Christmas fun!

Christmas Eve we spent at our friends' home, the Gholson family. Nanny, Karen, Ron, Katie, Jackie...and their whole gang. What a treat that was to be with all of them. It was good friends, good food, and good times. The boys were sheep in the Nativity, and Frank got to be a one of the wisemen. Our friends Amy, Derek & Kurtis are THE BEST!--and we are so sad because they moved to California two days later. We miss them terribly! Josh, Sam and Kurtis were great amigos, and Sam reminds me all the time that he loves Kurtis, and misses him.

Christmas morning was special. The boys were excited to see that Santa remembered them and their wishes. Josh got Transformers and Sam got his beloved motorcycle. Of course, grandparents spoiled them with gifts and we are so thankful for all the fun stuff. Frank was pleased to see my Mom's gift to him. He said, "finally, my own blanket!" My Mom is a great quilter, she made a University of Utah quilt for him. He's a happy man now that he doesn't have to share and has something more manly to snuggle up in.

The boys have been overloaded with toys and books with Christmas. Grandma Henrich got them a cool train set, and Grandma Maddox sent a giraffe play tent. (They boys slept in it last night) The thing is huge, but super fun. We've had a great time with Frank home from school. We are sad that the three weeks are almost over, but it will be good to get back into the swing of things. The boys have been overindulged and spoiled, and I am anxious to get them back on to a schedule that's normal. Christmas was wonderful, and we're very blessed as a family. Happy New Year to everyone!

Josh's church talk

Yesterday was a special day for Josh. He gave his first talk in Primary at church, and we're so proud of him! His topic was, "as I follow Jesus Christ in faith, I can prepare myself for His second coming". He helped in writing the talk and was so cute about wanting to "rememorize" it and do it all by himself. During his practices, I decided to record him so Grandparents and family could see him in action. He's growing up too fast. Enjoy the clip!

our trip to NYC

We just got back today from a super-packed adventure in NYC. Boy, did we have fun! We stayed with my sister Jill and her husband Jared, and the beloved BUNS--the bunny. (THANKS Jill!) That city is amazing! The boys loved traveling by the subway, or train as Sam says. My big question continues to remain--how does it work?!! How did someone figure out to make a whole underground world of organized chaos? It boggles my mind. Jill laughed at me every time I mentioned this to her, but really. It's incredible to me.

79 was our favorite stop, of course, after the sometimes 10 hour days in the cold and wind. That's the stop where Jill & Jared lived nearby. You gotta love winter in NYC! Ouch. It was rough at times; the boys were troopers, that's for sure. We saw so many things....hmmm, let's see if I can remember it all. Thursday evening we battled the rain/sleet and checked out Time Warner Center and Columbus Circle, and visited the FAO Schwarz store. Super fun. The boys were too shy to try their fancy feet on the big piano. But the folks doing the show were pretty entertaining to watch anyhow. We ate dinner at a great burger place called, Burger Joint, that is hidden inside Le Parker Meridien hotel. YUM. As you can see from the pic, Josh has his mouth piled full of meat, and was happy.

All the storefront windows were spectacular. It's just hard to explain, you just gotta see it. They were beautiful, and fun, and festive. Friday we started the day at Central Park. Then we hit the Natural History Museum and the dinosaur bones were a favorite, along with "DUM DUM". (anyone seen Night at the Museum) That was Sam's most talked about item there. We went to Macy's and Jill took the boys to a puppet show, we saw the Empire State building all lit up at night along with Times Square. The kids enjoyed visiting M&M's world and Hershey World and we managed to get outta there without too many overpriced treats.

