon in General Conference.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

(I took the photo in the Primary room, after church. I didn't take it during her talk!)

Thirsty Girl

 

When we go to church sacrament meeting is first. Now that we start at 11:30am - it means it's pretty much right through lunch time. No matter how much I try to feed them all morning long, my kids are hungry and thirsty every single Sacrament meeting.

Today, during the passing of the Sacrament,  Jane was sitting on my lap telling me over & over in an escalating manner how super thirsty she was. I was trying to keep her quiet and reverent and whispering in her ear that they were going to be passing the water to her any second and then she would be able to have a little drink.

As the tray passed in front of her she took hers and said in a nice, loud, indignant voice

"These cups are puny!"

9/11

Pioneer Day

The 24th of July passes by in NY like any other day - but not for us because we know it's PIONEER DAY!

We love our church and Utah and we love Pioneers - especially Emily, so we always try to do something special on the 24th of July.

This year we made our plans, and then late on the 23rd Emily asked "Did you mend my pioneer dress yet?" Yikes. I had not - not to mention it is now about 3 sizes too small, and I was sure she wouldn't fit it anymore. I told her that it probably wouldn't fit, even if I did mend it that night. She's so good natured, she just said "Do you think you can make a new one next year?"

I was disappointed in myself. I know Emily adores pioneers - why didn't I think of the fact that she would want to wear the dress - she always does! I quickly called Rick - are you at the train yet? He was not (thank goodness he works so late.) I asked him to stop at American Girl place on the way home and get Kirsten's summer dress. We already had the cute red boots, and I figured I could quickly come up with a bonnet. At least her doll would have pioneer get-up, and then next year (if I remember) I'll make her a new one - one that's a little too big, so she can wear it a few years.

After she went to bed, I snuck in and took her doll. I made the little bonnet, and dressed her in it and the dress & boots (finding the red boots in the dark in Ems room was quite the task!)

The bonnet turned out to be pretty cute.
I let Rick pick the fabric - he did a good job.

I made a little tag, and then sat her on the end of Emily's bed, so she'd see her when she woke up. The next morning she came downstairs and gave me a giant hug - she liked it, hooray!

I also had Rick get Bitty Baby an outfit, so Jane wouldn't be sad (I wasn't up for making a bitty baby pioneer dress that night!) Not at all pioneer, but cute and summery - and Jane was thrilled.

We love American Girl - just check out how cute these shoes are!

The next day we launched our pioneer activities - in the afternoon, because we still had swim team in the morning.

I ground wheat & made bread.

Friends came over and we made salt water taffy. Nine kids pulling taffy made for a lot of chaos - I never get any good taffy pulling pictures, since my hands are all sticky & I don't want to touch the camera! Next year, I think we'll make the taffy a day ahead and just eat it on the 24th! Also, I went to 4 places looking for glycerin, and didn't even think about flavor until I started to make it! I looked in my valentine lollipop making stash to see that I only had bubblegum! We used that & tinted it pink and the kids didn't seem to mind. next year I'm thinking light pink / grapefruit flavor ...

It actually turned out really well this year - I wish I had some pictures of the finished product! Here it is cooling, just before the pulling.

Then we went to the park, and shook cream in jars to make butter - and ate it on our bread for an afternoon snack. Yummy!

Then played "pioneer games" - the 3 legged race was hilarious!

Jacob thought he was so funny falling down, that he actually didn't really seem to be attempting to do it properly! Poor Charlie who had him as a partner, he was such a good sport about it.

The little girls wanted a turn too - so Laura partnered with Andrew & helped them have their own turn.

They did a pretty good job.

The we threw "bee" beanbags into a honey pot (Utah is the beehive state.)

We saw this game in Nauvoo last summer - two cans attached to opposite sides of a piece of wood. I made some small beanbags and Rick attached the cans to the wood - you toss the beanbag from one can and try to flip the wood and catch it in the other. Emily actually got quite good at it. OH, and see her outfit? The cutie - she wore her bonnet, and a skirt with bloomers underneath (they still fit) and her "Laura Ingalls" boots and looked very much like a pioneer!

We also ran with a stick and hoop - my kids love this game. Emily is really getting good at this one too! Could there be a more pioneer-child looking picture? (If you ignore the baseball diamond & the house in the background!)

