Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Christ this year and we hope all of you did too. Some highlights of this year's festivities for our family included acting out the nativity on Christmas Eve night, our annual Christmas Eve Joseph and Mary dinner (pitas, fish, and grape juice), watching and participating in the Swift family talent show, visiting family on Skype, visiting the reindeer in downtown Anchorage, checking out Christmas lights, talking to Isaac who is on his mission in Japan (via Skype and then speaker phone), planning out and searching for gifts to give each other, attending the ward Christmas dinner, watching our favorite Christmas movies (The Nativity Story, Mr. Krueger's Christmas, Joy to the World, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and White Christmas to name a few), picking out and decorating a tree, and enjoying the snow while living so close to the north pole.

This year we also started a couple of new traditions that really brought the Spirit into our home. First, each night from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve we sat down as a family and had a special Christmas Devotional. For these devotionals Julia would draw a yellow star out of a small box that had a story from Christ's life on it to share with the children, then Ethan would draw a green bell out of the box which had the number for a Christmas hymn to sing, and finally we ended with a family prayer. It was a fun activity that our children looked forward to each night and it helped us really focus on Christ throughout the Christmas season. Second, for one FHE we each decided on a gift we wanted to give to Jesus and wrote it down on paper hearts to hang on the tree; throughout the month as we saw the hearts we were reminded to be working on those gifts.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas too. Here are some pictures from December including our yearly family picture. We took it with our camera on timer at UAA in one of the classrooms, so it's definitely not very professional (but at least the background is authentic!). With the poor lighting from only 4-5 hours of sunlight a day, we haven't had the chance to take too many pictures of our other activities.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for and we love this holiday because it reminds us to focus on expressing our gratitude. In the most recent General Conference, President Monson said "Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of Heaven and helps us feel God's love." Although we would have loved to be around family this Thanksgiving, we definitely felt God's love for us as we took time over this past week to reflect on all of the many blessings He has given us.

It ended up being just us five for dinner. Our menu consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, Lion House rolls, green Jello, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sparkling cider, pumpkin pie, and blueberry pie. What a feast!

The next morning we went out shopping--mostly for the sport of it all. Later that afternoon we went sledding using Julia's new birthday sled. Even though we only stayed out for about 30 minutes (it started getting pretty cold), we had a lot of fun.

Joshua and Julia

Rebecca and Ethan

Then on Saturday we got our Christmas tree. Because we weren't really sure on the regulations for cutting down trees in the National Forests here (we're not familiar with the boundaries), we were hoping to find a tree at a local tree farm. That is what we did last year and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any in Anchorage. However, Lowes saved the day with some newly cut trees. We were able to get our tree, set it up, and decorate it that night.

Other exciting news: today after church we saw a moose running in toward the parking lot. It was a big bull with huge antlers. It stopped abruptly right before the church parking lot, turned around and then ran back off the same way it came--it looked so funny! Our current Moose count is: Joshua--9, Rebecca--5, Julia--6, Ethan--5, Christian--?

Christian Crawling

Christian has started crawling. It is not your typical crawl, but at least he is getting where he wants to go on his own. Although he has always been happy, he seems a little happier now that he can get around.

One year older and wiser too

Last week Julia turned four years old. We celebrated by opening presents first thing in the morning (at her request of course), going to an indoor kids' water park (it included two kids' pools, water slides, and a huge pirate ship), and enjoying some of Julia's favorite meals (breakfast cake and sausage for breakfast and macaroni and cheese for dinner). She then got to stay up as late as she wanted and she made it through two movies: Aristocats and Beauty and the Beast. She had a great time and we loved seeing her so delighted. She really is growing up!

She was really excited to open presents, but surprisingly patient--maybe because she had snuck out and saw us putting together her new bicycle the night before.

Playing with and wearing some of her new things.

Insisting that Ethan not blow out the candles!

6'1"?

So we've been waiting for Ethan to turn two and a half so that we could try out the height prediction theory--you double his height at 30 months to find his adult height (with girls you do it at 24 months). So Ethan was 36.5"--check back with us in about 16 years to see if it's accurate! Julia's at 24 months was 34.5".

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This year we had a penguin, a bat, and a ballerina.

Had to include two pictures of him on this post. He just has such a great smile (amazingly he would turn on the grin as soon as he saw the camera lights). You can see the two bottom teeth, but he also he also has four that have all recently poked through on the top.

