Making Gingerbread Houses

The Whites had us over to make gingerbread houses. Missy and I had spent a good part of the day getting ready for it, making the pieces from Gingerbread dough.

Each kid (except Liam) had their own house and their own adult to help them, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa being in town.

Mandy surprised me the most. I didn't realize she would have so much to say about her house. She showed me each place to "put the white" (frosting) and picked what candy went there.

We all had a great time, and each kid was very pleased with their final creation!

Picking out the tree

Here's a post I started a while back but finally got around to putting up.

We went to Elveden Forest to pick out a tree. It was one of the coldest nights yet and the kids wanted to be inside.

Emily was the most opinionated out of all of us. "Can we go now!" "None of these look like our tree!" "Okay, this one looks kind of like it."

We had a fake tree for most of Emily's life. We bought it when she was 2 and had it till we left San Antonio, so she thought our tree had to look the same. Luckily we found one with approximately the same shape. Unfortunately, the place closed shortly before we arrived and we had to return another day to get our tree (a different one of course).

Emily watching the tree get it's net on.

After it was all netted up and ready to go on the roof, Emily says, "Hay, wait! I think a different one looks like our tree!" "Sorry Emily, too late!"

I'm officially crazy

In a rush to dress the kids for Church by myself (my husband had to go in to work for the day), I grab Mandy's nylons to put them on her. She fusses and complains, but I firmly put her hands down and tell her she doesn't have a choice. Normally I listen when she fusses, but not today. I don't have time. I grab Joey's socks, do Emily's hair. Soon Mandy comes complaining to me saying, "Ma-ma! I pee-pee in my dress." As if to say, "Why didn't you listen to me when I when I was trying to tell you to put a diaper on me?"

Christmas musings

I sit down to write my annual Christmas letter and I look at what has happened this year. It seems a lot more than what happened in everyday life. Everyday life gets bogged down with chores like housecleaning, getting kids to school, going to work, eating breakfast in the morning. And sometimes it seems that is all that there is. But when I look at my family with the new light of Christmas shining on them, things magically change. I love Christmas. It’s always been my favorite time of year. I love the decorations on the light-poles and the Christmas tree. I love the cinnamon smell of candles. I love to reflect on how the birth of one baby changed the entire universe. It makes Christmas time special. All of a sudden, the warm laundry coming out of the dryer is a sign of God’s love for me, not just a task I’m required to complete. Grocery shopping turns into a time to reflect on my family’s needs and how I can serve them so they feel love surrounding them, and protecting them from the harsh world. Suddenly there is a lot more warmth and happiness. Suddenly there is a lot more peace.

P E A C E –I received my stocking-holders that I ordered in the mail the other day in these letters. Emily asked me why do we have the word Peace on our mantle at Christmas time. Joseph said it better than I could. He said “that is what Jesus brought to the Earth. “

In the turmoil of everyday life, we can look to the Savior and live in peace. How fitting it is that the world lights more candles at this time of year, and puts up more lights. Because Jesus is the light of the world and we celebrate his light coming into the world. To quote my favorite Christmas movie, “It’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

Our Fabulous trip to Rome Nov 8-13

Thanksgiving and the ill-fated roll story

Thanksgiving was interesting this year. Very different. We had Thanksgiving Dinner at church with a whole lot of people from the ward. I guess, there are plenty of people here that don't have family nearby to eat Thanksgiving dinner with. I made rolls from scratch for the first time in my life (which just didn't quite make it cooked to the Dinner). I also made pecan pie and jello-salad.

The ill-fated roll story:

The dough rose just like it was supposed to. I rolled a bunch of little balls and positioned them in the pan. Great so far. They rise to double just like they're supposed to. They are about to go in the oven. I move the roll pan from the top of the oven to the chair so I can take the pecan pie out of the oven. Joey proceeds to get up on the chair to see the pecan pie ...... and squashes the rolls. I take the foil off the rolls and see the pattern of Joey's corduroy jeans in the squashed dough, which looks nothing like little balls anymore.

I knead the dough, reform it into little balls, knowing I can't wait for them to cook because if we do, we'll be later than we already are. Joseph puts the completed pan in the box to take, when Mandy puts her hand in the dough ...and squashes them ...again. We take the squashed, uncooked rolls to church, hoping we can somehow salvage and cook them there.

We get to the church and there is an oven that is already hot. I am hopeful we can actually have hot home-made rolls for dinner--that perhaps it worked out better this way. But the pan is too big for the British oven. And the rolls go into the fridge till the end of the night, taken home, and cooked the next day. The Whites and McDermotts enjoy the entire batch of rolls the day after Thanksgiving despite the mishaps of the previous night. To quote Joseph, "The rolls are not pretty, but they are sincere."

