Category Archives: Holidays

A Busy Holiday Weekend + Thoughts on America

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We had a busy holiday weekend, although it was very nice.

I was going to write thoughtful post about what it means to me to have freedom and to be in this country, but it didn’t happen with all that was going on. So here are my more abbreviated thoughts.

This was the first forth of July that we’ve been in the USA in three years. I didn’t think I missed it, but in some respects I did. Not for the fireworks — I don’t care about those — but because it’s nice to reflect on past years: where I was, what I doing, and who I was with.

This year, I also spent some time reading an annotated version of the U.S. Constitution, which really got me in to a patriotic mood. I felt so strongly as I read that this constitution was inspired: not because it creates the only “perfect” or “free” country, but simply because it is so appropriate. The constitution and the government grows and changes with the years. It provides opportunity in the future, not just today. It’s a miraculous document.

On Thursday, we drove down to Naperville early in the afternoon and spent the afternoon with family, visiting with my parents and my grandma. Then we went to the band shell for a very patriotic concert. There was a lot of talking, but they finally got to the 1812 overture, with cannons and all. Paul was very tired by the time the cannons came and they scared him a bit, but he still had fun.

On Friday, we got a very late start. We hadn’t gotten home until midnight the night before, so we were exhausted. But Ryan had the day off from work; he spent the day mowing the lawn and then barbecuing a rack of ribs. Huge. I cleaned the house and got ready for our first holiday barbecue. Some friends from the ward came over and we had a busy afternoon and evening with them and their five children.

Saturday morning, we met Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Frank and Elizabeth’s family at the Illinois Railway Museum for a day of looking at the trains.  This is a place for serious train buffs. But Paul loved it and so did Grandma, since she recognized trains from her childhood days in downtown Chicago. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we didn’t stay long, and especially not for the parade of trains. (I suspect that was a bit too much for us anyway.) The museum is nice and close and Ryan looks forward to returning on a day when there isn’t a train parade and it’s not raining so he can get pictures of more trains. Paul loves trains, so I imagine he’d love to return to see them again. I haven’t actually gone through my pictures yet, so I may have something to show from that at a later time.

Then Mom and Dad and Grandma came to our home. We reheated the barbecue and ate and ate again. Then we played cards for a while. When Frank and Elizabeth got there, we had another round of barbecue. The rain had stopped so we ate outside, at least until the mosquitoes got us. The kids played and we visited until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore!

In all, it was a long, busy weekend! Sunday we took it easy, thank goodness. It was fun, but maybe three big events in one weekend is a bit much.

As I said, I haven’t gone through all the pictures, but here’s one winner: Paul with his great-grandmother.

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Our Easter Weekend

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I mentioned the other day that we had a wonderful weekend.

First, on Friday, I volunteered at the library in the morning, sans baby. I love my son, and I love being a stay-at-home Mom. But there is something so nice about leaving home and knowing that his needs are being taken care of and I’m not the one doing it! For just one morning a week, I’m a working woman, useful for my brain. (Or rather, for my alphabetizing; do you need much brain to sing the alphabet song?) Of course, Paul has entered a new stage of clingy-ness and cried when I said good-bye — even though he was going to spend the morning with Daddy.

While Ryan worked Friday afternoon, Paul and I drove down to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. I decorated Easter eggs with Daniel and Jessica and Grandma. Then we all went swimming. Paul had a blast splashing and kicking in the water.

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Paul and I ate dinner with the family and then we came home. Paul feel asleep in the car so Ryan and I had the rest of the evening. We watched a chic flick. (My choice of movie…)

Saturday morning, we decided to go bowling. Frank and Elizabeth were talking about how much fun their family had — even 2-year-old Jessica — and Ryan has been wanting to go bowling for months. So we took off at about 11:30 and went bowling! Paul was a bit scared/cranky at first. Maybe it was too noisy, maybe he was just tired. Eventually he gave up his turns and rested; we ordered food so that distracted him. Ryan and I had fun, although I won’t admit how low our scores were.

Then we went on a drive to pick up the grill we had ordered. We could only get it at a distant Lowe’s, and so we enjoyed the scenic rural drive and Paul had a nice little nap. What a beautiful world we live in! Some day we’ll take pictures and I’ll show you how pretty Illinois really is, corn fields and all.

While Ryan put his new grill together, I cleaned the house, top to bottom. It felt so wonderful. I love my house! Every time I mop the floor, every time I clean the counters and tiddy the messes, I just love my new home. I am so glad I get to stay here for the next 30 years, and that by the end of that time I’ll own it fair and square.

