Meeting Santa

We went to the Jolleys pharmacy to see Santa last week. I didn't realize until the car that Ben was the only one not wearing red. Christmas girlie had a red bow that you can't see next to Max's sweatshirt.

Girlie also didn't want to be held by Max or be near Santa or away from momma. But everyone else looks good!

Andrew sat on his lap but couldn't decide what to ask for. James got shy, but did say he wanted "A Batman Tower with a Grabber Arm."  He has been very specific about this for months.

Did we resort to bribery and pleading and coaxing and using Santa's name to try to get him to behave better before Christmas?

That's a yes.

Sutton Foster and Hugh Bonneville

When the guests artists were announced for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert this year, I didn't even think we could get tickets (they go SO FAST). Not only did we get to go, but I got to kinda meet Sutton Foster and Hugh Bonneville!

She is incredible on Broadway (I know from YouTube only), and on Bunheads, though the Gilmore Girls guest star appearance was weird.  He is Lord Grantham forever to me, though my boys know him from Paddington.

Many of my work days are hard. Wake up sooo early, drive in the cold darkness, cover depressing stories of crime and political fighting. So when there's a chance I can cover something uplifting and fun, I jump at it. Friday December 15th was a news conference with Sutton and Hugh (first name basis over here now apparently), and I got to go.

They were so so nice. Very friendly and funny. When it was my turn to ask a question, I asked them about their Christmas traditions, now that Sutton has a new baby. She talked about making Christmas cookies and how the baby brings all their familyi together; he talked about Christmas pudding and falling asleep during the Queen's speech.

Then that night, JB and I went to the concert with the media passes they gave me.

I smiled the whole time, except during "Sunshine on my Shoulders" when I thought of my mom, and during the sad-but-turned-uplifting-story of the Spofford family that Hugh narrated.

It started so late that I got the little boys tucked into bed before we went, and Max and Ben watched Millie. Max texted halfway through that she didn't want to go to bed, she only wanted to roam around the house.  She does that.

Andrew is seven

Our Star Wars-loving, joke-telling, kind-hearted Andrew is now 7 years old.

He requested a cake with Yoda on it for the third year in a row. We took it to Sunday dinner with the extended family the night before his birthday this week.

On his birthday itself, he had a musical "informance" at school. I couldn't get away (it was right during my main morning news meeting) so JB took video of our cutie.

Nona and Papa gave him a Star Wars Lego set, and we gave him a BB-8 clock for his room.

He has had three years in a row now of a brand-new Star Wars movie coming out the weekend of his birthday.  I tell him it's just for him. My work rented a theater, and we went Saturday.

I got there first with Andrew, and JB came a half-hour later with Max and Ben from basketball. Nona and Papa watched James and Millie.

I later said that I would totally take the boys again to watch  The Last Jedi again (so many things to notice the second time) and James yelled, "No going to da Wast Jedi! Don't weave me again!"

Andrew remains such a joy. Reading back over the posts below, I see trends and personality traits continuing. He is quick to laugh and wants to make others laugh. We do have to censure the fart/poo/burp jokes sometimes. He really really prefers the Utes to BYU. He can take the longest to get his pajamas or shoes or coat on, or do his homework. He just gets distracted or daydreams. He stays awake at night longer than he should, just chilling in his bed or quietly playing in the dark on the floor.

He is still on the shorter side compared to his older brothers, but I guess not too bad compared to classmates. But I get his clothes mixed up with James's clothes.

He adores his baby sister, and wants to be like his older brothers, and wishes his younger brother wouldn't steal his stuff.

He is very curious about how things work, and asks such interesting questions sometimes that I have to tell him I honestly don't know! But he is very smart. I got another reading scores report from his first-grade teacher, and it is insanely high. That's my boy!

Andrew's birth
First birthday (looks so much like Millie)
Second birthday (gosh I remember those snuggly days)
Third birthday (sleepy, hat-wearing cutie)
Fourth birthday (alligator cake and big blue eyes)
Fifth birthday (with an almost identical kissing picture as above! And a Yoda cake)
Sixth birthday (another Yoda cake, and some of the same clothes that still fit him)

Air Force One

In early December, President Trump visited Utah, and I was given the assignment of covering his plane landing in Salt Lake City.

I don't care who the President of the United States is, Air Force One is awesome.  It is just a breathtaking sight to see in person.

In April 2015 I was assigned to cover the departure of President Obama from Hill Air Force Base, so I narrated him as he arrived and went up the steps, waved, and then talked the listeners through the taxiing and takeoff. 