The Pecan Pie:
The Pecan pie makes it to the church with a little more flour in the filling than there ought to be in it (in case you didn't catch that . . . more flour than there ought to be in it . . . ) Flour is generally not an ingredient in pecan-pie filling. Mandy was enjoying helping and was absolutely crushed when Mommy took a fit about her ruined pie. Luckily you couldn't see the flour in it till the next day when we had left-overs and the pie went cloudy.

The Jello Salad:
It set up this year, thankfully. Something I made turned out fine.

The Kitchen:
No, I didn't bring the kitchen for Thanksgiving dinner, but it was a complete disaster when we got home and Joseph joked that next year I'm not allowed to make pecan pie, and especially no rolls. (He didn't say anything about the jello-salad) and shhhh, hopefully he will forget by next year.

Everyday Life

Emily is in first grade, learning to read and write. It is much more work than Kindergarten and she spends time every weekday with at least 30 minutes of homework. Her teacher's program is very structured and Emily knows exactly what is expected of her. She is one of the best students in her class for getting work done on time. She enjoys school and is eager to learn new things. She hasn't lost her creative spark. Her original sentences for homework make her teacher smile when she writes, "Are you sure you have a horse who can play the violin?" "Yes, look in the tree!" And then you see her drawing of a horse playing a violin in a tree.

Joey goes to British preschool two days a week when we are not traveling or when he isn't sick. He's missed quite a few days since he started in August. He likes school because it makes him feel like a big kid. On days he isn't going to school he hangs out with his cousin, McKinzie White, next door. We can't seem to keep them away from each other. Either Joey is there or McKinzie is here most days of the week. The two of them are little rascals together.

Mandy is two. It says a lot. She is really into doing things her own way and insists on it. Her famous line is, "No Mommy, I do it." She says it from everything to buckling her car-seat to picking out her movie. She is generally sweet, however, despite her two-ness.

Joseph is enjoying more time since residency ended. He has fun on the computer many evenings and some weekends when we have nothing else planned. He loves taking pictures and rarely leaves the house without the camera, even if it's just to church (he often takes the kids somewhere while he's waiting for choir to get over). In his free time, when he's not taking pictures, he's uploading them to the computer or the internet. November's total pictures were about 400 or so. He has all his favorites uploaded to Picasa. He's also been getting up early some mornings to practice the piano. He plays for Primary and has been busy learning songs for the upcoming program. The Primary President complimented him last week on his playing, saying she could tell that his practice has been paying off.

Jenny just feels busy. She loves her new calling of Primary Chorister. With the upcoming Primary Program, she has been scrambling to get the kids ready and work out the small details, like solos, ensembles, etc. On top of primary, she has been Christmas shopping (online) and working on the house. She finally got the last box unpacked last week. There is still much to do to get the house in order, as she tries to manage the lack of storage space in her new house. Every time she does a load of laundry, though, she is thankful for an American size washer and dryer (the European size is very small, like 4-5 pairs of jeans, or one coat). She enjoys going to choir after church, which is 35 minutes from our home, so Joseph graciously takes the kids for a drive and then comes back to pick her up. He definitely goes the extra mile for me, which I appreciate very much.

Bath, England

Wales

We had a wonderful trip to Wales in September.

Moving to England

In August, our family moved from San Antonio Texas to Feltwell, England, after spending a month in Utah visiting family and friends. Here we are on our flight out of Chicago, with Joey and Emily checking out their remote controls. Our flight left in the afternoon and arrived in the London, Heathrow airport the next morning. We were glad to get though customs and to our hotel room.

One of our first ventures out after arriving in England was to Thetford. The bridge in the background was made in 1823, and replaced a wooded structure that carried all traffic from London to Norwich through the Middle Ages. We bought pizza nearby, and had a picnic by the Little Ouse River. Here are Joey, Emily and Jenny admiring the swans.


Mandy loved seeing the swans, too.


After our picnic by the river, we walked to a local park and climbed Castle Hill, which at 80 feet is one of the largest man-made mounds in the country. Here are Jenny and Joey, almost to the top. A wooden castle stood here, built shortly after William the Conquerer arrived. I'm still adjusting to the reality of living among so much history. In the US, history is mostly something found in books or the classroom -- often abstract and distant. Here in England, the hills, roads and buildings are saturated with it, and I get the sense of how short a human life really is.