Birthday Festivities

We had a really fun day, celebrating Samantha's birthday yesterday. We started with a morning present party, opening all the "Sammie presents" that had been stacked on the bookshelf for the past week or so.

Samantha really got into the present opening, learned how to rip and tear very quickly. She got most excited about the first present -- new doll, books and candy from Grandma and Grandpa Bishop. It was hard to convince her there were other fun things in the rest of the packages.

Here she is, standing on the living room table, modeling her new presents and enjoying the audience... It was really fun to have Aunt Janice and Uncle Jay here to help celebrate. Sam loves to play for the crowd!
She got really spoiled by all grandparents... a new sweater and jeans from Grandma Eva and Grandpa Doug (sweater modeled below and above), and new dress-up hat, necklace and purse from Grandma and Grandpa Hone, and other VERY fun items that were favorites all day!
After Brian, Janice and Jay left, Samantha and I had a leisurely morning playing with her presents, then went to an impromptu lunch visit at our friend, Debbie's. We then went down to the shops and bought some BALLOONS for a special birthday girl. (Anyone looking for great gifts for two-year-olds, balloons seem to be well appreciated!)
After nap time in the evening, we met up with our group for a delicious Italian dinner at the Pizzaria right down the street from our house. Sam played to the crow, insisting on wearing her sunglasses and necklace through dinner.

Brian also wore the glasses, for a second. Very nice look, isn't it?
We came home for delicious chocolate Snowman cake. Samantha LOVES snowmen so much, I thought it would be fun to make her a little snowman cake for her birthday. It was a hit.
A close up of Mr Snowman...
Our happy birthday girl, enjoying her piece of birthday cake... she asked for the pink mittens, and enjoyed picking all the buttons off as well.
Happy Birthday, Samantha dear! We loved celebrating two years with you. Fun times to come!!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Today is our Samantha's birthday. Yay!! It's so hard to believe she's two already. And yet, at the same time, she seems so grown up and is such a little girl instead of a baby. A quick photo tribute to show how much she's grown...

Samantha -- 2 days old:
6 months:

One year, on her birthday:

18 months:

2 years -- taken yesterday:

We're having a great day, and will put up pictures of our festivities after we get back from birthday dinner. Stay tuned....

Third Trimester -- and Blooming!

It's official -- my third trimester has begun and this baby is less than three months from his due date (March 8, for those who aren't counting along with me). Brian is actually keeping better track than I am. He's the one who informed me of this special landmark occasion. Wahoo!

I'm starting to get the friendly belly pats from friends (will hopefully be a month more before strangers start in, too). And, I'm starting to get noticed for how "big" I am. Sensitive ladies at church are kind enough to tell me I'm "blossoming," "blooming," or I am getting that "pregnancy glow." Less sensitive examples are the man who tried to make polite conversation by telling me, "I've been noticing the last few weeks that you seem to be getting fatter and fatter." -- or, the doctor who treated Samantha last week who confidently guessed, "you must be in your last month!"

Yes, I'm getting bigger, and people are noticing the change. This little baby is kicking a lot. It's easy to see and feel him from the outside -- and hard to ignore him on the inside. I've got all the familiar aches and pains that came last pregnancy, as well as some new stitches and cramps that the doctor says are perfectly normal and should just be ignored. (Easy for him to say, of course.)
We've been discussing possible names for this baby. No wait, I should rephrase that to say I've been discussing possible names. Brian has been consistently vetoing almost everything, and kindly refusing to suggest any names of his own choosing because it's still "too soon." So, I call him William or James or Nathan since those are names I like (even though all three have been vetoed twenty times over).

Here's the obligatory pregnancy picture for y'all... At 6 months and two days, here I am with sweet baby James, or whatever he happens to be called eventually:

Bishop Elf Family

Have you seen this yet? I just got it from two friends this morning and thought it'd be funny to make one for our family... Check out our new "elfy" look:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1173378785

Once there was a snowman...

We've been staying in lately, first to help Samantha get better -- and now because it's been pouring rain. We had a little bit of winter fun yesterday, making our own paper snowman. Samantha was very excited to help tape the different parts of the snowman together (we couldn't find glue, and I've now decided tape is just easier anyway). She loved the "yeyyow" buttons, "gween" shoes, and "WED" mittens most of all. Mittens are a new favorite with Sammie... she wants to wear them all the time (I keep them hidden until we're ready to leave the house). When we were done making our snowman, she insisted the snowman wanted to go for a walk. So, we put on our coats, hats and mittens, and walked the snowman down the street and back. Good fun!

Here's Samantha trying to "see" her snowman in the camera, after I took the other picture of her holding it...

