Handcart, anyone?

Most of you know that I participated in the mormon wagon train reenactment in 1997. Here's my chance to do it again http://handcarttrek.byu.edu/ Now, who's with me? I am dead serious about doing this with my family for a week. Erin, Jayna-- are you up for it?

It's Been a While

It feels like I've been so busy lately. I can't believe it's been a few weeks since my last post. I've been sort of wrapped up in work in a good way. I've been hurriedly preparing my host families to receive their high school exchange students. It has been so much fun meeting different families in the area and then meeting my exchange students. We had a sweet young boy from Austria stay with us overnight this week and it was so fun to have him in our home. I took him to the store to buy a calling card before he went to his 'permanent' host home and it was neat to be able to teach him how to use his debit card and teach him about American culture in general. I have an Italian student flying in next week and an Australian girl arrived last Saturday. She is loving the fact that she is the only Australian in her school. It's really rewarding to be involved with these students and ensuring that they have a good experience in the US. I'm usually on the other end-- the traveler and the one that feels slightly out-of-place.
On another note, Adam is still searching for employment. In a weird way, it's been more of a blessing than a trial. Last semester, when Adam was working full time and going to school full time, it felt like we hardly saw each other. We were home together only three nights a week and even when he was home he was usually holed up in the office working on homework. It's been nice to be able to spend so much time together. It almost feels like it did when we were newlyweds, except for the two kids.
Ruby is growing so fast. She is so fun to be around. She is the best baby ever! Even when she had a double ear infection over Christmas, she never cried or fussed. I only knew something was wrong because she wouldn't eat. James was the exact opposite of that.
James amazes me everyday with how smart he is and the length of his memory is astonishing. He is so funny. Last night, he kept singing the same song over and over again and I finally realized it was 'TNT' by AC/DC. He was also singing a Talking Heads song the other day. He was laying in his bed and kept singing over and over again the line 'drop me in the river, drop me in the river.' He's also started calling me 'woman.' 'Clean this mess up, woman!' Ah, my little misogynist. Don't worry, we're doing all we can to stop him from saying it. He doesn't miss a thing. It's really frightening. He was in the kitchen the other day and dropped something and he said, 'What the hell!' That one came from Adam. Adam truly believes that hell is not a bad word because it's not a swear word in England. Apparently, the British would say 'hell' and 'damn' in church all the time and not in the biblical sense. I think I finally won the argument on that one. I just know that he's going to drop a toy in nursery one week and out it will come. We're honestly not bad parents. He can also point out the Nauvoo temple by name and then he'll say, 'Mom, take me to the Nauvoo temple.' How sweet is that? On that note, I will end this post.

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We have experienced the gracious giving of so many friends and family. A few days before Christmas, we found an anonymous gift bag full of candy and $200 on our doorstep. On one occasion while gathered together at my mom's for our weekly Sunday meal, someone had slipped $100 into my coat pocket. At another time, I discovered another wad of anonymous cash, this time $200, as we were getting our coats on to go home. On Christmas eve, after spending the evening with my siblings and their families as well as my parents, we pulled into our driveway only to discover that 'Santa' had left gift bags for each of us and a shiny gently used bike for James. I immediately knew that 'Santa' was our next door neighbors who are very poor monetarily but very rich in generosity and kindness. I was very touched as we brought our gifts inside as the beautiful snow silently fell. They who had so little to give to their own children, still found a way to sacrifice and give to our little family. We are so thankful for the spirit of charity-the pure love of Christ. We have been blessed abundently by family and friends this Christmas season. It really has been the best Christmas ever.

Book of Mormon Goal

When I was about eleven (sixth grade), I made a promise to Heavenly Father that I would read the Book of Mormon every day. Since then, I've managed to finish the book by the end of December and start over back at Nephi in January. This year, I've fallen a bit behind and I'm still about 100 pages from the end. I've been reading like crazy (7-10 pages a day) so that I can complete the Book of Mormon for another year. I'm only posting this for accountability purposes. That reminds me, I haven't read yet today.

