Christmas

Christmas eve was so great. We had our Christmas eve dinner and had tons of ham and mashed potatoes, lots of veggies, and shloer (like martinelli's). We invited several people over for dinner but no one showed up so we had a lot of left overs. We went with our friends, the Cave's, to her father's village. They have a tradition to come together as a village and sing carols at the town center. It was awesome. There was a brass band, lights, christmas tree, and a full town center. It was a perfect scene with the snow on the ground and Eliza and new best friend Evie singing and playing around. We went back to Louise's family's home for hot cocoa, roasted chestnuts and chocolate. It was such a great evening with warm memories.

Christmas morning was great. We have a video of the first 10 minutes of the morning so you can get an idea of our morning. Eliza has been looking forward to a blue crown and a pink trumpet. She has been asking for them for months so it was exciting to see her eyes when she finally got her desire. She wore the crown all day and carried her trumpet everywhere and even slept with it.

I love Christmas when something as small as a princess juice box makes Eliza happy.

I hope that eveyone had a great, safe, and happy Christmas filled with many warm memories.

Eliza turns 3

With all of the excitement of the cruise and the big boat and London, Eliza was still waiting for her third birthday. We have told Eliza that her birthday is after the big boat so she was excited for that. Even when we were on the boat she would tell people "I am not 3 yet" so when her birthday finally came it was exciting. She woke up in the morning and I told her she was three and she said "no I am not, I am not bigger yet". Then after breakfast she came in and said " ok I am bigger now. I am 3". We had a great birthday. We all went swimming and she loved it. The pool was a perfect depth for Eliza to walk around but still learn to swim. That night her friends came over and made the day seem very special. We had a tinklebell cake and great presents.

Truly Eliza was the greatest Christmas I have ever had. I still remember being in the hospital on Christmas Eve and the carolers came by and started to sing "come let us adore him". Tears came to my eyes because I wanted to adore my little girl. She has brought so much joy to my life. When she is asleep, I miss her. She is so obedient, gentle hearted and loves her brother. I love her twirls and dancing and wanting to dress up. I am grateful every day that Heavenly Father trusted us with this special spirit.

London

After our cruise we ported in Southampton and caught a bus up to London. We stayed in London for 3 days visiting one of my friends. It was awesome. We visited a big Christmas festival. Eliza rode on the swings, two times she loved it so much. We tried to take her out after her first ride and she did not want to get out, so she rode again. We walked down Oxford street and it was awesome, lights everywhere, windows decorated, and a little German market with brats and a brass band. It was so great!

We toured all day Monday and visited a lot of the touristy sites, not all because there are so many places to see in London. London is so fascinating with all of the architecture and history all over the city.

cute moments on the cruise

Eliza loved to dance on the boat. They had a couple of dance floors and live bands so she was in heaven. Here are a few pictures of her dancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw1wJSrh5MA

One night at dinner eliza was being really cute. She was singing jingle bells while eating ice cream. It was a riot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDPG0EF1pM4

cruise

I have been planning for a cruise for over a month and a half. Initially David and I wanted to tour Europe during the Christmas break, go to Albania, Italy, Switzerland, but as I started researching and preparing for the trip it just seemed more and more difficult. The cost was way over what we could afford and traveling with 2 kids seeing things they don't care about and isn't fun. Can you imagine a 16 month old in the Sistine Chapel? As the dream of traveling Europe while we were this close died, I was inspired. I still wanted to see Europe and be with my family. I wanted something relaxing for David after finals and his first semester at medical school. I was inspired to look into cruises near by. I found one that would fit our budget and we could really enjoy Christmas. It was called the Christmas market cruise. We left Monday Dec, 14 and it was a 5 day cruise. I have been telling Eliza that we are going to go on a big boat for over a month. She told all of her friends and everyone at church so it was exciting to finally see our boat. It wasn't a huge ship but big for us, 800 passangers and 300 crew. We were the only young ones on the boat, there was nothing on the boat for the children and it was very cold, so no swimming, no tennis, golf or hot tub, but it was AWESOME!!!! We ate ,ate, napped, danced and played cards and just were together. It was so great to be there as a family and play together. The children were great and everyone thought they were darling.

