Christmas is saved!!

It all started on Halloween. While shopping at our local Walgreens for glow sticks, Jack found a Lightning McQueen gumball car machine and really wanted it. We told him that Christmas was coming soon and he would have to ask Santa (thinking he would forget about it) Well now that Christmas is here he has not forgotten about this gumball lightning McQueen and has told several Santas that it is the toy he wants and we have not seen it anywhere. Until yesterday on a whim Matt went into a Walgreens and there sitting on the shelf was the gumball Lightning McQueen. Now the gumballs don't really resemble gumballs anymore for they have lost all their color and look really old but we are just excited that we found it.
So Christmas can continue..

In the Spirit of Christmas..

I just wanted to mention (on a sentimental note) how blessed we have been recently...
Strangers have been incredibly thoughtful and I thought I would share.
These are just the past few instances and I am truely thankful for them.
Today while paying for our groceries an older Woman thought that Jack was really cute and kept talking to him. Later as we were leaving she gave him $5.00 so that he could pick out a toy! (Now it might have something to do with the fact that Jack's mommy was not wearing make up, hair up in a ponytail, and possibly looking a little homeless)Grateful either way!
Along with that for the past 3 nights we have been receiving gifts on our doorstep. Someone is doing the 12 days of Christmas to our family and the boys could not be more excited. Just last night we got the Living Christ in a picture frame and the boys took it all around the house trying to find the perfect spot to hang it.
Another huge blessing was that I needed to see a dentist and since we have no dental insurance right now I was calling around getting prices. Well one of the dentists I called just told me to come in for free and she would take care of me!! I could not believe it! I am so grateful and felt that I needed to share that with everyone. I hope everyone has a Wonderful Christmas!

We have been enjoying the Holiday Season so far with decorating the Christmas Tree, attending the town Christmas festival, and listening to lots of fun Christmas music!

So very Thankful!!

This Thanksgiving we had to take the opportunity and go and see the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. Which meant waking up at 5:00 in the morning to catch the train. We arrived two hours early and found some prime spots on Harold Square. The only sad part was that by the time the parade had reached us Jack was fast asleep!! He did wake up to see Santa though. So after freezing (with smiles on our faces) for four hours in the cold we went home and made our Thanksgiving feast. Which Matt and I did all by ourselves. I was so proud I had to take a picture!! We are so very Thankful for our two boys and the opportunity that we have had to see and live in the East coast and explore this side of the U.S. We miss our families so much exspecially around the holidays but We love you all and anytime you want to visit you are more than welcome.





These are just a few of the favorite floats that we got to see!

On the way home there were no seats left on the train so we had to sit where-ever we found a place. I loved this picture of Stephen because I just thought that he looked so homeless.

gotta love black friday!!

I can finally post pics!! Turns out my computer was having some problems but no worries thanks to my 2:30 a.m. black Friday shopping trip I was one of the fourteen in line at Staples who recieved an awesome deal on a new laptop. I almost froze to death but fortunately there was a great person in the line ahead of me who lent me an extra coat and a doggie bed to sleep in. I was truely grateful. So to catch up here are photos of the last couple of weeks...







It was fun to see Stephen with his friends at school doing the Halloween parade and then getting to take Jack to the library for his own parade also. They got to wear their costumes plenty. We also got together with some friends and had a little Halloween party. In our friends basement they had a stage with guitars, a drum set, and karaoke machine so the kids put on concerts for us. It was really fun to watch them showcase their talent!!

So just how many miles wide is Pennsylvania...

This past week I went on a little road trip to Cleveland, OH with just the kids and I. Matt is studying for finals and my sister was suppose to be having a baby. My sister has an incompetent cervix and has to be stitched when she is pregnant. Once the stitches are taken out the baby is suppose to come. I was going to go to help take care of her kids while she was in the hospital, but even though the stitches came out no baby has yet. But we got some good family time in and the kids got to play with their cousins. I also learned that I average about a 40 out of 100 percent on the Karaoke machine...in other words I can't carry a tune!! The drive was long and in case you are wondering Pennsylvania is over 310 miles wide and I got to see all of it!! Wish I had pics but my blog is not allowing me to post any pictures for some reason!!

Time to Celebrate!!