Not much news to report right now. For the past three days I've tried to load some more videos from the last few months. No luck... I must have created some kind of error and now it won't let me upload anymore videos. Oh well, enjoy the few that made it through before I got shut down, I guess?

Successful Sharing Time

In church yesterday, I gave the sharing time lesson and it turned out really well (always something to feel good about)! We ended up having TONS of visitors due to a baby blessing, which caught me off guard as I walked in and saw our primary had tripled in size. But amazingly, I had felt inspired to prepare for "extras" just in case. It turned out perfectly.

We started out talking about presents we hope to get for Christmas. Then I asked them about some of the presents they were thinking of getting for their parents and other family members. After a few minutes of discussing, I uncovered a big box full of presents I had wrapped at home. All the children gasped in excitement. I explained that these presents in my box may not seem as exciting as some of the things we hope to get for Christmas this year, but they represent some of the gifts that we have received from our Heavenly Father.

I asked the children to each take a turn unwrapping a present, and we spent a few minutes talking about each gift/blessing. The gifts were items such as a picture of our family, a bag full of little toy animals, a little clock (time), a basket of plums (food), a picture book of countries to visit (the world), a gold-framed leaf (nature/plants), the scriptures, etc. I had wrapped about 15 different gifts to discuss, even though we only usually have 5 or 6 kids for our sharing time lessons (Brian had even teased me the night before, telling me I was getting a bit carried away). It turned out there were exactly enough presents for every child to open one! Talk about inspiration!

At the end, I pulled out a very large present, wrapped with lots of bows and special wrapping. I told the children that of all these gifts from Heavenly Father, there was one that is most special of all. They were each taking guesses as I unwrapped a picture of the Saviour. As they realized what it was, there was a sweet hush that came over the room. I quoted the scripture "For God so Loved the World" and talked about how special the gift of Christ is to us. I reminded them that while there are many gifts we give and receive each Christmas, the whole reason we celebrate is for Christ. We ended with a very sweet, calm spirit in the room -- a good reminder to me of the real spirit of Christmas.

Hello!! and good night.

In England, they really do say "hello" instead of the traditional American "hi" that sounds so familiar to me. Samantha took a long time to get her "hello" perfected. But I think it's the cutest thing ... thought I'd share a little video. (And yes, we bribed her to say it with her binky, as you'll see!)

Sick Day

Yesterday I took a full-on sick day like I haven't had in ... I don't even remember how long. I'm serious, this includes all the disgusting morning-sickness days and all the sniffles of the past while. Yesterday I was just SICK! I didn't leave my bed all day, (except for the too frequent bathroom trips) yuck. No reading, no phone talking (other than what was absolutely necessary), no TV, nothing. I woke up early with some terrible stomach bug that totally drained me. I couldn't keep anything down all day, not even gatorade or water. By the time Brian was ready to leave for work at 9ish, I was in a ball on our bedroom rug (safely near the bathroom), begging him "please don't leave me yet."

Sweet, dear husband that he is, Brian rearranged his schedule and started working from home. He encouraged me to lay in the bed instead of on the floor, then got Sammie up, fed and changed her, and took care of her until nap time. At 2ish, he left the two of us peacefully sleeping for the afternoon. He came home by 6 to help with Samantha for the evening/bedtime, then stayed up till some unholy hour finishing his work. What a wonderful, dear man he is! Sooo good to me! I hope I said thank you enough, but saying it doesn't always seem like enough.

Well, so I was finally able to keep some water down after about 2 a.m. last night, and today I've felt proud of the toast, juice, banana and rice I've had. Back on track! I'm sooooo glad that was just a one day thing, and I sooooo hope no one else gets it!

Highlights from Home

So, we're back from our whirlwind Thanksgiving trip home. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up, though not long enough -- as usual. We didn't get the camera out enough, so the picts we have aren't the greatest, but I'll share anyway. I thought a little list of highlights might be interesting, so, here are some of my favorite memories from our little holiday...

• Staying with Scott and Alicia for one little night, seeing Juan Dolor, and watching our girls play together -- sharing toys WITHOUT crying. Alicia said all day before we came, Brie would say something like "Sammie, share toys, cry" -- anticipating the worst, that never happened. They really had fun together, and we were sad to stay for such very short time.
  
• Watching Sam sit happily on Grandpa Bishop's lap in church, just an hour after they met us at the airport. It didn't take her long to warm up to Grandma and Grandpa Bishop (or anyone else she met on the whole trip, actually). She loved their house, and all their fun toys (especially the marble shoot!)
  