We visited Bremerhaven, Germany and Amsterdam. We were planned to visit Belgium but due to inclimate weather we couldn't port. It snowed out to sea and the captain said it was his first time seeing snow out to sea. This was the big freeze that came over Europe and effected a lot of transportation, but we had a great day at sea.

In Bremerhaven we visited the zoo which was really cold but the animals were all up and ready for their breakfasts, so it was great to see the animals so active and close up.

Also we went to the climahouse, which is like a discovery museum for climates and different cultures. It was huge and had some great exhibits, plus it was inside. It is the building that looks like a huge raft.

It was very cold in Germany. We finally found the Christmas market and it was great. We ate brauts German style. they were great.

Amsterdam was awesome. We went on a little canal cruise, and it was great because it took us down all of the beautiful canals and showed us the main sites of the city and it was heated so that was a plus. We walked down the market street that led us to the main city square and it was beautifully lighted. Our camera was dead at that point so we didn't get any pics, but it was awesome. We found the flower market. As we walked down the market it started to snow. It was so awesome and added to the ambiance of the Christmas feeling. We headed back to the boat a little early and enjoyed a warm very tasty dinner. It was so relaxing not to worry about food.

We were supposed to port in Belgium but the weather was bad. The captain tried to get us to port at several other places but nothing worked out. We stayed out to sea and played on the boat.

It was such a great vacation to be with my family and see a little part of Europe.

Fenton Dancing

Fenton loves his sister and loves to do whatever she is doing, including dancing. Eliza loves to twirl so Fenton has learned the art of twirling. He gets his stance and then waits, holding the pose until he is fully ready, then he twirls. It is a masculine twirl but still cute.

fudge

I made fudge for Thanksgiving and it was quite the challenge. I couldn't find the marshmallow fluff that makes fudge so easy, so I improvised and used marshmallows. That is also hard to find. I found a bag of big marshmallows but they were pink and white and the pink ones had a strawberry flavor to it. I picked all of the pink ones out, and with a recipe from my sister I made some pretty good fudge.

(remember that our fridge is a mini fridge, perfect size for Fenton) The fudge was so good I caught Fenton red handed. (my narration of the picture) "What mom, I didn't do anything wrong" Notice the fudge smears on the freezer next to the fridge. You gotta love a boy that loves fudge.

things I am thankful for

Here is a list of things I am thankful for. This list seems to mean a lot more to me this year than it has any other year.

Prayer to my Heavenly Father
My thoughtful husband David
my wonderful kids
a car that can take you from point A to point B protected from the weather
root beer
heated showers
towel racks
big garbage cans
groceries that can be delivered
my stroller
David in Medschool
my loving supportive family... (I love you)
long warm beautiful summer days
play groups
my English friends
America (so many things to say)
Costco
drive thru's restaurants
tv's that can use cable
DVD players that play region 1
fake fireplaces
real fireplaces
Idaho
Boxing day (it is an awesome English holiday)
The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Temples
Doctors
good medicine
computers
skype
technology
sleeping in (I don't ever do that but I would be thankful for it)
David's dedication
my mission
the grocery store across the street
the big window in our apartment
good music
This list is a bit different than what I usually have but it is the time and the place that allows you to be greatful for certain things.
I hope everyone has a safe a happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving

Though we live in a country now that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, we have some friends that so generously hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for us and another American. We had the dinner last Sunday and it was great.
We arrived several hours early so we could help with the cooking. We were all shredding, chopping, mixing or eating fudge. We had a great time getting the dinner ready.
We had the traditional food with a little flare of England added. We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and fudge, with Yorkshire pudding, brussel sprouts, and parsnips. It was quite a spread.
We stayed later and played games. Eliza and Fenton had a great time playing with Evie, their little girl.
Thanks Cave's for keeping our traditions alive.

trying to accessorize

David had a Gala for his program in school so we had an opportunity to get dressed up and have an evening out.

It has been noticed that I don't have the best fashion sense, and it is true, so for this Gala I wanted to try to be fashionable. I went shopping for several days to find the dress, shoes and accessories and this is what I came up with.

