Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service last night . . . the theme of the evening was "The Story Must Be Told" and we were reminded of the importance of the message of the first Christmas and that we need to share that message with those around us.

Here's a taste of Christmas Eve at our church -

Harp being played . . .

 O Holy Night being sung . . .

A few words being shared by our pastor, reminding us what Christmas is really about . . .  

 The children singing . . .

 . . . praises to the newborn King!

 And a reminder that the old, old story MUST be told!

May the Light of the World light your way this Christmas!

Making memories at the Nutcracker

We've been studying about Tchaikovsky in preparation for our outing to Symphony Hall for their annual performance of The Nutcracker.  Lael has had the opportunity to attend twice before, but this was Jaden's first time!

We arrived a few minutes before the performance began, which was just enough time to get a quick picture . . .

 and find our seats.

 Can you tell we're just a bit excited???

 The performance was absolutely marvelous . . . and Jaden (who was a bit reluctant about going because of all the dancing) said after each scene, "That was my favorite part!"  By the end, he decided it was all his favorite!

 Special thanks to "Miss Barbara" - who invited us to go with her!  It was a wonderful afternoon full of sugar-plum memories!

Family times at Christmastime

One of the things we always look forward to at Christmastime is spending time with family.  In this case, it was the annual family dinner with Daddy's paternal grandmother and the extended family.

The matriarch of the family is Great-Grandma Irene (pictured here with her husband Clarence) . . . she is such a blessing to all of us!

Opening a gift is quite exciting for little ones (and bigger ones)!

 And one of the things that Jaden remembered about this particular family gathering is that there was an air hockey table there . . . he was anticipating some fun times playing!

(Noah wanted to be part of the action too - he thought he'd help keep score!

 They played the "double-puck" version of air hockey.

 After lots of running around, Noah needed a bit of quiet time with Grandma playing with a puzzle game.

 Ooops! Caught Jaden exploring the inner workings of an upright piano . . . he was quite fascinated by all of it!

We are so thankful for our family . . .

and are glad that we can at least get together once a year!

Pictures that didn't quite make the cut

In the interests of keeping things real, here's a glimpse into our recent photo shoot.  Who knew that getting a picture of three great kids could be so tough?

 If Noah wasn't crying . . .

. . . he was walking out of the picture . . .

 . . . or sticking out his tongue.

However, we did manage to come up with some beautiful pictures - but you'll have to wait a bit longer to see the final product!  (Christmas is full of surprises and secrets, you know!)

All that cuteness . . .

. . . rolled up into a package we call Noah!

Out and about in Beantown

Noah is ready to go . . . although he's not entirely sure where we're going!

 Waiting for the blue line train to arrive

 Enjoying some absolutely yummy food in Quincy Market

 Lael was loving her pizza . . .

 . . . while Noah preferred the fries!

 We even ran into Benjamin Franklin . . . he was quite far from home!

 Some random pics

 The kids were excited to see this statue of Sam Adams.

 After an adventure-filled day, it was time to head back to the hotel for some swimming and wind-down time!

 Bye-bye, Boston!

Boston's Museum of Science

Boston's Museum of Science . . . where it's fun to find out! 

That was the advertising slogan for the Museum of Science in Boston when I was growing up.  I remember hearing that often when commercials for the museum aired on television.  Our family had a museum membership one year, and I remember enjoying it so much.

While up in New England for Thanksgiving, we took a trip to the Museum of Science . . . alot has changed in 25 years!  The displays are alot more "high-tech", but still so much fun!

We all enjoyed the mathematics exhibit . . . lots of optical illusions and things to figure out.

Then there was the "Creatures of the Night" exhibit . . .

Don't I have the cutest bats in the world?

Here's Jaden-the-bat . . . 

 . . . and Lael-the-bat!

 Yes, this is a picture of a picture of my kids!  They are in a completely dark room, and they're trying to figure out which hole a particular peg fits into - very tricky when you can't see what you are doing!

 A highlight for everyone was the lightning show! This was something I really wanted the kids to see because I remembered it from my childhood visit to the museum. (However, Noah didn't enjoy it so much, so he and I visited some other exhibits while Daddy and the big kids stayed.)

This is the Van de Graaff generator. During the lightning show, bolts of lightning are produced by this generator, which is the world's largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator.

 Yes, that's Lael in the lower left-hand corner . . . she looks pretty little next to this dinosaur model.

 We had fun looking at models of sailing ships from different times - ancient Egypt, Greece, Phoenicia, Rome were especially exciting to see since we've studied those time periods in school this year!

 Lael would have spent all day here if she could . . . waiting for a chick to hatch!  Unfortunately, no chicks decided to emerge from their shells during our visit.

 The museum tired this little guy out!

 It was a great field trip . . . so much fun that they didn't realize how much they were learning!