Stephenson Family

Since Hannah got her sewing machine for Christmas, she been chomping at the bit to make something.  I had her work through a beginners book she got, that took her through different practices, sewing through paper.  She felt she was ready to move on and sew on fabric.

So, we found an easy scripture bag project made from place-mats on-line.  I conveniently had a few inexpensive place-mats on hand as this was a project I had planned on doing at one time.

Hannah picked everything out and designed the ‘look’.

The longest part for me was helping her sew the ribbon straps on, but she did everything else herself.  It was a great Saturday afternoon project!

Of course, whatever Hannah has, Cami feels she needs.  So, she picked out some cute inexpensive dishcloths I had purchased to use as fabric.  She, again, designed it all and I did all the sewing in less than an hour . . a perfect and rewarding craft!

Outside of Bag

Inside of Bag

As London gears up for the summer Olympics this year, there have already been events to test the venues.  Many of these test events serve as the final qualifications for the 2012 Olympics.  We were able to get tickets to two gymnastics events last week.

The gymnastics venue is The O2 in North Greenwich.

One of the neat facts about this venue is that you can straddle the Prime Meridian here.  The line is actually highlighted outside on the pavement so you can see; Greenwich is where Greenwich Mean Time is measured from.

We attended Tuesday without Chris and met up with Caleb’s teammates for the event.

We had a great time . . . and a late night!  But, we were able to see all the men’s teams that were still trying to qualify for the Olympics, as well as some that were trying to qualify as individuals (including 2 Americans).  Our ‘friend’ Jordan Jovtchev from Bulgaria had competed earlier in the morning and will be going to the Olympics for the 6th time at age 39!  Amazing!

Great Britain was obviously a crowd pleaser!

Great Britain Team

What surprised me the most at this event was that the boys are already doing most of the things the gymnasts were doing, especially on floor.  The only differences are more height, more twists and rotations, and polished.  It really was amazing.

Parallel Bars

High Bar

Pommel Horse

Rings

Vault

Floor

Great Britain performed well on their home turf as they qualified in 1st place, with France, Spain, and Italy also qualifying.

Victory Ceremony

Just a few nights later, our family trekked back to The O2 for the first night of the apparatus finals.  If individuals didn’t qualify for the Olympics at this point, if they qualified for the last qualifications, they have one last chance to earn a spot, even if their team makes it or not.

The O2 at Night

On Thursday we were able to see 3 of the men’s apparatus finals – rings, pommel horse, and floor; as well as 2 women’s apparatus finals – vault and uneven bars.  Again, just an amazing night watching all of their skill and strength.

The night was made even better by our upgrade on seats.  One of our friends works for a company that has a box in The O2.  He offered us seats for the same night we were attending so it worked out perfectly – great seats, great food, and a lot of room to roam without anyone getting perturbed!  We LOVED it!

Bring on the 2012 London Olympics!!

London Temple

Emma and Chris started the last day of the year by attending the temple with our ward’s youth (those that were in town over the holidays).  They had a great day and made it home in time for our low-key celebrations!

Our low-key celebrations were definitely that – we made individual pizzas and enjoyed those with snack foods while watching movies.  I tried to get a puzzle started but no one was interested.  Sadly, no other pictures were taken, but everyone stayed up until midnight when we turned on the London fireworks to celebrate.

We’re looking forward to a great 2012!

We had passed Stonehenge a few times and never had the opportunity to stop and enjoy it.  So, on our way home from Center Parcs, we took advantage of our time and stopped.  We arrived well before their posted opening time, but there were a number of us waiting to enter so they opened it half an hour early.  It was neat to be there with no one else around, even if it was just for a few moments.

Once the tour buses arrived, it was disheartening to see how the surreal-ness of it all washed away.  They do have early-morning times that you can reserve months ahead of time and go up to the rocks and walk in between them.  Maybe we’ll have to try that down the road.

We enjoyed the free audio guides as we walked around the rock formation.  The history mixed with legends was fun to hear.

On three of the four sides of Stonehenge, there are sheep pastures.  It was neat to watch them graze and play while we listened to the history of the area.

