Goodbye blog, for now...

Well, I'm off to Idaho in the morning. This is what I'm dreading...a 4:00 AM alarm, a cold house and cold feet, waking up sleeping children at 4:45, driving to Long Beach airport in the dark, a 6:45 flight with 2 tired kids. This is what I'm looking forward to...wonderful inlaws, great food...and lots of it, snow (but only for 2 weeks...can't take much more than that), a warm cabin, lots of cousins, games of Rook, lots of snowmobiling, pristine views atop tall mountains, the nativity scene on Christmas Eve with all the kids, watching Lauren and Kate open more presents, a good time. Merry Christmas to everyone and we'll see you in January! Here are some pics of our very first trip to Island Park in Dec 2003, when Andy and I were engaged...

A few more of my favorite people...

Tonight I went out to dinner with a group of women that I've been friends with since freshman year at BYU (and way before that with one of them). We used to get together with this "college dinner group" once a month before we had kids, and now it's once every few months because there are 5 1/2 kids between us, although most of us see each other on a regular basis. Although our husbands have become good friends, we decided that as a Christmas present to each other we would go out to dinner...just the women. We went to Cafe Sole in Montrose and then to Starbucks for hot chocolate afterward. It was fun to just talk, and talk, and talk, and talk! How I love my women-folk-friends...

Christmas with the Smiths

Because we will be spending the holidays with Andy's family in Idaho, we had a pre-Christmas dinner and present-opening-session with my family tonight. Everyone was there, and it was a great time. I think my brother needs to hurry up and get married and have kids, because he sure is good with Lauren and Kate, and they love playing with him (and it's nice to have someone else that will chase Lauren around and spin her on the floor). Of course Lauren was the most excited to open presents...I went to take dessert out of the oven, and came back to see Lauren holding a new sweater that she had opened for me from my brother! Kate did really well, considering that it was 2 hours past her bedtime. For the most part, she spent her time un-decorating the Christmas tree, much to her Grandpa's displeasure...she even cut her finger in the process. The kids came home with new books, a movie, puppets, and memberships to the Zoo and Kidspace...thank you Santa/Grandma. It was a really nice night...too bad we couldn't stay and finish watching "Big," but the kids were starting to melt and so were we!

Mitt Romney Mania

This is what I woke up to this morning...an election pamphlet stuck to my fridge with magnetic letters. Now, Andy has always been a little political...don't get him started on issues he feels strongly about...the economy, Walmart, capitalism, unions...but with Brother Romney in the running for President, Andy has gone CRAAAAAAAAAZY. He has turned into a political fanatic! To put it mildly, Andy is IN LOVE with Mitt Romney. My dad and Mitt were mission companions in France back in the day, and the day that my dad went to a Mitt Romney political function and shook hands again with him, and came home with stickers and a yard sign was the day Andy truly turned GREEN with envy. He tells me over and over about how much he wants a Mitt Romney T-shirt, and how if he becomes the GOP candidate I will no longer see him because he's joining the campaign and will be busy, busy, busy. We've been married alomst 5 years, and have been through many an election together. But NEVER have I known Andy to post the election pamphlet on the fridge...I guess so I don't forget that Mitt Romney is running for president. If there's an article on the internet or the newspaper...Andy's read it. If there's an interview with Glenn Beck or Larry King...it's TiVo'd. The Mitt Romeny radar is alive and active! So if you see Andy in the hall, watch out! He'll find a way to bring Mitt Romney up in the conversation! And I'm not joking! And if February comes and you can't find your election pamphlet...call us...you can borrow it off the fridge...GO MITT!!!

Sleeping Babies

You know when your sleeping kids look so cute that you have to take a picture of them? Kate was so funny in her PJs because they were borrowed from a friend during a holiday party earlier in the day, and were actually the third outfit she'd had on due to a little stomach bug. It's fun to bathe your children at someone else's house, and during a party! And Lauren is very into her hat and gloves these days. The hat is from 2 summers ago, and barely fits her head, but she loves it. She looks very Michael Jackson-ish in the photo (except the hat is pink). Actually I just dropped her off at preschool in the same hat and gloves. I've 95% given up the idea of trying to dress her...I'm still holding out hope for cute outfits that match..she has a drawer full of them, but she opts for too-short yoga pants and ugly t-shirts everyday!) Oh well, I can still dress Kate, at least for another year or so...

"Mom, Can I Hold Baby Jesus?"