Julia chose to be a ballerina again this year. We were a little surprised because she could have been Cinderella, Snow White, or even a pirate -- but she chose a ballerina even though it was only 30 degrees out. Luckily they do a lot of indoor trick-or-treating in Alaska.

Ethan got to be the bat again. I guess Julia and Ethan were just duplicates from last year, but they really liked their costumes, and at least Ethan's was really warm.

So this year we went to a carnival at UAA. It was a total flop! It was really crowded and the only activities were booths with long lines that cost lots of tickets. The kids ended up using their tickets for a beanbag toss and balloon animals. After standing in line for a few more things we decided just to head to the tri-ward Halloween party.

The church party was great! There were tons of booths, candy, food, and activities. One of the wards in our building is a Samoan ward. They went all out with a haunted house on the stage, a bunch of spooky booths and cool costumes! They were also super generous with handing out candy--I think after visiting two booths our kids bags were already full! There was also a cake walk and a mad scientist's lab, among other things. We all had a fun time inside, then went outside for hot chocolate and grilled hot dogs.

The kids were really excited about their loot. It was a lot more than what it looks like in this picture. This is before mom and dad tax--all of the good stuff :)--has been taken out though.

Our Star

Julia was in her first primary program! She did awesome! She had her part memorized and she didn't get stage fright at all. She just walked up to the microphone and with her head barely peaking over the podium she said her part. On top of that she sat pretty reverently in her spot up on the stand throughout the program. We are so proud of her!

She talked us into letting her wear her Christmas dress early for the program.

"I love my family because we read scriptures together and learn about Jesus and Heavenly Father." She said it much clearer for the program.

Growing up

Our children all seem to be growing up so fast. We just can't believe it.

Julia had a dentist appointment here this last week. She did great! She was able to stay in the room all by herself while Rebecca was in the waiting room with Ethan and Christian. It is fun to just sit with her and have full conversations. It is scary though to think that in less than 2 years she will be starting school. I don't know if Rebecca and I are ready for that.

Ethan has hit that age where he is asking why about everything, not in a defiant way at all, but because he is curious. When we read his picture scriptures at night he wants to know who each person in each picture is, if they are good or bad and why they are doing what they are doing. He seems to have an endless supply of energy an is always running back and forth in the main room of our apartment or jumping off the furniture or climbing on something. It always looks like he would get hurt from some of the things he does (e.g., jumping fully off the couch and landing straight on his bottom), but he just laughs and does it again.

Christian is up on all fours. He is not crawling yet, but the way he is rocking and reaching it looks like it will come soon. He loves to watch his older siblings with whatever activities they have going on - especially Ethan. He will just sit there and watch Ethan do his back and forth running in the living room. He is entertained and Ethan really likes the attention.

We have great kids and feel very blessed to have them in our lives.

Happy General Conference!

We love General Conference! We really look forward to hearing the prophet and other leaders address us every April and October. And of course it's an excuse to laze around the house in pajamas and enjoy Joshua's amazing cinnamon rolls for breakfast--a burgeoning family tradition.

During Conference we decided to braid Julia's hair and then undo it after it dried to see what would happen. I think it left kind of a Hermione Granger effect.

A couple of nights ago when we were checking on the kids before we went to bed, we discovered Ethan asleep with Christian in his crib! They were actually lying almost cheek-to-cheek but the flash made them shuffle a little.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

War wounds from substituting today at church (I have more bite marks, but they didn't break the skin). Luckily the regular nursery teacher will be back next week. I'm wondering if I should get a Rabies shot.

Winter pajamas from Grandparents (Ethan's are in the wash). Yes, winter is quickly coming upon us--we saw snowflakes this morning, and although nothing stuck here, there's a dusting on the mountain tops.

Christian's really enjoying food--he especially likes plums and broccoli

Finally, physical proof of what Joshua's been up to these last nine plus years

Adventures in Alaska

So we've begun our adventures here in Alaska. We have been enjoying the amazing scenery and searching for wildlife. Included in our adventures so far are a trip to the Alaska state fair and a couple of berry picking expeditions. The moose sighting count is as follows: Joshua--5, Julia--1, Ethan--1, Christian--0 and me--0.

Ethan has been enjoying pretending to be wildlife. He's recently started this thing where he sits at the dinner table and appears to almost unconsciously rub the food in his face, hair, and everywhere his hand will reach, without blinking an eye.

