Merry Christmas!!

"Merry Christmas to all ... and to all a goodnight" (it has become one of Nathan's favorite lines). We hope everyone has a very merry Christmas season. We are really excited about Christmas this year and seeing Nathan's excitement and anticipation in the weeks and now days leading up to Christmas.

On Friday we took Nathan to the mall to visit Santa Claus. He was excited and was very patient while we waited for a few minutes and then went right up to Santa and had the chance to site down on his lap and talk with the big man himself! We asked what he wanted, he said, "toys." ... it's like come on Santa don't you know, I want toys, what else would a kid want. When we ask him what kind of toys, he usually responds, "Christmas toys." Again, kind of like, come on mom and dad, what other kind of toys are there at this time of year.

During this same visit to the mall we took Nathan to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. He made it through and enjoyed watching the chipmunks and dancing to the music and laughing at their silliness. It was a drastic improvement from the last movie we tried to take him to ... last Christmas season we went to see The Santa Claus 3 and he just wanted to run around the theater and be chased by either his mom or his dad or both!

When putting Nathan to bed tonight I was telling him the story of Jesus' birth (which we have done before so I was asking him to help me tell the story), and the first two times Mary and Joseph knocked on the door Nathan said, "There's no room." However, the third time they knocked Nathan said, "There's room." How fitting I thought!

Nathan has really enjoyed singing Christmas songs, mainly "Rudolph" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." Below is his rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." It is not his best rendition, but it is pretty fun to watch him bounce on the couch and sing the words. Enjoy!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We are especially excited about the holiday season this year. Nathan knows well who Santa is and the fact that he is coming to town on Christmas. He has enjoys singing Christmas songs and can even sing most of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by himself and he knows parts of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. He has also learned that is it Jesus' birthday on Christmas. We had a family night lesson about the symbolism of the candy cane and he now calls the nativity shepards' staffs candy canes.


A week ago we went and bought a fresh Christmas tree. We lucked out and got a terrific tree that had a great shape and even had some little pine cones on it. We had a great time putting our ornaments on the tree and remembering the fun places we've been and things we've done. Nathan has fun looking at the different ornaments and commenting on his favorites.


We have also had a good amount of snow so far this year and Nathan has really enjoyed walking in the snow, sledding, and making a "Frosty" snowman. He loves to wear his boots and his snow pants. Nathan has also discovered he likes the taste of snow!

Below are pictures of Nathan outside in the snow, helping make a jello salad, and making a silly face with chocolate around his mouth.

November Fun

We loved having Elizabeth's family here with us for a week. Nathan especially enjoyed spending time with his aunt Anne and uncle Erik as well as Oma and Opa. One treat we all enjoyed was Dad playing the piano and Nathan loved to join in (check out the video at the bottom of this post).

We had a wonderful early-Thanksgiving dinner with the Jacksons complete with turkey and all the fixings. Nathan enjoyed the mashed potatoes the most ... or the pie - who could disagree?

It was great for Nathan to have family here visiting. He has been talking about them all week since they have left and gone home. We are excited about the Christmas holidays and the chance to be with family again then. Nathan again enjoyed preparing food - the picture shows him and his Aunt Anne licking the beaters after mixing up some chocolate brownies.

One day Liz and Nathan took everyone up to Palmyra to see the Church historic sites and they had an enjoyable time there. It has been really neat for Nathan and for us too to live so close to Palmyra and get to see the sites there relatively often.

INTRAMURAL CHAMPIONS!

LDSSA TAKES HOME INTRAMURAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Latter-day Saint Student Association (LDSSA) flag football took home the Cornell Intramural Championship last Thursday night. Our team dominated all season long and eventually took the championship 25-0 in front of an estimated 30 people under the lights at Cornell's Schoelkopf Stadium.

Our team's stingy defense only allowed 18 points all season long (just over 2 points allowed per game) leading to way to a 5-0 regular season and an undefeated march through the championship tournament with 3 straight victories. Ryan and Gary, while physically they may be the antithesis of the stereotypical defensive lineman, provided numerous sacks and hurries that took other team out of rhythm and gave opportunities for everyone else to get interceptions and defensive stops.

