January 2007 Archives

1-21-07

Happy New Year everyone. We are way overdue for an installment on the website, so here it is (finally).

Thanksgiving

We spent most of Thanksgiving Day in the car. We drove up to Logan to see James' Grandma and Grandpa Baerwaldt and enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Then we drove to Draper to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. After stuffing ourselves with stuffing and turkey and yummy deserts, we got back in the car and drove home so we could roll ourselves into bed.

Sinterklaas

On December 5th we celebrated Sinterklaas with my mom's extended family. Seth, Jacob and their cousins gorged on candy and got more presents than they knew what to do with. On the 6th we woke to find our shoes filled again with even more presents. Seth got the airport that goes with his Geotrax train set. Jacob got an airplane that also goes with the set so that he could play too. James and John both got yo-yos. It was a fun day. There were so many yo-yo's flying around. Seth and Jacob even got into the action as you will see from the photos.

Henderson Christmas

Since our family was leaving to spend the holidays with James' Mom and Dad in Virginia, my family decided to have a gift exchange a little early this year. We had a nice dinner and then we all got to open presents from Grandma and Grandpa Henderson. Seth was in present heaven from the amount of gift opening he got to do this December. Every time I told him we were going to see someone he would ask if there were going to be presents there. The grandkids also put on a Nativity for us. Seth did triple duty, he played Joseph, a shepherd and a wiseman. I guess that's what happens when you are the only boy in the family old enough to be in the play. He had his hands in his pockets the while he played Joseph and the shepherd and was very serious about the whole thing. It was so funny because I'd never seen him put his hands in his pockets and leave them there before. All the kids were very cute though and did a great job.

Christmas in Virginia

We flew out to Virginia on the 16th and had two and a half weeks of rest and relaxation.

DC Trip with Seth

We took Seth to DC and enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures, as we walked around the city without jackets on. We ate at Ben's Chili Bowl, which has been a dream of James' since seeing the place highlighted on a food tv show. Then we went to the National Botanical Gardens to see the model train displays. It wasn't as impressive as the last time we had seen it, but the model builder had been smart enough to have one of the trains pulling Thomas the Tank Engine on one of the flat bed cars and that made it all worth it for Seth. We also saw the Rembrandt display that the National Gallery had going on and we went to the Air and Space Museum.

Clay Oven Food

We throughly enjoyed making pizza, bread and other things in John's clay oven. The pizza's were awesome and it was definitely an experience to cook them in the oven. I'm not sure I'd be willing to put in all the effort that it takes to get the oven ready to go, but I liked the fact that it is possible to bake things outdoors if you put forth the effort.

Seth's Shows

While we were in Virginia Seth broke out of his shell and did several performances for the family. He would go around and give everyone a ticket and then he would go to the front of the room and say "Ladies and Gentlemen!! A New Show!!!" He would the proceed to pull a pretend rabbit out of his hat or make Lion disappear or something of that nature. When his show was done he would take a bow, which with his awkward 3 year old body was pretty cute all on it's own.

Hike for Breakfast

James and Seth went with the family on a hike for breakfast. They packed everything they needed to make a dutch oven breakfast in a bunch of backpacks and took off. The island they hiked to is the site of an old quarry and there was a big stone partially cut away from the bedrock which Seth dubbed his pirate ship. The cooked an awesome breakfast of biscuits and breakfast hash. Seth also enjoyed being Grandma Debbie's baby bird as she dropped orange sections into his open mouth. They all came home muddy and tired.

Christmas

It was so fun to have the Lance clan together as a family (all except Elder Lance that is). Seth slept upstairs with John and Jared on Christmas Eve. I hear they got up very, very early and Christmas morning waiting in agony for Grandpa Lane to wake up so they could get to the presents. This was Jacob's first Christmas and it was fun to watch him try to figure out what exactly was going on. He had a good time unwrapping his gifts and then playing with the wrapping paper after whatever cumbersome thing inside of it was out of his way. He was dressed in a red and white striped Christmas outfit and looked like a chubby candy cane. Grandma Debbie had gotten everyone a sticky slap hand to play with as one of the family gifts. Unfortunately, something about the slap hands triggered Seth's gag reflex and we had to make everyone put them away to stop him from throwing up. Later, Jana was showing Grandpa how the hands worked and Seth happened to walk in the room. His reaction was immediate and we ended up with barf all over the floor. It was hilarious and sad at the same time. For the rest of the trip we had to make sure there were no slap hands visible in any room that Seth went into. Christmas day was very relaxed and we spent most of the day playing, watching movies and enjoying the company of family.