Jane got to hold William - the highlight of her day. Little does she know that lots of pioneer children would have had the job of carrying babies while their parents pushed handcarts. I wonder if she would have been as delighted if she had to hold him all day. While walking. Every day. For three months.

So glad we don't have to do that!

Jacob's pioneer get up.
Which he actually wouldn't wear for the games, but I begged him to put on for a picture.

I was going to make dinner in the dutch oven - but it was getting late & the kids were tired, so we just went to a new restaurant near our house to eat dinner. Good thing too, because Jacob started to fall asleep at the table while we were there.

I haven't done any dutch oven cooking this year. Last year I made something in the dutch oven once a week (on our driveway) - for practice. I think when we get back from vacation, I'm going to do it again, at least until the weather gets cold because it's fun and yummy and I want to get better at it.

It was a fun day, and we're looking forward to it again next year!

All 13 Articles of Faith

Emily is an extremely self motivated and goal oriented person. I love it - it makes my job so much easier. I'm very competitive and goal oriented too, so it also makes it very easy to understand her personality.

When Emily turned 8 she got to start participating in the "Faith in God" program at church. One of the things to do is to memorize all 13 Articles of Faith. All Emily had to do was see that there was a sticker chart on the back wall, and she was all over it!

She finished memorizing them in May, and was awarded this certificate in Primary.

Man I love this little girl! I am so proud of her.Here she is with her certificate - signed by the Bishop & Primary President. Well done Emily!

Now you can help me teach them to your younger brother & sister.

• 1. WE BELIEVE in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

• 2. WE BELIEVE that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

• 3. WE BELIEVE that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

• 4. WE BELIEVE that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

• 5. WE BELIEVE that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

• 6. WE BELIEVE in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

• 7. WE BELIEVE in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

• 8. WE BELIEVE the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

• 9. WE BELIEVE all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

• 10. WE BELIEVE in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

• 11. WE CLAIM the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

• 12. WE BELIEVE in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

• 13. WE BELIEVE in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith

Easter

We've had a beautiful Easter.

A wonderful Sacrament meeting where the primary children sang - and their spirit was so sweet it brought me to tears.

A lovely dinner with Mum and our neighbor, Elaine.

Many opportunities to feel so blessed today, and so grateful for the atonement.

You can see this on You-Tube or on the church's website,
but on this special day, I also wanted to put it on here.

Christmas In Utah Mega Post

Be warned - this is the longest blog post EVER.
You may need to read it in shifts.
Since I use this as a journal-of-sorts for our family, I wanted to post about Christmas, even though March is fast approaching! It would have been more manageable reading to have several small posts - but this was easier for me. Don't feel obliged to read it all!

The Decision

We usually don't go to Utah for Christmas. Flying in winter and the potential delays & cancellations that occur, my kids almost always get sick - being on the plane and confined inside during cold & flu season, crossing time zones & making everyone jet lagged hardly encourages Christmas spirit, lugging gifts across the country only to open them and lug them all back, packing snow clothes, and extra sweaters, hats, mittens ....... you get the picture.
We like visiting in summer!
We went to Utah the first year we were married, but the following year I was giving birth to Emily, and we'd stayed home. It was a lovely Christmas, and I really enjoyed having our little family all together, and establishing our own traditions.
The next year we went again - and celebrated Emily's 1st birthday. Although I enjoyed having family around for that day - we realized that we preferred our own traditions and have done that every Christmas since.

This year presented us with a dilemma. Emily was turning 8, and would be getting baptized. We would love to have family at the baptism - but that would also mean traveling to Utah over Christmas. We left the decision to Emily - who decided she'd like to have cousins & Grandparents there - so made plans to go. My little two kids have never been to Utah in the winter, and Emily was too young to remember the last time we were there - so once the decision was made I got really excited about taking them - especially considering that it's unlikely that we'll go for Christmas again.

The Trip Out

So we left on December 17th - and by "we" I mean myself, Emily, Jacob & Jane. Rick always has the "I can't take that long off work" excuse - but we all know he is not one bit sad not to be flying with us. Rebekah didn't want to miss school, so she flew later with Rick.

