Pullen Park

One saturday in January, we spent a few hours in Raleigh. 

We stopped at the temple.

Then we made a trip to Pullen Park (it's been on my "North Carolina to visit" list ever since we moved here).

We were enticed by the $1 train ride, which turned out to be pretty decent and the kids loved it. 

We were happy to discover a fun playground as well. 

 

Then we all enjoyed a visit with the local birds and a walk around the lake.

Hello, Andy Griffith!

Anwyn had a birthday

We celebrated Anwyn's birhtday on Friday, January 25th (one month after her actual birthday on Christmas Day). We have found that waiting one month for her birthday is the best way for her to have a nice birthday that doesn't get lost in the shuffle of Christ. It was a snowy and icy day, and the kids ended up being sent home from school a few hours early because of the storm. We were excited to have some more time to play. We kept things simple this year and invited a few families over for cake and ice cream (the Wrights and the Tarrants--the Barrotts couldn't make it because of the icy weather). Anwyn requested a Texas Sheet Cake, and teriyaki meatballs for dinner, and she enjoyed her new Lego Friends gifts.

Anwyn is a sweet girl. She is very helpful at home, especially with her brother and sister. She loves to read books (and wakes up early-6:00a.m.-to read before school). Her current faves are Beverly Cleary and Ivy and Bean. She likes to play outside with neighbors, and she is learning to write in cursive. We are so thankful to have her in our family!

Snowy Days

After living in sunny Florida for six years, we were beyond thrilled when it snowed! The kids were all ready for bed at 8:30pm when the flakes finally started falling, so we quickly threw on our coats and went out to play.

It was nice that the next day was a scheduled day off from school so we all had time to enjoy the rare snow. The kids were bundled up and outside playing before 8am. The snow had mostly turned into ice so we couldn't make any snowmen, but the kids had fun sledding the little hills with the neighbors.

Anwyn's Baptism

Saturday was a very special day for Anwyn--it was the day of her baptism as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Christmas 2012

We had a lovely Christmas week. Monday was Christmas Eve. We cleaned up the house, baked some rolls, delivered some little candy cane reindeer to the neighbor kids, and the kids watched some sheep snow episodes (Shaun the Sheep). Ryan and Marcelaine and kids arrived around 5pm and we finished our dinner preparations: egg rolls, general tso's chicken, fried rice and chow mein, with "fried" ice cream balls for dessert. Marcelaine brought a cheeseball and holiday wassail. It was all delicious. 

After dinner we reenacted the nativity. Anwyn had spent a good part of the day coordinating roles and costumes and the script. Unfortunately the little kids (meaning everyone younger than Anwyn) weren't too interested in playing their parts, but it still came out okay. 

 A couple of wise guys.

 Shepherds startled by the appearance of the angel.

Mary (riding a donkey) and Joseph (extra authentic with his graham cracker in hand).

 Cousins in their new pajamas.

Time for bed and excited for Christmas morning.

After opening up new pajamas we sent the kids off to bed. Zach and Lily settled down okay, but Anwyn was so excited I don't think she fell asleep until nearly midnight (and then woke up around 5 AM).

Christmas morning we were all awake by 7am, except for Zach. He was a little sick and hadn't slept well, so we let him sleep in a little longer and stalled the girls with their new activity books. We did stockings and ate caramel pull a parts for breakfast, then opened presents. The girls were thrilled with their new dolls, we all had fun with new cars and the new CTR town playmat, and we have lots of lego sets to build. Jared and I surprised each other by completing the university t-shirt set--a BYU t-shirt for Jared and a Duke shirt for Kristi. We enjoyed a nice quiet day at home in our pajamas, playing, watching Brave, and eating ham, etc. for dinner.

And we are really lame at taking pictures on Christmas morning, since this is all we've got!