Stop the Presses!

Lincoln just lost another tooth - his second. This one, fortunately, did not get lost. It's already safe under his pillow, waiting for the tooth fairy.

Can't Wait for Christmas!

Lincoln had his last day of school for 2009 this week. His class had a party, and he got a Ben 10 watch in the gift exchange. He also got to watch the Polar Express at school as a reading reward. Lincoln has been reading several hours each evening to get as much reading as possible logged for the party. He has read everything from superhero comic books to scriptures, to Roald Dahl books, to Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. What a reader! He also saw a movie about spelling bees, and has been practicing hard words ever since. Here he is spelling Mississippi. He is also working on prestidigitation, but I can't even spell that one right without spell check.


Lincoln also received his first camera this week. (I remembered the many rolls of film I took of seagulls and the walls, so his camera is digital). He took 80 photos in about 4 days. Here are some of his favorites.

For Christmas, Lincoln is hoping to get "100 assorted Pokemon cards" from Santa. Marina's big wish is for a candy necklace (she dreams big!). Lincoln and Marina helped decorate our Christmas tree, and they did some great work!
Marina got some red and green tights from Nana, and she loves them! Here she is, looking like one of Santa's elvesThey have both been good, so they should be able to rest easy on Christmas Eve, just like Lincoln does every other night!

This month, Ryan and I also celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We went to St. George and Springdale, Utah to celebrate. It snowed overnight, and this was the view of Zion when we got up in the morning. We had a great trip, and are excited about the years to come!

It took me most of the year to get and sort through our wedding photos. But, better late than never, here are some of our wedding photos.

Thanksgiving

The most exciting thing that happened this week was . . . Lincoln lost his first tooth! He was at school, and thought that he had food in his teeth. He pulled what he thought was food out of his mouth , and there was his first tooth! Unfortunately, Lincoln lost the tooth on the school bus. So, he wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining what happened. The tooth fairy was kind enough to give him money anyway! He has three more loose teeth, so she won't have to wait too long to get one of Lincoln's teeth.
Marina has been having lots of fun playing dress up. Her princess dress, her Dorothy costume, and this is one of her more creative combinations.
Marina and Kami rode the train to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake City. Marina had lots of fun with the play house there.

Lincoln and Marina went to Jumping Jacks with some of their cousins. It was lot of fun - the streaks on this photo are Lincoln and Marina going very fast down the slide. There was also a dragon obstacle course that Lincoln did in 13 seconds!

We had lots of time to spend with family over the week of Thanksgiving, and that meant lots of time with cousins!




Lincoln and Marina also got to visit Santa this week. They have been very good, so I think it's a pretty safe bet that they are on Santa's nice list!

Moab Canyons!

I just got back from a tourism retreat in Moab, Utah. One of the activities was to go canyoneering (no idea how to spell that!). I had never repelled before, but sucessfully decended two 100-foot drops. Here is one photo of me doing it. I post more as I get them. Obviously, I am not the photographer!

Here are some photos I took of the drops we did:

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! Lincoln and Marina painted pumpkins. They both love to paint, and made their pumpkins look great!
Marina has wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween since last spring. I thought she might change her mind, having decided so early, but she never wavered. She was a perfect little Dorothy!

Lincoln had wanted to be a minotaur for Halloween, but after he got to do the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland, he changed his mind (thankfully) to be a Jedi. Then, he decided to be a dead Jedi. I am not sure what that says about his training (that he died), but he was an awesome Jedi.
Lincoln and Marina got tons of candy trick or treating, and we had yummy Navajo Tacos when we finished. What is Halloween about if not food?
A couple of weeks ago, Marina's cousin Carter (and Aunt Kara, Grandma Valene, and baby Ella) came to visit. The kids had a great time playing together, and Marina and Carter are great friends!
Lincoln and Marina got some foam soap at the store one day, and wanted to take daily (or more!) baths for a while. This photo may explain the sudden excitement about bathing.

album 10\20\09, by Kami Terry

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Disneyland Trip

We just got back from spending four days in southern California with all the Pauls, Halvorsens, and Teeples (Ryan's family). We had a great time! Three days were in Disneyland. The first ride we all went on was Thunder Mountain Railroad. Even Marina rode it (she said she had fun but did not want to ride it anymore). This was Lincoln's favorite ride of the trip - he liked other rides, but Thunder Mountain was always his favorite. We rode through the Haunted Mansion, which was decorated like the Nightmare Before Christmas. Marina called it Jack's House. She was so excited to go in there, but from the first room, she hid her head in my shoulder and cried. She did not want to leave, but she would not stop crying for the whole ride. I worried that she had not liked the ride, but at the end of the day (and the end of the trip), she insisted that Jack's House was her favorite ride at Disneyland. We also saw the parade that first day. Here are photos of Lincoln and Marina at the parade. They danced along and got to see some of their favorites (Mary Poppins!). Marina and Lincoln (and Grandpa) got to meet the Queen of Hearts (Marina was a little shy). Grandma bought all the kids Mickey Mouse Light Sabers, so there was lots of fun to be had with those after dark (and before dark too!). The second day in California, we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Lincoln got to go on a behind-the-scenes tour and see some shark teeth and feed some fish. He already knew a lot about fish from watching Blue Planet, but he had fun seeing all the animals up close. His favorite animal at the aquarium was the striped archer fish. They can spit several feet above the water to knock their food into the water and eat it. It was amazing to watch! The aquarium had some very friendly birds - see photos! We also visited the Queen Mary. Lincoln is here posing with some of the big guns they had on deck. Grandpa sailed on the ship when it used to cross the Atlantic, so he shared some memories with us. They also had a ghost tour that Lincoln was not quite up for.


We then spent two more days at Disneyland. Marina wanted to ride It's a Small World over and over. She also liked the Finding Nemo ride, Soaring over California, and Peter Pan. She rode the carousel too and played in A Bugs Land too. She loved Alice in Wonderland and The Teacups too. She spun our teacup all by herself!

Lincoln got to participate in the Jedi Training Academy (with only a little help from some hand-made signs suggesting that he should be picked to participate). He trained with a light saber and then fought Darth Maul and helped defeat Darth Vader. He was awesome!


Grandma even bought Lincoln his own light saber, so he can continue his training. He has decided that he is going to be a Jedi for Halloween.


Grandma bought Marina a princess dress - Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. Marina loves to wear it, and has perfected chilaxing in a huge dress!

We are all home safe now - what a fun trip!