Saturday we were lucky enough to tag along with Jill and Megan on their weekly NYC bee-boppin' tour. ( http://beeboppinnyc.blogspot.com/ ) This past weekend it was to Chinatown. It was crazy to see all the seafood just open and abundant in the stores. The boys liked the crabs, and kept mentioning those were just like the ones they catch on the beach. True! After our walking tour we hit a cool electronic store, J&R, and then saw City Hall, ST. Paul's Chapel and Ground Zero. We ventured down to South Street Seaport and saw the Brooklyn Bridge. In the food court at the Seaport mall area, they had this bouncy trampoline contraption thing. Jill, being the cool Aunt that she is, treated Joshua to to bounce time, and it was fun to watch him go. He tried to flip, but couldn't get enough momentum. It was too cold and windy to stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge with the kiddos--we'll have to save that for next time. Grand Central station has a kaleidoscope light show they put on during the month of December and it was awesome. After the show we were heading to Rockefeller Center and witnessed real, live, break dancers in the subway. What a show--what strength! It was very cool. The tree at Rockefeller was enormous and beautiful. We stopped by Dylan's Candy Bar and Sam begged for a chocolate covered pretzel with "sparkles" on it. (sprinkles!) We got home after a FUN day and then went to Jill's ward Christmas party. Her ward meets where the temple is in Manhattan, and the temple was LOVELY. Sad to say we didn't have a camera and I got no pic. Josh said his favorite part of the night was the pinata at the church. Go figure---breaking stuff and getting candy for it, every boy's dream!

Sunday we went to church and then took an afternoon voyage on the Staten Island Ferry to visit our old amigos, the Seare family. Taylor & Susan were kind enough to have us for dinner and it was nice to see them and their kiddos. Josh & Sam had a great time playing with Ian and Colton. The journey there was awes, as we were able to view the Statue of Liberty and the big apple, in all their glory.

Monday we went to the Empire State Building and went up to the top. WHAT A VIEW! The pictures don't even capture the feeling like you're on top of the world. Also, I don't think we have experienced cold and wind like that ever before in our lives. Sam kept yelling at us that we were going to blow away, and he was not happy to be up there.

After that experience, we headed back to Macy's to Santa land. Afterwards, we were so glad we went back. There was not an hour and a half wait (like friday night) and Joshua loved every second of it! (Poor Sam, it was nap time.) We saw the rest of the storefront windows and then found a comic shop to check out. Frank was super excited! Next destination, the Central Park Zoo. It was small, yet fun, and the sea lions put on a great show during feeding time.

Jill & Jared introduced us to their favorite place to eat in their neighborhood, Big Nick's Diner, and it was a treat! What an unusual, yet yummy place. The menu was like 27 pages long. NO JOKE. Frank kept mentioning that they should have an index. They boys were happy because pancakes were on the menu. Heck, I think everything was on the menu--what a great place! We finished the night off with a fresh cream puff from Beard Papa, Jill's fav pastry store. Delicious. Good thing we did a lot of walking, because with all the pizza and burgers and sweets---it all evened out.

My advice: go to NYC and leave the kids at home! What a FUN place during the holidays.

Josh's new favorite game

Frank is teaching Joshua how to play chess, and it's his new favorite thing to do! He has very quickly learned all the names of the pieces, and how they are allowed to move. Tonight he played with Jason Heintz (Frank's amigo from school) and was so excited that he won. Lucky Josh (thanks Jason!). Josh is on his way to be a successful little player!

Lights on the James River

Last night they had a cool event downtown Richmond--the lighting of the James River. There were boats that were all fancied up with Christmas lights and decor, and they paraded down the river. Some boats had music, others had folks yelling Christmas greetings, and there was even a Santa Claus. It was something different and festive.

Nanny

I want to recognize our dear Nanny, who was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, Dec 1st. What a special day that was for her (and us)! We love her so much, and are so happy for her testimony of the Savior.

gingerbread fun

So the boys and I went downtown on Saturday to see THE coolest Gingerbread House. It was in the lobby of the historic Jefferson Hotel. It was awesome! The floor of the house consisted of over 19,000 jelly bellies! And there was a little chair that was 18lbs of chocolate. YUM.

At the hotel entrance they had beautiful Christmas decorations and Josh & Sam were pumped to be able to pose next to huge "nut choppers". Yep, that's what the boys call nutcrackers. Not sure where that came from, but it's pretty funny when we're out at stores and they call out loudly, "oh, the nut choppers!" Look at the big one, the baby one...etc, the boys love them.