Love language

Whose is this?

 Whose is this?

Do-bee-do-bee-do-ba-do-bee-do-bee-do-ba

I wonder if my kids would be impressed if they saw who was hiding behind some seldom used icons on the desktop of my work computer?

This is what Christmas means

Now I feel bad. I'll take a better picture and post it later, but what you don't see very well here is that Natalie, when I gave her some paper and some crayons, drew a picture of the Holy Birth and titled it "This is what Christmas means" and added the caption "Jesus Christ is born." That makes me feel good. I still have a long way to go to be the parent I want to be, but I must be doing something right.

Freedom Trail

After living in Massachusetts for ten years we figured it was time for us to experience the Freedom Trail. Since the kids had the day off Jeremiah decided to take it off and we planned for an all day outing. It was a beautiful day so we stopped at Boston Commons and played at the park.

I think the kids would have been completely happy to just spend the day at the park but we really wanted to see the sights.

Our first stop was the State House and we even got a tour of the inside. Very impressive!


The kids were fascinated with the cemetery. We found tombstones for several famous people. Natalie really wanted to make sure we found where Paul Revere was buried. She was well informed of his part in history and Natalie wanted to make sure we saw the church where the candles were lit (we got to go inside that church as well) and the house where Paul Revere lived.


Because of Trevor's accident yesterday we had a bandaid on his lip. It really made him look like he had a mustache so Jeremiah added the final touch of special effects. We had several complete strangers stop us on the streets of Boston to tell Trevor that they liked his mustache. Trevor thought it was so cool. He wasn't excited about wearing a bandaid but that all changed when the bandaid became a mustache.

We did a lot of walking but somehow the kids still had energy to run around at the Boston Children's Museum. It was a great day!

Another Year Older...

....and wiser too! Happy Birthday Michaela.

Yesterday was Michaela's birthday. Between early morning seminary, school, and the youth temple trip we decided to celebrate Michaela's birthday on Monday. Everyone was home from school since it was Columbus day so we had all day to party.

These two are so good at pushing each others buttons so I always look for any chance I can get to capture the tender moments.


For the last three years Michaela has decorated her own birthday cake. It is something she looks forward to and it has been fun to see her improving her decorating skills.

I found these flowers for Michaela and as soon as I saw these bright and colorful flowers it made me think of her. Michaela brings so much brightness and color to our house and my life is so much better because she is in it!

Yesterday Michaela got to spend lots of time with mommy and daddy. Jeremiah taught her seminary class in the morning and because of our good friend offering to sit with the other kids that night both Jeremiah and I were able to go to the temple with Michaela. Michaela thought it was a great way to end her birthday.

Our aspiring young artist

Natalie has really taken a liking to the Percy Jackson series. Here is some fan art that she generated.

A Book of Mormon Story

Just watched this with my kids and Ethan and Evan from our ward. Great animation. Even better story.

Crazy Halloween

The unexpected sure did catch us by surprise this year. The last day of October found all my kiddies home from school because of a snow storm that dumped 14 plus inches of snow over the weekend. The kids were a little disappointed when they realized being home meant no class Halloween parties and no Halloween parade to the nursing home. They were really disappointed when we learned that Trick-or-Treating in our city had been canceled for that night and rescheduled for Thursday night. What?!? I had never heard of such a thing. But it did make sense when you understand that most of our city is without power. It's just not safe for little witches and goblins to be out in the dark streets especially when trees and power lines are down all over.

I was glad that I had planned a somewhat fun Halloween dinner since the kids had a bummer day. Everything was a big hit except for the "brains". Everyone did try them at least.

Mummy dogs, Potato ghosts, and Brains (spaghetti squash)

Instead of waiting until Thursday to go Trick-or-Treating we decided to join our friends in the neighboring city for some fun. The kids had a great time even if they had to traipse through the snow to get to the various houses. Felt more like we should have been out caroling instead of Trick-or-Treating but I think we made the best of it all and the kids thought it was great fun!







My favorite picture of the whole evening. Michaela the pirate with a giant snowman on Halloween. Crazy!

A Few days after the attack

Trevor has been a good sport with his fat lip. Just a few days after the event it is amazing how much better it looks.

Ouch!

Abigail clobbered Trevor yesterday. They were outside playing with their swim noodle light sabers. They have a PVC pipe handle and of course Trevor got hit with the PVC pipe end. Poor guy. He knew it was an accident and he tried so hard to be brave but it is hard to be brave when you are bleeding a lot. He also thought his tooth had fallen out and we were relieved when we discovered it was just his gum. After several hours in the ER he was put back together with six stitches. They are the magical dissolving kind so we don't have to worry about going back in to get them taken out. Trevor is in good spirits even with his extremely fat lip, very sore mouth, and the fact that he has a restricted diet. Stay tuned for a "after" picture. I'm sure in a couple of days it will look lots better.