National Marine Museum

We went with Grandpa and the boys to the National Marine Museum. It's a brand new museum and really impressive. We ended up going to it twice because James, John and Grandpa all only got through about a quarter of the museum the first time we went. There was a lot to see and do.

Temple / Arlington Trip

The day after Christmas the whole family took a trip to the DC temple. We left Seth and Jacob with Jeff and Jared while all the recommend holders in the family went to an endowment session. I think it was a dream come true for Mom and Dad to have almost all their children in the Temple with them. I know it will be a thrill for me when my kids are old enough. After the temple we headed to Arlington National Cemetery. It started pouring rain as we pulled into the parking lot. We quick-marched our way up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in order to catch the tail end of the changing of the guard. We were drenched as we walked back down, only to have the rain stop as we reached the visitor center. Justin took the blame for the rain, saying that it has rained every time he has ever been to the cemetery. I would like to go back one day when it isn't raining and wander around a bit more.

New Years Eve

We decided to have a small party for Jacob's Birthday on New Years Eve so that Grandma and Grandpa could watch him get cake all over his face. The cake wasn't quite as gooey as we would have liked, but he managed to get pretty messy even so. The highlight of the evening was ringing the big New Years bell. Seth thought it was the coolest thing and was very sad when we had to put it away because it was so loud. For the rest of the trip he kept asking me if he could have the big bell in order to ring it and be a train conductor.

We had such a great time being with family. Seth was really sad to have to leave his punkles, especially his "best friend, Jared". Jacob loved snuggling with Jana and playing with grandma. James had a great time with all the members of his family, but I think he was most excited to get to spend time with his dad. And I have never had so many ready and willing babysitters and was spoiled to be able to leave the boys whenever I needed to. It was also especially fun for me to get to know James' mom and dad better and to feel more a part of their family.

Jacob's Birthday

Can he really be a year old already? It has absolutely flown by. We had cake for him on his actual birthday, but his party isn't going to be for another two weeks so that John can be there when he gets back from Germany. We love having Jacob in our family. He is growing so fast and learning new things all the time. While we were in Virginia he finally learned how to clap. It was funny because he learned how to say the word clap before he learned how to do the actual clapping motion. He also learned how to say "hello" and loves to pretend he's talking on the phone. In the last month he has gotten four new teeth and now has four on the bottom and four on the top. He can stand for a few seconds on his own. Much to Seth's chagrin he loves to follow his big brother around and play with whatever Seth is playing with. He has gotten very chatty and will babble on and on. He says, ma ma, da da, done, clap, hello, bye-bye, and loves to sing yo-ho yo-ho a pirate's life for me and twinkle twinkle little star (both mostly babbling to the melodies). He is also very protective of things in his possession and if you take something away from him, he will definitely let you know that he is unhappy about it.

Seth's Update

I took Seth to the doctor this week and he weighed 32 pounds. He had gained 2 pounds in a month and it must be mostly in height because he hasn't chubbed up at all. He is still a train man through and through, I bought him an engineer's hat and he calls it his "ductor" (conductor) hat. He also keeps telling me all the new geotrax train things he wants for his birthday. His other love is playing pirates, he will go around the house wearing a belt with his sword tucked in one side and his pirate pistol stuck in the other. He said something really funny the other day when he was playing pirates... He pointed his pirate hook at me and said "Give me your woot!" I went along with him and gave him some pretend loot. He said, "Thank you. Now I can say, 'Ha, Ha'" Then he proceeded to say "Ha-Ha" in his best piratey voice. It was so funny. James and I nearly fell out of our chairs because we were laughing so hard. I think it's probably not so funny in the retelling, but if you've ever heard him talk like a pirate it's easier to imagine the hilarity of him saying "Now I can say Ha-Ha" before actually saying Ha-Ha. He's now a Sunbeam in Primary and has made the adjustment fairly well, but he still has a problem with hitting other kids and we are trying our best to help him learn to control himself. We love his vibrant personality and relish the times when he sneaks up and gives us kisses and tells us that he loves us. He is a wonderful son.

Well, I think this letter is quite long enough. James and I are doing well and having so much fun being parents. We hope all of you had wonderful holidays too and wish you the best for the new year.

Love James, Miekka, Seth and Jacob