Nothing like rockin out to Trans-Siberian Orchestra while the boys clean the house because Santa only comes to CLEAN houses. Spotless ones. And Mr. Pres says, “That means nothing stuck in corners!” You got it! Clean it ALL!!!

And here they are rewarded for their hard work with the first present. New PJ’s.

Today Go Go presented me with my very first piece of school-made pottery!  It was lopsided and and bumpy and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been given!   Every once in a while, I have one of those moments that says, “You are officially a Mother.”  Today was one of those moments.  Thanks Go Go.

Mr. President was talking to his life long little friend on the phone today and said to her, “Sally, I have 2 teeth gone and 4 loose teeth, how many teeth will I lose all together?”  Then as he was saying goodbye he said, “I love you…but I’m not IN love with you, ok?”  We had no idea he knew the difference, but at least he can do story problems. 

On our way to the Fog Creek company party last night we decided to stop at the Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. It was…. big. That’s about all I can say for it. I saw it and thought, hm, what’s all the fuss about anyway? But people must think it’s a big deal because while we were there looking for someone to take our picture another couple saw us “looking” and asked us to take their picture. But he insisted on taking our picture first. So we let him. (the picture turned out blurry, so sorry, no proof). Then he handed Rock the camera and whispered, “I’m going to propose to her so get some good pictures.” AHHAHH! No pressure! So Rock snapped as many photos as he could of this cute couple. He got down on one knee, she squealed, she cried, they kissed. I wish I’d thought to take a picture of them myself, it was really too perfect. She said yes apparently and the ring was beautiful (I got to be the first to inspect it!). We walked away wishing these total strangers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Life together! I’m so glad we got to be a part of their special moment and right there in front of “The Tree”. It was 28 degrees out but our hearts were certainly warmed by the experience.

Then it was off to the party at the snazzy Russian Tea Room in New York City. http://russiantearoomnyc.com/subindex.php?p=slideshow2
It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was wonderful. The funny/interesting things of note at the party were 1. In a room full of 60 people of all ages I was the one with the most children. 2. Someone told me I looked like I was 12 so how could I possibly have that many children. 3. On our way out, Rock’s boss reminded him to take one of the mysterious silver wrapped packages stacked by the door. He said, “They’re actually apples from Washington.” And we thought. Oh. um. cool. (insert balloon deflate sound) And as we walked away we laughingly discussed the difference between apples and the GPS type gifts that Microsoft gave out. We also decided that Fog Creek was probably the kind of company that just paid you more instead of giving fancy gifts. When we got home, Rock went to the kitchen excited to cut open a nice juicy apple only to find….. a netbook (mini laptop) in the box instead!!!! LOL. Apples indeed. Today we feel very blessed to work for such a great company. Rock really does love his job and they all raved about him to me last night telling me that they were SO glad we moved all the way across the country because he does great work.
All in all a wonderful evening.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! Your sweet little face makes your mom so happy when it lights up with a smile. You get so excited about everything and squeal with delight over simple things. Your favorite things are “Goggy’s”, “balls”, and “choo choos” You adore your big brothers and want to do whatever they are doing. You have to fold your teddy’s arms when it’s time to pray and you won’t even take a nap without saying a little prayer! Your favorite time of day is when it’s time to get Daddy from the train station. I love watching your face light up as the train pulls in and you see Daddy get out and squeal and shout his name. You love to read with mom and won’t be satisfied until we’re sitting snuggled on the couch with a blanket over us and your teddy in your lap-THEN once everything is just right, we can read. Thank you for sharing your happy little spirit with our family.

Here is Blue Jeans watching his birthday card from Grandma. I knew Grandma H would appreciate this even if no one else does. First, here’s the link to the card so you can see what he’s so excited about.
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2056441368071&source=jl999

Now you can watch his reaction to it.

Happy Birthday Big Boy! We love you!

For Thanksgiving we drove up to Palmyra New York where my Aunt Beth and Grandma Wesel live. We drove through beautiful Pennsylvania on our way and found out that Hecktown PA is right between Bethlehem and Nazareth PA.
It was lots of fun getting to visit with family that I haven’t seen in years and many of whom have not even met my children! On our way home we stopped to see my Aunt Susie and Uncle Mark and many of their kids in Syracuse. We had a great time! Here are some picture highlights.

We went to visit the church sights too!

Joseph Smith Home

The Sacred Grove

The Sacred Grove is one of my favorite places on earth. I have wonderful memories of this place. One of my first memories in fact, is of walking out of the grove being carried on my dad’s shoulders as he sang “Oh How Lovely Was the Morning”. My testimony of the gospel was really solidified when I was 14 and heard my grandparents share their testimonies there. That was the first time I shared my testimony with true conviction. I’ve always looked forward to the day when I could take my own children there.

I will say however, that the Grove is a totally different experience in the fall and with small children! We’ll definitely have to go back in the spring and see if we can’t get Rock a walk through without the kiddos in tow.
And as a funny note to the trip-before we left for NY, we had a little family night about Joseph Smith’s experience in the sacred grove. We told the boys about how there were many different churches at the time and Joseph Smith wanted to know which one was the right one to join, so he prayed to God and got his answer that he should join none of them. So when on our trip as we drove past a street in Palmyra with really old churches on each corner, Go Go shouted out, “There’s all the churches who didn’t know!”

It’s always wonderful to be in Palmyra. Thanks for the good time Aunt B!