The Little Tree

Last year we were given a artificial tree from some friends.  Because it is only a three or four feet tall it has become the perfect tree to put in the boys room for them to decorate.  One night while I was at a meeting Stephen and the boys decorated their tree.  I'm pretty sure they had a good time because the next morning Emerson told me all about decorating the tree.  Here are a couple pictures of them decorating their special tree.  

Decorating the Tree

Stephen stopped by and picked up a tree on his way home from work one evening.  The boys were so excited to put the tree up and decorate it that they hardly touched their dinner.  After Stephen got all the lights up the boys had fun putting the ornaments on the tree.  Stephen and I helped put a couple on the top branches but most of the ornaments this year hung on the lower parts of the tree.

With a little help from Daddy, Emerson put the star on the top of the tree.  After that I managed to get one picture of the boys by the tree before they were off getting into the other Christmas decorations.

After putting up the tree it started to feel more like the holiday season.  I just love the sent of Christmas trees.

Egg Nog Monsters

While Grandma Jean was in England, she introduced the boys to eggnog.  They both really like it and so for the past two months eggnog has been the most frequently purchased item from the grocery store.  Here is a picture of Emerson, one of our little eggnog lovers, with his eggnog  moustache.

Trip to the Farm

The week after Thanksgiving, Canyon and I went with Emerson and his preschool to the farm to see all the animals and do some Christmas activities.  One of the first things we did was head to Santa's workshop and listen to him tell stories.  As the boys were leaving the workshop they all got a little present.  Emerson was very interested in what Santa had to say and listened very intently as he talked.

Then we made some Christmas cards and went around and saw a couple of the animals at the farm.  The goats really like Emerson and his furry coat.

The boys also raced around on tractors and played on the playground.  Despite the picture Canyon really enjoyed going down the slide.  Emerson had a lot of fun as he went on a tractor ride with some of his classmates.

After lunch we went to watch a little play of the nativity and sing songs about Jesus's birth.  It was a very nice little play and the boys helped out by shaking some jingle bells during the songs.  After the nativity was over the boys and I looked around at some more of the animals.  After that we headed back home.  It was a long day, but the weather was not too cold and the boys really enjoyed themselves.

Turkey Bowl

The week of Thanksgiving the boys and I went to watch Stephen play in this year's annual Turkey Bowl.  As usual the "Jocks" (Alconbury base) played against the "Nerds" (Molesworth base) for the Turkey Bowl title.  This year the "Nerds" continued their winning streak along with bragging rights for yet another year.  The boys really enjoyed watching the game and playing with the other boys that were there to watch their dads.

Writing

Emerson has been very interested in writing lately and so one morning while I was working on a talk for church Emerson worked on his letters.  Below is a picture of the first three letters of his name which he wrote.  After that he got a little frustrated because he said that the R's were to hard to draw.  It's so fun to see him excited about learning and I hope that this excitement continues.  (Even if those R's can be a little tricky.)

Aquarium Trip

Stephen had a long weekend in the middle of November and so we took a day trip to the Sea Life aquarium on one of his days off.  The boys really enjoyed going to the aquarium and seeing all the fish that were there. We saw little sharks and big sharks, little turtles and really big turtles and lots of fish and other animals as well.  They had an area where you could touch a crab, starfish and sea urchin.  Both of the boys really enjoyed this part and were not afraid to touch these fun creatures.

In the pictures below Canyon is pointing out the different fish in the tank.  (He was very excited about seeing all the fish.)  Emerson's favorite part of the aquarium was getting to see all the sharks.  Emerson found this shark laying down taking a break from swimming and decided to join him.

At the end of the aquarium they had this fun Lego shark before you entered the gift shop.  (I think Canyon was a little less than amused by this time.)  It was a very fun day out and we all enjoyed it a lot.  The boys had such a great time that we will probably do it again sometime soon.

Baking Cookies

One afternoon while Stephen was at work, the boys and I made some yummy cookies for him.  The boys really enjoyed helping make the cookie dough.  They also liked eating the batter from the cookies.  After we finished licking the utensils, I gave the boys some dough to play around with while I rolled the cookies and put them on the pan.  Then after they came out of the oven we pressed the cookies with some letter stamps and wrote out a message to Stephen.  "We Love Daddy!"  It was a bit of a messy activity but the boys had a lot of fun and afterwards they got to splash around in the bath.

