Feliz Cumpleaños Jack

Our baby is turning 4 next week and I wonder where time has gone. He is so aware of his birthday this year, he is counting down the days. Last week he got his first birthday card in the mail and he was so excited he could hardly stand it. He held on to his card and kept it close to his chest. He showed it to all of us several times and would tell us how much he loved it. So who was the wonderful person that made Jack's year with this wonderful card?

A big "Thank You" to our health insurance company.

Thanks to Jack's wonderful card we know how to keep him healthy in English as well as in Spanish. He could care less exactly what it says. He is just so glad that it was addressed to him and that someone took the time to remember just him and notice that he is really getting bigger.

It makes me think of Elder Ballard's talk today, that we need to keep life simple. If a little boy can find joy in a simple card....I know that I am missing out in finding the joy in simple things.

Mr & Mrs Smith come to NYC

For Matt's spring break we had visitors come to us so that we did not have to go far for fun. Scott and Christy graced us with their wonderful smiles and sense of humor. It was a bit cold since Spring started on Sunday but the Lord was looking out for us and we were able to walk around without scarfs and gloves.

While the Smith's were here we saw all of the usual tourist sights. We went on the boat to get a closer view of Lady Liberty. We visited the MET the American Museum of Natural History, Time Square, FAO, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building and Central Park. There were plenty of sights along the way to keep us busy.

For Saint Patty's Day we ventured out to 5th Ave and were almost taken over by the huge green mob. So we raced into Central Park and visited the Penguins. Then we went on a treasure hunt and found Belvedere Castle.

Another day we wandering about Time Square and fun more chocolate than you can dream of. For dinner we went to PJ Clark's and ate until we could no longer move. After dinner we went and sat on the steps of the Lincoln Center. People watching, looking at the temple and keeping the planet safe from the steps... what more could you ask for.

Claire enjoyed making faces while I had my camera pointed at her.

And then there were the boys on the steps of the Lincoln Center. Lance and Jack recruited Scott as one of them to defend the galaxy from the Dark side. The "boys" crawled all over the steps shooting each other, falling apart, and being rebuilt all over again to keep fighting.

Thank you Smith's for sharing some of your last kid free days with us. Thank you for the trampoline in our living room, the iphone games, the hugs and kisses!

So I have washed the sheets, our new dishwasher is installed and we are ready for visitors again!

2010 Wrap-Up

What an amazing year this had been. To fill our friends and family in on our recent happenings I thought that I would do a 2010 wrap-up.

Central Park November 2010

Our year starting out with freezing cold weather that invited us to go outside and throw snowball at each other and the passing neighbors. Claire was enjoying Kindergarten and Matt was enjoying studying the Classics at Columbia University. Lance, Jack and I enjoyed exploring the city. The American Museum of Natural History became one of our favorite places. Lance and Jack can tell you exactly what floor Rexy and "Dumb dumb you give me gum gum" are on.

When the weather warmed up we craved a road trip and headed south to Washington DC. We loved spending time with old friends and making new friends like Abraham Lincoln. While Claire was learning to read, Matt was learning to read and translate Latin and keep up with remembering the Greek that he learned in the Fall semester.

In the Spring we lost a wonderful man in our family, my Dad, J David Fraser . It was this bitter sweet event that took Matt and I to California for the week...kid free. It was wonderful to see family and share tender memories. We come home to 3 little children that enjoyed their week long slumber party and missed their Mommy and Daddy. We used some much needed family time we toured Virginia and our little ones were able to walk where great men walked.

Brooklyn Bridge

As Kindergarten was wrapping up for Claire, Matt was starting another round of classes, so the kids and I packed up for California (and less humidity) We had a "to do list" a mile long and I am not really sure what we did but we came home tan, missing NY city and most of all Daddy!

Cousins

September brought more changes to our little group. Four new classes for Matt, 1st grade for Claire, Kindergarten for Lance, jack being the only kid home....and a move to Manhattan for the whole family. We loved living in the Bronx, leaving our friends and community was tough, but we loving being in the city.

We went from a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath with all the modern convinces (garbage disposal, etc) to a 2 bedroom 1 bath and the cutest dishwasher I have ever seen...Matt. There has been much adjusting, but some things never change.