Lauren has become quite "attached" to the baby Jesus and manger that we have on our TV armoire. When she first asked to hold him (AKA carry him around, put him down for naps in her bed, wrap him up, etc...) I was hesitant because that particular figurine can not be replaced unless I trek to Jerusalem to buy it, which will probably never happen again. But, at the same time, it's sort of cute, and she is sort of careful with him. Sometimes she wants the manger, sometimes she doesn't. This morning she was carrying him around, and then I noticed that she had put him in her backpack and she was carrying him that way...funny little girl.

Christmas Lights...Finally

After Lauren's repeated requests to turn on our Christmas lights (which weren' even up yet), Andy finally pulled out the lights and the ladder and got our little pink house in the holiday spirit. I still need to take a picture from the outside with the lights turned on. The ironic thing is that we are a back house, only partially visible from the street, so the lights are mostly for us. But it's amazing what a difference it makes to come down the driveway at night and see the house all lit up...and the kids love it.

Christmas at the Pink House

It's not hard to decorate a house that's very small...most of our decorations are still in tupperware bins, while only a select few will help us celebrate the holidays this year! My nativity set is from Jerusalem when I spent a term there...since that time I've started collecting them from around the world...I also have sets from Bolivia, Peru and the Phillipines. I don't know how extensive our travels will be in the coming years, so the collection may stay at that for a while. I have yet to find a tree topper that I REALLY love and that I can afford, so the $10 silver Target star I bought last year stayed packed away (hopefully forever...I never really liked it) and I tried my hand at tying a bow...I like the way it turned out. So far, we've only had 1 ornament casualty (plus the ceramic Santa on a side table that bit the dust), although we've had several near-mishaps with Kate. I've found that I can very successfully barricade the tree with my piano bench and other chair that I sit in during lessons...kind of kills the beauty of the tree, but kind of preserves the beauty of the tree at the same time. We got our tree up early this year because we will be taking it down next Friday before we leave on Saturday for Utah and Idaho. We will be spending Christmas with all of Andy's family and then heading up to Island Park, Idaho for some snow-mobiling the day after Christmas...we look forward to tons of cousins, good food, games of Rook, wet and cold snow clothes, lost mittens and tons of fun...! (NOTE: Lauren took that last picture of me and Kate! She's VERY into taking pictures these days, and that one turned out fairly centered, as opposed to the self-portrait she took of herself...big, blue, bug eyes and a nose!)

Lauren's First Boyfriend...

I have a really good friend that I met (for the 2nd time...she says that we initially met at Bellis Music Camp when I was in 6th grade...I don't remember, but that's normal if you know me well!) at BYU. She grew up in the area and now lives here with her husband and son. We do a lot of baby-sitting swaps and Lauren and her little boy LOVE each other. He was here yesterday and I was in the back of the house, and those 2 were such a riot to listen to. I walked into the kitchen, and there was Lauren sprawled out on the table, in his face, while he ate his morning snack, and they were just simply cracking each other up. I swear those 2 don't need any toys or TV shows to be entertained together. They just run around chasing each other and making sounds at each other, and they laugh! While Lauren was on the table, they were just splitting a seam while laughing out loud. It cracked me up. I think he's starting to have an attachment to Kate, though...so move over Lauren!

Bethlehem Village continued...

These photos go with the post below about Lauren's school program. The first one is Lauren talking to "Baby Jesus"...she clearly thought she was really looking at Him...it was really sweet. (Lauren is the girl looking at the baby, NOT the girl looking at the camera...although she looks just like Lauren). It's funny to note that Lauren was baby Jesus when she was an infant also...Andy and I were Mary and Joseph. Although, at the last minute, baby Lauren was throwing such a fit (it was waaaaaay past her bedtime, that we had to use a stand-in baby...we sat there holding someone else's baby while all the people filed past us! The second photo is Lauren with her best friend from school...they always run to each other and ask for each other. Lauren is standing next to her on the stage in the picture from the previous post, also. At Lauren's first parent-teacher meeting, I was told that Lauren needs to work on expanding her "friend base"! Lauren and this little girl always like to play together and don't like to "share" each other with other kids...the teacher said she told this to the little girl's mom, too! I guess this is a problem?