I was frantic the whole 17 days of December before we left - getting ready for the trip, getting ready for Christmas, getting ready for the TWO daughters who would celebrate birthdays while we were there, and getting ready for Emily's baptism. Not to mention the week before we left our (extra) storage room freezer accidentally defrosted all over the floor, and a few days later Jane flooded our basement - requiring most of the Sheetrock and insulation in the ceiling to be replaced. I was STRESSED and only slept a few hours a night.

I did take a minute to snap a picture of this. A priceless insight into my darling Emy. I found this little packing list she had made herself in her room as we were gearing up to leave. She is SO my kid, I love lists. My favs - she is bringing only 3 shirts and 3 pairs of socks for a 3 week trip, that she put "hand sanitizer" on the list, that there's a question mark next to snowsuit, and the reminder to herself to sleep on the plane - all night.
Actually, it might provide equal insight to me!

So the afternoon of the 17th arrived and we were pretty set to go. I thought I had everything, but knew if I'd forgotten an item or two, Rick could bring it later. We loaded up the car and left. I was feeling pretty good, c'mon I FLEW TO AUSTRALIA with these three BY MYSELF, when JANE WAS ONLY TEN MONTHS OLD and Jacob was just TWO. I admit, I was a little cocky. I fly a lot with them, and feel like we have our routine down. I make sure everyone is wearing slip on shoes, I have a great system to transport 3 kids, stroller, car seat and carry ons with only 1 adult, I am a PRO at this. (I bought an extra booster last time I was in Utah for Jacob, so it's one less thing to transport.)

We had a clear run to the airport. Jane cried a little in the car - but it was late and she was tired, so I didn't pay attention to it. We pulled up to skycap where there was no waiting - sweet! We put our routine into action. I waited in the warm car with the kids while Rick took all our bags over to skycap. Then I jump out and trade him, to show my ID and get our boarding passes. Then we get out the kids - Jane into the stroller, with her bag in the back. Emily carries her bag, the car seat slings onto the back of the stroller, the one big carry on is mine - a backpack, so onto my back leaving me hands free to push the stroller, balance the car seat and herd the two walker kids. We look a sight, but it gets the job done.

We kissed Rick good-bye & headed into the airport. I noticed Jane was feeling warm, and seemed fussy. We made it through security (no small task) and headed to go get dinner. First up - bathroom breaks for all - where I noticed that Jane really was feeling hot. She was crying and wanted me to hold her - so I balanced the car seat on the front of the stroller, and carried Jane, which was exhausting. Then over for dinner, (navigating the stroller with precariously balanced car seat through the narrow spaces between the tables) during which time I decided Jane actually was developing a raging fever, and I should probably get her some Tylenol. We headed to the pharmacy (FAR away, and in the opposite direction of our gate) and got her some. Once we were all fed, had been to the bathroom & Jane had medicine we walked to the gate. By this point I was sweaty from lugging our gear, and wondering why I ever thought it was a good idea to travel! As we sat at our gate I heard them announce that all flights to Las Vegas were canceled due to weather. I had friends taking that flight & knowing that they had juts gone through something similar to me, only to have their flight canceled made me so relieved just to be able to get on our flight - every thing's relative, right?

The flight was pretty good. The kids slept the first 2 or so hours, but then Jane's diaper leaked. I quickly changed her and put on the spare pj's I had in the bag. A few minutes later Jacob woke up crying. His pull-up had leaked. OK, that one I was not anticipating! I had a spare pull-up, but no spare clothes. I left his pants off and wrapped him my sweater - wondering what I was going to do when we landed - would it be better to go bare legged in the freezing temperatures, or have wet pants on? I decided to hang the wet pants over to pocket of the seat, and hope they dried out a little. The plane was so dry - they were actually completely OK by the time we landed. I'll never curse dry plane air again. Pretty yucky to wear pants with dried up pee on them, but I'm sure it's better than freezing, and I knew it was just until we got to my parents place.

Mum and Sara met me at the airport, so I could bundle Emily and Jacob into their car (with some of our gear) and send them off to Grandma's to bed, while I went to get the rental car.

Exhausted and at 3:30am NY time we tumbled into bed at Mum's. Whew - the worst was over.

