And I've Never Been to Boston in the Fall!

I'm on a fabulous adventure! For the next week or so I'm in Maine visiting my cousins, and staying with their kids while they go house hunting. Its even colder than Utah right now, but I am having so much fun. Can I just say that New England is completely charming? The houses, the churches, the landscape. It all looks right out of a postcard, and I find it adorable.

When I got here Dan and Jen asked me what my "must-see's and do's" were. I didn't have very many, but in just 2 days we've already covered all of them. Now I can just play, hang out, and do some homework with the kids.

Must see #1: The Coast

Despite having flown the breadth of it several times between my two trips to Europe, as of Wednesday I had yet to actually see the Atlantic coast. I am not so untraveled as to have never seen the ocean, but living out west I'd only spent time at different points along, or on islands in the Pacific. Seeing as the coast is my absolute favorite natural environment, I really wanted to see the Atlantic. So despite the cold, bitter wind, Dan and Jen and the chuppies happily took me to a beautiful beach, and to a stunning lighthouse, that still had it's Christmas lights on. (And then they took me on my first trip to Chuck E. Cheese per Joel's request and proffering of a coupon.) Loved the coast. It was stunning. (Chuck E. Cheese was fun, mostly because I hung out with a six-year-old with never ending wonder and excitement for the world around her)

Before the cold set in

Family Picture

The Whitaker Women in front of a Christmas Tree made out of Lobster Cages. The window behind it had a sign that said "Gone Skiing".

How cool looking is that?!

Must do #1: The Boston Temple

Since I took out my endowments in October I've been having fun trying to hit more temples. I love getting to go, and spend time in such a beautiful, uplifting, and calming place. I'm trying to hit as many around the world as possible. (No easy feat considering there are 133 operating temples, 3 under renovation, 15 under construction, and another 14 announced all the way from Anchorage, Alaska to Johannesburg, South Africa, and everywhere in between.) So far I've got 12. The fabulous Jen and I went first thing this morning to do a session at the Boston Temple, barely making it on time. It was wonderful, and that temple is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely on my top 10 list. It was simple, but beautiful, and I loved the stained glass.

Must see #2: Boston

Boston is a big city, and I haven't even scratched the surface, but I really wanted to see the old historical sites that helped in the formation of this country. Jen took me on a fun tour along the Freedom Trail to see Paul Revere's house, and the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read to the crowd below, as well as Paul Revere and John Hancock's graves, and Bunker Hill. I have always been more of a fan of the older more "glamorous" history of Europe, with it's Kings and Queens, and gorgeous cathedrals. In contrast U.S. history is very new and the architecture is relatively simplistic. It hasn't been my favorite, but walking around Boston, my interest has definitely grown. I can't believe how quickly this country has developed from such an untrained militia to the amazing country we have today, with our wonderful armed forces. I have family who are, or have previously served in most branches of the military, and am grateful for them, and all their wonderful service. (It's one of them that I am visiting this trip.)

Paul Revere's Tombstone

Statue of Ben Franklin at the Boston Latin School

Bunker Hill

So far it's been a fabulous trip, but the thing I've enjoyed the most is just spending time getting reacquainted with a branch of my family who I adore, but don't get to see very often. The kids are so much fun, even if Sabrina can whomp me at Harry Potter Scene It. Shannon makes me laugh on a daily (read hourly or more frequently) basis. She enjoys making faces during moments of silence as much as I do, and we are constantly having funny face battles. It's great fun.

Tomorrow we're sticking close to the base, and making gingerbread houses. From real gingerbread. You don't know how much of a rarity that is in my life. I'm way excited. Board Games, and good food are on deck for the evening party, and it should be very enjoyable.

Don't know when my next post will be, but love you all, and I hope you had a merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Temple Hopping

It has been such an absolutely beautiful day! I have been trying to give experience gifts instead of something from the store. Last week it was a sleepover for Chloe and Kelsea. Today I had the sweet experience to take my 12 year old nieces Maddie and Lauren on a Temple Hop.

We started the morning very early, especially for Christmas Break. We left at 7:30 am to head downtown to the Salt Lake Temple. I think this was the one we were all most excited for. Even though I had been there in the waiting room during several weddings, I had never been there to do any temple work before, so it was new to me too. The girls and I all absolutely loved it, and it set a great mood for the day.

