Disneyland Paris

February started out great for us. Abbott UK had a conference in Disneyland Paris. It seemed silly for Jon to go all the way to Disney without his kids. It seemed even sillier for me to chase 4 kids around Disney by myself, so Jon's Mom very bravely flew here to help out! We couldn't have done the trip without her. Here's what the girls did with me, Grandma or Jon.

The girls saw Disney characters in our hotel (Hotel New York) and all over the park. We caught up with a few, but were mostly interested in the rides.

They went round and round on rides--Mad Hatters Tea Cup was one of their favorites.

They rode on little boats through It's a Small World (3 times) and a

big boat through Frontierland.

They saw 4 parades and

the Lion King show.

One of the most fun rides was the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. Nothing like some fun competition among family. We won't say who got the high score though (because it wasn't me!!)

President Hinckley

I was sad to hear the news of President Hinckley passing away last night. As I read through the news stories (NY Times and Fox News did pretty decent ones) highlighting his time as President of the Church, I felt like I was walking down memory lane. Here are some highlights for me that I will be able to tell my grandchildren, "I remember when President Hinckley..."
*announced "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"
*announced the building of smaller temples
*announced plans for Conference Center
*announced the Perpetual Education Fund
*interviewed with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes and Larry King
*announced Nauvoo Temple would be rebuilt
*announced Ricks College would now be BYU-Idaho
*announced church had 100 operating temples
*published his book Standing for Something
*talked about the passing of his wife--I remember how sad he sounded and looked
*announced one-millionth missionary for Church
Each year in his life held major milestones. And he did so much at an age when most people feel like getting out of bed is an accomplishment. I think of how many temples he dedicated! When he was called as prophet there were 47--now there are 124 with 12 more to come soon. Because of his extensive traveling 60 countries had the opportunity to see a living prophet--many for the first time.
But more than all of his accomplishments that would put any resumé to shame, I looked forward to each General Conference when I could hear his voice share his testimony.
"Let us all try to stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better. Make the extra effort. You will be happier."
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Hannah's on a Roll

This morning (after a sleepless night due to a sinus infection and Lizzie wanting to say "hi" 5 times) I woke up to hearing Hannah's little voice say, "Mommy, Lizzie's naked!" As I got out of bed (too quickly) I heard "Did you go poo poos? Did you go pee pees?" I tried to prepare myself for what was waiting for me.
Hannah had crawled into Lizzie's crib to say good morning and change her diaper. I'm pretty sure Lizzie had been sleeping, but she seemed very happy about having a visitor in her crib because she was all smiles when I got to the girls' room. Thankfully, no big messes to clean up.
As I'm dressing Lizzie, Hannah said, "My tummy is so hungry!" When we went downstairs I saw that Hannah had already had breakfast--5 half-eaten muffins. HOW LONG HAS SHE BEEN AWAKE?
Where were Jon and the other girls, you ask? They had already left for the day. Jon must have been very quiet this morning. I was completely out because Hannah was the first noise I remember hearing after a visit with Lizzie at 4 am.
Moral of the story? I NEED MORE SLEEP!

Happiness

For our Enrichment meeting on Tuesday we're doing 2 classes--positive thinking and a brief overview of scrapbooking projects. Two weeks ago I was struggling to come up with a way to tie the two classes together, until I remembered a skit done by Divine Comedy (the comedy troupe Jon was in at BYU 13 years ago). In this skit the Young Women's president's theme for Youth Conference was "Crafting Your Way through Puberty". So, thinking of that title, I called the two classes "Positive Thinking" and "Scrapbooking Your Way to Happiness." I thought it was funny--and so did Jon! I made the handouts and a couple of posters and off to church I went. I forget how hectic it can get at church and I didn't have time to explain to the Enrichment Leader (and scrapbooking teacher) that I was trying to be funny with the scrapbooking title. She got up in Relief Society and very dryly read the class titles for Enrichment. I was laughing, but nobody else was. A good joke wasted I'm thinking.
Then the lesson starts. It was a fantastic lesson that focused on how we can only find true happiness through Heavenly Father. And right next to the teacher was my poster screaming "Scrapbooking Your Way to Happiness"!!!! Again, I'm laughing, but nobody else was.
Friday night we had a couple from church over for pizza. The wife (American) asked me what my calling was. Enrichment Leader. Then her husband (British) asks, "Was that you who did the handout for Enrichment? We've been laughing about that all week and say it all the time now whenever something goes bad--just scrapbook your way to happiness!" Yea! Others to laugh with me!

A Day Off

Jon was in Venice last week. I miss him when he's not home. The day after he came home he took a day off from work. How fun! What did Jon and I do on his day off? We spent the day in London...at the American Embassy. We made the appointment in October! We needed to report Lizzie's birth, get her passport (we ended up getting an emergency passport because of our Paris trip next month) and apply for her social security number. (Each year there are over 3600 children born in the UK to Americans.) Here's what the day looked like in numbers: (I converted the costs to dollars)
$88--cost of train/Tube tickets (thank goodness Lizzie and Hannah were free!)
$82--cost of fee for passport
$65--cost of fee to report birth
1 year--how long emergency passport is good for
10:30--time of our appointment
$2--cost of Hannah's lunch--a bag of pretzels from the vending machine
5--number of trips to the bathroom with Hannah 2 floors down
0--the number of times Hannah actually went
13:00--time the American Citizen Services office closes for lunch
13:01--time Jon knocked on the window to remind them we were still waiting for our passport (they had forgotten about us)

Jokes

I usually put little love notes in the girls' lunches, but my creative juices were running low (there are only so many different ways can I say "I love you" and "You're great!"), so in looking for little lunch notes (and another) I could print out I saw a website that suggested putting in jokes. I had to get some help from some joke websites because the only joke I can remember laughing at as a girl is:
Q. What was the last thing that went through the bug's mind as he hit the car windshield?
A. His butt!
You'll be happy to know that one didn't make it to the lunch boxes. But, most of the jokes I read on websites weren't all that funny.
Q. Why do fish swim in salt water?
A. Because pepper makes them sneeze!
Do you have any better ones for me?

Ouch!

Every few months someone comes by to check out the house we're renting and asks if anything needs to be fixed. I hand off a list, people call, people come by, things get fixed! It's wonderful!
Today, it was our hot water that got fixed. Ever since we moved into the house we have all complained about how HOT the water is. We have all been burned by the HOT water also. I mentioned it last time someone came by to check the house. She told me to do a couple of things. They didn't work. I think hot water is a British thing because everywhere we go the water is HOT. On Saturday at the movie theater there were warning signs in the bathroom because the water had only one temperature--HOT. We're good at adapting, though--the girls have learned to only use cold water at home and wash quickly with hot water in public. In a way the hot water is convenient--it doesn't take long to boil water and I can sterilize anything with our HOT tap water.
Long story continues...
The heater man found a switch that had been turned on (because we were told to switch it on) that continually heats the water. He checked the temperature of our water--176°!!!! The switch is turned off and our water should be back to a normal 120° by tomorrow.