Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas Eve night with my family so we could do Christmas morning with them.

Emma in her new rocking chair and all dressed up ready to hit the town.

Richard got Emma some cute dress ups while he was in London. She was the "Queen of the Castle!"

Mom forgot she put Emma's headband on her head. Classic Mom moment.

Poppy and GraMimi got Emma these cute twins for Christmas, she loves them!

PJ's

Ellis, Rulon, Lincoln, William and Emma in their Christmas pajamas.

Emma being the ham that she is.

Our Star on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spent with the Adams and the missionaries. The kids did the Nativity story and Emma was the star.

She was an excellent star.

She also accompanied Nani on the piano...how very thoughtful of her.

The best part was when she was done with the piano she started singing twinkle twinkle little star...she took her star roll very seriously.

Some fun without Daddy

This is some of the fun Emma and I had when Richard was in Europe.

Emma going down the snow covered slide.

Emma playing dress up with cousin Ellis.

Phantom Emma

Twinkle Encore!

We caught this clip of Emma performing on the bed.

Richard (and Roger) goes back to France!

Once again I was lucky enough to go back to France to collect data for my thesis. This year I got my dad to go with me! His hands are a bit shaky so I took most the pictures. Here is dad in front of Notre Dame in Paris. We did actually do some work...

Dad contemplating the battles with the Anjouvan Kings in Angers...

Some pretty purple berries clinging to a bush in the freezing cold at the Angers Castle.

This was just the start of the trip. Dad wanted to make the most of it and take the train to London. Little did we know that it would be a much more exciting trip than we anticipated...

Richard (and Roger) takes London!

So, as mentioned before, Dad didn't want to miss the opportunity to see London while in Europe. We took the train from Paris, via the channel tunnel, and arrived in snowy London. We checked into our room at the Park Lane Marriott, then took a nice walk in the snow down Oxford Street and pretended we had enough money to actually buy something. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe down by Hyde Park Corner (Hard Rock Cafe actually started in London, not in the USA...). The next day we climbed aboard the double decker tourist bus to see London! Here is a nice shot of the London Eye and the County Hall Marriott (and the aquarium, etc.) Big Ben!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Gridlock at Trafalgar Square

The Tower of London

We rode the bus across town to the Tower of London. We saw the crown jewels and the armory. The famous guards.

The famous ravens of the tower.

Tower Bridge.

After the Tower, we rode a cruise down the Thames to the London Eye and then back to the Tower. We then rode the tour bus back to our hotel.

More London

The next day we decided to go into all the cool places we rode past the day before. We started out the day inside Westminster Abbey. We listened to the audio tours and had a great time. We then crossed the river towards the London Eye. A look back at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We then attempted to go on the London Eye. There was some problems so it was closed when we got there. We opted for lunch at McDonald's. As we left McDonald's we noticed the Eye was moving again so we got our tickets and climbed on! It was amazing. The views were excellent. Here is a shot of London looking at the next pod.

We then spent the afternoon visiting St. Paul's Cathedral and generally enjoying London. Here are some night shots of London. I wish I had my nice camera! The Tower Bridge.

The London Eye.

This was supposed to be our last day in London. The plan was to take the train back to Paris and pick up our luggage at the Paris Marriott and then fly home. Unfortunately the train system failed and 5 trains were stuck in the chunnel the night before we were supposed to go. The trains were closed for 3 days affecting some 90,000 people traveling to London, Paris or Brussels. After the most stressful day of trying to get flights to Paris, we finally gave up and re-booked our tickets out of London. This meant that we now had 3 more days to kill in London!

Last bit of London

So, with 3 more days to kill we decided we should do a few more things. First, buy some clean clothes and try to find a laundromat! Second, see more of London! Finally, find some Christmas gifts for our wives who would be very frustrated that we were still partying in London! We tried to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but it was cancelled because of the weather. A view of Big Ben from the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square.

Speaker's Corner. Where missionaries would preach the gospel to many people in London.

Hyde Park and the Winter Wonderland Carnival!

We finally got out of London on December 23rd! I think the whole plane shouted for joy when we left Heathrow. I think there were even some tears shed when we landed in sunny LA. We made our connection to Seattle and then had a pretty easy drive over the pass and back to Ephrata. As for me, I learned a valuable lesson; never travel in December. Although I will be returning to London as soon as I can!

Thanksgiving Tractor/Trailer Rides!!!

So Leisha has been severely lacking in the blog department, so I decided to post (yet again) in her place. I have been wanting to do this activity for a few years now and it just never happened. So I was determined to make it happen this year! I remember my uncle Ken taking us all on a tractor/trailer ride way back when I was a kid, so I decided this weekend was a perfect time for a test run. So I hooked up a trailer to a tractor, and filled it with bins and chairs and told everyone to hop on. Here is the whole gang leaving the station! Emma in her new marshmallow coat.

The driver...

Emma loves her uncle Bryan!

We had a real good time and look forward to the return of the tractor/trailer ride this Christmas!

Twinkle Twinkle

I decided that we needed another post and took it upon myself to do so (this is Richard). Anyway, I have been involved in harvest for the last 2 weeks and come home each day to find Emma like this on the couch.

Don't misunderstand, Leisha is a great mother and usually doesn't let Emma "veg" in front of the TV all day, just at the exact moment I come in from work. It makes me laugh every time.

We also noticed that Emma has started to use the small stairs that lead to the bedrooms as her own little stage. I caught this performance the other day of "twinkle twinkle little star". Notice the slight slip on her "stage" that would have stopped any newbie in their tracks. Emma, the hardened performer that she is, pushes through it like a champ.

And here is a picture of Leisha being herself in the Sacred Grove about a month ago. I am posting it because she is not here to stop me...she is very cute though...