Our next stop was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan. We hit a huge crowd at this one, and the girls started to tire a bit, but it was Maddie's favorite, and that enthusiasm kept us going.

A short jaunt latter and we were at the Jordan River Temple, also in South Jordan, and this time Lauren's favorite. I threw in an extra little surprise for the girls here. Since we live literally a 5 minute walk from this temple, I had my daddy bring his scooter over to help out. He can't do the baptisms anymore, but with a little creative moving of chairs, he was able to come in and do the confirmations. It was a really sweet experience to see him, and I think the girls absolutely loved it. I know I did. By the time he got to me, I had more than a little dust in my eyes. He left shortly after that, and after a wonderful experience, I gave them yet another surprise. I told them that I would take them to the cafeteria in the temple. They got their "unendowed minors" tag, and felt so big and grown-up hanging out in the dining area and trying to figure out who the 4th youngest person was (we were obviously the 3 youngest by at least 35-40 years, and it was not an easy task). They couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the day.

Our last stop was the Draper Temple. This one is my favorite in the valley. I love it's architecture, and details. It's just lovely. Neither of the girls had ever been to this one, but by the end of the day I'd heard both of them say several times over that it was their favorite.

By the time we walked out to the car it was 4:30 pm. It was a long day, and we were exhausted. Ok I can't speak for the 12 year olds, but they were both half asleep all day thanks to the early morning wake-up call, so I assume they were as tired as I was. It was a spiritual high of a day, and we had a wonderful time. I think it is a day the girls will never forget. I know I won't. Unfortunately I forgot both my cell phone and my new digital camera so I have no pictures of the 3 of us. Such is life.

Photos courtesy of lds.org

Christmas Card 2011

Lindsay Christmas Newsletter 2011

Well, another year has come and gone, and it’s time to write another Christmas Card. We have had a wonderful year, full of many changes and blessings. The first thing you may have noticed before even opening this card is that our address has changed. As of June 25^th we now live in South Jordan, Utah in a condominium complex right by the Jordan River Temple. We really have one of the most gorgeous views imaginable out our back window. We do still have a lovely guest room for any who wish to come and visit.

Our move is only one of many changes we have had in our family. We had two grandchildren get married just 3 weeks apart; Bob’s son Jake, and his daughter Emily. We also had another graduate from high school, and yet another leave for a mission. It was a lovely summer which reminded us how truly blessed we are. (Individual Families will be responsible for their own newsletters to provide more details.)

Ken: Shortly after we moved in to our new home we had a stair glide installed, as well as a porch lift in the garage. These two new toys allow him full access to the house and neighborhood. He has enjoyed being able to come downstairs and supervise while we have done extensive work down there. He is charming as ever, and has not surprised any of us with the number of people he already knew, or had a mutual friend of within our new community. He very much enjoyed having his sister Mary and her husband come and visit twice this year, and getting to visit with so many family members he loves so much. After years of playing cards with Bonnie and Melissa, he has loved adding his daughter-in-law Maile to his list of competitors and rarely does a visit pass without at least 1 game of Rook, and often a game of Phase 10 as well. As always he loves the gospel, his family, people, and life in general, and you’d be hard pressed to find a happier man.

Bonnie: Bonnie has accomplished a great deal this year. Between organizing a move, packing to leave the old house, and getting the new house put together, as well as dealing with Ken and Melissa everyday, she has had her hands full. She has handled it beautifully, and absolutely loves the dear women in her new ward. It has been a new experience going from the unofficial Grandma of the ward, to one of the “youngin’s”, but she couldn’t be happier with her new home. She enjoyed a short trip to St. George with Melissa and Lisa, and particularly loved having two of her granddaughters around to play with in the pool, and on hikes. She loves to be active and enjoys her Wii, and, when weather allows, walking around her new neighborhood, and marveling at the beautiful temple next door. One way she got involved in the new community this year was to join the South Jordan Community Choir. She enjoyed singing in the choir, and after supporting her grandchildren in their performances for many years, having some of them come and support her. She has made a lot of new friends, and is already talking about joining them again next year.

