Sisters

Allie is home from college , Laura was in New York visiting since she has to work over Christmas, and Kendra lives here. Fun to be together again!

Teaset

Aunt Laura gave Lexi her very first teaset for Christmas this year. We opened it early while Laura was here, since she won't be here for Christmas day. It is a set with 4 cups & saucers, a teapot, a sugar bowl & a cream pitcher all decorated with Olivia. Lexi has just loved playing with it. The day after she got it, we set up a little table with a tablecloth for her to have her tea party. She was content to play with it pretty much all day! At one point, she did get a little upset (maybe because mommy was tired of playing tea party) and threw the table over, breaking one of the saucers. We had to put the rest of the dishes away for a few days. Fortunately, it was a very clean break and will be easy to repair, which we won't actually do for now so she can learn that "it's broken." This is Lexi & Aunt Lolo having some tea.

The Tree at Rockefeller Center

 

Our last stop on Saturday was at Rockefeller Center to see the big Christmas tree. Lexi was in love with all the "lights!" Here are Lexi & her dad, who she now affectionately calls "Matt" on occasion. 

Visit with Santa

This year was Lexi's first visit with Santa. We took her to Bergdorf Goodman on 5th Avenue for a visit with a rather authentic Santa. You can't see it in this picture, but there is a little doggie on the chair next to him who was so well-behaved! We didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for a chance to talk with Santa, and they gave us a free polaroid picture and allowed us to take our own photos as well. Santa's suit was designed by Etro, for all you fashionably-educated folks out there.

Every child got a little gift from Santa- a snowman sugar cookie all wrapped up nicely as Bergdorf Goodman does... 

The Station at the Citicorp Center

Lots of fun things to do in New York at Christmastime. On Saturday we took Lexi to the Citicorp Center (Citibank's headquarters in Manhattan- it's that building in the skyline with the slanted roof) where they have a detailed train set up for the holidays. Here we are watching the little trains go by. Lexi was totally enthralled by the trains. If there was a moment when there were no trains running by our spot, she would say "More, more!"

ELMO!

Elmo is Lexi's favorite character from Sesame Street, which she faithfully watches every morning. Grandma Susan picked up this Giant Elmo that is just about the same size as Lexi. 

The Mormons

This morning, our Stake President was featured on the Today Show. Matt Lauer interviewed him about the LDS church. We think he did a nice job. Click here to see his interview.

Look at Lexi

Lexi has recently delved into the exciting world of Mommy & Daddy shoes! Here she is in Daddy's recently shined dress shoes. 

Halloween

This year we attended the Inwood 1st Ward Halloween Party on Saturday, October 29. We dressed Lexi as a black cat since we couldn't justify purchasing a costume for an hour's worth of wearing. She wore cat ears I had purchased a few years ago and let me paint her nose & whiskers with some eyeliner. Although she loved admiring herself in the mirror, she had wiped it off by the time we arrived at the church. Her favorite acitivity by far was the art table where she decorated many a pumpkin, bat & witch hat to be hung on a string for decoration. Here she is with Desmond Jones, a well-dressed race car driver, complete with dirt smudges on his face. 

At the party, the kids went around the halls to all the classrooms to do some Trick-or-Treating. This was a new and most wonderful concept to Lexi. Candy! We gave her a little bag to carry her candy in, but she refused to put her goodies in. She insisted on carrying ALL her acquisitions in her little hands. We just had to get it on film.

The Central Park Carousel

One of Lexi and Mom's favorite outings is to the Carousel in Central Park. This from the Park's website: "Central Park's first carousel was built in 1870 and, according to Park lore, was turned by a blind mule and a horse. . . . Crafted by the Brooklyn firm of Stein and Goldstein in 1908, the Carousel is one of the largest in the United States, with 58 hand-carved, painted horses. Stein and Goldstein were among the foremost carvers of their day and the horses – nearly life-size in the outer ring – are caught rearing or mid-stride with almost fierce reality." This time around, Lexi didn't want me even touching her and requested that I sit on my own horse next to her. This is one of the best smile pictures we have of her.

Central Park Zoo

Grandma Susan recently got a job with Pepsi. As a result, we are now able to enjoy fun Pepsi corporate benefits from time to time- such as free admission to the Central Park Zoo. Our friends Scott & Lisa Russell were visiting from Utah, so we all took a trip down to see the animals. A beautiful day for a walk through Central Park.

At the Central Park Zoo, there is a little area where the kids can feed the goats & sheep. At first, Lexi was a little unsure about the whole thing. I helped her hold the feed and put her hand out for the animals to eat. After a few tries with mom's help, she eagerly did it on her own. She begged for me to buy more feed when she ran out and howled with laughter every time the sheep/goat would lick up the pellets. After the second round of food, she wanted me to buy more. I told her we couldn't and so she turned on her resourcefulness and started picking up the pellets that had fallen on the ground to feed one by one to the animals. Here she is putting a food pellet in the goat's mouth.

Lexi and Nanny are watching the penguins up close and personal. They were quite active- diving and swimming and waddling on the rocks. Most fascinating!

Trying out life as a rabbit

A most intriguing bird in the Tropical exhibit at the Central Park Zoo. You can walk into the building and it is quite literally like walking into a rain forest. All the birds are out in the open flying around you and perching atop rocks right along the path. That's how we got this close-up of a beautiful bird. Our camera is not playing tricks here- his eyes really are that red!

Trip to the Botanical Gardens

Lexi at the Bronx Botanical Gardens 

Lexi, Mabel & Ian taking a rest at the Botanical Gardens