Ho Ho Ho

The boys were excited to see Santa this year at our local grocery store. Justin and I were pleased with all the delicious free samples throughout the store. It was fun! Santa even gave the boys cookies and a little plush polar bear. They each told Santa that they want a Dreamlite for Christmas. Santa asked Nolan if he wants a girlfriend, too. He said, "Nah, I already have one." I think he's referring to his buddy, Jadalyn. She is actually over at our house right now. Nolan is teasing Ez and Jadalyn just said to Nolan, "Would you ever be more kind to your brother!" She's a good influence.

I'm not really proud of our Christmas cards this year. We tried on a couple of occasions to take some good snapshots of the family but they just didn't work out. So this is all I could come up with: the boys' school pictures, a cute brotherly-love type picture, and a picture of Justin and me at Mendenhall Glacier last September during our Alaskan Cruise. There are some friends and family out there that I don't have addresses for, so we wish you all a Merry Christmas!  

Baby #3 is due July 4th!

Christmas Concert to Remember

Justin and I spent the most wonderful evening at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert. It is so hard to get tickets from the random lottery, but luckily my brother-in-law's family had two extras. We thought we'd be attending the mini Sunday morning concert, so we were thankful to see the whole thing. When we heard that Alfie Boe would be the guest singer a few months back, we knew we had to find a way to go. We've loved him ever since we saw the PBS Les Miserables special. And yes, Alfie sang "Bring Him Home." I think he sang it even better than he did in the Les Miserables show.

We knew the performance would be good, but it was far better than we could have imagined. Alfie was amazing and Tom Brokaw's story about the candy bomber was very touching. It was quite a surprise when a curtain revealed Gail Halverson himself (92), the Utah Native who dropped candy to poor children during the Berlin Airlift.

The whole evening was very touching because of that morning's events. I don't understand how anything so horrible as the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings could ever really happen, but it made me so thankful for my kids, the gospel, and the Christmas season. I'm glad to know that no matter what happens, we can be together after this life. At the beginning of the show there was a moment of silence for all those who died in the shooting. I'm just so thankful for my precious kids. I'm thankful for the opportunity to attend... it was a highlight of my year!

Christmas Letter to Bryson

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas. We've just about gotten all of our cards sent out. Nolan made a special letter for his cousin, Elder Lawrence, that is serving in Mexico. He had lots of questions for him! Down below, it says, "I hope you will make it home." He's been doing great with his writing and spelling skills. Click on the picture to see it larger.

The Holidays are On!

We spent Thanksgiving in St. George this year. The weather was so beautiful! The meal was delicious, as always, and it was fun to do a little shopping with my mom and sisters over the weekend. The kids had a wonderful time with Grandpa John. He spoiled them rotten by taking them to the movie, going hiking, having a picnic, riding the carousel, and getting ice cream. He even took all the kids to McDonald's while the rest of the adults could see the final Twilight movie. It was a lovely weekend, other than the sad news that Justin's Grandpa passed away on Thanksgiving Day. He had had a fall previously and hit his head, but the doctors thought he was recovering okay. Unfortunately, he had a massive hemorrhage in his brain that couldn't be helped. Justin was really close to his Grandpa.

Rob and Lacey's family ate at the Rignell's house, but we still got to spend time with them. We missed Grady, Darian, and Bryson. The cousins (minus the cranky toddlers) took this picture to send to Bryson in Mexico. It says "Happy Thanksgiving Elder Lawrence."

After Thanksgiving weekend, we rushed home to repack and then drive to Logan for Grandpa Moulton's funeral. It was a wonderful tribute to him and it was amazing that all of his grandchildren were there. Gina even flew in from Amman, Jordan. Justin was nervous but he gave a beautiful opening prayer. There was a special drawer in the casket for anyone who wanted to write a note or put something in for Grandpa. Nolan and Justin each wrote notes. Nolan told Grandpa how much he always loved his root beer floats. Nolan also made a little decoration out of beads and told Grandpa to hang it up on his wall when he comes back after being resurrected.

It's amazing that it's now Christmas time already. Nolan kept giving me a hard time that everyone else had their Christmas decorations up and we didn't. The boys were very excited to finally decorate the tree. Last weekend provided a warm day so we went to see the lights at temple square. The boys liked the lights but their favorite part was following the water fountain river... something that can be seen year round! Figures. They also loved the amazing window display at Deseret Book. The moving train was quite a sight even for adults.