My Joy!: Our Christmas Visit In NY

Friday, May 12, 2017

Our Christmas Visit In NY

We traveled to Geneva, NY to visit family for Christmas!

Along the way we played in some snow!

We made a brief stop in Watkins Glenn, NY, not far from Geneva, to check out the frozen waterfalls:

Off to Geneva!

First stop was to see Grandma Grandma and Nana at the Living Center:

We had a fun time visiting:

Time to go see Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce!

We celebrated Lizzy's and Daddy's birthdays!

Grandpa and Grandma got us a cake:

We each blew out two candles:

Time for some presents:

One more Big Box:

What could it be?

A soccer bean bag chair!

Dad enjoyed opening presents too:

Thank you Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce!!

The next day we woke up to snow on the ground! So we had a snowball fight of course:

We brought a small toboggan with us so we found a big hill and went sledding:

We found a sled at the hill. So we borrowed it while we were there and we both went sledding:

We had so much fun!

Dad even joined us:

We started making a snowman and decided that we should make one for Grandma Joyce since she LOVES snowmen!

First we went to visit Nana and Grandma.

A Latin Music band came while we were there and Rachel entertained everyone with some fancy dancing:

Off to Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce's house. We helped Grandma Joyce decorate Christmas cookies:

After decorating cookies we asked to go play outside.

Time to make the surprise for Grandma Joyce!

When we were all done we called Grandma Joyce to come outside.

Grandma Joyce loved that we made her a snowman!

The next morning we went to visit Nana and Grandma and this time they wanted to go play some games downstairs so we all went down stairs for some fun games:

Off to go see the lake! Geneva is located right on Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. It is beautiful!

There were lots of birds (we had to be careful not to get "hit" standing under them!).

There were plenty of ducks too:

We met Grandpa and Grandma for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants "Ling Lings". It is an all you can eat Chinese Buffet.

We love the seafood and the endless soft serve ice cream!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! We are excited to go see our cousins in Rochester, NY. Our cousin Gabrielle was very entertaining!

We had a lot of fun playing with our cousins:

We even had a "Special Visitor":

Who could it be!?

Santa! And he had a present for Lizzy!

She made him a Christmas card:

Santa had a present for Rachel too:

She made a special card too:

Santa was telling me all about the special gift he gave us:

A handmade purse with lip gloss, earrings, sunglasses, and a pompom clip. We loved the gifts! Thank you Santa!!

We had another AMAZING surprise waiting for us when we went to the car:

Aunt Gail handmade us Mermaid Blankets!

Our cousins gave us some Mermaid dolls - perfect!

We LOVE our Mermaid blankets so much!
Thank you Aunt Gail!!
We Love You Too!

Merry Christmas!
This year Christmas fell on Sunday so we went to church in Fayette, NY at the Peter Whitmer Farm. Before church Rachel gave us some special gifts she made for us at school:

After church we all went to the Living Center to celebrate Christmas with Nana and Grandma Grandma. We made them some Christmas cards:

We got lots of hugs and kisses:

We exchanged gifts too. Grandma Grandma (with help from Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce) gave us some gifts:

We got a movie we both wanted too:

Grandma Grandma's knitted towels:

We had presents for Grandma Grandma too:

We had presents for Nana:

After our visit with Nana and Grandma Grandma we went to Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce's house. We had a great time exchanging presents. First present was for the dogs. Clover was VERY excited:

A special gift for Grandpa Ed next:

Last year Grandpa Ed asked Lizzy to write a story and Rachel to Illustrate the story. We made a book about our family. Grandpa was very happy we made him that gift and we were too.

We made Grandma Joyce some snowmen. Grandma Joyce Loves Snowmen:

Family pictures for Grandpa and Grandma:

They had presents for us too:

We had a wonderful Christmas with family in NY.

Time to drive to Florida and go back home.

The next day we continued celebrating Christmas:

We always leave a gift under the tree for remembering Jesus:

Christmas stockings:

Gift exchange between Lizzy and Rachel:

Mom and Dad got gifts from us too!

Presents from mom and dad:

A Tablet!

Metal Detector!

And from Santa:

We can't forget our gifts to our pets.
(The cats were hiding)

Luna was waiting patiently for her gifts:

One of them lasted a whole 3 minutes!