Bethlehem Village--Lauren's preschool program

Lauren participated in her first-of-many school Christmas programs on Sunday. We had to wake her up from a very deep nap to get there on time, and she was honestly half asleep through the first part of it...Andy and I were watching her up on stage, and we kept laughing that she looked like she was zoned out. It's painful to be be woken up from a deep sleep, and it usually takes me a LONG TIME to fully recover...Lauren's the same. Anyway, her school, Joy Christian Preschool, put on Bethlehem Village, where they created Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth...they had all these booths with activities for the kids...ornament making, petting farm, coin-making/census taking, die-makers, and others. The kids were all divided up into one of the tribes of Israel...Lauren's class was the tribe of Reuben...hence the "Reuben" scarf on her head. They alternated between singing on stage and rotating around to the booths. It was really well done. The bummer of the day was the weather...it was truly freezing...it was hard to keep the kids warm...their hands were little ice blocks, and sadly people started to go home early (us included) because it was so cold. But despite the cold, we had a great time.

Travel Town, Griffith Park

Well, I've been a little busy, hence the lack of posts...but I'll try to catch up a little. We went to Travel Town in Griffith Park last week with a big group of friends from church, and had a great time! Travel Town is a great, free-admission museum filled with old train cars and tracks for the kids to climb in. Actually, only some of the cars are open, but the kids only needed a few! The day was really cold, but we bundled up, packed a lunch and enjoyed ourselves. We certainly have a fabulous group of women here; it's nice to always have someone to hang out with. Lauren was a little under the weather at Travel Town (would I be a bad mom if I admitted that she threw up on the way there? Luckily I had given her a big towel right before!) But she's like her father...they have to be dead before they'll stay in bed. She wanted to go, so we went. Actually, she's thrown up in the car the last 2 times we've gone to Travel Town...maybe she actually hates the trains? So, she fell asleep on the way home, and then slept the rest of the afternoon...that's my kind of afternoon!

Can I blow out your candles Daddy?

Today is Andy's 29th birthday! We celebrated last night by putting the kids to bed at my parent's house, and going to the mall--every man's dream! That's what happens when the wife plans a night out! Actually, it was great. We got take-out at CPK (to maximize the time available for shopping), and he opted for dessert at See's Candy during our walk down the mall...why get just one piece of chocolate when you can have four? Then Andy spent every cent he was given by both our parents and then some. As I waited very patiently for him to try on pants after pants after pants after belt after shoes after sport coat, I told him that I would remind him about my extreme patience the next time I wanted to stop and look at something in a store. He was ready to fall over dead by the end, so I dropped him off at home and went to get the kids. He was asleep by the time I got home...such low shopping stamina...good thing I'm in the business of producing daughters...shopping companions with more endurance. It was a really nice night together, and Andy's closet proves it was a success...Our present to each other is going to Walt Disney Concert Hall this weekend to see the LA Philharmonic.

After the 6 pieces of See's Chocolate between the 2 of us, we really didn't need a birthday cake today, but I didn't want to deprive Lauren of the thrill of singing and then blowing out someone else's candles...so I opted to make a pan of mint frosted brownies and stick some candles on them. Lauren said, "But there's only 3!" Frankly, I don't have 29 candles, and I think Lauren would have passed out! In order to fully appreciate how comical she was, you have to pay attention to her attire...this is what she was wearing when I came home from teaching lessons at my mom's house...a snow hat, fairy wings, mittens, a pink purse around the neck, a Church dress (the red and white stripe) plus pants, a t-shirt, AND capris under all that...I could only appreciate the full outfit as I watched her de-robe for her bath...funny girl. Happy Birthday Andy! We love you!

A Home Depot Christmas Tree--Only in CA

Saturday we trekked down the freeway to HOME DEPOT to get our Christmas Tree! How festive! Actually, it was quite a pleasant experience...the prices can't be beat, they saw off the bottom for you and wrap it in netting for the drive. I hassled my parents a few years ago when they finally bought a fake tree (after 30+ years of dutifully putting up a real tree), but once we got married and put up a few trees of our own, I saw the brilliance in artificial, already lit, just bend the branches a little, store it in the garage, Christmas trees. But I supposed Andy and I have a few more years of real trees left in us...you can't beat the smell. Lauren was so excited to go pick out a tree (we were suppposed to do it on Friday night, but the rains forced us to cancel our plans, which led to lots and lots of whining...). Kate had fun just pushing a stick around! We got it tied to the top of the van, made our way very slowly in the slow lane back to Pasadena, and now it's all lit up and semi-decorated in our family room...I'll have to post some pictures as I take them...

Holiday Drive...

On Friday night we braved the torrential rains, and headed over to Griffith Park to drive along Chrystal Springs Rd. which is all lit up compliments of the LA Dept of Water and Power...it was really nice, especially because the kids were so well behaved in the back seat! Although I will admit that about 2 mintues into the lights, Lauren asked to have her movie turned back on, to which we said no. I think she actually did enjoy it, and Kate was so under-the-weather that she just stared out the window in silence.