While the defense was tough, Josh Price, QB (check out the video at the end of the post), led the team offensively to multiple touchdown victories in nearly every game. He had plenty of weapons and was able to spread the wealth around and give everyone a chance to contribute. I think everyone was able to score points on offense during the year.
All in all it was a lot of fun and the LDSSA took home their 3rd Intramural Championship of the year (Basketball, Softball, and now Flag Football '07).

Video:

QB Josh Price avoids the rush and hits Adam Treadwell, who then heads upfield.

Halloween 2007

We had a very fun Halloween here in Groton. Nathan was a teletubbie this year and loved being in his costume. We commented that he seemed to have the right body shape at this stage to be a perfect teletubbie!

When Scott got home from school we got ready and went down to Main Street in Groton where the businesses where passing out candy to trick-or-treaters (see video at the end of this post). Also, the fire station opened up their doors and of course Nathan loved going there and getting to see the fire engine that was parked just outside. On our way back home Scott took Nathan and trick-or-treated to the houses on our street. Nathan did pretty well saying "trick-or-treat" but at times when Scott prompted him he said "please" or "thank you" (before he got the treat). He had a great time carrying his classic plastic pumpkin bucket around and he definitely knew he was getting candy! The candy had really come in handy the past couple of days as we are starting potty training (note: he is doing well and we've had some early successes!).

On Monday night our activity was pumpkin carving. When asked what he wanted on his pumpkin Nathan picked off a jack-o-latern sticker from the window and said he wanted one like that. That was Nathan's pumpkin, Liz carved a kitty and Scott did a grizzly bear this year. It has become a fun tradition to carve our pumpkins and be creative. Liz's pumpkin designs are more spontaneous and Scott is more meticulous and usually uses a pattern to get things just right. All in all it was a great time and we are already getting excited about the upcoming holiday season!

Fall in Central New York

Last Saturday, Nathan and I went out to enjoy a beautiful fall day, and rake a relative few of the seemingly endless leaves that fall from the trees in the yard. Fortunately we had two rakes - Nathan was eager to help and he was a great helper! He was properly attired with his BYU hat and his blue jacket.

He was a little hesitant to play or jump into our pile of leaves, but it seemed like he was having a good time helping and watching his dad fall into and be buried in the leaves (check out the video below).

Now a week later, it doesn't look like we have done anything with all the leaves that have fallen in the past week. The trees in the front are almost bare now, but the trees in the backyard are still very full - lots more fun in the upcoming weeks!

We have really enjoyed the fall colors here in Groton as well as the surrounding region. Last Sunday, we drove to Owego, NY for Stake Conference. It seems fitting that right before you arrive at the Owego Stake Center you cross over the Sesquehanna River. Anyway, the drive south to Owego took about 65 minutes and it was beautiful! The drive was filled with the rolling hills colored in bright reds, oranges, and yellows, contrasted with green fields and blue skies. It was definitely the most beautiful fall drive in recent memory! It seemed that around every corner or over every hill there was just gorgeous countryside. For any who have not seen New England in the fall I would definitely recommend it - there are probably more spectacular places than here, but we certainly enjoyed our drive last week.

"Mommy had Surgery"

So this last Wednesday I came home from work, changed my clothes and we went to the Surgicare in Ithaca to meet up w/ my podiatrist. I had some plantars warts on my feet that were very resilient and were not responding to the office treatments. So I decided to just take the plunge and have them use a lasar treatment to remove them. It was strange to be the patient in the bed and have the nurse starting an IV on me. She was very good considering my little veins. I have to say that the medicine they gave me to sedate gives you such an odd feeling--and I am glad that I don't remember any of the procedure!I just woke up w/ numb feet and big bandages on them!

I knew that it was going to be a painful and long recovery process, but now after the fact I am really coming to the realization how true that is going to be!! Thankful I have some time off from work and a very supportive little boy that knows how to help mommy put her shoes on, and a husband that is taking care of the house and me. I hobble around the house in my surgi-boot and one slipper. It makes me feel very lazy to be sitting around so much and not be tired or doing something useful! I just keep telling myself that I need to get my feet on the road to recovery before going back to work on Tuesday night. There is no slowing down I am afraid for the night shift nurse!