With love for our Savior Jesus Christ in our hearts we truly had a wonderful Christmas. Image result for LDS nativity

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"The Things They Say & Do"

11/27/16

Tonight we were invited to a friend's house to share in their traditions of lighting the advent wreath. There were several other guests there as well (all friends from church). While were were all gathered around enjoying the refreshments there was a light discussion about how kids pick up on things and often know about things that we are not sure how or where they learned them. Rachel chimed in and announced "Yeah, like when Dad teaches me cuss words!!" Very funny Rachel!

11/24/16

This morning I overheard the girls conversation:

Rachel (age 7) [smiling] "I had a good dream. All the boys in my school liked me."

Elizabeth(3 weeks shy of 10 yrs old) [quizzical] "Why is that a good dream!?

06/21/16

This morning my daughter (age 7) yelled out to me in excitement"Mom! My brain is bigger!". I replied, "It is?! How do you know that?". She responded, "I remember how small it was and now it's bigger!". She then ran into my room to show me. She walked in with a little brain in a bowl. I forgot about the little brain toy I gave her yesterday that grows bigger in water.

5/15/16

Elizabeth was getting ready to juice an orange and needed a knife to cut the orange in half. Elizabeth showed me a large sharp knife and I directed her to use a different knife. I then instructed her to be careful! Rachel, listening to the conversation, said, “Mom it's not rocket science she has used a knife before. If it was rocket science it would be dangerous because she would be mixing chemicals together and they could explode.”

01/27/16

Mom to Rachel:"I Love You."

Rachel to Mom:"I Love You Too" followed by as a matter of factly, "Why Wouldn't I".

11/20/15

My youngest daughter looked at my shirt the other day and asked "Why did you decided to wear THAT shirt when you got dressed this morning?" I confirmed that she did not like the shirt.

A few days later I was sporting a shrug wrap that I thought looked somewhat high fashion. As we were strolling together window shopping at an upscale plaza my oldest daughter told me that it made me look like a homeless person.

02/02/15

The girls were making their lunches for school and Rachel asked Elizabeth what treat she should put in her lunch and Elizabeth said"Sex!". I said "What!" and then passing the buck I said, "Daddy!??". Daddy replied, "I heard" and then he told the girls, "You cannot have sex for a treat." The girls sensing something was wrong with what they said, replied, "What? What is sex?" When I hesitated with my response Elizabeth said, "Fine, I will just look it up on the computer." Daddy and mommy in unison replied, "No!" and then mommy explained that it was something that married people do." Lucky for us they were fine with that answer and promised they would not look it up on the computer.

05/20/14

During our family scripture study this morning we were discussing how Rebekah was prepared and worthy to marry Issac. Daddy asked Elizabeth what she will need to do to marry a good man. Elizabeth replied "Kiss him."

3/04/14

Rachel asked if she could have a granola bar. I asked, "Did you finish your cereal?" She responded, "I did my best." I just could not bring myself to argue with that.

02/17/14

Rachel: "Mom I am going to teach you how to make snow. You take a snow seed and put it in a snowflake and grow some snow!"

12/13/13

Rachel opened the front door. Curious about where she was going at 8 a.m. on a chilly morning I asked "What are you doing?". She shut the door and replied, "There was a spider." ~ One less spider for me to face thanks to my brave little one. Thanks Rachel!

11/04/13

At 4 a.m Rachel busted open our bedroom door and yelled out "I Can't Move My Hands!" Apparently she had never had a body part go asleep before. She failed to remember the incident in the morning.

10/31/13

The girls were in a costume contest at the YMCA; Rachel won best girl costume in her age group and Elizabeth got a prize for her costume as an Honorable Mention. She was very pleased with her win, but asked me what "Honorable Mention" meant. I explained that her costume was "almost as good as the best costumes there". She held her chin up high and with a grand smile on her face proudly stated "I won".

10/27/13

We asked the girls to go get ready for bed. Rachel came out very quickly (too quickly) claiming she was done. We asked her if she got her school clothes out and she said she had. We asked her to go brush her teeth and she said she did. Because she had only been gone a couple of minutes I responded that she had only brushed for two seconds and needed to brush longer. She stomped her foot and said, "I brushed for 3 seconds!"