Sometimes I just feel like there are so many things to see and so little time, but I’m glad that we’ve been able to do what we have so far.

It’s fun to look back on the pictures to the places we’ve been and have those great memories.  I hope our kids can recall those feelings as they look back at our pictures as time goes on.

Not wanting to go too far from home over the holidays, we decided to try a holiday spot not too far from us – Center Parcs.  There are a number of these throughout the UK, but they are quite popular here all year round.  They have almost any activity you could imagine and then some.  We just went for about a day and a half during the week between Christmas and New Years and probably only SAW, let alone DID, 1/8 of what they have.

The biggest highlight was the unlimited subtropical swimming area they have – complete with rapids, lazy rivers, and water slides!

Hannah on Slide

During our one full day there, we had each of the kids pick one activity to do.  It was fun to see what they chose and see how much they enjoyed it.

Emma had chosen scuba diving, but not enough kids signed up so she agreed to go with Hannah to snorkeling.  The big smiles on their faces as they came out of the water after their class showed us how much they liked it.

Early-morning Snorkeling Class

Emma

Hannah

Caleb chose rock-climbing.  He was nervous at first (the thought was fine but the actual doing was a different story), but he did a great job.  He had no problems getting up the 3 different sides of the rock wall they had.  Finally, the guy started timing him to see how quickly he could get to the top.  I’m sure his upper body strength from gymnastics was the sole reason for that!

Cami chose a Princess Party.  We had signed up for this before we arrived, so she packed her princess dress and wand just for the occasion.  She had a great time!

While Cami was at her party, we took advantage of the time and participated in some activities that she wasn’t old enough for, like family fencing.  We were in a class with 2 other families and were taught by an amazing instructor who gave us all the basic tips of fencing and had us sparring with foils by the end of our class time.

Stephenson Fencers

We filled in the extra time by playing some table tennis (and all getting beaten horribly by Chris).

It was nice after our full day to go back to rest in our on-site accommodations.

We had a kitchen but only had breakfast and lunch there.  We took advantage of the many restaurants available to have some American food for dinner our first night and then Spanish tapas the second.

I think we were all convinced we could easily spend a week at Center Parcs during any part of the year.  Perhaps a return trip will be in order somewhere down the road.

There is no competition in our house on what holiday is everyone’s favorite – it is definitely Christmas!!  I think what makes it a favorite is that we have more traditions for this holiday than any other, and that’s where most memories are made!  I love traditions!

- Christmas Eve

We always have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.  It is usually roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and the like.  This year was no different, although the kids took more responsibility in dinner this year.

Boys Preparing the Meat

Dinner was delicious . . . and we love that we can add English poppers to our traditions!

It always fun to start dinner off with a ‘treat’ and then get to wear the crowns and take turns telling the jokes found in the poppers.

After dinner, we acted out the Nativity story from the scriptures.  We got smart this year and drew names for each part so it was ‘fair’ and no feelings were hurt.  Even though it’s a quite spiritual story, humor always seems to creep in and catch the others off-guard.

We realized we still have some work to do on our Christmas Eve Nativity as we didn’t even realize we forgot costumes until we were done and taking pictures!  Thank goodness for our ‘popper’ crowns and random props grabbed as we went!

As we finished up the spiritual part of our night, what did we hear outside?  Carolers!  What better way to end the night?!  It really was a treat that the Tingey family came from the other side of London to sing to us.  We love their family!

Tingey Family

Before going to bed, we always have one present that we open.  This year, everyone got . . .

. . . slipper socks!!  Chris gave me a bathrobe and I gave him a hot water bottle!  Notice a theme?!  Just trying to stay warm in our cold and drafty British home!

Last event for the night – leaving a note and treats for Santa (and some fruit for Rudolph).

- Christmas Day

Christmas Day came very early as we didn’t get to bed until 2:00 a.m. since some kids (*Caleb*) were so excited they couldn’t sleep.  Because we had church later in the morning, we had everyone get completely ready for church before heading downstairs to see if Santa came.  Talk about torture!  But, I think it was worth the wait.

Santa Gifts

The kids opened their stocking gifts and their big one from Santa.  Caleb even found some time to play with his electric kit before breakfast.