December 18th

You would think that the late night would have caused my kids to sleep in just a tiny bit - but they have never let a lack of sleep get in the way of their desire to play - trust me! They were up at the crack of dawn and pulling on snow pants to get outside.

Hooray, hooray - Utah snow!
Making snow angels.

Eating icicles.

Jane didn't even bother to get her gear on!

Later that afternoon we made gingerbread houses with the cousins. We make them every year, and this time waited until we could do it with Sara's kids.

I used to make my own gingerbread houses complete with stained glass windows and candy trees and everything. In an effort to decrease my OCD induced stress load, a few years ago I decided to just go with the kits. The kids do not care about the quality of the gingerbread, or the variety of the candy or how well it matches - they just want to stick candy onto a house, eat candy and lick frosting off knives.
I want a fun memory - and this has been working out well for us. As they get a little older, I'll return to making them myself (I still have a vision of a gingerbread castle on a hill, with a "village" of my 4 kids gingerbread houses below it ... )

We did three houses - one for Jacob & Jane.

One for Kate & Emily.

and one for Alex & Alyssa.

Jacob LOVED putting on lots & lots of frosting.

They were very deliberate about where they placed the candy.

Jane thinks that this might just be the best craft activity she's ever done!

Alyssa was the boss of where the candy could go on their house - but said Alex could decorate the back anyway he wanted - so he did!

The finished houses. (L-R; J&J's, E&K's, A&A's.)

That evening I went to get a haircut. It was 5 minutes from Mum's house, I left the kids at home and when I got back they had eaten dinner and were bathed and ready for bed - such a treat. This is why I never get my hair done at home!

December 19th

The next day I had a surprise planned for Emily. Since she would be turning 8, and getting baptized, she would be able to get her own set of leather bound scriptures. In the morning we left the other kids at home, and went to choose them. She chose the blue leather, and we had her name engraved in silver. We later ordered a cute little bag for them to go in, to make it easy to carry to church.

Then we got lunch together and went to get a manicure & pedicure. I am pretty big on trying to get one-on-one time with each of my kids, and this was a really fun time with just Emily and I. I hope she always remembers the day we picked out her scriptures, and puts them to good use reading them each day.

Dec 21st

The next day was Sunday, and Rick and Rebekah were flying in. Even more exciting than that was we were going to meet Nicole! Rick's brother Don lives in California, and was bringing his girlfriend for all of us to meet. We went to church with Dan (Rick's brother) and Heidi his wife, and their three cute girls. My kids loved going to Primary / Nursery with their cousins. Jacob even came home with small gift the teacher had given him. How prepared to have an extra gift for visitors. I was impressed, and made a mental note to always be sure to have extra's for visitors when teaching a class.

The on to the fun family gathering at Dan & Heidi's. Nicole is wonderful, we all loved her and it was great to meet her.

Jane liked Nicole, but was mostly happy there were cookies!

Having fun with the gang.

Every family get together inevitably ends in a wrestling match - especially when Don is there - which is why my kids love him so much.

We love you Uncle Don!

Rick and Rebekah were supposed to get in at 4pm. I was hoping to make a dash for the airport and get them back in time to meet Nicole - who was flying home that night. Rick called while we were there to say that he and Rebekah were stuck in Dallas. Their flight from NY had been delayed, and they'd missed the connection. There had been weather related cancellations all over the country, and there was a list of 70 people trying to get on the next flight to SLC. It didn't look good. The airline had guaranteed them a flight ON TUESDAY, but they'd have to stay at the airport the whole time, or loose their place on the list. Needless to say we were all pretty bummed. Their luggage had been sent, and since he was bringing the suitcase with most of the gifts (I'd brought a bag of ski gear, and two ski bags with our luggage) I had better go to meet the fight they should have been on to collect it. We left Dan & Heidi's and headed for the airport to get the suitcases. My kids fell asleep in the car. I was contemplating running in and leaving them in the car for a minute, when I saw that the flight had been delayed. I went back to my parents house instead, and put the kids to bed. Then went back to the airport to get the bags. I hadn't been home long when Rick called to say that he and Rebekah had made it onto the last flight out, and would be getting in a little past midnight - so back to the airport I went.