I am experiencing Technical problems with my blog so I have not been able to post but I just wanted to let everyone know...
MATT PASSED THE NEW YORK BAR!!
We are so proud of him! He has worked so hard in school and is so very near the end. He passed high enough that he will be able to waive in D.C. also so here is to hoping that we end up somewhere near the district!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just another day on the Farm

A new favorite of New Jersey is an old historic farm with horses, pigs, peacocks, chickens, and sheep wandering around. The farm also has baby kittens that run free which Jack and Stephen are in love with. Jack milking his first Jersey Cow. His comment while doing it, "This cow is stinky!"

I loved this old swing!!

Stephen started Preschool...

I finally after weeks of phone calls was able to get a hold of Stephen's shot records and get him enrolled in Preschool. It turns out that a doctor I had in D.C. got in a car wreck and was killed. Another doctor took over the practice but in the meantime they lost all the records they had of Stephen and Jack. Their solution was to have me go and get their shots all redone. Fortunately after a few more days of looking they came across them. I was a little relieved. Stephen is actually in his second week of school and loves it (although he tells me it is a little long ..5hrs) It is fun getting to know Jack better while Stephen enjoys preschool.

The photo below I thought was hilarious. The boys can reach our A.C. controller and so they turn on the air and stick the balloons up to the vent. I may think it is funny and creative now but things might change once I get the bill....

The HAMMER RUN....

My brother Orrin and I ran a 5 miler in the summer and I am finally getting around to posting it. It was fun running with him! I had to laugh because about three miles into the race I started to slow down a little and I just told him to keep going and he says are you sure? And are you going to be okay? I wanted to remind him this is a race!! But he is very considerate of others and a great brother. He also knitted us both matching sweat bands. We were defintaley styling!! We did so well in the race (or just maybe there were few particpants) that we both won a hammer (mine was more of a mallet) and so far it has come in very handy with recently moving. After the run all the runners were rewarded with a free pancake breakfast, but the thought of food just was not appetizing. It ended up being my fastest 5 mile pace coming in in 38 minutes and something seconds. Not to bad for this old mom.

BYU Loses!

There is fantastic news in the Reddington house . . . BYU lost and they lost big. Now we don't usually cheer against the Y (or for them, of course) but with Boise State undefeated yet trailing Y in the polls this is fantastic news. This whole season has shaped up to see what "little" school (between Boise, Utah and BYU) will get the BCS bid so it is very important to have the Utah schools implode and serve it up for Boise. Now that BYU has effectively taken themselves out of the runing, it is all up to Utah to do its part and we go back to the BCS.

How about a loss to BYU in the "Holy War," Utah?

Our Economy...

The state of the economy freaks me out a little so much to the point that I would rather be ignorant of the exact details but today while at the park I was only reminded. While playing down by the pond with the boys a little girl came over and this is how the conversation went...

the girl: how old are your two boys
Me: 3 and 5. How Old are you?
the girl: 8
Me: (talking to the boys as they are getting all muddy) You guys are going to need to take another bath!!
the girl: We don't have water at my house. The water company shut it off so I have to take a bath at my cousins.

After hearing that it made me sick to my stomach! I just wanted to somehow do something for this girl but had no idea what.

This past Friday was Stephens Birthday and it is very hard to believe that we are parents of a 5 year old!! For his birthday dinner he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. Yipee!! The kids had a great time and other than smelling vomit the entire time it was enjoyable. (The things you do for your kids) After Chuckies we all sang Happy Birthday and ate cake. He is growing into such a really sweet kid. He loves his brother and lately calls him his little buddy. (I think it is the cutest thing) He actually starts school tomorrow and unlike most mothers I am so excited for it. I know he will love it and enjoy making new friends. I think that he gets bored with me sometimes and will love all the interaction. Also today our ward had a get together after church to welcome us and to celebrate Stephen and one other kids birthdays. They had a cake for each of them and candles to blow out. (the cake just happened to be better than ...anything cake) It was fun and we are starting to feel more at home here in New Jersey.

When Declo froze Over...

My Family in Good old Declo, Idaho sent me these pictures of a snowstorm that happened just yesterday. I couldn't believe it. There was so much snow that their church was canceled. And here I am enjoying the great 70 degree perfect fall weather...

The after effects of How I met your Mother...

So every Monday night Matt and I sit down and unwind and watch How I met your mother (along with Chuck of course) and the episode was on finding the best burger. We both were sitting there craving a burger after the show was over. So finally on Saturday we drove a half hour to the closest Five Guys and I had my very first Five Guys Burger.

I am never turning back!! The best burger I have eaten!! I admit I am not a big burger person and never started eating them until after I got married so I don't have a lot of Burger experience but still...

More Of Our New York Adventures....