• Delicious food and great company with the Bishops. Brian's brothers and sisters-in-law came over every night with all the cute little cousins. They made it all feel like such a special occasion, just being together. We went to see the Christmas tree lighting in Nampa one night and met Santa on the way. Sam was distraught... She kept crying loudly, "bye bye, SANTA!!"
Here's our group, standing at the base of the HUGE tree after it was lit. We missed the lighting ceremony, but still got cookies and got to see Aunt Cindy's new place downtown.


• FLYING from Boise to Idaho Falls. I know that would not be a highlight for many people, but I LOVED how quickly we got from Brian's family's house to my family... One hour we were saying goodbye to Brian's parents, the next hour we said hello to mine. It was luxurious and I appreciated the extravagance (which was actually only $20 more than the bus tix, and nine hours faster!). Sammie was the friendly flyer -- she insisted on saying goodbye to EVERYONE who was still on the plane when we got off, and there were lots of people, considering the flight was continuing on to Montana. Here we are with Brian's parents as we said goodbye. We didn't get any picts of us saying hello to my parents, probably because Sam was throwing a fit on the escalator because I made her hold my hand, then eventually I picked her up, kicking and screaming. (Terrible twos begins.)



• Being at home, just relaxing and having a great time with my family. Thanksgiving was smaller than some years, but DELICIOUS (the gravy was perfect, and I bet they still have pie leftovers)!! Samantha took a preference to eating from her "tiny chair" that Grandma said she could have while she was there. It's made for some interesting "disagreements" about mealtimes in the two days since we've been home.

• Seeing all the nieces and nephews. This is where I get sad looking at all the cute pictures we DIDN'T take -- at Brian's parents, or at mine. We only got a few little picts, but they're cute kids and I want to share, even though the best shots did not get taken. sad. Here's Josh, teaching Samantha to put her silverware in her ears at the restaurant -- she was a fast learner. Here's Tristan, wearing Samantha's sunnies. I had to include this one because Lance, Tristan's dad, was so adamant that he should NOT wear pink sunglasses, but Tristan did it with my coaxing and even cutely posed. hee hee...
  Is anything more lovely than a little baby Anna asleep in my arms? I can hardly think of any more sweetness.
  Here's Superman-Tristan, guest star of our Thanksgiving night. He informed me that Superman does NOT say "cannonball" as he jumps off Grandma and Grandpa's stairs, because "Superman is too busy fighting bad guys."
  
• Hearing Samantha learn all her cousins, aunts and uncles names! She came home saying "Seth, Becca, Ella, Josh, Tristee (Tristan), Anna, Sara, Eric, and Ashie Baby (and some others, with prompting.) How cute!

It was such a quick trip, and so hard to come home after such a short time visiting with everyone. We're exhausted now, but also very happy and grateful to have had such a nice time. Here's one last picture of Samantha on the car ride to Utah, the day before we left. I think this one captures our departure thoughts and plans for the plane ride...

Update from us

So, you may be wondering what we've been up to, as it's obvious we've not been blogging lately. Well, here are the quick bits of our latest...

Brian ...
has been taking advantage of a long lull in his work hours. He's had lots of "less busy" time lately, which means he's taking lunch breaks and walking around London. Here are some nice shots he took last week:

Samantha...

has been learning to dress and undress herself lately. She got a new pair of pants that she LOVES because they're easy to pull off and on. So, off and on they go, under dresses, over other pants, etc. She also is trying other fun combos. Just a few pictures of her latest outfits:

In this one below, I think she was trying to join the "Incredibles" family or something? Nice belt, bloomers and jammies, eh?!
Here she is "sleeping" on the stairs, or so she told me. She took off her pants, put on some pretend pajamas, and pretended that skinny little step was her new bed.
Sam got a new warm winter coat that she loves. I was unable to catch ANY good pictures of her in it, but I think you probably get the idea what it's like. She especially loves the hood (or "hat" as she calls it)...

Kamber ...

As for me, I've been up to a little of this-and-that, it seems. Had a cold for a few days last week and am still nursing the tail end of it. I've been running errands, doing laundry, cleaning house, and baking/cooking a lot lately (recent cooking: pumpkin bread and muffins, oatmeal cookies, peanutbutter bar cookies, and I just found a great recipe for cheesy potato soup that I love). Here are some banana muffins and bread from last week...
What else in my news? Well, the "bump" is getting bigger and a bit more cumbersome (sorry, no new photos). Nearing 6 months along now, and yes it's gone much more quickly than the first pregnancy!

We had our primary program last week, which I haven't yet reported. It went well and people seemed to enjoy it. I of course was stressed, but I think I was much calmer than last year. We had FIVE three-year-olds this year (as opposed to only one last year). That always spices things up a bit. Our three-year-olds had some severe stage fright, but they were so cute about it that people just chuckled and enjoyed the show. We had an "after party" in the primary room, watching "Joseph" with lots of snacks and treats.

