December

I can't quite believe December is almost over.  The best month of the year always flies by too quickly.  Here are some of the fun things we did this year.  We started by dragging the boys to the Festival of Trees.  It didn't take them long to get bored with the trees, but we loved the Gingerbread Display.  It is amazing what people can create!

 We chose one Monday to head to the "Tree of Life" in Draper.  It really is quite impressive and it was fun to include a discussion about Lehi's Dream.  I felt a bit like him when the boys were hesitant to come with me!! However, fun was had by all once we got there.  I brought hot chocolate and that also seemed to improve the mood :)

 I don't really like the fact that the boys are all growing up...especially at Christmas time.  It was fun to have Micah still willing to sit on Santa's lap and read Christmas stories with me every night.  Jacob and Ben also listened too! 

 One of our main highlights was getting tickets at the last minute for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the Muppets.  We loved it!!  Ben was a little sick at the time and we weren't sure if he'd make it, but to hear him giggle and enjoy our childhood friends as much as we did was wonderful!!  I'm always impressed by the shows they put on.  Amazing!!

 It was time to test out our new home for the annual gingerbread party and once again it was a success.   Always one of the best nights of the year to be surround by some of our favorite people and a lot of sugar!!

 Then there were the concerts and programs!!  Ben has been playing violin with the sixth graders and they had their first concert in December.  We also loved seeing the progress Jacob's 8th grade band has made from last year.  He is still playing away on the trumpet and doing a great job.  Phil and I sang with our Stake Choir in the "Prelude to Christmas" once again and loved it.  Our director is amazing.  My preschool programs went well, and I always enjoy showing them off and mingling with their parents!  I went to help at Micah's school right as they were doing a sing along.  I cried. All of the kids were singing carols together at the top of their lungs and having a fabulous time together.  It touched my heart.  There is truly something about the sound of music.  Especially at this time of year.  We only have to wait 11 more months to do it all again :)



Halloween

Our first holiday in our new home started out quite exciting!!  We were able to host our Baird Family Halloween party and with exception of some plumbing issues, it was a great success!!  I think everyone came and it was wonderful to have room to spread out a bit!

 Pumpkin Carving: Pumpkin Omar

 A Ute and a Toad

 Micah couldn't decide between the Muffin Man and a Wizard, so he combined and was the Muffin Wizard!  Benjamin was the Bisque Man from Studio C.  He played the part very well!

It was a bit of an odd Halloween Night.  The boys kind of went back and forth between new and old friends and the old and new neighborhood.  Phil and I both were quite sad.  Not only are our boys getting older and need us less, but it was strange to not really feel like we belonged here or there.  After Phil walked around with the boys here, we ended up walking the old neighborhood with the them, but that didn't feel quite right either.  Luckily we had some friends welcome us in to chat for a while (and to dry my poor little tears).  I'm sure it will take a while to feel at home again and to adjust to our new role as parents of boys that aren't little any more!!  The boys are adjusting to both roles very well though, and that is fun to see!

A few pictures from this beautiful fall that we have had.  It is almost December and there are still leaves on some of the trees!!  These are from the Lagoon Trail and Farmington Pond.  We love it!

 

Fall Recess

So while Phil was off in the Galapagos swimming with Sea Turtles, we stayed home and had some fun of our own with animal life...which may or may not have included sheep.  You'll have to wait and see!

I love spur of the moment successes.  We stopped at the Lego Store and went to lunch together, then drove by the exit to Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake.  We took a quick vote and decided to take it.  Good decision.  It was a beautiful fall day and we loved seeing Micah's pig models from Reflections last year all grown up!

They humored me with a photo shoot.  Good boys.

 Beautiful Day!

 We had fun watching the ducks go back and forth between ponds.

 Friday we headed to Brigham.  Jacob and I were able to go do Baptisms for the Dead at the Brigham Temple...with our own family names.  Thank you Hope Chest!!

 Then the most exciting event...watching the sheep migration.  It was actually pretty humorous.  These thousands of sheep come trucking down the road on the way from Mantua to Tremonton each year.  We really enjoyed watching them.  Nothing like it!

 Grandpa took them horse back riding later and we ended the day with a hot dog roast. 

 If you can't be dancing with sea otters, not a baa-aaa-aaad way to spend a few days :) (sorry couldn't resist)

 

Galapagos: Journey to the Center of the Earth (By Phil)

Several months ago I received a phone call from a friend who was helping organize a Latin American educational conference in Quito Ecuador.  They needed additional speakers and she offered to find me a corporate sponsor to cover my expenses if I'd come down and conduct a workshop and give some additional talks.

 

Well, I figured if I was going all the way to Quito, I might as well catch another 3 hour flight to the Galapagos Islands.  After all, when would I ever be that close?

 

So my colleague Steve and I, after multiple unsuccessful attempts to talk our wives into joining us for the trip, planned a 6 day trip prior to the conference.

 

The archipelago is made up of numerous islands, four of which we got to spend some time on, generally following the path that Darwin took on the Beagle all those years ago, beginning at San Cristobal, continuing onto to Floreana, and then to Isabella and finishing in Santa Cruz (see the map below).

 

 

San Cristobal is a land of Sea Lions.  They're everywhere!

 

 

One of our stops was Puerto Grande, a beautiful little secluded bay where the Beagle spent its first night on the islands.  The water line was a mixture of lava rock, sand and mangrove trees. 

 

 It also offered some great views of "Kicker Rock" where Charles Darwin collected barnacles on his first day in the archipelago.

This is where I took my first shot at snorkeling:



(I'm told such shots are never flattering ... this one certainly wasn't)

 

However, this shot was perhaps my favorite 

 

The next morning took a rather rough 2 hour speed boat ride to Floreana where we went into the highlands, where the scenery was a little greener.

 

On our way back down, I got my first view of the infamous Galapagos Tortoise: 

 

I promised my boys I'd ride a giant tortoise.  I did the best I could within the confines of the Islands' protective laws.

 

From here, there was more snorkeling.   

 

After another speed boat ride, we reached our third island, Isabella.  The next morning we hiked to the caldera of Sierra Negri (The Black Saw).  It's an active volcano, 2 km across!!!

 

After the ten mile hike we returned to the water, sand, lava rock and mandrake trees. 

 

More of these guys (I think this might be what inspired Peter Jackson's artistic concept of the Middle Earth Orcs in the Lord of the Rings movies)

 

 Technically, you can't get within 2 meters of the wildlife...but you also can't walk off of the trial, and these guys don't move for you.  So, you step over them and hope for the best.

 

Sharks!!! 

 

and more snorkeling with fish, sea turtles, penguins and sting rays

 

 

We had so much fun, we came back the next morning, where we hung out with these guys: 

 

Then it was back onto a speed boat to the island of Santa Cruz where we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center to check out the baby tortoises.

(Yep, they were that cute!)

 

This is also where you can see land iguanas: 

 

The next morning we walked through a giant lava tunnel...

 

...and spent more time with tortoises

 

 Here you see the extremely rare "Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtle"

 

And then, all too soon, it was time to board a plane back to Quito Ecuador.

 

The narrative doesn't do it justice. 

There was one morning where I walked down to the beach by myself and walked out unto a little pier.  The Blue-footed Bobo Birds where diving out of the sky into the ocean for their morning meals while the crabs clamored along the exterior rocks of the pier and a family of sea lions circles playfully in the bay below.  It really captured the essence of this amazing, inspiring trip!