Christmas breakfast isn’t the same without Grandma’s Sticky Buns.  LOVE them!

We had a great hour’s worth of church with talks and music.  Then we all came home together (a great big treat!) to unwrap some gifts (of course, some reverted back to their pajamas just for the effect).

Some of the highlights for us this year:

Cami’s American Girl doll -

Kit

Hannah’s sewing machine -

Our Crafty One

Caleb’s gym backpack -

Emma’s American sweets -

There were some tears . . .

. . . but it was from pure excitement for American treats!

Chris & Becca’s picture book -

Pictures of our Engagement & Wedding

We had such a great, relaxing Christmas!  It was great to be together at home with just our little family.  However, we did miss our extended family, but it was fun to hear from them how their Christmases went as well.  It was great to hear from my parents how well they liked their Christmas gift that my sister, Helen, worked so hard on for all of us.

The tree is up, with ornaments placed ever so strategically.

The cookies are all baked and delivered joyfully to neighbors and friends.

The ward’s service project held at our home was lovingly done.

Santa managed to appear at our ward’s Christmas party, even when we didn’t have our own building to use for it.

Caleb survived his Christmas Display at the gym – Wednesday through Monday with 11 performances total.

Now, we are ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy this wonderful holiday season.  We are so grateful for friends and family in our lives.  We feel so blessed and are so grateful for this time to celebrate Christ’s birth and all that means for us in our own lives.

Merry Christmas!

Another year, another level of ballet completed.

Cami

Hannah

The girls had their grades the beginning of November, but didn’t get the results until last week.  Both passed with “A’s” and “A Stars”.  I still don’t get the British grading system but it’s like A and A+ (I think).

Hannah’s Class

They have a lot of fun in their classes with their friends and learning new things.

Cami’s Class

Cami has even starting learning some solo dances – one of which she performed at the Russian school’s Christmas party.  She was a little nervous at first, but once she was on-stage, she did a great job!

It was also my solo debut in making dance costumes.  I had to make my own pattern, using bits and pieces of others, but it came together and is ‘wearable.’

Hannah has been counting down to her big day for quite awhile and the day finally arrived!  She is now 9 years old!

Because she has a December birthday, we’ve always found it hard to have a friend birthday party.  The month is usually full of Christmas events that it’s hard to fit it in.  But, this year we planned ahead and had invitations out a month in advance to save the date for her first-ever friend party!

Hannah decided she wanted to go for the theme of a sleepover.  But, since we don’t do sleepovers, we decided on a ‘stay late’ party.  Hannah and I put together some fun invitations for her friends.

On the night of the party, we had some fun things planned.  They each got to decorate their own cupcakes when they arrived.

The cupcakes were decorated as themselves, sleeping in a bed.  The girls did a good job in the decorating process!

Then we played some fun party games – “Pass the Pillow” and “Spin the Fingernail Polish”.

After our pizza and cupcakes, Hannah opened her gifts.  She was so excited to see how well her friends knew her likes.  She got lots of art supplies and craft kits.

To round off the festivities, we sent the girls on a scavenger hunt up and down the house, searching for their goody bags.  They each got a dream catcher (that Hannah had spent all week working on) as well as breakfast – a box of cereal, mini donuts, juice, and a dream catcher to make themselves.

Of course, you can’t have a ‘stay late’ party complete unless there is a pillow fight at the end!

Hannah truly loved having a special birthday celebration for her big day – I think I heard ‘thank you SO much for the party’ three times before she went to bed that night!

A day later, we celebrated with Hannah and her family gifts.

We are so thankful for Hannah in our family!

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Andersons and Stephensons

Every year St. Paul’s Cathedral puts on a free ‘Messiah’ Concert.  The tickets are first come, first serve so it was nice to get a heads up from one of my friends of the event.  Both our husbands were out of town so we took our kids and met up with another friend and her son there.  It was our first time hearing the ‘Messiah’ in full, and I will have to say that I was very surprised how long it was . . . 2 hours!  It was so much more than just the small bits that we usually hear.

The acoustics were amazing . . . and there is just something to be said for the little choir boys with amazing voices!