Despite the multiple airport trips I made that day - I was thrilled that they had only spent 8 hours in Dallas over TWO DAYS. Rick said as each flight left, they got closer & closer to the top of the list - we guessed that a lot of people gave up and found other airlines, or just went to a hotel. Lucky for us, because I was really happy to have our family all together again.

Dec 22nd

My favorite Utah Christmas thing is the lights on Temple Square. I love Christmas lights - and no one does them better than Temple Square - plus the whole feeling of being near the Temple, and the nativity there - beautiful. I couldn't wait to take the kids.

One night we all went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Mum and Kate came too. Since we never eat out for Emily's birthday, and it was just a couple of days before, we hgad the waiters come and sing "Happy Birthday" to her, she loved it.

Then we went over to the Temple to see the lights.

The Salt Lake Temple.

The reflecting pool.

Dec 23rd

Snowbasin is not far from my parents house, and was our first place to ski while in Utah.

My three skiers. Rebekah looks mad - she does like skiing - I think I just got her at a bad moment. No wonder she won't let me put pictures of her on my blog ....

Jake's first real ski day.

Just as goofy as ever!

Emy loves it!

I wasn't sure if Jacob would need lessons - or if I would be able to teach him the basics.
This day was our trial run.

He started like this -

Jacob whined a lot and flopped on the snow. He said he couldn't do it, and didn't want to try. I was thinking that maybe I should just put him in ski school. Then I remembered - this wouldn't be like teaching Emily. Emily is self motivated, and wants to do well. Jacob is capable - but needs some pushing. I told him "no video games today, unless you try." I also brought Emily down to show him how she does it - because I believe there's nothing that is a greater motivator than having a sibling do something you cannot.

So then he did this -
(ignore my annoying instructions.)

Not a bad start - I'm hoping he'll be independent enough that next year I can take Jane.

We always end the day with hot chocolate in the lodge - because any day that starts with skiing and ends in hot chocolate is wonderful.

Dec 24th

Christmas Eve is traditionally Rick's big family gathering, so we planned for that.
In the morning we had some food to make in preparation. We were in the kitchen when Jacob & Jane spontaneously came in like this. Really, is there anything that can warm the hearts of a parent on Christmas Eve more than seeing your little kids act out the nativity? Some of that reading and teaching must have sunk in. It was the perfect start to the day.

I made rolls, and Rick made cookies with expert assistance from Jane, who had been bathed - but had not quite made it all the way to getting dressed!

Then we all met for bowling.

After bowling we headed to Rick's Dad's place for YUMMY dinner. Then the grand kids all acted out the nativity story with these beautiful puppets Deanna made before she died. Lacey was so great to co-ordinate this. It was wonderful to see them all together and to think of Deana's vision of this, and her loving care in making the puppets.

Then it was time for the family gift exchange.

Jane's face just says "Merry Christmas."
Jane was SO excited to receive her gift from Don, and it got even better - he gave her a horse! She was so excited to get it, she was hugging it before we could even get it out of the box.

Hooray for cousins, hooray for presents!

Dec 25th

Not enough stocking holders at Mums - so we put ours on the couch.

Really, there is nothing better than the happy faces of children opening gifts on Christmas morning.

After the gift fest, we all got dressed and down to the business of making food. I love big gatherings - dividing all the work makes it much easier & I'd much rather make a whole lot of three things, than not much of ten. In the craziness, I forgot to get any real pictures of the food (lots and lots of food) - but I did take a picture of this beautiful jello dessert that Jeni made. I'll have to get the recipe and put it on my food blog.

What meal is complete without a sippy cup?

For dessert we always have Emily's birthday cake. This year she requested a Harry Potter cake.

Then she opened her birthday gifts.
Her scriptures.

and lots of American Girl stuff.

Jacob's gift came with a kiss. It makes me so happy that they love each other so much.

A hug from Ethan.Then a little show. The girls had really planned this, but who are Jacob & Jane to miss out on some attention if it's to be had?

What big day would be complete without a few tears?

and comfort from your big sis?

Which makes everyone happy (or silly) again?

As we were putting the kids to bed, Corinne noted that Sam was wearing Jane's old pj's, and Jacob and Jane had Emily & Jake's old one's - that deserves a photo! I love hand me downs - too bad I'm always the hander and never the receiver.