Grandma Jean in London

A couple days before Stephen's Mum had to leave to go back to Utah, the boys and I took her to London. We spent most of the time in a couple art museums and then went and saw some of the sights like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.

While we were taking pictures of Big Ben, Emerson entertained himself as threw leaves into the water below.

We had a late lunch before making our way back home and stopped at a cute little Italian restaurant.  The boys and I shared a pizza, while Jean enjoyed some very yummy looking lasagna.

Trunk-or-Treat

The day that Stephen and I got back from our cruise was the night that our ward had their Halloween party and Trunk-or-Treat.  Stephen had missed a week of school because of our cruise, so while he stayed at home and tried to get caught up on some school work the boys and I went with Grandma Jean to the party. This year the boys were cows (thanks to a friend that had some old costumes that their boys didn't fit in anymore).  Shortly after we got there they started the trick or treating so we each took one of the boys and walked around to everyone's cars to collect some sweets.  I don't think Canyon really understood but he was very happy to lift up his bucket for someone to put something in it.  Emerson was very excited for Halloween this year and made sure to say trick or treat to all the cars he went to.

After the trick or treating part we came back in to eat some sweets and play some games.  Emerson and I wrapped Grandma Jean up as a mummy, and them Emerson ripped all the toilet paper off as fast as he could.

One of the last activities Emerson did before we left was the piñata.  Emerson got up a couple times to swing at the pumpkin.  Eventually one of the youth broke it open and Grandma Jean helped Emerson collect a couple of goodies.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with the boys and see them enjoy the evening at the party.

Day Nine: Nazareth/Sea of Galilee

On our ninth and final port stop for the cruise we went to Haifa, Israel.  For this stop we got a tour to take us to the Sea of Galilee and Nazareth.  Before we actually left the city of Haifa however we went to look at the beautifully manicured Baha'i gardens.  They were very pretty and it was a nice sunny day that really emphasized all the various colors.

One of our first stops was the Mount of Beatitudes.  This is the place where some believe the Savior gave the Sermon on the Mount.  It was a beautiful area and very lush with all the vegetation.

We also went to the place where it is thought that Jesus performed the miracle of the fishes and the loaves that fed all the people.

We also went to Capernum where Jesus stayed with His disciples Peter and Andrew.  This is also was also where we went down and saw the Sea of Galilee.  I was surprised at how rocky much of this beach area was. 

One of our last stops was the Jordan River.  Even though it had been very commercialized like most other places it still had a peaceful atmosphere.  I got my feet wet a couple times while we were here (it was a nice break from the heat.).

We enjoyed yet again another beautiful day for our cruise and we enjoyed all the bits of history we were able to see and experience.

Day Eight: Jerusalem/Bethlehem

For our last day at the port of Ashdod, we took a tour to Bethlehem and Jerusalem.  Our first stop of the day was in Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity.  This is where some believe that Jesus was born.  At this site and many other places we went through throughout this tour churches will built over these religious sites to try and help protect the place.  It did make it hard, however the feel what it must have been like in the time of the Savior.

After seeing a little in Bethlehem, we went back to Jerusalem and walked along and saw some of the other religious sites in this area.  For lunch we branched out a lot and had pizza.  It did have green olives on it so I think that makes it more authentic - right?

Like the churches built over some important sites in religious history, the path that the Savior carried the cross was also a little hard to envision as there were shops lined up on either side of the pathway.

We went to the Wailing Wall and then outside the walled part of the city.  It was very interesting to watch people as they approached the wall and did various rituals.

We went to the Garden of Gethsemane and even though there was yet another church there were still many olive trees around the church.  It was very quiet and peaceful when we went to the Garden and this was probably my favorite place that we visited on that day.

Before we made the long journey back to the ship we stopped at a look out above the Garden to look at the city as the sun began to set.  Despite the commercialization of the different sites we went and visited we still had a very nice time in Jerusalem.