Sigh. There is something so satisfying about a clean home.

Sunday morning we had stake conference. It was wonderful how the speakers (including Elder Oaks and President Monson) testified of Christ in the Easter spirit. In the afternoon, Mom and Dad and Daniel and then Frank, Elizabeth, and Jessica came up. Ryan (and I helped a little) had cut most of the vegetables and made a marinade before church, so after church all we had to do was put the food on the grill. (We had steak and chicken fajitas. I know that is not a traditional Easter dinner, but I’ve been craving fajitas for weeks and yum! It was so good!)

Daniel was the Easter bunny and Paul and Jessica had a fun time searching for the eggs. I was impressed that Paul actually figured it out. He’s getting so old so fast!

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What am I forgetting? I’m sure there was something. At any rate, it was a great, energizing weekend.

How was your Easter?

Extended Family Photos

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We got some great extended family photos this holiday. Here are the best of them. I’ve tried to sharpen them and crop them.

Extended Family

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1 plus 1 is 2. I merged the first two pictures to get the third. I know it’s not a perfect merge, but I think it works for a family photo! I personally really like the first one, where everyone is looking at each other. It shows our personalities!

The Parents

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The Siblings
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The Cousins

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Frank and Elizabeth’s family

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Jenny and Chris’s family

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We took some pictures of our family over Thanksgiving; they are here.

How to Have A Very Merry Christmas (All Year)

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In the past two weeks, I’ve written a dozen blog post for this site in my head. And yet, none of them made it to the page. I’ve been too busy enjoying my favorite season. Of course there were some things I’d rather not repeat (who really wants a foot of snow when they say “white Christmas”?!) but overall it was a wonderful month!

As I thought about these happy moments this season, I realized there is no reason we can’t be doing these all year long. May the Spirit of the season stay with you and your family!

  • Listen to Christmas music all the time. I love Christmas music! I was going to highlight some favorite songs/versions of traditional songs, much as I highlighted my nativities, but it didn’t happen. I’m glad I don’t have any silly self-imposed rules about “not listening until after Thanksgiving,” because I can keep listening as long as I want and I can take it out again in July if I feel like it. I love it.
  • Make fudge. And eat it. Need I say more?
  • Decorate cookies. The idea was it was for my nieces and nephews (ages 9 months to 7 years) to decorate cookies, but I also had a great time decorating cookies. Somehow, I forgot to take pictures this year. Oops!
  • Read every child’s Christmas picture book you find at the library. I got a bit carried away, but I sure had fun finding favorites, new and old. My result is at Rebecca Reads here. (If you do this out of the month of December, you may be able to find specific ones you’re looking for!)
  • Celebrate with someone who’s worked hard at something (i.e., your newly Doctorate-d mother). My mother went back to school when I was in 5th grade, just because she wanted to. She got her Master’s degree after about three years and she’s been working on her Ph.D. (because she wanted to) one class and one dissertation page at a time since then. I am so proud of her dedication. And now, 350+ dissertation pages later, I’m so proud I now officially have a Dr. Mom in the family! (I got a copy of her dissertation for Christmas, and I’m very eager to read about “Mother Eve” in medieval literature. Wouldn’t you be?)

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Mom is “robed” by Dr. Nicole Clifton. (This is a zoomed in photo of the monitor in the arena; my camera wouldn’t zoom enough on my mom!)

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with oldest grandson

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Mother and Daughter

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The Benac Women

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The Doctors Sorenson

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Mom and her right hand man, Dad

  • Spend time with family. We visited with family on average 3 days a week this entire month! It was sure nice to talk and visit together so much. While I know we can’t visit so regularly once “Real Life” gets back in to gear, it was sure a nice way to spend the holidays.
  • Listen to Grandma reading The Grinch on Christmas Eve. This was a special trip down memory lane that I don’t want to forget.

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The Fosdick family reads along as Great-Grandma reads The Grinch.

  • Sing with your family. Our family likes to sing and we had so much fun Christmas Eve singing together. Here’s a very out-of-focus-Paul trying to sing along (he moves!) and rocking in a little rocking chair just his size.

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  • Ask Santa for his yummy peppermint bark. It sure made for a tasty Christmas morning! Even if it’s not Christmas, you and your family deserves a treat like this every once in a while, don’t you think?