9/8/13

At the dinner table we were discussing some concerns we were having with the girls' behavior. Santa got interjected into the conversation at some point and Daddy said, "That's right, you don't want to be on Santa's bad list." Rachel replied matter of factly, "I don't care, I'll just wait for the next Christmas."

8/3/13

Said by Rachel on a Saturday evening: "Dad, next Thursday I will be good."

Dad: "No tomorrow you will be good."

Rachel: "No, next Thursday."

7/30/13

Elizabeth to Rachel: "Is Shadow (our cat) your favorite someone in the world?"

Rachel: "Not as much as Jesus."

2/10/13

Elizabeth: "Mommy, sometimes when I'm hurt I can eat my boogers and that helps me take my mind off being hurt"

2/6/13

Rachel picked up a book and said "What's this book Mommy?" I said, "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly." Rachel replied, "Was that you mommy?" (implying that I was the old lady).

2/3/13

In church today the primary children were asked what is the most important thing they do in sacrament meeting. Elizabeth raised her hand and confidently said, "Be Quiet!"

1/24/13

During a conversation in the car on our way to take Elizabeth to school Elizabeth says, "Your like 100 years old and I'm only six!" Taking advantage of a learning opportunity I replied, "I'm 43, can you count to 43?" Elizabeth replied, "Oh my goodness that's a lot!"

1/21/13

My birthday ~ The girls were up before me playing. I made my way into the living room and I did not see or hear Elizabeth, I finally asked, "Where's Elizabeth?" Out from behind the chair, she popped her head out, blew a party favor, jumped up and placed a Mickey Mouse sticker on my chest and then pulled out her digital camera and snapped a surprise happy birthday pic. What a great way to start a birthday!

1/18/13

I gave Elizabeth an apple to eat. Ten minutes later she came to me with a complaint. Holding up a half eaten apple she stated, "Mom I'm getting tired of holding this."

11/17/12

While getting Rachel ready for bed: Daddy~ "Okay it's time to go pee pee" Rachel's response, ~"But my pee pee does not go out on Saturday's."

9/18/12

While at the library Rachel came around the corner calling out "mommy." I answered, "Yes, honey", looking up from the shelves of books I was sifting through. With a double take I looked at Rachel's outstretched hand which was piled high with feces. I actually remained calm hoping not to startle her in any way where she might release the mass from the palm of her hand. I quickly surveyed the scene to discover a dropping behind her on the carpeted floor. I brought her into the bathroom and ran back to collect the wayward portion of poop on the carpet. I quickly returned to the bathroom and realized the problem had resulted from her diaper being unstuck and open from one side. After cleaning her bottom, her hands, her shoes, and her feet, we exited the bathroom in search of more

remnants. One final clean up on the computer chair and we were outta there!

6/2012
While on vacation the girls were introduced to dreamsicles. Jokingly we told the girls that they would have good dreams. Coincidentally the next morning they reported having had good dreams. A few days later we had fudgsicles and again jokingly we claimed that they would have chocolate dreams. The next morning Elizabeth angrily came into our room and exclaimed, "I did NOT have chocolate dreams! I had bad dreams and the last one was not at all about chocolate!"

6/2012
Rachel was picking her nose and then immediately started touching her feet. She looked up at her dad and explained, "I like to put buggers on my feet."

4/24/2012
I said to Elizabeth, "I love you Elizabeth." She replied, "I love you so much, I love you more than chocolate!"

11/06/2011
Rachel was brushing my hair and said, "Your hair looks beautiful. Your a princess mommy!" Mommy's heart fluttered.

10/27/2011
Elizabeth has been health conscious lately. She was asked to say the prayer at breakfast this morning. In the prayer she asked that we would have only healthy food and drinks today and that we would take good care of our bodies. She concluded her requests with ". . . and that we would have a good time at Trick or Treating."

8/29/2011
Rachel and I were in CVS together. There were two people being checked out who were large in stature and a little rough around the edges and two other women standing nearby. As we headed up to check out, Rachel surveyed all the people and, pointing to the two being checked out, asked "Are those the bad guys?"

8/8/2011
Elizabeth asked me a question I had already answered earlier:
Me: "Why do you ask questions for things you already know the answer?"

