Hannah's 6th Birthday

Hannah had her 6th birthday yesterday. We went shopping and Hannah picked out a shirt, a fleece jacket and a dress. We went to lunch and the movie Bolt! Then we picked up Emily and Shelby and went to Chuck E Cheese's. We had cake and ice cream at my mom and dad's.

Salt Lake City and the lights on Temple Square

Salt Lake City:

We're waiting for the Trax.

Coming Home to Idaho!

A couple of weeks ago, my dear, sweet husband found out he could take the last 3 weeks of December off work. He knew how much I would love to come home to Idaho to be with family for the holidays, so he suggested we come home. Yes, I live in Virginia but Idaho is my home. We decided to drive the 2600 miles each way. We have driven the trip in 2 days before but it's been in the summer. This time we decided to make it 3 days: 1 day to St. Charles, Missouri, then next to Fort Collins, Colorado and then to Salt Lake City. We stayed an extra day in SLC to see the lights on Temple Square. My mom and dad brought Emily and Abby to SLC to see the lights with us. Then we drove the rest of the way into Boise. I must say, I have the best traveling children . . . . hands down. They just get in the car and we drive. When we make these trips, I tell them that if it's light outside and if the car is moving, we're not there yet.

What do they do for that many hours?

They listen to their iPods and sleep.

Here's my good husband driving and driving and driving.

They watch movies on their PSPs.

They read books and play their PSPs.

Washington DC Temple Christmas Lights

On Saturday, we decided to go up to the Washington DC Temple to see the Christmas lights. We drove up in the morning to John & Heather's, then in the evening, we all drove over to the temple. To our great joy, it started snowing! The temple and the temple grounds were beautiful. In the Visitor's Center, they have a room filled with different creche' scenes selected from around the world. It was great to see the different nativities. They also had the Reflections of Christ exhibit. What a stunning and powerful photo exhibit! Here's the URL if your interested: http://reflectionsofchrist.org/ . Outside they have a live nativity with readings from the Gospels. We also went to a flute concert. I had the kids dress warmly, and as you can see in one of the pictures, Joshua was so warm and comfortable he fell asleep in the flute concert. He says he was "lulled" to sleep by the flutes.

Hey, Look the Leaves Sparkle!

On the way to the bus stop this morning, Hannah looked down and noticed that the leaves were sparkling. The sun was perfectly shining on the dew of the leaves and they sparkled. It is through the eyes of a child that I saw the beauty of the earth! How lucky I am to have daughters who notice and appreciate such beauty.

Thanksgiving

Virginia doesn't get much snow so I thought I'd have the girls make their own. Nicali, Hannah and their wonderful Aunt TeAnna happily cut snowflakes and hung them in their room. TeAnna was helping them hang the snowflakes while I was downstairs working on some of the Thanksgiving meal. Pretty soon, Nicali comes running down the stairs, "Hurry mom, you've got to come see the snow before it all melts!" Of course I didn't want the snow to melt, so I hurried after her to see the snow! Great job, girls! (Thanks TeAnna!)

They're happy to be together and excited because it's just about time to eat!

When we have guests visit our house, it's always an issue as to where they will sit at meal times. Usually I have them switch sides with each meal (one meal on the girls side, one on the boys side.) It's tough to be loved and wanted. Thanks for being willing to switch sides. For Thanksgiving, I had Phil sit with the boys and TeAnna and Tim to sit on the girls side. Thanks TeAnna, Tim and Phil for coming to join us and share your time and love with us.

. . . and our after dinner entertainment is the Terrell Trio! Hannah started blowing into one of the bottles and discovered it made sounds. Then Philip and Nicali joined in, it was quite entertaining.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband, four awesome children, my family, Philip's family and great friends. I am thankful for the health we enjoy, for the bounty of the earth and for the country we live in. I am grateful to be a stay-at-home mom (thanks Philip for providing well for our family.) I am thankful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

Hit the Ball Out of the Park!

Phil came to visit this week for Nicali's birthday and for Thanksgiving. He spent some time playing Wii with the kids; a little billiards, golf, bowling and baseball. How's that for being talented in lots of sports? We have so much fun together.

Monticello

Father and Son in front Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello!

A little bit of snow and some wind, but we braved it and had a great time.

Take Me on a Ride, Daddy! (aka It's the Klingons!)

Nicali and Hannah quite frequently attach themselves to Philip's feet and giggle "Take me on a ride, daddy!" Philip obligingly takes them on a ride until his legs can take it no more. This happened to be one of those moments.

Nicali's 7th Birthday!

Today is Nicali's 7th Birthday! On our children's birthday's they get to take the day off from school and spend it with Philip and I. They also get to choose what we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So for breakfast we had German Pancakes, for lunch, we went to CiCi's pizza buffet and Dairy Queen for dessert. Then for dinner, which we had during the party, French Toast.

Here is Philip and Nicali at lunch at CiCi's. MMMM, MMMM!!

Nicali's party was Princess themed. The girl's played Kiss the Frog and Kiss the Prince, played like Pin the Tail on the Donkey. They decorated a tiara and made bead bracelets. They had so much fun. (L-R back row) Sara, Hannah, Ally, Jaden, (L-R front row) Marley and Nicali.

Here the princesses are with their decorated tiara! Don't they just look the part.

Grandma and Grandpa Hansen sent Nicali some money and she promptly went out a bought this dress. She loves dresses. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

The Suitcase Conversion

Philip came home from Michigan on Friday night. I just finished emptying the suitcase and Hannah quickly converted it into her bed. She has a pillow underneath and a beach towel on top and is very snug.

She was so warm and cozy she fell asleep. She's so sweet and cute!

Carving Pumpkins

The kids had a great time carving pumpkins. We took the seeds and roasted them. Yum, yum!

And they came tumbling down. . .

Just last week, Nicali and Hannah came home from school and started tumbling down the hill and had so much fun. I ran into the house, grabbed my camera and took this little video. The sounds in the back are the bus driving in and out of the neighborhood and our neighbor blowing the leaves in his yard, but I hope you will be able to hear the giggling of the girls. I love to watch Nicali and Hannah have fun together.

Lunch with Nicali

I spent time today reading to Nicali's class. Every so often, one of the parent's gets to be a "Mystery Reader." Today was my day! Nicali still likes having me come eat lunch with her. One of the advantages of having a parent come visit during lunch time is that the student gets to eat at the picnic tables outside. We were enjoying the beautiful weather (it's sunny and 73 degrees) and watching the bees and the butterflies and I decided I am so very blessed to be able to come eat lunch with her and that she still wants me to come. I know there will be a day, when she won't want me at school, but. . . until then, I'm going to take advantage of the time that I do get to go.