Melissa: Melissa lives in her car. Ok not really, but she drives back and forth between school in Logan, and her parents’ house in South Jordan just about every weekend, and looking at her gas bill you might assume that she does. Despite it being draining psychologically and monetarily, she has had a pretty fabulous year. She had the opportunity to make wedding cakes for her friend, her niece, and her nephew, with each wedding being just 3 weeks after the last. She enjoyed giving of herself and her talent to her friend and family for their weddings, and hopes that they enjoyed the cakes as much as she did making them. She loves being an aunt, and loves to support her nieces and nephews any way she can, whether it be a Junior Recital in Opera at the U, or a Sunbeam in a primary program. Nothing makes her happier than to have her 1-year-old niece reach out for her as soon as she sees her. She is working hard at school, and is hoping to graduate this coming Spring with 2 bachelors degrees in International Studies and French. What she will do after that is anyone’s guess, but it will include moving back to Salt Lake to diminish the amount of gas used each week. She has become an expert IKEA furniture builder, and has put together several cabinets, drawers, bookcases, and dressers throughout the house to help organize it, and make it a home. She also used her recently acquired tiling skills in the remodel of the downstairs bath. Most exciting of all was her opportunity to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to take out her own endowments this past October. She has enjoyed living close to so many temples, and enjoys going every chance she gets.

We have all had a wonderful, if exhausting year, and have so much to be grateful for. Most of all we are grateful for our Savior, whose birth we celebrate this time of year, and all that his life means to us. We hope you have each had a wonderful year as well. We love you, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas came early!

As you may know by now, I'm a poor college student. Because my budget is limited I've had to get creative on what I give as Christmas presents. For my older nieces and nephews, a simple candy suffices, however I still like to do something special for the younger ones. Usually this includes some sort of experience instead of an actual gift to open.

For Chloe and Kelsea I did a sleepover with Aunt Melissa. We planned it so that it would be when Lisa was going to need to be at work anyway, and the girls and I lived it up.

Monday night we colored, played games (they kicked our butts at Disney Princess UNO), sang Christmas Carols, and had a short Family Home Evening lesson from Grandpa. We then started to head downstairs to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon version, which is the only one worth watching) as a family. Grandpa said he was tired so he was just going to stay upstairs. Kelsea was having none of that, and told Grandpa as much. Needless to say, Grandpa did come downstairs and join us. If he'd seen it before, he didn't remember it, so it was fun to see his reactions to the movie as much as Chloe & Kelsea. Grandma had bought a new story to read to the girls. Before bed I read them a few stories from their new Disney Princess Christmas Storybook. I had them staying in the guest room, so I needed to change the sheets. We were laughing so hard as they jumped in under every layer I attempted to place, and then even harder when said layer landed on top of them. Eventually we all settled down, and they went to sleep, and I got to go sleep in my own room. Such a lovely plus.

Tuesday we had a traditional Aunt Melissa breakfast a.k.a. Pancakes with food coloring. I've done pink, purple, and tie-dye, among others over the years. This time I split the batter in half and made green and red pancakes for us all. They continued to play with the balloons they'd brought the day before. Kelsea had the most fun stuffing them up her shirt, remember?

During the day they helped me, as we ran errands. As I explained to them, at our house we have a deal with Santa. Santa does the presents under the tree, while Grandpa (and I by extension) is responsible for the stocking. They had fun being sneaky little elves, picking out stocking stuffers, and eyeing anything pink, and anything to do with Disney Princesses or Barbies. We picked up our family Christmas Cards (which I'll post on Christmas), and got treats before finally making our way back to their house around 6 that evening.

Aunt Melissa was exhausted, but had a blast, and I think it was a present they will remember for years to come. These pictures I'm having printed for them, won't hurt either.

Flashback

Balloons are such a fun toy. They can be anything, and do just about anything. Apparently my little Kelsea has a thing for them. When she and Chloe were here for a sleepover Monday night (blog on that to follow sometime soon) she brought one from an earlier birthday party she'd been to, and some of the pictures we took reminded me so much of our family campout a few years ago.

This year...

4 years ago...

