Family Picture

Dolphin Harbor

The dolphins felt like blubber. They swam fast and powerfully. They moved their tails up and down to swim fast through the water. Their dorsal fin cuts through the water and is great for holding on. Dolphins like to copy peoples behavior.

They breath and make noise through their blow hole.

This is Brooklynn and Ripley shaking hands.

Good-bye hug.

Landscapes of Miami

Horray for Sunbeams!!

Malia is 3 and with the new year, she was moved from the Nursery class at church to the Sunbeam class. Since I have been her nursery leader for the last 18 months, she has been saying that she doesn't want to be a Sunbeam and wants to stay in the nursery with me. Thanks to a convincing older sister and a Dad who escorted her to her new class, she stayed in class the full 2 hours AND had a great time! She has two teachers. One is a mother with young kids, the other is a woman with grandchildren. I think it's the perfect fit for her first time in a 'big girl class' without her mom!

Feeling proud of herself when she got home from church!!

New Year's Eve Eve

Friday night, the weather was perfect. A warm 58 degress at 6 p.m. We called Mark's grandparents and sister to see if they wanted to get together for a pre-New Year's party. Of course! We went to an all you can eat buffet by grandma and grandpa's house. We then went to temple square to see the lights. A perfect night!

The gang by the Christus

A cute picture Mark snapped of the two of us!

Jeffrey watching the nativity

The sheperds' scene of the nativity

Bethlehem scene

Malia's favorite friend- grandma. She held her hand most the night.

Grandpa was excited to be out and about with family

One of my favorite pictures of the evening

Brooklynn had a great time telling Grandpa jokes and being silly together.

Another one of my favorite pictures of the evening! Mark's sister and grandma.

Sometimes you hang onto traditions just because they are traditions. We all drank hot chocolate even though we weren't cold. Every other year we've been freezing and we get hot chocolate. So, the visit wouldn't have seemed complete without a cup.

After seeing the lights, Grandma and Grandpa decided to come over to our place to play cards. (They enjoyed coming over to our house to play cards when we all lived in California. Great memories!) Mark's sister and her famiy decided to stay too. We cooked up some hors devours and brought out the soda. Good thing we had quite a bit on hand. We ended up playing cards until 1 a.m. ! Silly Grandma said she was going to drive her and Grandpa back to their house. Nope. Not that late at night. I made a quick run to Wal-mart for more sheets and pillows. Good thing they are open 24 hours a day!

We ended up having quite the party!

The nephews playing cards.

Girl's Night

Brooklynn and I had been planning on getting a manicure together, but with the entire family sick with head colds we never made it. So instead, I brought home some press-on nails. The girls were so excited. First we soaked their nails, then cleaned and filed them. Then we applied the 'fake nails'. The girls were in heaven!

Brooklynn's Manicure

Malia's choice

Showing off her nails

Enjoying the feminine side

Posing for a picture

Of course, Malia's nails lasted for 20 minutes. She had two sets applied. She was having too much fun tapping her nails, scratching the dog, etc. Brooklynn also had fun, but decided that the nails get in the way of her practicing her flute and her typing. So, after a few days she took them off. She is going to try again when she is 12. It was fun while it lasted!!

"The Greatest Generation"

A tribute to some of our country's veterans- here are a few words from Tom Brokaw:

“These men and women came of age in the Great Depression, when economic despair hovered over the land like a plague. They had watched their parents lose their businesses, their farms, their jobs, their hopes. They had learned to accept a future that played out one day at a time. Then, just as there was a glimmer of economic recovery, war exploded across Europe and Asia. … This generation was summoned to the parade ground and told to train for war. They left their ranches … , their jobs on the main street … , they gave up their place on the assembly lines … and in the ranks of Wall Street, they quit school or went from cap and gown directly into uniform. …
“They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting, often hand to hand, in the most primitive conditions possible. … They were in the air every day, in skies filled with terror, and they went to sea on hostile waters far removed from the shores of their homeland. …
“When the war was over, the men and women who had been involved … joined in joyous and short-lived celebrations, then immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world they wanted. They were mature beyond their years, tempered by what they had been through, disciplined by their … training and sacrifices. They married in record numbers and gave birth to another … generation. … They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith.”

Tom Brokaw, The Greatest Generation (1998), xix–xx.