Christmas Time

Baby William in his car seat, he is so snug in there and so well covered which was a really good thing the day we went to Temple Square. There is a little flap that goes over him to cover his head.

Christmas has come and almost gone now. My plans of 100s of photos to record this Christmas didn't quite happen. Most of my big plans didn't come to pass, I should know better than to try to do 1000 things with a new born baby. We rang in the Christmas Holidays by going to Temple Square on the 23rd. It was very cold start then the little breeze that chilled us to our bones quieted down for our enjoyment. It was snowing also which seem to make it all the more magical. We toured the square then went to the Lion House Pantry for a bite of dinner. It was a great way to start our Christmas time.

Kenneth and the children by the reflection pool in front of the temple.


The children and me by the Assembly Hall.


Espen and Mia on the Plaza

The Red Tree on Temple Square, so many lights it was amazing.

On the 24th (Julaften) we drove up to Aunt Megan's house. She had it all so wonderfully decorated, I am still kicking myself I didn't take any photos! With the tables all set with Christmas attire, I feel a sense of being home at Mother's. Megan is the most like my mother out of us 3 girls. I do believe, though, there lies a "strong streak" of Ruth in all 3 of us. We all like our table cloths ironed crisp, dinner served on beautiful dishes (our husbands still do not understand the importance of little jam spoons), presents wrapped with care and flare, and the overall sense of a magical ambiance for the Christmas Season. Megan's streak, however, seems to be a couple of degrees higher than Rebecca's or mine, and manifest itself even more on Christmas Eve as she began to hand out instructions to Kenneth. :) We had a delightful dinner, a fantastic fish pond with treats for all. A wonderful little nativity and watched a little DVD that Blake's mother had brought which was entitled "Reflections of Christ". I need to get this for myself as it was really something to watch. Megan also had "Santa gifts" for all. Espen managed to keep a stiff upper lip after he opened his for find a shirt instead of a toy. Luckily Spencer also received a shirt, so all was well. Megan always does things up so cute and really created a magical Christmas Eve for us all.


Our lone photo of Christmas Day, Espen and Mia amongst all the "stuff" You can just see Will in his chair in the background.

Christmas Day (1st Jule Dag) found us up at 7:00am. Apparently Sabrina had snuck down at 1:30am to check things out, but couldn't see much in the dark so she returned to bed until 6:30am. The children loved all their gifts and showed a great deal of gratitude and excitement for each other. We relax, played our new Wii games (the boys and I had a blast), ate our Pork Roast dinner, watched Harry Potter 6, and then were able to go to bed at a decent time.

Overall I would call this Christmas season a success, one week left of bliss before the children go back to school. I will enjoy them all, and my book (Santa brought everyone a book this year) for the remaining days, hoping that time doesn't decide to fly on by!

Christmas Piano Recital

Much to my children's current dismay, I have them all taking piano lessons (except of course for Mia and baby). Trying to get them to effectively practise daily is like trying to milk a cow on the run. They are taking lessons from my dear cousin Michelle, who is amazing on the piano and who is also an amazing piano teacher. They have a festival coming up in March and that will be fantastic to watch.

I was so proud of them this night. They all played really well, and they played through a few little blunders magnificently.

The actual videos we tried to take didn't really work, so I have taken a video of the children playing their songs at home. Espen didn't have his book, but did a really good job remembering his piece. I love that they are all playing the piano, I hope I can keep going and see them through until they realize what a blessing it is to be able to play.

William sleep through most of the night.
These Videos were taken with our digital camera, so the picture quailty is not that good, but the sound should be just fine. Spencer's is too large to upload, so I will try to get it on later, it is a shame as his is really good.

Mission Accomplished!

I thought this day would never come! This day will be remembered in my memories as "Miracles comes to those who wait and pray for them!" After endless, and I mean ENDLESS, days, weeks, months, and dare I say years of asking, begging and pleading, Spencer has finally found something he loves to read without being asked to. He loves a good book, but seems to only love to read if we are reading right there with him. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE, and ADORE reading with my children, but sometimes Mom needs to cook dinner, fold laundry, feed a baby, pay the bills etc etc.

So it has been a well fought battle, with much conspiring and strategy being played on both sides to have Spencer do SOME of his assigned reading minutes each day by himself. Also these assigned reading minutes, according to me, could not be just the sports page or SI, there had to be a novel involved, some sort of story to follow.

As you see now, Spencer has found the joy of reading a great book. He seems to love these books called: The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I haven't read them myself so I cannot give a complete review, but if they will get the most stubborn child to read by himself for over 1/2 an hour they are worth their weight in gold!