Dec 26th

The day after Christmas we had planned to meet Rick's siblings and their kids and go sledding. We had a late a start (late night the night before), and then got stuck behind 6 snowplows on the way - which brought a few heated words between Rick and I. We decided to abandon trying to get there, and just turn around and not be mad at each other.

My siblings & their kids were going ice skating - so we decided to go with them instead.
I like living in NY and don't miss Utah so much (other than family.) There are however two words that make me want to high tail it back west as fast as I can.
REC. CENTER
So many places in Utah have these - and Colorado and other places in the west too.
Why don't we have them here?? Why??

This is the Recreation Center near my parents. It's a three-story, 160,000-square-foot, brick-and-steel building that houses an Olympic-size ice rink, competition pools, a gym and exercise rooms. PLUS it's cheap. Seriously, we could get an annual family membership for less than Rick and I spend on a few months of the gym here. What a great way to spend time with your family.

Jacob may have taken to skiing, but he was not so keen on ice skating. He was pretty much a lead weight for me to slide around the ice. Quite the arm workout!

McKinlay was so sweet to skate with Emily. These two love each other so much. Mckinlay is two years older than Emily - young enough to still have fun together and just enough older to be helpful and a great example.

Later that afternoon, we all decided to go sledding at Happy Hallows.

McKinlay, Emily, Kate & Ethan.

Jane and I.

Ethan, Kate, Emily.

There was a jump over a small creek. Brian convinced Rebekah to try it.
On her first TWO try's she landed in the creek.

On her third attempt - she sailed right over.

Jacob thought it was AWESOME!

(Thanks Corinne for the pics - I wasn't brave enough to bring my good camera sledding!)

Dec 29th

On the 29th we went skiing with Don & Lacey at Snowbird.

This time we left Jacob home so the bigger people could ski. I love Snowbird, it was always my favorite place to ski years ago & I still love it. Again, I didn't bring the camera - I should have probably grabbed my little one, but for motion shots it's no good, and the good one is too big to carry in my pocket & I don't want it around my neck when I ski - so no pictures this day.
Suffice it to say that fun was had by all.

Dec 31st

We were so excited to get to meet up with the Stanley's while we were in Utah.
We MISS THEM SO MUCH.
Just like when we saw them this summer, it was as if Jacob and Colin had never been apart.

Jane was delighted to see "baby 'trea"

And of course, Emily and Roxcy had a great time together.

The kids went sledding and built a snow fort.

Which was wonderful, because it left me free to catch up with Erin. She made us a delicious lunch with food grown in her parents garden, and we had the tour of her parent house, which is exactly my taste. Such a great afternoon. Have I mentioned WE REALLY MISS THESE GUYS!

After going home we let the kids have some New Years Eve fireworks fun.

Then did a little "fake" New Years for them at 10pm, and sent them to bed. My kids get up at 5:30am not matter what time they go to bed, so late nights for us just means a cranky next day. Once they were in bed we played games with the teenagers & grown-ups, and staggered off to bed exhausted at 12:01am! We're getting old.

Jan 1st

Rick's Dad turned 70 on New Years Day, so we all got together for a family breakfast. Dave is such a sweetheart, I have a real soft spot for him and of course the kids all love Grandpa!

A clown made them balloons. A purple horse for Jane (what else?)

and a water gun for Jacob (I'm surprised he didn't ask for a light saber.)

We spent the afternoon skiing at Snowbasin again - this time I took Jacob for more fun. He's really improving. Again, no pictures.
But by this point in the post do you need more pictures of us skiing, or do you just want this to end??

Our New Years Day tradition is to smash the gingerbread houses and eat them, so we did that in the evening. Really, my kids eat some of it. Yucky! Still, it's fun and they have at it for about 15 minutes and then I clean it up and throw it in the garbage - so not too bad.

Jan 2nd

We did a little shopping this day, and got a bunch of stuff ready for Emily's baptism, then went swimming (the Rec Center again!) in the afternoon.

In the evening Rick and I went out on our belated Tenth Anniversary date.