This time, I helped narrate the arrival of the plane at the Air National Guard Base for our radio listeners, and then President Trump coming out of the plane, meeting with supporters, and being whisked away for the rest of his visit. We had other reporters at the other spots of the trip.

Each time I had to arrive really early for security sweeps and Secret Service screening and clearance. I brought sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs. The other reporters were complaining of hunger.

I also brought lots of cold-weather gear. I knew it would be a wait out on the riser, and it was 32 degrees or something like that.

They put you on a flatbed truck trailer not too far from the flightline/tarmac, so you can be high enough to see everything. Flights in and out of the Salt Lake Airport (right by the base) were halted for the time of the approach and landing. It was soooo smoooth.  

President Trump is taller than I thought. Come to think of it, so was President Obama.  He went over to shake hands, and met a pair of teenage twins dressed like him and the vice-president. I interviewed them afterward for a story for the radio and they were a hoot.

You can listen below. https://audioboom.com/posts/6534734-crowd-greets-president-trump-as-he-arrives-in-utah.mp3

Ben is ten!

The baby we used to call Benihana is now ten years old.  And what a birthday week he had.

On Wednesday, I sent cupcakes to his class, and we had donuts at home, and opened his presents.

This is the face of a boy who got the Star Wars Lego set he wanted.

Papa and Nona with Ben and his present.

Then that night was cub scout pack meeting, where Ben was awarded his Bear.  I was chasing Millie and came back to see JB painting his face with the colors that each meant something (honor, courage, etc).

Then on Friday, the 4th graders went skiing. His teacher posted pictures of the kids on the bus, including Ben singing into a microphone during the drive. It really isn't too far up the canyons to the resorts. And we were able to rent his equipment for the day.

I was there when he got off the bus. He said he really liked it. Start saving, kid, skiing is expensive, even in the state with the "greatest snow on earth" as a slogan.

Then on Saturday was his friends birthday party. We only do these every couple of years, and we swear this is his last. It is also our last one in the church gym. I can't handle all that craziness anymore!

Ben kept inviting more kids. He is friendly, he has a large primary class and a gaggle of boys he runs with at school, and he said he didn't want anyone to be left out. Somehow we ended up with 17 kids there, though they were never staying still long enough for a good count.

Baby Benny turns one here (with red pajamas)

Benny-boy turns two here (with a requested football cake)

Sports-obsessed Benny turns three here (with a football cake again)

Turning four here (with a big extended family party and a plane cake that looked like a whale)

Five is here (with a basketball cake and his first bigger Lego set)

Huge sixth reptile birthday party when everyone he invited came  (sense a theme?) is here

The switch from Benny to Ben came when he was 7, here (with a Pokemon cake I am still proud of)

He turned 8 here and got lots of Star Wars stuff and still preferred the U (now it's the Y)

And I swear i just posted about his ninth birthday the other day. (Star Wars, socks, and a bball cake)

Stephen's visit

Just over a year and a half ago I was at their wedding.  This week my little brother Stephen and his wife Sarah came to visit from Missouri. She has some family here in Utah as well, so it worked out perfectly.

We had them over for Sunday dinner. JB's roast is always delicious. And his frozen ice cream dessert is as well.  I made the honey oatmeal bread that I feel like I have really mastered now. And I roasted Brussels sprouts and made gravy so I feel like my cooking skills are really coming along.

Their 9 month old Matrim is the cutest thing. Millie however kept taking his toys and books and anything we got out for him.

Here she is scooting backwards into his space.

James became fast friends with Sarah. He just talked her ear off, and showed her all his creations, including his fishing pole with one of my hair clips on the end of some string.

 Here is Matrim with his cousins all in a row.

I pulled out old photos to show Sarah when Stephen was younger.

He was ten when we got married. He's on the left in the front. Doesn't he look like our Andrew? And look how cute my little sister Sarah is. She was 4 and I think she looks like our 4 year old James.

Musical Ben

4th grade Ben took part in the school musical this fall. It took a lot of practices after school, but he put in the time and says he really enjoyed himself.

It was called "Musicville," about people who live in Musicville, and their water gets poisoned and they lose their voices if they drink the water. He is one of the people who was begging for water. Don't worry, it had a happy ending.

He was really fun to watch. Millie and James got tired halfway through, but Andrew was enthralled. Max was also very supportive.  JB went to both nights and got these better pictures the second night closer up to the stage.

JB and Max made a candy necklace for Ben for congratulations on a job well done!