Happy Thanksgiving

Our little family had such a memorable Thanksgiving this year. I will post pictures of it later. But I just wanted to share our day with you and share some thoughts while they are on my mind. We started our day with a one-hour drive to Plymouth for the Pilgrim Procession at 10am. The Procession was great as they walked passed Plymouth Rock and to the cemetery where there was a small service of singing and scripture. After the Procession, we saw the Mayflower and then stopped and the Blue Blind Cafe for breakfast. At noon there was a Native American Protest ceremony where they sang and danced around a fire burning incense by the Massasoit statue. It was fascinating and offered new perspective to Thanksgiving. Sure made me realize it wasn't some happy friendly first Thanksgiving together. I will be doing some research now to learn more about where Thanksgiving really came from because the Native Americans do not act like they are happy the English took over their land. Anyway, we left Plymouth around 12:30 and rushed home (in heavy traffic) to get to dinner at 2:00. The traffic was outrageous and almost ruined my day, and let's face it, was not bringing out my delightful side. But we made it to dinner at the Johnson's (a darling family of 8 kids in our ward). Our family and the Che family (a cute little family from Taiwan with 2 little girls) joined the Johnson's for dinner. We absolutely enjoyed every minute we spent there. After dinner we played a game of charades. Oh my goodness, we laughed so hard.  The Johnson girls LOVED taking turns holding Maverick and Lanie loved having friends to play with. The Johnson's 7 year-old son said, "We want you guys to stay for 2 weeks....The Johnson family LOVES babies!!!" Oh they are the most darling, easy-to-be-around family. We spent about 4 hours there and enjoyed everything about it. Couldn't have had a happier, more memorable Thanksgiving. The only thing missing was watching the Rockettes in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and being with our families. But overall we made the best of it!

Oh and while we were in Plymouth, we had a missionary experience. Shawn and I overheard a group of people walking in front of us say "Mormon." We looked at each other and Shawn said, "should we catch up to them and see what they are talking about?" I said, "Of course" and started running up to them. I interrupted them and said, "Hey, excuse me but I overheard you talking about Mormons, and I'm a Mormon,   mind if I ask what you were saying." One of the guys was really open and warm with us. He said, "Sure, first,  do you believe in Jesus Christ?" My response, "Yeah, Mormon is just a nickname, but we are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in Christ." The conversation continued a little bit longer, we encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon for some more clarity to their questions, and we went our separate ways. Man, it felt so good to get that rush from sharing just a piece of the truth of this true church. It felt so so good to be able to offer some clarity and insight with this group. And it felt especially good to just have a missionary moment, which sadly, I have not had in a LONG time. I am reminded of the Conference talk by Sister Dibb, "I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it." And I'd like to add, "I share it." I am so thankful for this time of year when we can spend quality time with family and friends, make memories, and be reminded of the greatest gift of all in our lives, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and love and life of our Brother and Savior. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us a purpose and a plan!

6 Months

Today hits the 6 month mark of us living in Massachusetts. It has flown by very slowly if that makes sense. We feel like we've been here forever and yet sometimes it feels like just yesterday that we moved (similar to the mission, I'd imagine). We are enjoying it. We like the differences in homes, in the accent, in climate (I love the climate here), and in autonomy. We also very much miss the conveniences of home (Utah). We miss our families, our friends, the Diamond House, our doctors, our day-to-day life and activities. But, we love meeting new people, people from all over with various different demographics. We love welcoming them into our lives and them welcoming us into theirs. This is still a bitter-sweet experience, and I think it will be unless we totally let go (which is nearly impossible to do). Shawn and I take turns being homesick, and I actually think that I have dived into making this more permanent than he has. After 6 months, it is starting to feel like home. I still can't get around without the GPS but I get where I need to go. We love our rental house and are so blessed to have it. Shawn is diligent with his work, and I love watching him learn new things. Our kids are changing rapidly, every day. I was going through Maverick's clothes the other day, and I came across his tiny, newborn clothes. I can't believe that he fit in those just 6 months ago. He is so fun. I feel like he's been part of our family forever. Lanie's a riot too. They are my little buddies that entertain me all day long. When I go places without them, I miss them because I am just not used to being alone and they give me so much to live for. Shawn is the cutest, I mean cutest daddy. He teaches me to be patient and find the joy in the day-to-day activities. I am learning. I hope to forever explore things with my sweet little family and learn from them and treat every day like a vacation. This 6 months has really put things into perspective for me and helped me stretch, relax, and explore. For this I am grateful!!!

OCTOBER

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

from The Cat in the Hat

 We had our ward "Trunk or Treat" party on October 27th and on the 31st we went to Natick Mall trick or treating. The kids costumes were a hit that random people were asking for their pictures. Also, they had a costume contest at their doctor on the morning of Halloween and they won!!! We got a $15 gift card to a local bookstore. I have to admit, these were my favorite costumes. They were super easy to make and they scored BIG points. The only negative was that everyone thought Lanie was a boy and Maverick was a girl. Kinda funny!

