On the couch at Welfare Square--I just wanted to be in at least one picture. As usual, Jack can't look at the camera...

Welfare Square

Over the holidays we visited Welfare Square to do some service projects. The kids had so much fun stocking the shelves at the grocery store. Lachlan was obsessed with using the plastic knife to break down the boxes. She was sweating and breathing hard because she wanted to do more than anyone else. She is such an intense child--sometimes I don't know whether I should laugh or be alarmed! Jack loved to open the boxes and say, "Oh, no...it's more cans of ...(insert canned food item)!" We love our neighborhood church friends so much--I had such a fun night just watching everyone contribute together.

Christmas Break

Jack will be four in two weeks. He can't wait for his big-boy bed and a volcano birthday cake. I can't believe it--where has the time gone. This was a random picture taken during our "12 Days of Christmas". Santa came almost every night and brought the kids a little present. Jack is wearing his new "monkey jammies". He was so excited that he ran around in a circle while Jeff sang Jingle Bells. Oh, and he will go to Primary for the first time this Sunday. He is so excited!
Our annual pilgrimage to Temple Square. We got great parking. Seriously, the parking downtown is horrendous lately and I was absolutely thrilled that we were only one block away. Jack kept saying, "oh, it is bweutiful!" "Mom, this is bweutiful!" Lachlan didn't care about anything except "getting to see the white Jesus and hearing his voice..." She loves--I mean LOVES the Christus. We went to see the Square this past summer and she was certain that "Jesus was talking to her" when the little message played in the background. It was so crowded in the rotunda that we didn't stay to "hear him talk to me" and she was seriously mad. She has reminded me every day since that "I need to take her back to Jesus so that she can hear his voice."
My favorite spot is this glowing orange tree over by the Tabernacle. Thank you. Thank you, 50mm lens for making this picture possible.
I cried almost every day for two weeks leading up to Christmas...not a lot, but just at various random moments when I would start to think about how blessed we have been this year. It seems as if there is heartbreak and tragedy all around us. I hate feeling like "when is the ball going to drop for us"--it's not really fear, just a recognition of how fragile life can be.


This was such a fun night for our family. Jeff took us all to Nielson's for Frozen Custard. Jack almost fell asleep in the booth, but he didn't want to leave until all of it was gone. I still get nervous when he is that tired because he can start bawling and then he'll puke to make a point. Lachlan sang Christmas songs in the backseat for a long time. She is really into making up original versions lately. This year she learned Silent Night and Away in a Manger. Jingle Bells is still her favorite. She sings "so much fun it is to ride" instead of "oh, what fun it is to ride"--she sang it so much over the holidays that when I went to sing along with her I actually had to think about what were the real words to the song.

Christmas Spirit

I has it.

And I've got a cat scratch on my neck to prove it. Damn the claws like razor blades...

Weekend Update

Things I don't want to forget....

1) Jack found a small, dark blue super ball at the church while we were having Thanksgiving dinner. He put it in his pocket and deemed "it was fit for the collection". We have numerous things in the collection--thanks to the great example of Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don and the rest of the Dinosaur Train groupies. A few days after Thanksgiving I found him sorting through his collection singing:

"This is my collection. These are my tiny little balls. My tiny little balls, my tiny little balls...I love you tiny little balls."

2) Lachlan made both a pilgrim and Indian hat at preschool. The night before Thanksgiving, Jeff came home early from work so that we could go out to dinner as a family. We told the kids to get their hats and coats on because we were going to get some Indian food. Lachlan screamed and jumped off a chair saying, "Oh, I'll go get my Indian hat to wear!"....we then decided to go to Rumbi and she ended up wearing her pilgrim hat anyway... international incident avoided.

3) Jack had a massive temper tantrum with a new babysitter while we were seeing the 22-hour Harry Potter movie. I made him write her a note and deliver it with a personal apology. He handed her the note and stated, "I'm sorry that I'm a boiled rat and had a temper tantrum."

...guess that I will never use the phrase "spoiled brat" ever again....lesson learned.

4) We watched the Wizard of Oz together as a family one evening. The kids were loving it. During the part where Toto discovers the wizard behind the curtain, Jack said, "Hey, look at that--is that the Weiner of Oz?" Why yes, it actually is....

Thanksgiving Photos

Aunt Susan, Aunt Karma, mom, & Aunt Pat

Grandma Carver

Rose & Jeff

Erica & Wil

Emily & Uncle John (this is my favorite smile of the day)

I ate all of this...

My little pilgrim. She has worn the hat every day since Thanksgiving.

Amy & Abe

The Carver Kids

I'm really digging the '70s finish lately...

What I'm Thankful For...

One of the blessings and the curses of

this life is that by the time you

figure out what a wonderful

experience this or that is…chances

are that that point of your life has

swept right through your fingers.

There are certainly times in my life

that I wouldn’t “do over” for

anything, but there are a few

experiences that I ache to re-live.

Not just because I would like to be

young again, but because I would

savor every thought, feeling, hug and

memory. I would take a thousand

more pictures and write a few more

thank you cards. I would like to

think that I would dress for my body

shape rather than for what I saw in

a magazine. I’d be kinder, more

courageous, more spiritual, more

brave…

Emily Dickinson wrote, “that it will

never come again is what makes life

so sweet.”

And this year, I’m thankful that I

finally understand that concept a

little bit better. Most things about

life are temporary. So when things

change, people move on…I’m more

grateful for the time we had with

them, the things we learned, the

memories that we’ll always have…

I'm so thankful for every horrible

and wonderful moment of this past

year. I'm grateful that these

experiences are meant to be

something infinite and

eternal...rather than just a fleeting

moment of time.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

For those of you who are watching the Thanksgiving movie on YouTube, the audio from Pres. Oaks was supposed to play at the end. I think that it adds a great message. I've included this clip so that you can hear it. P.S. YouTube and Jack Johnson are getting lumps of coal for Christmas...

Thanksgiving Movie

The movie has been posted. Please read this message first:

Dear Family,

Happy Holidays to all of you. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that these are the links for the Thanksgiving movie. I've uploaded it to YouTube in two parts. The bad news...there isn't any audio. I'm so sorry. Honestly. YouTube has some new restrictions on copyright and it kicked out the tune by Jack Johnson (it was Susie's choice to put it in there in the first place--she can share the blame). I don't even like Jack Johnson!

It is so much more fun with a little music in the background. Please, promise me that when you open the links you will turn on Pandora in the background--something a little sentimental to give you the full effect.

Also, due to this unfortunate error--I would be more than happy to mail out some "fully operational" DVDs to those of you who would like a more permanent copy. All you need to do is reply with a mailing address and I will try to get them sent out this weekend.

Again, thank you so much for letting me put this together. It was a wonderful experience for me.

Much love to everyone.

xoxox

Rose

Part One:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7sjc5FHNgY

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goFNdTMWCg