Here's the story -


I have always wanted to go to Log Haven for dinner. Our engagement pictures were taken there. We looked into having our wedding reception there - but it's up the canyon and figuring out how to get everyone there (including out of town guests) was tricky. The Lion House was a little less expensive AND right across the street from the Salt Lake Temple, so we compromised. We decided to have the reception at the Lion House and Rick would take me to Log Haven for a very romantic night some other time.

I wanted to go to Log Haven in the fall or winter, so we could enjoy the open fire & I could drink wassail and feel all cozy and romantic. Six weeks after our wedding we were in Utah for Christmas, but were busy and didn't really think about going there. Then again two years later, but we had one year old Emily I didn't really want to leave. Well, we haven't been there in the winter since. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in November - so when we knew we were going to be there over Christmas we knew it was a must.

Rick bought me a beautiful diamond eternity band for our anniversary, and we had my diamond re-set and them saudered together. He waited until we were at Log Haven for him to give them to me - he's quite the romantic. He also gave me a gorgeous diamond tennis bracelet for Christmas, which I wore that night. I was feeling quite spoiled and the evening was everything I had wanted it to be.

The restaurant was not busy, the fireplace was crackling, the food was delicious. We held hands and talked about our last 10 years (we've had 3 kids, Rick's had 3 jobs, I've had 3 jobs, we've lived in 3 places - we decided three is our lucky number.)

I had roast pheasant, root vegetables and bison. Rick had Elk. Everything was delicious, including the creme brulee for dessert (my favorite.)

Such a great evening spent with the love of my life - and I really recommend this restaurant, it's as good as any of the better places we've eaten in in NYC. (They have other selections if you're not into game.)

Jan 3rd

A big day for Emily and our family.
Emily was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The day was beautiful - new snow had fallen the night before, but the day dawned with bright blue sky. Everything felt fresh and exciting.

Emily & I designed her dress back in October. She chose the neckline, and how she wanted the sleeves to look, she told me where to put ribbon, it was all her plan. The idea was that we would make it together, as a learning / bonding experience. Time got away from us (the flood at home hadn't helped, since my sewing area is in the basement) and I ended up making it alone the night before - finishing in the wee hours. Looking back, I wished I'd lined the bodice instead of doing the facing, since you could see it - but it was fine and she LOVED it.

I love how she and Rick looked together in their white. Look at that happy, excited face.

The actual baptism was wonderful. Only two mess ups (both mine) I forgot the words to the song when I was leading (a shy) girl cousin choir - and accidentally had them sing the wrong words. The second thing - I forgot to make copies of the songs for those who needed them - so we just changed the last song to "I am a Child of God," since everyone knows it.

We had family from both sides, and a few close friends. It was sweet and simple and lovely. After the baptism we headed back to Mums to eat. The dinner was typical "large crowd" fare - but for the desserts I did an all white theme. White worked well and was fun, we had white chocolate covered pretzels, white cake with white frosting & white rosebuds, powdered donuts, eclairs with white rosebuds, white jelly belly's, mini marshmallows, Mexican wedding cookies ... you get the idea. Emily had a lovely day, and that made me happy.

Jan 4th

On the 4th of January, it was Rebekah's 16th birthday. We woke her up with balloons and singing "happy birthday". Then we had to zip off to church, but we came home to a big family brunch to celebrate.

We gave her fencing lessons - Jacob was so excited to give her the card.

Grandma & Grandpa gave her a new CTR ring.

After a brief birthday we had to zip her to the airport to fly home. Not the best way to spend a birthday, but she had to be home for school to start!

Jan 5th

The last day in Utah, since the little's and I were flying home that night. It was cold and snowy and the cousins were all back in school, so we headed to the Discovery Museum.

They loved this ball thing and spent about 20 minutes there until I suggested we go see other things too! There were a series of pipes that had air rushing through them - you popped a ball into one of several openings and watched it go.

Then playing xylophones. My Mum came with us - after a few minutes there she asked if we wouldn't like to try something quieter - I reminded her that I had taken them there to be able to make noise - and it was either here or her house!

They worked so well together to build this house.
What I wouldn't give for a playroom like this ....

And who doesn't love water play?

Or making more noise?

Climbing the rock wall was a big hit.

Of course Jane loves sitting on the horse!

They had fun pretending to run a grocery store.

Then making their own cartoons.