'Tis the Season

This has been a really crazy month. Adam was laid off and then was in a flurry trying to complete end-of-semester projects and papers and, of course, finals. We've been so blessed financially by anonymous and no-so-anonymous gifts of money and food. We even received ten dollars from my sweet widowed visiting teachers. How nice is that? It's very humbling to be on the receiving end of such generous service especially when some of the money has come from people that have very little themselves. (How do you argue with an 80 year old grandma and her twin sister?) Needless to say, our lack of funds has forced me to focus more this year on the true meaning of Christmas. I've caught the spirit of Christ as we have been served so graciously and taken care of.
It's neat to watch James' reaction to Christmas this year. He gets so excited whenever he sees Christmas lights or trees or lawn ornaments, etc. The thrill and joy of the season is evident on his little face and in his twinkling eyes whenever he catches a glimpse of holiday lights or snowmen. It makes the season even more enjoyable now that he sings 'I am a Child of God' all day long. I never thought that Christmas would be as fun as it was when I was a kid, but having children really brings the magic and wonder back to Christmas. I love it! It's also really fun to have a baby this time of year. I can hold Ruby and imagine Mary as she held the infant Christ. She must have been a pure and valiant soul to be given the overwhelming responsibility to nurture and care for Heavenly Father's Son, her Messiah and Savior--knowing exactly what His fate would be. She was there on Calvary, enduring every mother's nightmare, unable to leave her Son when He needed her most. She loved Him from infancy--nursed Him, taught Him to walk and talk, dressed His wounds, and taught Him the gospel. She was one of the few that did not forsake Him. She had faith in Him and trusted in His divine mission. I can't begin to imagine all that she witnessed in her life. "And Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart."

James burned his hand last week on my mom's curling iron. He just grabbed hold of the hot end and burned all five fingers and most of his palm. He screamed in agony for nearly an hour and a half while we went to the doctor's office and waited for the Tylenol with coedine to kick in. I'm so thankful for modern-day drugs. I felt so helpless holding him while he writhed in pain. There was nothing I could do to alleviate it. Nothing hurts like a burn. Thankfully, today was his last check-up and the doctor said everything looked good and he wouldn't have any scarring or permanent damage. Poor little guy.

Favorite Ornaments

I look forward to putting up the Christmas tree every year. Over the years, I've collected ornaments from my various travels so for me, decorating the tree recalls pleasant and wonderful memories and whisks me away into quiet reverie. I wanted to share a few of my favorites. I collected the above ornament during my last trip to Nauvoo. It is a replica of one of the star windows which graces the top of the Nauvoo temple. Nauvoo is one of my favorite places in the world.
I found the little guy below in a small Christmas shop in Berlin around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie. He's traveled thousands of miles in my backpack with me. He makes me smile and radiates German tradition.

I found this little bird at an outdoor Christmas market during my first trip to Germany on the streets of Frankfurt. She's such a pretty little bird and, it's hard to tell, but her wings are made of wood.

I found this little Waterford crystal angel while perusing the multi-tiered Harrod's of London. She was one of the few items I could actually afford. When I look at her, I can almost smell the fresh-roasted nuts that wafted through the streets of London, warm and delicious.

This is my favorite and most cherished ornament. When Adam I were still dating, (I guess technically we were broken up) he decided to backpack around Europe. He bought this for me in Venice- all hand-blown glass. It is so beautifully delicate and intricate. It amazes me every time I look at it and hold it. It is a wonderful momento of our courtship.

I would love to see some of your favorite ornaments and stories behind them!

FHE

I love this book! For those of you that are unfamiliar with the above book, it is the new nursery manual. We decided to use this for our family home evening lessons. Until this little book came along, we rarely held family home evening because we just didn't know how with such little children. These lessons are so great and don't require a lot of preparation. You can easily adapt them for older children as well. We finally feel like FHE is some-what effective. James loves the songs and the pictures that accompany the lessons and calls it his 'Jesus book.' I know many of you have small children and need new ideas for family night. This has worked for us and at a steal of a deal for $5.50 (and FREE shipping) on http://www.lds.org/ you can't go wrong.