This girl makes me laugh every time I see her. And FYI, she did all of this on her own, both times. A 3 year old stuffing two balloons up her shirt is quite the site, but she did it. We laughed so hard that morning. She was quite the cute little kid. I love her, and all of the laughter and joy she brings with her.

For unto us a child is born

I love the Christmas season! The lights, the festivities, and of course...the Music!

Today didn't start off fabulous. When my alarm went off this morning I was none too thrilled. To put it mildly, I was quite the Grinch. It was a good thing I didn't see anyone until I'd been up for an hour or so. That was the only downer of the whole day though.

Early this morning we left to head downtown. My mothers aunt gave us her extra tickets to the Sunday morning performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Amazing!!! Thats really the only way to describe it. We were there for their warm-up, broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, and a few extra pieces from their other performances. It was such a great start to the day.

We ended the day with another wonderful, though much less professional performance. For several years we have had the tradition of attending the West Jordan Community performance of Handel's Messiah. Though the quality wasn't as high, the community spirit was awesome. There were young children everywhere, some more interested in the performance than others. One little girl was dancing around to the music with a jingle bell on her dress. I can't imagine a better environment. I'm not much of a singer as it is, so I don't need a professional performance. Those runs were a challenge that I couldn't surmount anyway, but I still tried. I can't believe how beautiful that piece is, and that most of it was written in just 3 weeks. I love it.

The Christmas season is in full swing, and I am loving it, and the music that comes with it. Now that the semester is over and I can focus on the true meaning of Christmas, I am getting more and more into the spirit of the season. So it is time to celebrate, and Isaiah and Handel said it best, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Merry Christmas!

The race is not to the swift...oh I guess it is!

My daddy was 65 years old when I was born, and anytime we tell someone, his answer is "The race is not to the swift, but he that endureth to the end." Well we had a new sort of race around here today involving him, or namely his stuff.

Daddy has a power wheelchair and a scooter that he uses mostly to terrorize the neighborhood, and sometimes as an actual form of transportation, but with the cold weather he hasn't been out much. He asked his grandsons to go out a race them to allow their batteries to get some exercise, and we decided to see which was faster. The ensuing battle was epic, and hysterical.

Too much machinery for the mechanic.

Sam trying to figure out how to get maximum speed out of the chair.

"Oh, you can't catch me!" Bennion

On your mark...Get set...GO!!!

Can you get any more speed out of that thing?

And the winner is....

The SCOOTER!!!

(None of us were really surprised)

Intermission

The semester is over. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. I have taken every final, turned in every last paper, and can do no more, so why does it feel that I will still be going right back to those same classes on Tuesday?

Freedom!!!(?)

It's been a busy semester, and I am looking forward to this short break. Unfortunately I know this is just an intermission between semesters. And I didn't get the news I was hoping for when I checked my email yesterday. The one class I need for next semester to cover my last 2 university requirements for graduation is for majors only, and the teacher lets a few non majors in after the fact. She said that I am down low on the waiting list, despite the fact that I tried to email her the first day of registration, and I am not likely to get in. If thats the case I will have to go to school another semester for one or two classes. Between that and knowing that I have to do an Independent Study class over the break, I'm just a little stressed.

Today I am trying to enjoy a day of freedom, and just hang out. Too bad there is a sink full of dishes reminding me that Finals week is an alternate reality which is no longer in effect. This isn't quite the exciting post I expected it to be, but unfortunately reality is that school stresses me out, and I can't wait to be done. I handle life stress a whole lot better than academic stress.

Blocks and Snow

So I intended to write up this blog and post it, but it never happened, so I'm writing it now. A few weeks ago my cute little redheads spent the night while my sister and her husband went to a movie premier that he'd done photography for, including the cover art. (click here to see his awesome work.)

I didn't think to get the camera out until almost bedtime, and most of the pictures I took were really crappy, but here are a few of my favorite shots of the night.

Grandpa and Oliva.

Hannah and her prize from Grandma for not having any accidents for a full week.

What Hannah builds...

Olivia will topple.

She's such a funny kid

How can you not love this girl?

Two shots of the snow. Olivia was fascinated by it, and kept running to the door to see. We realized she had been only a few months old last winter, so this was her "first" time seeing snow. It was really cute.