I saved the best news for last... We're flying home Saturday morning to spend Thanksgiving with our family! Yay! It's been a week of packing and organizing for me. I'm REALLY looking forward to this little break. Yes, that means it may be a blogging break as well. But we'll be back with fun pictures from home soon enough. Bye for now!

Guy Fawkes Day

I better post these pictures before they are too old! Guy Fawkes Day is a British holiday, celebrated on the 5th of November (and for several nights before and after). It dates back to the 1600s, when a group of conspirators tried to blow up parliament with gunpowder. They were discovered, and a guy named Guy Fawkes was charged with treason and burned at the stake. Now, they celebrate the occasion with huge bon fires and fireworks. We finally got to go to a Guy Fawkes bon fire, and here are our pictures...

We went to a church in our area, where they were serving dinner and hot chocolate before the bonfire and fireworks. We turned up near 6:30pm to meet some friends (weird that it's so dark you can light fireworks at 6 pm -- I guess I'm used to the 4th of July). It turned out the fireworks were just starting, and Samantha was TERRIFIED!
She clung to me or Brian like her life was about to end. She kept saying "car. go. bye-bye." over and over again. We told her not to be scared, that they were just fireworks -- big pretty lights in the sky. Then she started saying "bye-bye fire. bye-bye lights." over and over. In her defense, I have to say these were very loud, very close fireworks... bottle-rocket types with loud pops and bangs.
This shot above is my favorite, our poor scared girl. Guy Fawkes day is NOT her holiday, it seems. We only stayed for 15 minutes, never even meeting up with our friends. Then we took our terrified girl home. In the car all the way home she kept saying "bye-bye lights. bye-bye fire." Happy Guy Fawkes day!

Time for bed

The other night, I came in to get Sammie tucked into bed, and this is what I found... Left to right: Hop Hop (in a clean diaper for the night), Sammie, and Daddy -- everyone ready for bed! Brian said he was laying across the big guest bed (as pictured) while Sam pranced around with Hop Hop, then she laid herself and her bear beside him, like so. It sure is nice to have Brian around for bedtime!!

Here are some other cute bedtime shots we took recently...

The other night, she cried and cried when I put her yellow sleeper pajamas on -- because she didn't want to take her pants off. We compromised by putting the pants on again, over the top of the pj's. She was THRILLED, as you can see...

In this one below, she is "helping" put toys away before bed. This shot it a bit distressing, for those big scratch marks on our kitchen table (right). At first we weren't sure how they got there, then one day, I saw Sam sitting up to the table, BITING the finish right off!!! She got a good lecture, and now climbs up, looks at those scratches, and says "NO NO, Mama" -- as if it was ME that did that to our table! Crazy girl.

(Aside on the biting of the table: One of the joys of having children must be the loss of all "nice" furniture, I guess?? My dad used to tell us that when we were grown and had homes of our own, he would come over to our houses and jump on our beds and couches; write on our walls; lean back on our dining chairs; rub food into our carpets; etc. Our spouses were even warned that "the Father-in-Law may turn up someday to wreak havvock on our home." All I have to say is -- no need, Dad. I'm sure your grandkids are taking care of that for you!)

Out for a walk!

Samantha and I try to get out for a walk almost every day. Even if it's just a quick trip to the grocery store (6 mins), or to the High street (7 mins), or to visit friends (5-10 mins), we really enjoy and need the fresh air and exercise. Sammie especially gets SOOO excited to "go walk," and helps me get my shoes, her shoes, my coat, her coat, the back pack, etc. We always bring the stroller along, but Sam spends more time running beside it/me, or in front, unless I insist that she be strapped in (ours is a busy road, too bad). Here are some fun shots of one of our recent walks, which typifies most days...

Sam runs way ahead of me to "go fast!" until I tell her to "wait for Mama."

Doing a good deed, she tries her best to close the neighbor's gate (only after she tries to run up to the neighbor's front steps, of course.)

Here we go 'round the street sign post -- and every other post or pole we happen to see. Three times around ought to be enough.

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers...

While she's smelling, it seems only polite she ought to TASTE the flowers as well, of course.
Crunching the leaves -- a new favorite activity. We look for streets with piles of leaves, just so we can crunch, crunch, crunch!
And home again, usually with a stroller full of groceries and a happy, tired girl. She love pretending the big drain pipe in front of our stairs is a water spout. She often "washes her hands" while she waits for me to put the stroller away in the trunk of the car.