Will You Marry Me? YEP!!!!!

It's official. Our Stephanie said "yes" when Marc asked the question after a fun scavenger hunt that led to a picnic that led to a ring. Very cool. We are so happy for you, Marc and Steph!!!

Let us know, guys, when you officially decide on that wedding date :) Congratulations.

A Short Trip to Utah

It is tough when you have kids in multiple places and want to be able to spend time with them all. A while back, Steve and I decided that we really didn't want to wait until the summer to see our sweet little grandson Alan out in Utah. We hear reports of his happenings from his mom and dad and see photos of him and even Skype with him, but it just isn't quite the same as being there. To add to the mix, we have three children out in Utah plus a son-in-law and a soon to be son-in-law. We decided we would take a quick trip west.

It was such a fun time.

We played with Alan,
met Bronco Mendenhall at Costco, went skiing at Sundance,

went to church with Em and Janelle, and ate Sunday dinner at Steph's.

My parents came down from Idaho and we also got to go out to dinner with uncle Bruce and Aunt Jennifer. Emily even took us all to dinner at the Cannon center one night with her dining plus dollars. Very fun.

We saw lots of snow in the mountains and it even snowed one night in the valley.

The kids here in New Jersey were real troopers taking care of themselves for the most part with some help from our friend, Heather. They got a surprise on Saturday morning when the power went out due to heavy rains and wind and they had to rough it for almost 24 hours. Way to go, guys. Thanks, Aunt Tracey for the pizza! We were very happy to get the word that the power was back on Sunday morning.

Even though we hated to leave the crew in Utah, we knew it was time to come home to our kids here. We are so thankful we were able to spend some time there and establish some great memories.

Evan the Great Turns SIX!!!

Well, the long awaited day finally came. I wonder how many times Evan asked me, " Mom, when will I be six?" Evan has been excited for this birthday for a very, very long time. He got to spread it out over a few days since his actual birthday was on March 3, his party was on March 5, and we celebrated with a family dinner with Grandma on Sunday, March 7. He loved everything and just soaked it all in from the cupcakes that he got to take to school, to the "Under the Sea" party, to the new bike. What a great age!!! Evan, we love you so much and are so glad you came to live in our family!!!! Here are a few photos from the big day(s).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN

DC or Bust!! (Having fun in spite of the snow)

It's been quite a winter. The big snow that we got just before Christmas was a type of things to come, I guess. Although our church ward has not had to cancel church again since that big storm, other local congregations have not been so lucky. We have had three other major snow events this year and are expecting a minor one (about six inches) tomorrow. There is actually a patch of snow next to our driveway that never quite melted after the original storm and it is still well covered. Crazy year.

We had made plans last fall to go to Washington DC over President's Day weekend. As the time grew near to going, they got hit down there with even more snow than we had. The national government pretty much shut down. But we were determined. We delayed our departure by a half a day to allow for snow removal here and then took off on Friday morning. Because a storm had come in on Tuesday night, the kids ended up missing Wednesday and Thursday because of snow and then Friday because of our planned trip. Luckily the things down in DC and the National Aquarium in Baltimore opened up in time for us and we ended up having a great trip after all. The crowds were even thinner because of the weather. Bonus!!

( We actually took this cool photo of a jelly fish)

We took in the aquarium on the way down, spent Saturday and part of Sunday in the museums of the Smithsonian,

and stopped at the DC Temple on the way home on Monday so that Megan and Nathan could do some family file baptisms It was Nathan's first temple trip to Washington.

(Evan by the Christus statue in the visitor's center)

We also caught Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief on Saturday night. Nate is a big fan of the book series. Sunday, before going to the museums, we attended church at the Capitol Ward. The brothers and sisters there had missed the two previous weeks of church due to snow and it was very interesting to hear of their adventures. Over all......just a great trip. Even though we couldn't escape the snow, we had some great family time together and saw some parts of Washington we had not seen before.

Some Fun Trips

At the end of December I took Emily and five of her good friends down to the Washington DC Temple. These are some of Emily's friends from high school who are not members of our church but who have seen the temple and been curious to visit and learn a little more about what temples are for and about our church, in general.We watched the film, Joseph Smith and the Restoration, looked at the different displays and, of course, saw the beautiful Christmas lights.

Then we stopped on the way home and got Mexican food at Chevy's. Thanks for a great day....Emily, Kelly, Heather, Kathy, Devon, and Julia. It was so much fun!!

Then.......

For Steve's birthday, he and I took the day and went to NYC. We were able to attend a session at the Manhattan temple and then saw WICKED.

It was Steve's first time seeing the play and he loved it. Afterwards we tried a great little restaurant called Swizz and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day in the city....just a wonderful, relaxing getaway. Happy 50th, hun.

Merry Christmas

As always, Christmas is a much anticipated time at our house. Now that we have children away from home, we especially look forward to the return of children from college. We were without two of our kids this year because Janelle, Scott, and baby Alan traveled to Oregon to be with his family and Geoffrey was, of course, in Albania on his mission.

We missed them all, but were glad that they were where they were supposed to be this year.

We anxiously awaited the day when Stephanie and Emily would come home for Christmas break from BYU. Unfortunately their arrival was delayed by a HUGE snow storm which technically arrived after they were due in. But the airlines were good enough to cancel their flight anyway. We got them home two days late, but safely. Church was cancelled due to the snow, and we worked awfully hard that day to clear our way and our neighbor's way out of the snow. We were very thankful for our snow blower. We got over 2 feet of snow in the storm.

It was so nice to be together as a family and enjoy the music, food, and fun of the season. There is nothing like family.

Our "traditional" Nativity on Christmas Eve

(Check out the wise man...or should I say wise guy)

Waiting on the stairs on Christmas morning....

.....and checking out the loot!!!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

A Fun Foulk Thanksgiving

This was the first year that we had Thanksgiving officially at our house. It was a wonderful day. Our college kids were in Idaho and Geoffrey was on his mission, but we still had a very nice group of family and friends here. In addition to our little family we had Grandma Foulk, Tracey and Chuck, Joe and Eloise, and our friend Linda. We also had some family that we had never met before, the Harmons from Delaware. They are from Arizona originally but are here in the East, working for a law firm. They have three little kids and it was so fun to meet them and get to know them.

The kids did the traditional Domino Turkey, too. Way fun!!!