The Alaska State Fair was relatively small, but had some fun attractions still. Ethan's favorite was probably getting in the snowplow (top picture). Everyone loved the little petting zoo; Joshua liked chasing after the pigs and Christian loved grabbing any fur he could find.

This pumpkin weighed over 1100 pounds!
The cabbage was over 100 pounds! We heard that Alaskan grown vegetables can grow really large because of the long summer sunlight hours, so this was proof!

Blueberry Hill on Flattop Mountain, the most popular hike in Anchorage. It really is breathtaking--we'll have to try to take more pictures that truly do it justice.

These were in Arctic Valley, about 15 miles into the mountains. The views on the drive up were amazing. We were looking for berries, and ended up with some crowberries (or blackberries) which we mixed with some wild blueberries and made into a syrup. Some Alaskan natives pointed them out to us and told us they used the crowberries to make Eskimo ice cream. I looked it up on the internet and it sounds bizarre (a mixture of fish, shortening, sugar, and these berries), but haven't dared to try making it yet.

Post from Alaska

We have begun our move to Alaska! I arrived late last night (1am) and have been staying in a hotel until I can check in to our new apartment tomorrow morning. Rebecca and the children are still with our parents in Washington and they will be joining me soon. I have been informed by the moving company that all of our stuff is here and I could possibly have that moved in tomorrow. Our van however, will not arrive until maybe the 20th. Hopefully I can get everything all settled here by the time Rebecca and the kids arrive.

It is exciting starting this new phase of our life. Not only are we finally done with school and starting a real career, we are also in an adventurous part of the country. The flight was weird because we left Philadelphia in darkness at about 8pm and it was lighter out when I arrived in Anchorage a little after midnight.

Here is a picture of Anchorage. It is a city of about 300,000. Even though the mountains are really close on one side of the city and the ocean on the other side, it seems like things are really spread out here. We will be excited to tell you all about living in Alaska as we explore it over the next few months. Wish us luck!

Hill Cumorah Pageant

A week and a half ago, we got to go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant as a family with the young men on youth night in our ward. Joshua also volunteered with parking the next day. It was a lot of fun! The pageant is a dramatization of scenes throughout the Book of Mormon ending with Joseph Smith finding the gold plates in the Hill Cumorah and the restoration of the Church from there. It started at dusk, which fell around 9pm and lasted until about 10:30pm. Surprisingly, the kids did very well staying up late, but were asleep pretty much as soon as they had their seatbelts buckled on the drive home.

Before the pageant began, the cast (over 700 members) mingled with people attending the event. I thought it was really neat to see close-ups of lots of the characters. Above in the first picture the kids are standing by Sariah and grandchildren, and in the second with one of the wise men attending Jesus' birth. The cast came from everywhere; some families would make it into a vacation/family tradition to be a part of the pageant every year. They would come a week early to participate in rehearsals, and then perform for the following week and a half. Most camped out in an area by the hill that they called "Zion's Camp."

You can kind of see the set in this picture--we saw youth groups from surrounding areas building it as part of their youth conferences a month ago.

The special effects were pretty elaborate--they had fires, waterfalls, lights, and other cool props for the different scenes. We were glad to be able to see it during our time here in New York.

Washington, D.C.

Last weekend, we took a trip down to Washington, D.C. for Independence Day--about a seven hour drive for us from Syracuse. We met up with my brother Ryan (coming from Florida) and stayed with my cousin Brent and his family. We've never been to the Capital, and it was a great trip! We drove down Friday night and left Monday afternoon.

On Saturday we went to the National Mall--a national park in the middle of the city that houses the Capitol building, some other government offices, many historic monuments, and a lot of museums. This shot is the Capitol building from the rear.

Library of Congress

National Museum of Natural History

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool

White House

Lincoln Memorial

The kids loved the U.S. Botanic Garden--I did too, it was so neat to see all the different plants. In the children's area there were tools for kids to dig around and fountains to water the flowers with.

That evening, after seeing the sights, we settled on the Capitol lawn to listen to a dress rehearsal of the Independence Day concert. Among those that showed up to perform (some weren't there) were David Archuleta and Lang Lang (the pianist). It was a lot of fun to spend time with Ryan and also Brent and his family.

On Sunday night we went to a patch of grass near the Pentagon to watch the Independence Day fireworks over the Capitol. Monday we drove around to see a few monuments we'd missed on Saturday and celebrated Lucy's (Brent's daughter) birthday, and then left for home that afternoon. A great trip!