Moments

Our house is often in the 50s or low 60s this winter because the heat isn’t working really well and the windows are old.  We are trying to combat the frigid temperatures by wearing lots of layers and starting the day out with the coziness that only breakfast by candlelight can provide. Laura loves snuggling up to Nathan and it makes my heart melt every time.

A few years ago we had a bonfire in the snow at my family’s house on Christmas Eve complete with smores. It is now one of our favorite Christmas traditions and we thought we would do sparklers to fit the scale of our situation.  Since we were between ER visits on Christmas Eve that plan got rescheduled for January.  We had so much fun with them, making different patters and letting the kids dance around with the camera on a super slow shutter speed.  It ended when Nathan picked up a sparkler that was still hot off the ground.  We cut a leaf off of our aloe plant and put it on the burn and it helped him immensely and fascinated all of us.

When we first moved here Emily moved in and collected all sorts of specimens from outside and made a collage on paper, complete with a spider.  She said that she would do this every time we move somewhere new to learn about the plants.

Laura’s first pony tail! She is quick to pull them out but it is fun to see her hair long enough for the possibility.  And of course she is also climbing EVERYTHING and playing in the toilet.  It is a fun/mild exasperating stage trying to keep her safe.

Emily and Nathan have been putting on a lot of concerts together playing the flute and trombone or trumpet.  There is a family in our ward we’ve become good friends with and the husband is working on a masters in trombone performance at Yale.  Nathan pretends he is Lyman.

Laura crawling around and dancing to the music.

The kids made a nativity scene and played the story.

For a few days the kids played graduation.  It was very elaborate and all their own doing.  They made a stage out of the wood boxes to walk across and receive their diploma.  They made a podium for speakers and a place to be hooded. They made incredible replicas of the hood out of playsilks. They played music like a real graduation.  They had photo ops just like we did with Andrew after it ended. I was invited to graduate as well as take pictures and clap at their graduation.  I loved watching this unfold.

Laura incredibly proud of her latest climb on top of the table.  She works hard at the skill and is getting so fast.

The kids made a super cool nest for all of their animals and dolls.  We all tried really hard to facilitate Laura being in their too but there were some tense moments.  I was also invited to come in and we read some books together.