Saturday with Daddy

Shawn had an appointment in northern Massachusetts on a Saturday, so we decided to go with him and explore. The appointment was quick and after we were able to do some fun things in Concord. We had lunch at Kimball Farms where they have a little farm boutique shop and yummy food. It was a darling area with wagons and tractors that Lanie loved. Then we went on a tour of Ralph Waldo Emerson's home which was very cool. We were able to see his study where he did a lot of writing and as we left, we went to Walden Pond where he would take thought provoking walks.

BERLIN ORCHARDS

We loved this place. It had all sorts of activities for miss Lanie to do.

APPLE PICKING

PETTING ZOO

MINIATURE HOUSES

PUMPKIN PATCH AND JOHNNY APPLESEED

Joseph Smith Birthplace

Sharon, Vermont

We drove 2 1/2 hours and met up with Auntie Pam and Uncle Eddie to see the Joseph Smith Birthplace. It is a beautiful and peaceful place. The 2 bottom right pictures are of the house and hearth of the house. So small. I found it interesting that Joseph Smith lived here until he was about 10 which means he had his leg surgery in this house. It would have been the tiniest house. I learned something very fascinating this time at the Birthplace. Joseph Smith's family were forced to move after a paralyzing snowstorm hit in June of 1815. This was known as the year without a summer. What happened is that Mount Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, erupted which resulted in a horrifying snowstorm in Vermont which caused flooding and crop failure. The Smith family was forced to move and that is when they went to Palmyra, New York. Amazing to think that only 4 years later the First Vision took place.

The Old Stone Bridge 

This bridge, located on the Mack Family property, was for major crossing on the highway in the 1800s. It is build purely of stones. I could just visualize the horse and buggies prancing across this rickety bridge. I can't even imagine living in those times, but very cool to see.

We sure enjoyed this day with Pam and Ed. After going to the Joseph Smith Birthplace and the Old Bridge, we went our to lunch and to some cute toy shops in the area. We really love being close to family out here!!!

BOSTON

We love spending time in downtown Boston. This time we went to the north side of the city. This is my favorite area. There is a town called Charlestown just across the bridge which is where I would love to live one day. Lanie loves the tunnels getting into Boston and I love the bridges. The "Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge" is my absolute favorite with it's fan shape cables. We played in the park and Lanie climbed the rocks under the bridge. We stopped at Emack and Bolio's on the way in AND on the way our for smoothies and chocolate turtles. Mmmm....it was delicious!!! Family Funday!!! 

ALL DADDY'S DOING

Shawn is so good at making me laugh on a regular basis and this is how he does it. He dresses the kids up in the funniest things and then presents them to me. It cracks me up every time. The best part of him getting the kids ready are the outfits he and Lanie come up with. He doesn't know how to do her hair so she is always inevitably in a hat, matching or not. I love it for humor's sake and hate it if we really have to go in public. But shoot, at least the girl is dressed, right?

FALL FOLIAGE

Conference weekend we took a walk in the park to enjoy the beautiful New England Fall weather. It was breathtaking. Lanie picked some of the giant leaves and wrote letters and mailed them to some family in Utah. She talks about them constantly.

"ROCKET SHIP"

Lanie's favorite TV show these days is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. On one of the episodes, they build rocket ships. So Lanie, being the creative little girl that she is, took our laundry baskets and pretended like they were her rocket ships. So one rainy afternoon, I decided to use her creative juices, and make a cardboard box rocket ship. She loved it, for that day, and the next day went back to using the laundry baskets.

THE HOME FRONT

We love this little round head Maggot. He is the happiest, fun-loving little person. Everyone needs a Maverick in their life! And yes, that top left picture is his giant bib courtesy of Grandma Judy. The kid is always puking!

A typical day: 

coloring, playtime, dress up, Maverick on roll baking duty (okay that's not typical), 

playdates with friends, and daddy time. 

This is one patient little guy. These pictures are from 2 different occasions. One was when I was putting Lanie down for bed and he screamed and cried himself to sleep while he waited on the floor for some attention. The other was when he had a cold, he was playing while I was in the kitchen. I didn't hear his little voice anymore, so I went into check on him and found him passed out, worn out, sleeping at his play gym. They were precious little moments that I had to capture.

OUR CLIMBER

This independent child refuses help going potty and washing her hands. This is her dangling trying to wash her hands "ALL BY HERSELF." Shortly after this, she begged to go back into diapers which we graciously did (more selfishly did). I don't think she liked how much work it ended up being for her to actually go potty. If only she'd let us help. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Shawn, Gayle, and Auntie Pam surprised me with a huge party for my birthday. I was truly surprised because Shawn isn't one to really celebrate birthdays (you know, having his on Christmas and all). A bunch of families from church came and Pam, Ed, Anthony, Lily and Ashley were here. It was wonderful. Shawn even spoiled me with lots of gifts. Nice work, Honey! 29 should be a good year!