You may recognize this church if you are a fan of National Treasure. The one and only Trinity Church...

And this would be Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange.
The picture above Stephen took. I gave him my camera phone to entertain himself with and he got a few good pics. (Along with a lot of other random people. I felt bad for those riding next to us on the train but thanks to Stephen we will now never forget those random people because the amount of pictures we have of them.)
I thought that this was pretty amazing. It is a small memorial for Sept. 11 and the brass ball on the grass was what was on the bottom floor of one of the Towers.
This was some signifigant monument of Washington that I now cannot recall what exactly it was there for but don't the rest of us look cute!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This Past Friday the Reddington Family ventured into the Big City. As in New York City. Before going though we forgot to check the weather report. Unfortunately it rained the entire time we were there. On the bright side though I did discover that there are nice people in New York (who'd have thought). Just as a huge down pour of rain came and we were out without umbrellas a very nice man gave us his umbrella because he was getting onto the Subway and did not need it. I was about to tell him that umbrellas can just fold up and be reused for another time but I was so grateful for the kind gesture that I thanked him tremendously and kept my mouth shut otherwise. One of the places that was a must stop despite the weather was FAO Swartz. We arrived just in time for their story time and afterwards the kids got to do some crafts and play on the giant piano. They would have played on the piano for forever and the thought crossed my mind of how nice it would be to have one in the house just to occupy the kids at home. Well for $250,000 I quickly dismissed the idea.

Overall it was a fun family trip and this next week we are hoping to make it to Central Park and if it does rain we have one nice umbrella!

The Many Faces of Jack....

Every year around Halloween, Matt loves taking the kids to the halloween sales area. This time in particular Stephen was terrified of the masks and of anyone wearing them, so I had to take him elsewhere while Jack and his Daddy played dress up. It is funny because when I was younger I remember feeling the same as Stephen. The masks made me feel clausterphobic and seeing them was horrifying. Jack is more like his Dad and had fun with all the crazy faces.

A New Favorite Of New Jersey

While trying to find a fun park for the kids, I just happened upon this beach. The great thing about this beach is that right across the street is a playground and swings so it kills a couple of hours and the kids are pretty worn out afterwards. Another bonus is that it is only 5 minutes from our house. When we found this beach I told the kids they could wade their feet and before I know it Jack was up to his waste while fully dressed, but they both had a good time.

First Visitors in our new Home: The Cops

So I am trying very hard to have a positive attitude about our move to New Jersey but it has been difficult considering the unfortunate circumstances that seem never ending since we have arrived...

Upon arrival we had a few quirks with our apartment where I was unable to use our stove for a whole week (this was not neccesarily a bad thing for me but Matt was sure missing it) then our refrigerator broke and we had to ice everything down.

We also have not been recieving our mail and therefore have not been getting our student loans that we need for bills and FOOD!! (Don't worry though crisis averted)

The mail we did recieve though (which led to our visit from the police) was a huge home theatre system. My first thought was sweet we can return it and I can get one nice IPOD. But the more we looked into it the more we realized we had become victims of identity theft. Apparenty one of our kindly neighbors got a hold of our credit card number and ordered a $700 suround sound system. They sent it to their address but the office recognized my name and sent it up to our apartment. A very nice police officer came and took all the information and they are going to put a detective on the case. Kind of exciting that I get to help solve this mystery but unbelievable the things people do.

We are getting to know our ward and the other members in the area. It is a huge change from our large cozy ward in Virginia. The ward is really friendly but is a lot older and there and no other student families. Also the ward building is 30 minutes away and the chapel was only half full. So instead of having to leave home 30 minutes before church to get a seat we now leave 30 minutes early to get there in time.

On the bright side I do like the apartment it has two very huge bathrooms with a huge tub in our master bedroom. It also has a balcony with two storage closets on it and two very nice sized walk in closets. Our veiw from our balcony faces a forest so we have lovely scenery. We also do have a lot of privacy (oh except for people steal our credit cards).

I will have to post pictures.

I also found a very shady running trail not far from our apartment.

Trying not to be a Negative Nelly we are all safe and continually counting our blessings.

A little glimpse of my husband...

Because of my husband's birthday I also wanted to share just a few silly pics that I have found. Not many know that he was a serious runner and ran in college. So I thought I would share...

Happy Birthday Wonderful Husband...

This Saturday was Matt's Birthday and every year around this time I get all nervous. I always have the best of intentions on making his birthday the best day of the year but really fell short this time. What was supppose to happen consisted of breakfast in bed, a trip to NYC and ending the day with his favorite dinner and birthday cake while winding down with a fun movie.