And last, but not least, the absolutely best way to celebrate the Spirit of Christmas:

  • Host a missionary discussion in your home. Last Friday night, we hosted a discussion with a sister (whom we didn’t know previously). It was about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it was the sweetest way to bring the Christmas spirit into our home. As the missionaries left, I decided I’d like to do that again and again in the coming months. Christ, and His Atonement, is the true meaning of the season. Because we have the gospel in our lives, we truly can have the Christmas spirit all year long. I am so grateful for that. She’s coming again tonight. What a true delight!

Note to family: I also have the extended family pictures, some of which turned out pretty well. Paul’s waking from his nap right now, so I don’t have time to put them up, but I promise I will get them soon!

Australian Nativity

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Last Christmas, we didn’t have a tree. I had one decoration with me: my olive wood nativity. We had a very newborn baby and we were going out of town for the holiday itself. But I had told my friend Michelle about my nativity collection and she brought me a little “Australian” nativity to join it.

There’s nothing distinctly Australian about this little ornament-sized nativity, but it reminds me of my friend and our time there. I put it in Paul’s room since he is my favorite Australian souvenir.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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I arrived in Utah after my bedtime on November 25. But I still had some smiles for Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul!

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The next day, I discovered a room full of toys! Grandma Peggy watched me play and play and play. I had so much fun. Daddy came that day too. I was very glad to see him.

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Mommy told me that the next day was Thanksgiving. We went to a restaurant. I looked carefully at the menu. I saw my cousins and aunts and uncles. We all ate a lot. I didn’t have any room left for pumpkin pie, not after all that turkey and the potatoes and sweet potatoes. I didn’t like the stuffing, but everything else was tasty.

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We took a family photo. But I ate too much and had a tummy ache. Besides, I wanted my nap. That’s why I have a funny look on my face.

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I also got to see some of my other cousins. Cousin Samuel didn’t really know how to walk yet, but he watched my good example and started to figure it out. Cousin Leah turned three years old. She is such a big girl! I was there for her birthday party. And my great-Grandma was there too. She is so nice!

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Grandma Peggy made sure I had plenty to eat all weekend.

And I met more cousins. I can’t wait until I’m a little older; then I’ll have lots of fun with these boys.

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Then we took more family pictures. At least I could cuddle with Daddy.

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And then I got to smile by the Christmas tree.

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Whew! That’s a lot of pictures to tell you about! I hope you had a happy thanksgiving too!

Bolivian Nativity

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(I forgot to post this yesterday, so you got a day off. Two more to go!)

I spent a summer in Bolivia, where I got to help people. That was the general idea, but in retrospect, I think I got a lot of play time in there with the other LDS YSAs that went down. I wanted to practice my Spanish; most of the YSAs in the area wanted to practice their English. I was a redheaded gringa, anyway, so people assumed I didn’t know Spanish. Nevertheless, it was a memorable summer. I learned somethings about the culture, and I saw what it looked like to live in poverty.

In this nativity set, the characters are playing native Bolivian instruments and wearing traditional Bolivian clothing, reminiscent of the high country around La Paz. I wish it were larger: I’ve lost a piece, I think, and they break very easily. Nevertheless, I like the reminder of my time in Bolivia. I have it in my bedroom.

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My Mother-in-Law Nativity

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My mother-in-law sent us a nativity for our first Christmas. The figures are large and attention getting, and all of them remind me of angels singing “Joy to the World.” When I unpack it at Christmas-time, I am reminded of my mother-in-law and the joy of family gatherings at this time of year.

This year, I put it on top of my China case. It’s a bit of an odd space for it, but I think this majestic set does well at capturing our attention from above.

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Grandmother’s Nativity

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A few years ago, my grandmother B. sent me, and I think each grandchild (!), a beautiful, porcelain nativity set for Christmas. I am reminded of my grandmother and grandfather each year I take it out. It is gentle and beautiful, as is my grandmother. And it is majestic in grandeur, as I like to recall my grandfather.

This is one of those nativity sets that I imagine will break some day, thanks to some little child. Nonetheless, I do my best to keep it safe by keeping it underneath the Christmas tree, the traditional place for keeping presents. Since this was a present to me, under the tree seems an appropriate place for it still. But also, the tree skirt reminds me of a soft blanket for a babe in a manger, a place of rest and quiet. And the tree branches protect it, much as a real tree would protect small animals from the elements.

And so, the spot under the tree seems a fit resting place for this yearly reminder of my dear grandparents.

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Nativity from Grandma