Last of all they put on a play.
I am a sucker for dress-ups - and there were some great one's there. I didn't exactly understand the plot. There was a Pharaoh, and a bunny ....

and a "wild thing" who chased them ....

Then the Pharaoh became a bunny and the bunny became a bear. They all chased each other some more and then took a bow. It was a raging success!

This summer, when we are free of the multitude of "school year activities" that suck up all my time, I'm going to make some dress-ups like this. Look, It's just one jacket pattern made in diferent fabrics and with the hood altered to make an entirely new costume.
Brilliant. I must have some!

The Flight Home

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing and gathering our belongings, which were strewn from one end of my parents house to the other. We had dinner and I bathed my kids and put them into their pj's. My Dad asked me a dozen times if he should come to the airport with us, but I insisted I didn't need him. It was snowing outside, and they can't come to the gate with me. I had the rental car to return - so all they'd end up doing was driving behind me for nothing. My plan was simple - pull up to sky cap - unload all the bags with the kids still in the car, then drive around to return the rental car - then go board the plane - where the kids would sleep all the way home and Rick would meet us in the morning. (You know I wouldn't be writing about this if it had worked out that way.)

I loaded the car and off we went. The kids instantly fell asleep, because it was late and they were so tired. I got to the airport and pulled up to the curb for skycap. No one. I looked up and down. Nothing. I got out and walked over to the booth - which appeared to be locked. Panic.

I saw a parking guy who "looked official" - you know the one who walks up and down saying that you can't park there - and asked about the sky cap "Oh, they took them out at night. Trying to save money I guess?" WHAT! I looked at my watch, I had about an hour & 15 minutes before my flight - I had two sleeping kids, one awake 8yr old, 4 regular suitcases, one giant bag of ski gear (helmets, boots, goggles, etc), two big long ski bags and a box of gifts we had accumulated while there. Not to mention our carry on bags, a car seat and the stroller - and I had to return the rental car. I calculated if it might be possible for Emily and I to move all that stuff. Then I tried to figure out if there was any way I could call my parents and have them get there fast to help.
I was at a loss.

I explained to the parking guy that I had two sleeping kids in the car, and lots of bags, and I had to return the rental car. I asked if it would be possible to circle around and park in the bus lane, so I could be right outside the entrance. Perhaps I looked overwhelmed, perhaps my voice wavered and a few tears welled up in my eyes as I pled for help - or maybe he was just a super nice guy. He told me yes, and he'd help me.

I circled around, and pulled up next to the door. I pulled all our stuff out to the curb, and locked the kids into the car. The guy met me, and alternated with me carrying in bags or watching the car. He went up to the desk agent, and asked them to help me get everything checked in - which they did while he waited outside with the car for me! (also why I locked it - just in case he was pretending to be nice, just to kidnap my kids.)

The ticket agent didn't even make me wait while they did each bag - just gave me the claim checks and sent me on my way. Once I got back to the car I gave the guy a tip - which he refused, but I insisted. I got back in the car and he started to walk away - then I think he must have looked at the amount of money I'd handed him, and came back to the car to give it back to me! I wouldn't take it - because I really don't know how else I could have managed getting all the stuff checked in - and the kids were still happily asleep in the car.
Having that guy there was such a blessing.

I went to return the car - they were closed. The instructions said to attach the keys to your rental agreement, write the mileage on it, and then lock the car and drop the keys & agreement into the drop box. Fat chance. Not only did I have no idea about where my rental agreement was, I also didn't have a pen handy and was about to carry a sleeping kid and a car seat into the airport, while pushing another sleeping kid in a stroller in frigid temperatures! I just droppepd the keys in the box, and hoped for the best (it was fine.)

Of course, our car rental return was the furthest possible place away from the gate - but we got through security and then another helpful guy there called one of those transport things for us to whip us to the other terminal and to our gate. We arrived just in time to use the bathroom before boarding. Seriously, I have never been so relieved to be getting on a plane in all my life!

The flight home was relatively uneventful (although I didn't get any sleep) and we landed at 5:30am in NY - ready for Rick to pick us up and get us home.

It was an epic trip. We will not be returning to Utah for Christmas any time soon (or ever), but I'm really glad that we did it and had so much fun. I hope the kids made good memories.