Jack is quite the story teller and thinks that he is just as big as his siblings (except when it comes to riding in the stroller) He loves to build wonderful forts and train stations out of his wooden blocks. Jack also enjoys doing "homework" and complaining about it like the rest of us. I love having him home to myself and touring the city with him.

Lance is our comedian! He loves to act out scenes from various movies and keeps us laughing. He loves to build and create cities with blocks, legos and every car and train in the house. He is also a hard worker and will work until the job is done perfect. We hear shouts from his friends excited to see him as we walk to Kindergarten. He breezes through his homework and often asks for more. I wish I could bottle his excitement and energy!

Steps of Lincoln memorial where MLK gave his speech

Claire is our princess, in every sense of the word. If something does not go her way she lets us know about it. She is also so sweet and loving and makes sure that her brothers are taken care of. Claire is our ballerina and turns circles all over our apartment and down Broadway as we walk home. She is always asking to help to clean and make dinner. She is quite the little mommy with all of her babies and keeping the boys in line.

Matt and I, well we just try to keep up with our babies. Matt does this while carrying a full load at Columbia (which includes memorizing Greek and Latin every semester among other things). He also keeps our Missionaries in line as the Ward Mission Leader. I love to run all over the city, find new thrift store finds with Jack, and laugh and learn with the Relief Society sisters in our ward.

This year has been a year full of unforgettable moments and moments that I wish I could hold on to a little longer. Looking back I remember how lucky I am and how good I have it!

Here is to many more years of memory making...cheers!

Yankee Games

We living in NY...we had to attend at least 1 (or 2 or 3) Yankee game. Yankee Stadium is in our back yard, we do live in the Bronx after all. So we dawned Yankee blue, packed the backpack full of food and headed to the game.

We arrived early so that we could find our seats, and tour the new stadium a bit. Getting to the stadium was part of the fun part. We parked a mile away and walked with all of the other fans past where old Yankee Stadium stood ( you can still see the rubble through the cracks in the boards). It is just such a neighborhood feeling if you can say that about a thousands of closest neighbors.

Jack chose cotton candy as a treat to share. He was so excited that he asked if we could open it all the way to our seats.

Lance was so excited to be sitting in his own seat of a Stadium that we drive past often.

The food was also a draw for Claire.

When the game lost it's interest the kids found other ways to entertain themselves. Jack sang songs and drove his cars along the seats.

Another boredom buster were Mommy and Daddy's ipods...

Fun was had by all. There was singing, dancing, a fight and beer poured on us. Ah, the stuff that family memories are made of.

In the end the Yankee's won and we walked home with our neighbors...all of us in a very good mood.

Months later Matt and I had a chance to attend a Yankee playoff game and we jumped at the chance. Thanks to 3 wonderful friends we were kidless and ready to scream ourselves horse!

We were one row away from the tip of the top, but we did not care, we were at a playoff game...with the Yankees!

As the sun went down the game started to get exciting, the temperature started to drop and we were kicking some tail.

In the end we (yes we are officially Yankee fans!) won that game. We drove home with our bellies full of hot dogs and garlic fries and less voice than we had when the game started. Just to hear Frank sing NY NY, is such a treat.

Apple Picking

Apple Weather! This was our 2nd Annual apple picking trip up to Connecticut to Silverman Farm. Many of our friends that went with us last year have moved so we brought along car loads of new friends to create memories with.

This year we noticed that they had added new tractors to the petting zoo. There were many places to hide and climb on top of those great tractors. Jack jumped in the driver seat and made himself at home.

We loved feeding the animals and the kids giggled as the goats, sheep and lamas licked the feed out of their hands. Claire the social butterfly enjoyed visiting with her friends.

Lance made himself at home and took in the sights and sounds.

We borrowed wagons to pull the kids along while waiting for the hay ride.

At the top of the hill the apples were plenty and the sun was high. Lance was a trooper carrying his full bag of apples. It became his trophy as he showed off all of the apples that he had picked.

The kids were hard workers and ate their fill of apples.

Great memories! The hay ride back to our cars showed the dirty, apple juice stained smiling faces and a great days work.

After the picking the apples came the second hardest job, deciding what to do with all of these apples?!