Elizabeth: "Because I do not know better."

07/13/11
The girls were playing on the porch and I was just inside working at my desk when I heard Elizabeth say to Rachel, "Okay, I am afraid I am going to have to hurt you a little bit." After immediate intervention on my part I discovered that they were playing doctor (no injuries incurred).

05/17/11
Elizabeth came to me with her finger out (as if it were hurt) and said, "I went by the bathroom and the door was open and I closed it but my finger closed in it." I said oh, I'm sorry and I kissed her finger. She THEN said "it was the potty seat door". I realized what she meant and that I had kissed that finger! I then asked, "Did you wash your hands?" Her reply, "No, I didn't go to the bathroom, I just closed the seat."

05/13/11
I was shampooing the carpet in the living room. Elizabeth asked me if I was going to clean every room in the house. I said, "No, I don't think so." Elizabeth replied, "I know you can do it because you are a really good mommy."

05/2011
Rachel likes to switch off from sleeping in her bed to sleeping on the floor in the playroom. Daddy was putting Rachel to bed and asked her, "Where do you want to sleep tonight, bed or playroom". Rachel said "couch". Daddy then said, "No, bed or playroom?" Rachel got a twinkle in her eye and said, "How 'bout mommy's bed?!"

12/24/10
While visiting with her cousins in NY on Christmas Eve the older kids were getting a little rowdy. Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and to the rowdy bunch announced, "I sure hope Santa doesn't see you doing this!".

05/10
Elizabeth: "I have an eye bugger."
Mommy: "Do you want a tissue?"
Elizabeth: "No, I want to eat it."
Mommy: "Yuck, no you don't eat it!"
Elizabeth: "But I like buggers."

05/10
Elizabeth asked her daddy why he was lying down on the couch and he said that he was not feeling well. Elizabeth patted his ankle and said "Aw, you should have some soup."

04/10
Elizabeth and I were talking about teeth because her baby sister is teething. During our discussion I told her that her teeth were going to fall out in a few years and she was going to get new teeth. She was excited and said "I want blue teeth!".

01/10
Elizabeth recently watched Toy Story and it has become one of her favorite movies. She has taken a considerable liking to the Buzz Light Year character. Not long after waking up Elizabeth said to me "Buzz is not a toy." I replied "Buzz is a toy." Elizabeth enthusiastically said "No! Buzz is a Lady!"

11/09
I decided we would have a "special treat" after dinner (we had some homemade ice cream in the freezer that needed to be eaten). I got out some great toppings : sprinkles, strawberries, chocolate syrup, nuts and chocolate chips. I asked Elizabeth what toppings she wanted and she got a few toppings. I got mine and Elizabeth inspected it to see what toppings I got. When her father sat down with his bowl she looked at him with arms and hands outstretched and exclaimed, "Are you serious?! No chocolate chips, sprinkles, nuts!!! Are you serious?!" He decided to add to his plain bowl of ice cream a few chocolate chips and she was then satisfied.

10/09
Elizabeth- "What are you doing mommy?"
Mommy- "I'm fixing my face."
Elizabeth- "Did it fall off?"

9/09 Elizabeth saw a bug on the floor and started yelling "a bug, a bug" over and over. I came in the room to take care of it and it looked dead. I got the broom to sweep it up and it started to run away. So I took the broom and hit it till it was no longer moving. Elizabeth was watching me and was laughing pretty hard (for some reason). She then said, "Did you fight it!?!" I had to laugh with her and I replied, "Yes, I fought it."

8/09 I was up much of the night (with the baby and having trouble falling back to sleep) and Elizabeth was ready to start her day. I got her breakfast and some morning snacks together and put on an educational children's video (oh all right it was Barney). I then laid down on the couch and told Elizabeth that I was not feeling well because I was very tired and I needed to sleep. She put on a very pouty face, looked at me and said "I'm trying to be sad." I am guessing she was "trying" to show empathy for her mommy. She even let me sleep for 45 minutes!

5/09 Elizabeth tripped and fell and started crying. Her dad tried to comfort her but she kept crying. Very abruptly she stopped crying, looked at her dad and said "Candy will help."

My Joy!

Friday, May 12, 2017

Our Christmas Visit In NY

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