Saturated with KIds and on to The New Year!

What a delight to be with our kids and grandkids all but about 5 days from December 6-January 6th!

After arriving home from Phoenix to the aftermath of an incredible Christmas snowstorm in Salt Lake City, we picked up the Pothiers early the next morning and then sent them off for a visit while and dashed out to Ogden to see the Loosli family's exciting Christmas gifts and enjoy another round of Eggs Benedict! What a terrific bunch!

By then we were tickled to see the "appendicitis victim" already up on a skateboard that he got for Christmas.You can't keep a good man down!

We also joined their delightful breakfast of....Eggs Benedict...the family favorite for Christmas.

Within hours they were on their way to Ashton, Idaho where Jared's mom and lots of family members were gathering and we headed back to the house to meet the Pothiers who arrived to pick out their new puppy in Salt Lake, which was the star of all Christmas presents this year! This is the adorable new "child" that they showed the kids on the TV on Christmas morning. It was the biggest surprise Christmas present of all time!  We were thrilled because we are dog people!  But our traveling kids are not! Is this baby cute enough?

This is the one they chose from a litter eight. Since it was a girl everyone deferred to Dave to decide on a name. And here she is...Miss Bo Jangles:

We had a ball with this family for a few days. Some went skiing, some went sleigh riding, some went shopping but all in all, we had a fabulous time!

Five hours before they left, Noah and Kristi arrived!  It's pretty amazing that they now have SIX children! The only thing more exciting than a new puppy is a new baby! We were pretty excited about having Baby Faith in our home and the Pothiers were over the moon to meet her for the first time!

The IWAN Mother was the first to hold that little gal. Accorning to Shawni and I there's nothing in this world like the smell of a new baby and the feeling of those little short breaths on your neck!

Of course, the girls were over the moon too!

Within hours we sent them off and settled in with the Noah and Kristi family!

The treasure chest opening with Grandfather at the helm is always a main attraction for these little ones. Interesting, the difference in the entertainment level of the teenagers these two families!

Every year as most of the world celebrates New Year's Eve, we celebrate Jared's Birthday. The Looslis arrived back in time to celebrate that night with a Jazz game and lot of fun and games and food at the condo. We love that Jared!

The new year started with these cuties helped me to figure out my new Tiles that our adult kids gave me for Christmas so that I could can find my purses, my computer and my phone. I have a big problem with that!

I caught these two on the computer when, according to the wishes of their parents, they weren't supposed to be. Those guys LOVE the computer!

 

 

And this oldest brother keeps us thinking and laughing! 

 

 

He was often diligently practicing his lines in a play that was going to be performed the day after they got home in which he had been selected to be George Washington! 

 

And much to everyone's delight...it snowed and snowed and snowed and the cold came along with it! 

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun with this crew but after eight days, they flew back home. We were amazed at Noah and Kristi's amazing patience and ability to handle this crew of little critters with such ease! Luckily it wasn't long before we saw Noah again because he and Eli came back for the annual Imagine Learning meeting in Provo so we had some precious time with them a couple of times during the week. Eli came early to ski and stayed for a Jazz game on the last day of their conference and took a red-eye home. Noah headed straight for the airport to get back and help Kristi with that big crew of little children. 

 

And, after a week of catching up and finishing lots of commitments, we....were ready to take off for our next adventure. England and Switzerland, here we come!!! 

Beautiful Barbados and Autumn in NYC and Boston

How lucky are we that the friends that we met on a YPO cruise in the Caribbean last year invited us to come to speak at the YPO chapter in Barbados? We really like these people! Not only because they supplied a lovely two bedroom condominium for us to stay in their building and because they had a personal chef who provided a couple of gourmet dinners for us, but also because they have a delightful family and are dedicated to providing funds for humanitarian projects all over the world!

Barbados is a beautiful place filled with the gorgeous scenery and the stark difference between the rich and the poor. No matter what the economic status, all can enjoy this lovely spot on earth,

One of our favorite places was Crane Beach, watched over by the Crane Resort. Incredible!

The other side of Island was equally beautiful! That is a huge rock out there, not a tent!

We stopped by a place called the Flower Forest, which was actually pretty hard to get to. The road to get there was absolutely crazy but our little rental car made it and it was certainly worth it. The flora and fauna were just astonishing!

Palm trees so tall that you couldn’t see the top as well as the way nature makes itself work.

 

Lush!

I’m so lucky to be married to this great guy!