What happened instead:

The aftermath of a hurricane.

With all good intentions aside the day still managed to turn out okay. The Breakfast ended up not being in bed because I realized I was out of eggs and had to do a grocery trip. Needless to say he was out of bed before I could get it to him. We canceled the trip to NYC due to the rain. Instead though the day consisted of the kids and mommy making and decorating Daddy's cake with sprinkles (which included Jack eating the frosting off the top in the process) and while we watched the rain come down we taught Stephen how to play monopoly. (According to him it is the longest game ever) . To conclude the day we did eat one of Matt's favorite dinners (sesame chicken and stir fry rice) and watched "What Happens in Vegas."

Since it is his birthday I thought I would just also mention what a wonderful husband he is. He is very inteligent and so willing to do whatever he needs to in support of his family. He is a wonderful father who loves playing with the boys and teaching them all about sports. He is extremely knowledgeable in the gospel and I always find myself looking to him for answers. He is my constant comfort and love. WE LOVE YOU MATT!!

The best and worst of Cake Making...

So lately I have found it really fun to make and decorate cakes. With the help of a good friend and a mini relief society class I picked up some tips and have made a few of mine own. This is definately something I would love to become better at and develop at a more professional level.

The first cake I made here is a Lightning Mcqueen cake from the movie Cars for Jacks birthday. I cheated and bought the frosting, which melted so much it wouldn't hold up the decorations. So not the cutest cake but a good learning experience.




The second cake I had a blast with but was in a little bit of a time crunch. I felt it could have been better but still liked how it turned out. A good friend of Stephen's was having a birthday party and we volunteered to make the cake (I don't ever get to do girl cakes so this was extra fun and a lot easier than a car!).


The last cake I made for my sister's wedding!! She was very trusting to let me (who had never made any kind of decorative cake before) experiment. It was very fun and very time consumming! Not to mention stressful when the day of the wedding my own son spys cake and takes a big bite out of the top of it. Needless to say there are a few spots on the cake where the decorative flowers are there for a reason.



All of these pictures were taken with my camera phone so not the best of quality. My mom still has not sent me the pictures from her camera of the wedding cake so I had to use this lower quality one...(mom that is a hint and reminder...I love you)

Slacking off again...

Just a little update. A few events that have taken place in the last month...
Matt has taken the bar and the boys love having their daddy around!! After the bar was over we went on a little sight seeing trip. We got to go to Niagra Falls on the Canadian side (first time in Canada) and almost got stuck there because we had no birth cirtificates for the kids and so therefore no proof that they were ours. After a quite extensive and frightening lecture from the border patrol man we got let off with a warning. Then we continued onto Palmyra and saw all of the church sites there. It was really neat to actually sit on a park bench in the sacred grove. To end off our little sight seeing tour we stayed in Scranton Pennsylvania for all of those Office fans out there.
The biggest news of all though is that Jack is finally potty trained!! I would like to say that it was due to my great parenting skills but he did this one all on his own. I just had to give him a little motivational tool (a lightening McQueen car after he went at least three times).
And now the saddest news of all... We are moving in ONE WEEK and just found out yesterday. We finally found a place to live that is not too far from NYC but far enough that we don't have to pay the NY price!! I was very exstatic to find a place but now it is really heartbreaking to leave all of the friends that we have made...So those of you reading this blog feel free to come and visit...(exspecially if you want a girls night out on the town in NYC) Also our place is only about 5 minutes from the beach (i don't know how good the beach is, I'll have to fill in when I get the scoop)
As for posting pictures an unfortunate event has occurred. I placed the camera on the side of the car while getting into the trunk and when I shut the trunk it shut on the camera. So sadly enough the screen is cracked and we have to send in for repairs...
Well it has been fun but all good posts must come to an end...

A Photo Opportunity

My side of the family finally got together after 4 years and managed to get a family picture after my sister's baby blessing.

The first picture is the whole family (all eight kids and Mom and Dad). The second picture is just my brothers and sisters and I and finally the last picture is the whole family

and spouses (minus my husband and my sister Janil's husband so we sandwiched in between our brother Orrin in the front.)

I also better state on my sisters behalfs (because I would expect the same) that

two are pregnant and one just had a baby. Looking good either way!!

My mom really wanted a picture with her and my Dad and all of the grandkids. My kids decided to be a little uncoporative and Stephen would be the one holding the book in front of his face.

What do you do???