Today we went to an assembly at Grace's school and watched her receive an award for being a citizen of the month. We're proud of Grace for being such a good girl! (In case you were wondering, it was also pajama day at school.)
When Roman saw Grace sitting on the stage he ran up and sat next to her. He didn't quite understand why we didn't want him to sit there. He was also very disappointed when we left the school. The poor little guy really wants to go to school like his big sis.
Steve is now officially half-way through law school. Hip, hip, hooray! Only a year and a half to go.
We had a great Christmas this year. The week before Christmas we were on our cruise to Mexico, and it didn't feel like Christmas at all. The last night of the cruise, however, they did have a "Holiday" show. Grace and the other kids got up on the stage and sang with the Carnival singers and dancers. Grace even sang into a microphone for a minute. She was great! They also got to meet Santa that last night of the cruise.
We got back to Henderson just a couple of days before Christmas. Our friends invited us to their house for dinner on Christmas Eve where we also read/watched/listened to The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean. It was nice to have that reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. At home we read the account of the Savior's birth from Luke, and Grace gave us a ballet performance that she made up to the Nutcracker Suite. Grace also left a note for Santa along with a treat. In case you can't read it, it says, "Dear Santa, I hope you have a very good time at the north pole. Frum Grace."
On Christmas morning the kids got to the top of the stairs where they could see all of the presents under the tree. Roman shouted, "It's a bike! It's for me!" He was right. Santa did bring Roman a bike. He also brought Grace a scooter. Hopefully they'll learn to use them one of these days.
After presents on Christmas morning we headed to St. George where we spent the next week with our families. All in all it was a great holiday season.
Last month Steve's family took us on a cruise to Mexico for our Christmas present. (What a great present, huh?) We had a fantastic time. It was eight days of endless food, free babysitting, and sunny weather. What more could we ask for?
We stopped in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo. Our favorite stop by far was Zihatanejo, where we had a local guy take us in a boat to the small island of Ixtapa. It was gorgeous. The sand was soft, and the water was warm and clear. Grace surprised us by getting into the ocean! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it.
We also had four days at sea. Normally, I'm not a big fan of the days at sea. But after taking care of my kids, (one of them an extremely active two-year-old boy,) almost completely by myself for the few weeks before our cruise, (finals for Steve,) I was in desperate need of a break. And the days at sea were great. We dropped our kids off at Camp Carnival and relaxed. Ah! Just what I needed!
Grace and Roman had the time of their lives. They had three cousins to play with and it was a non-stop party for the kids. Roman was very excited when on the sixth day he finally realized that we were on a ship. He was looking off of the deck with Steve and all of a sudden he turned to Steve with an amazed expression and said, "We're on a boat ride!"
Anyway, it was a wonderful vacation. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I've been a horrible blogger lately. My only excuse is a dead computer. Now I'm going to have to try to remember everything I've wanted to blog about in the past couple of months. It won't be easy, but here's a start:
Grace lost her third tooth last month. I don't think it was ready to come out yet, but her mouth is so small that her first two grown-up teeth pushed out a third tooth trying to make enough space to grow in. Anyway, when it came time to put the tooth under her pillow, Grace asked, "Mom, is the tooth fairy real?"
I was kind of stumped. I've always thought playing along with the whole Santa and tooth fairy thing was fun, but I've also always told myself that I'd answer honestly if my kids ever asked me directly. So I took the easy way out. I said, "What do you think?"
Grace told me that she kind of thinks that maybe Mommy or Daddy is the one leaving her the money. "Really?" I asked. (See how adept I am at dodging the question?) Then Grace said, "I just don't know how you would be able to fit under the door to sneak into my room." Ah yes, I'm saved from having to explain the tooth fairy because my daughter doesn't realize that her door opens, even at night.
And, drumroll please, today I got some great news. My criminal charges, you know the ones brought against me because my insurance company made a typo when turning in our info to the DMV, (see http://romangrace.blogspot.com/2008/10/traffic-court.html) have been dropped! I am no longer a criminal and I no longer have to appear in court later this month. YAY!