After four days we headed back to our NYC “home” with Eli and Julie. We were at Central Park at the height of spring six months ago when Dean was born and now we got the chance to be there at the height of Autumn!

Zara gave her baby quite a ride that day! Wish I knew how to post videos. What she can do on this little scooter is almost impossible to believe!

That great Julie just sits down and feeds that little Dean anywhere, anytime he needs it. We’re fans of that woman!

Autumn wonderland!

After a delicious lunch at The Boathouse, Dean and I hung around all the excitement at the Bethesda Fountain. That includes a bubble extravaganza, opera singers under the arches, brides and grooms taking pictures everywhere and live music at almost every corner of the fountain..In the meantime, Julie and Eli, Grandfather and Zara took a fun boat ride on that spectacular day!

It was great for Grandfather to do a little jumping in the leaves with Zara and Dean, since we didn’t do that tis year on his birthday! Dean LOVES the swing at the playground and never tires of swinging back and forth.

 

Most important thing….keeping those glasses straight!

As always, Rick and Eli found a court to play on! This is at Riverside Park, playing on clay courts! Eli almost won!

When Zara get tired of the scooter, she takes a little ride on her “Rolls Royce” stroller which accommodates two kids and a friend!

This girl is bursting with passion and pizzaz! This is my favorite picture that her mom posted on Instagram of her meltdown at the end of Halloween night. This is just how a lot of kids (and moms) feel at the end of a long Halloween season!

From there we hoped on a train and took a four hour ride to see our Boston family! We got there on Saturday night and Saydi picked us up and whisked us to an Art Show to raise money for kids who have been accepted at BYU but don’t have the money to go.

It was so fun that Eva and Adam, Ian, London and Skye were there displaying some o their beautiful photographs!  How great to see them! London had taken a picture of the Angel Moroni reflected in a puddle (not a typo). It’s beautiful and Grandfather immediately bought it! It was so wonderful to see that great family again!

 

The next morning we went on a magical late autumn hike to The Fells with the Shumways. Here is cute Hazel and I on the reservoir bridge. Our destination was a very creative hut that this fun family has built in the middle of the woods. That required quite a lot of work don’t you think?

           

               

Church is always fun with the Shuways, especially when Bishop Shumway is conducting!

One of our main reasons for going to Boston was that it was Emmeline’s birthday on Monday. What fun we had celebrating with her at breakfast. Big sister Hazel had hand-made cute hair clips and bands for her which delighted her!

 

I took the kids to school (I love that) while Saydi and Rick went for a run. Then we loaded up and headed for downtown Boston before we had to catch our train back to NYC. But first we visited the Boston Public Library which is always a treat. What a building!

We had a delightful lunch and some great conversation at the Library Restaurant in this historic building (also the site of the Boston Marathon Bombing just across the street).

How we love this wise and wonderful woman!

After another 4 hour train ride to Penn Station and then a quick change-over to the New Jersey transit system, we arrived in a rain storm to a hotel across the street from the train platform. The next morning we were picked up and taken to a gorgeous Country Club in the splendor of late Autumn in New Jersey where we spoke to an outstanding group of parents who wanted to know how to help their kids be financially responsible.

That evening it was back to New York City and our cute family there provided another day and a half on their luxury air mattress in their tiny five-story walk-up. in one of our favorite cities in the world!

The next morning the laundry was delivered:

…

…and Eli and Julie and I walked across the street to Sarabeth’s for breakfast while Grandfather babysat. What a guy huh?

Julie and Eli are going through the two-year-old-who-won’t-stay-in-bed stage since she have recently put in her “Big Girl Bed.” and put the baby in the closet. Those who have had two-three year olds probably know exactly what I mean! She gets up about 20 times after she’s been “put down.” At the moment after trying everything else, they’ve given up and decided to let her put herself to bed when she is finally tired enough to go to sleep. As frustrating as that is….those precious little people are so adorable…when they’re asleep!

 

And that’s the end of our 3 1/2 month saga. We’ve been gone all but about 10 days in the past 100 days. After posting every day this week, FINALLY, I’m caught up on blogging for a while.I’m doing this for the sake of family history (how soon we forget). Thanks to those of you who have followed along for the ride!

I have to say that we are so blessed tobe able to have our flights paid by someone else as we speak in places near where our kids reside! We’ve had so much fun the past eleven days meeting new friends but most of all, reveling with our kids and grandkids…in their own environment!

Still, it’s always nice to be home! Even when it looks like this out the window:

On to winter!