I love our white Christmas, having Lyndon home all to myself(...and Claire) for two weeks, our Christmas tree, letters from family and friends, delivered goodies from neighbors, music, movies in bed because Lyndon doesn't have to study, and hummm- just all of it! (yes, my head is cut off of the above picture-we were just goofing off).

This is the candy representation of what our place looks like... Notice how Claire doesn't penetrate the snowy surface...the footprint next to hers is mine.

Clark's submarine. I am afraid of describing anything about this awesome boat without sounding like an idiot. This was the coolest and not to mention most interesting thing one can do. Clark gave us a really neat tour of his boat, and I mean really neat. You feel like you are walking through a science lab (did you know subs make and clean their own air and make their own water?). Did you also know that the men sleep right next to the nuclear missiles? (is this bad to say? like I'm giving away top secrets??) The accommodations are tight to say the least. Clark is the Navigator and I wish I picked his brain more about his cool job, its really fascinating.

We also went to a cider mill and had yummy treats and cider, but alas..no pictures, it was fun too!

Thanks again family!

A bunch of angry teenagers in dark clothes against a stormy background.

And on that farm he had a Kitten, Chicken, Rooster, Dog, Elephant, Sheep, Bum, Lion, and a Mommy. Enjoy

This was a picture that was shown in my anatomy class to show who women could thank for their difficult labor during childbirth. Apparently these were the first bipeds, and they made it so that babies have to take a 90 degree angle to be born, as you can see below.


I think the whole baby thing is missing the bigger issue addressed in the simian picture. What I want to know is who figured out how to have tropical trees growing in the middle of the winter. I wouldn't mind having a few mangoes this winter. Hoo-Hoo Hah-Hah (like an ape)

Lyndon has been playing soccer with his classmates the past few weeks and yesterday there was a playoff between the 1st years and the 2nd years (1st years won (us) after 10 minutes of overtime and then when that didn't break the tie, a shoot off).

It's been fun seeing Lyndon's mad soccer skills come to life after their, hummm 5 year hiatus or more. He really is good. Too bad the weather is so gosh darn cold now, but we had several layers on to see the fun.

My mission has come full circle for me. "Vicki" Wong who I taught in my first area on my mission is going to the Vancouver Canada Mission along side "Polly" Mak whom I taught in the middle or thereabouts on my mission. They are MTC companions right now and will be serving in the same mission. How surreal is that?

The Sister missionary who found them both also happened to be the same missionary (Sarah Tanner Nielson). Sarah met Vicki on the train one night and gave my comp Sister Meagan Nelson Becker and I her referral. Then later when I was companions with Sarah, she was the one to stop Polly and invite her to meet with us. It's just fun, too fun not to notice how neat it is.

The girls (Polly right of Picture and Vicki left) just sent me a sweet letter thanking me for my missionary service to them both. It's just so fun how life plays out sometimes. It also makes up for the other people I taught that have gone inactive....grrr.....sort of.

My Dad said to me once while I was deciding whether to go on a mission or not, "that not a day would go by that I didn't think of it." And he was right.

I happend upon this previous PBS series in the Library today and Lyndon and I really liked it. If your looking for a good mystery, laugh, and clean entertainment, then here you have it. (at least the episode we've seen was clean) (there are several) (episodes that is).

http://www.foyleswar.com/

Good and the bad, right? Kidding(truth in all jokes, no?), I just love the picture.

First of all, I want to start by saying that poor people can have fun too. And that even though we don't have a car, we are paddling because we want to, not because we are trying to get home. Second, look at my two girls. Who wouldn't want to spend every waking hour with them (in Claire's case, it sometimes requires more than every waking hour, and that's usually when Missy and I argue because we have met our "waking hour" limit).

Third, I have acheived excellence in two areas of my life. The first is photography. I have found that by moving to New Hampshire, all I have to do is point and snap a photo. Simple. The second is bread making. I found this really good slow-rise bread recipe in the new york times. It has four ingredients and I don't have to do much work. Plus, I can use a fork to mix the dough, which means that I don't have to get sticky dough on my fingers.

Little miss roxy makes me laugh every day. She waves and blows me a kiss when I get her up in the morning and then waves and blows kisses to passing cars and anyone we see throughout the day. She randomly growls while playing and always, always dances to the radio and sways back and forth when in her car seat. She also jigs in her seat if I am stirring something in the kitchen. She just can't control the beat that overtakes her.
Tonight while I was getting her ready for bed, she heard her Dad walk in the door and started to shout, "Ninnin! Ninnin!" She will also point to herself and says, "Dad"....don't know what we did there, but she'll figure it out, maybe.

We hiked to Boston Lot Lake this Saturday. It's about a mile and a half hike right behind our housing complex, so no driving was needed to get started on this adventure (I love where we live location -wise). So the below picture is me showing you our backyard, essentially.




Claire can, of course, never get enough of the camelback.
These berries are EVERYWHERE! I have thought they were currents, but after tasting them yesterday, I'm sure there not.
Our "new" Trek baby backpack. My sweet/awesome neighbor/ward member is always giving us everything we could ever need/want and gave this to us free of charge!
Boston Lot Lake. They say Moose frequent the area...


Claire has found her running legs!

Me trying to be creative taking pictures of the one and only.

Who also happens to know she is the one and only. Ah we love her.