Watch Miriam Go

Well my little baby is growing up. Over the Christmas break she started taking more steps but watch this video clip to see how well she walks now. She rarely crawls now and is very steady on her feet. Just ignore the American Idol show playing in the background and everything will be OK. :)

Blowing Raspberries

Miriam loves to blow raspberries. One night Morgan and Miriam went back and forth blowing raspberries. It was pretty funny. Enjoy this short video of them playing together and watch for how Miriam treats her Dad at the end...

Silly Children

The kids just love to dress up in whatever they can find. Last week, Morgan's goggles were the coolest thing to wear!

Since Halloween, Luke has loved wearing capes. He now likes to wear my dish towels as capes and Miriam one day decided that she was tired of being left out of the fun. Our housekeepers thought they were sooo cute together.

Off to save the world!

Seattle Children's Museum

Thanks to our good friends Jeffrey and Corey Goff, we were able to visit the Children's Museum in Seattle for free while we were home over the break. Our kids had a great time exploring the museum with Hyrum and Jonah while we visited and Morgan worked on his rubiks cube. He's always trying to sharpen his problem solving skills. After the museum, we went upstairs to enjoy a feast of fish and chips before heading back to the Goff's for some chocolate chip cookies. I could really use some of those now! :)

Christmas with the Fifes

On Sunday December 23rd, we went to Church with Shelley and Scott at the Star Lake ward. The choir sang heavenly and Scott even surprised us all with a solo. I believe it was a surprise for him too about 5 minutes before performance time when the originial soloist didn't show.
Luke and Miriam all decked out in their Christmas outfits.
On Christmas Eve, we had a re-telling of the birth of Christ by Luke and Grandma.
The whole family spent the evening together listening to the Nativity story and then on to...
GAMES! Then we put the little ones to bed and waited for Santa to arrive.
Santa was very good to us all this year...especially to Luke. Santa brought these Star Wars blasters for Luke and for Morgan. :)
Good morning Kristen and Tanner!
Thomas the Tank Engine and DVD!

Thanks Ashley for such a cuddly bear!
Mommy helping Miriam open her presents.
"What could this be?"
CHRISTMAS LIGHTSABERS!!!! Before Christmas when you would ask Luke what he wanted for Christmas, he would say: "Christmas lightsabers." When asked what we should get Daddy for Christmas he would say: "Christmas lightsabers." When asked what we should get anyone for Christmas he would say: "Christmas lightsabers." He absolutely loves them. We have lots of fun with them here in Dominica now too. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
Miriam trying to help Luke with this present.

Merry Christmas Daddy!
Miriam enjoying some of her presents.
One of my favorite gifts this year was "Dance Dance Revolution" for the Wii. I have a blast dancing on it here in Dominica. It has been so fun to dance to the upbeat music. I love to do it after dinner here in Dominica after I finish the dishes. Morgan is great at watching the kids a few minutes for me while I Dance Dance Dance.
Miriam just loved this shaking cow that April and Robert sent her.

After Grandma cooked us omlets in her new pan, we all took a much needed nap before heading to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Fife's house in Renton. Here Scott plays cars with the kids while we all get a chance to visit.
Ashley and Morgan were trying to see who was smarter with Ashley's new game for Nintendo DS "Big Brain."
What would a visit to MerLyn's house be without her famous cherry cheesecake? It was delicious and it felt great to be in their home again.

We really appreciate all the gifts and most importantly the time that we were able to spend with our family and friends. You all made this the best Christmas ever!!!

Our 6th Wedding Anniversary

On December 22nd, we celebrated 6 years of marriage. We left the kids in Grandma and Grandpa Fife's very capable care and headed for a lovely dinner at Salty's on Redondo Beach. Morgan had already arranged for beautiful tulips to be on the table (thanks Kristen & Ashley for helping him). It was so great to just be able to sit down at a nice table with a tablecloth and eat. Sounds dumb to want a tablecloth, but for me that is what determines if the restaraunt is considered a nice one. :) I love my children dearly but for one meal it was heavenly not to have to worry about Luke not eating his dinner or Miriam needing to be nursed while I tried to eat. I had a hot date for the evening and I was so glad that I twisted his arm into marrying me. ;) I look forward to an eternity of fun with my hot Morgan.
Shelley and Scott gave Luke his belated birthday presents to him shortly before we left for dinner. His new Star Wars action figures helped keep him busy while we were away. Poor Miriam didn't do so well while we were gone. However a very patient Grandma kept her and even volunteered to watch her again for us before we returned to Dominica. Thanks Grandma!
I loved the very intent look on Luke's face in this picture as he studied the new people he received. He just loves his Star Wars!

Flying Home for the Holidays

Fife Travel Drama...

After getting to the Dominica airport on December 19th at 6:00 a.m. for our scheduled 8:50 a.m. flight, we learn that it was cancelled due to a workers strike in Trinidad where our airplane was flying from. So after much stress and several phone calls to a different airline, we were able to get on a flight at 3:00 p.m. So what do you do for 9 hours in a small airport? Watch movies on the laptop until the battery goes dead and then sleep. Luke was so sleepy when he was watching Star Wars, that when we turned it off and tried to take the earphones away from him, he just cried. We let Luke keep the earphones on until he was asleep and then we were able to get them off for the picture. Poor little guy!