We got a babysitter and had a great evening. We had dinner, there was 3 speakers, and then a slide show. There was dancing at the end, but everything else was finished at 11:30 so we had to hurry home to our babysitter. We barely caught the last train to our house. We wish we could have stayed for dancing but it was still nice to see David amongst his piers and to get dressed up and go to a Gala.

random things

Here are some random things going on in my life...
Fenton knows how to open the fridge, now remember that the fridge is only about 2 1/2 feet tall, so that is entertaining for us.
He just tried ketchup for the first time... he loved it,,, he loves dipping, but what little kid doesn't?
Eliza has a little English accent, it is not as cute as it sounds,, a little whiny
They call ladybugs "ladybirds" ...weird
The cold water out of the tap is so cold it hurts my hands to wash them, it is that cold of water.
All baby wipes are not created equal. I tried to get the cheap brand and I hated them. They wouldn't even wipe with my hand, without any more details, I didn't like them so much that I started mopping with them just so I could go through them quickly. I learned that I spend the little extra money to not dread changing a diaper any more that one would already dread to change poo. I actually am excited now because I will be able to use my new, brand names wipes. (if there are mothers out there, they know what I am talking about) I am not one to buy name brand things normaly, but these wipes were that bad, like the size of 2 toilet paper squares. How am I supposed to wipe off poo effectively and efficiently with that???

Rainbow

The weather was crazy yesterday with really big dark storm clouds but you could still see the sun streaming through the clouds. It was perfect conditions for a rainbow and there was a beautifully full one right outside our window. I felt like I could have walked to the end of it. It was beautiful. I told Eliza that it was the way Heavenly Father tells us he loves us. She just kept saying "mom I need to sit on the rainbow, I need to slide down the rainbow" "Can I touch it" It was really cute.

I have the most thoughtful husband

There was a scheduled Stake Temple trip last week. There was a bus that was booked so David and I were planning on going with the kids and swap at the temple. We asked the HPGL and he said it was for adults only so we couldn't take the kids. We needed to make a decision on who was able to go. The decision was made that David would go and I would stay home with the kids. He could study on the way up and so his Saturday was still productive.
Friday night David came home and we talked and talked and we/he decided that it would be best if I went up to the temple. I am the one that needed a break from the kids for a day so he graciously let/made me go and he stayed home and took care of the kids and didn't get much studying done.
I left Saturday morning and the bus didn't have any heat so it was freezing. We stayed at the temple for 6 hours. It was so great to not have any other agenda or any other place to be. I was not in a hurry, no other place to go. I loved to just sit in the House of the Lord and have the Spirit near. It was so peaceful and relaxing. This life is to experience life, the ups and downs, but eternal life with our family is our goal, no matter the many different lives we live, we want to live eternally together. I was able to do several names for some of the members of the church that had done their own family history. The high light was when I was sitting in the sealing room and a couple came in with their family names and the woman was sealing her mother and he sister to her. It was such a touching and close experience that I was able to witness.
Thank you David for allowing me a truly great and needed day at the temple.

Happy Halloween

So this has been our real first Halloween trick or treating with Eliza. when she was only 10 months we went to a little party, last year we were all sick and moving into our new house so we didn't do anything so this year we all dressed up and went trick or treating.
Our friends had a little party with chili and treats and we had all of the kids party together.
Eliza already had her Tinkerbell outfit, with a little embellishment she loved it. So we went with that theme. David bought some green tights and a Peter Pan hat and it was awesome, but we still needed a shirt for him and I needed a "Wendy" outfit. Not easy to find. So I bought a bright green blanket for 2 pounds and a blue sheet for 2 pounds and I went home to get sewing..... yes without a sewing machine. I did it all by hand and within about 2 hours. David's looked pretty good but it was really hard to try to make a dress out of a sheet, sewing by hand... so you have to use your imagination. Fenton was a lost boy... we were the whole Peter Pan Movie.
The evening was very fun. Eliza loved it and wanted to go to every door. She would knock on the door and want to walk in to every home... she thought they were all her friends because they were giving her candy.
Halloween is a bit different here. We were in a great neighborhood that several doors ready for us, but generally they say not many people trick or treat here. Most costumes are scary and not so much cute. They generally celebrate bonfire night which is 6 days after Halloween. It is celebrated because some time ago, someone tried to bomb the Parliament and failed, but they now remember that day by doing fireworks and having big bonfires... nice things to celebrate.....????
Surprisingly Eliza hasn't asked for the treats that she got on Halloween.
By the way...yes David LOVED the tights....