What a great holiday season we have had! Before taking off to Colorado and Utah we were able to go to the Philbrook Museum here in Tulsa and look at some pretty cool trees and really neat gingerbread houses. There is some really great art in the museum, and we discovered that there is a free day each month!
Festival of Trees at Philbrook Museum in Tulsa
In preparation for the holidays we realized we would need to be ready for possible torture on the road and plane since we would be driving to CO and then flying to UT from there. As it turns out, Hinckley wasn't torturous at all! He was is regular cute and semi-quiet self.
The sleep seat of the month
Amazing and huge gingerbread house at the Broadmore Hotel in Colorado Springs
Kassie at work on her exciting Christmas present (family watches on)
In Colorado we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas eve and Christmas day. Hinckley seemed to like it, though he often seemed more interested in the wrapping paper than in his many gifts! Kas was excited to get the family's first smart phone, and she is realizing more and more how she will never go back to life before the smart device in her pocket. I (Greg) spent much of my time reading and just enjoying the warmth and quiet. What a great break!
Proud Grammy on Christmas Morning
Dad and Hinckley Christmas Morning
The day after Christmas we flew to UT and were able to spend some time with Grandpa H before he went to some of my relative's home. He sure is full of joy and energy, and we are grateful for his example.
It was exciting to be back in UT after leaving way back in May for our new adventure. The mountains were gorgeous and the air was smoggy!
Family shot with Great-grandpa Halvorsen
We were encouraged to participate in a concert Bishop Blair's family was putting on (in conjunction with Mom and Lucy), and so we performed this song - masterminded by Lu herself.
Lucy's very tasty and massive yule "log"
On the way to "Sacred Gifts" at the BYU Museum of Art. Note the bell tower and beautiful Timp in the background!
When it was time to go we had to find a way to squeeze everyone in two cars along with all sorts of baggage because Mom, Dad, and Lucy were leaving the next day on the airplane too and we all decided to go up to Abi and Brian's place. Thus Hinckley had his first car ride with cousins. Sadie and Logan were excellent buddy riders, or so I am told - though Hinckley did steal Sadie's pink bear which brought some tears.
3 kids in a row.
Kassie and Hinckley: Airplane Passanger Experts
We had a very restful holiday, though such a thing is not very possible these days since we have a baby with us. Thanks to family and friends we had time to spend with one another and Hinckley enjoyed all the attention too!
Life is good! Maybe our trials have changed our attitude or maybe things really have gotten better. Either way, 2014 is already looking happy, bright, and beautiful! Greg LOVES his new job. The environment is great and he likes all of his co-workers. Plus, he gets to make films for work! As a media arts major, it is pretty hard to land a job with a steady paycheck right out of college. This one just kind of fell into Greg's lap. The stark contrast between his previous job as a teacher and this one is like night and day. And believe me, the ripple effect of this has spilled over into our home; it's like a breath of fresh air! Hinckley has been very active lately and is already starting to assert his independence. He is 17 1/2 pounds and 28 inches tall. He just discovered how much he loves rolling over, so he does it all the time now. I think he would like to be running and on the move if he only knew how to do it! He also loves food. So far he has only eaten rice cereal
Tomorrow is our baby's due date! We don't think he will come tomorrow, but one never knows. Here are some pics from this week. School is going pretty well for me, though I transition to writing/reading from doing math for the past two weeks so I am a little nervous about that. The view from the bus just before I get off and start teaching for the day. Usually I am barely awake at this point. Awesome panorama of our classroom. It has taken a lot of work to get all this stuff up, but it could still use lots more! Here is a view of the front of the classroom, along with our space ship behavior chart and so forth. I decided to see what would happen if I didn't shave during the week This was the result. Kas is feeling quite big, and ready for the man child to come out! This week Kas learned how to make homemade yogurt - or at least how to extend the yogurt you already have. The latest creative masterpiece from Kassie is this little elep
I will try to keep a fairly good record of our exploits and adventures here in the Nation's capital. It is exciting and I am particularly happy about the amazing opportunities there are for pictures! Our trip began at the bus stop outside of the Barlow Center. I took an exterior shot of the Center - the top 2.5 windows on the right are ours. Once on the bus we went past some of the "Occupy" folk which was interesting. And then we came to our stop just outside of Union Station (where I will also be getting off to work at the FJC). Our first grand site was the Capital. So here we are. Washington DC is very different for both Kass and I, but we are finding a way to call it home as quickly as we can. Our first full day in DC consisted of going to Safeway on the bus, eating a modest lunch, and then going to the the Mall for the second time. We began at the capital building and headed towards the Lincoln Memorial (2 miles) before walking home another 2 miles or so. Our first st
Your little family sure spread a lot of joy!
ReplyDelete