Joyful! Joyeux !

I know I'm signed in as Roland, but it was the only way to access the picassa account...

Christmas this year was low-key and really perfect! On the 23rd the kids got a special visit from Santa who came to help the bishop deliver some special packages (thank-you to all who contributed!). Lydie was soooo excited. As they were loading the truck, she would stand by the door yelling "Santa! Santa! Santa!" until he came back for his next load. We love our neighborhood Santa and we're so grateful that he is willing to help the Bishop every year.

On Christmas Eve morning we went to visit my Grandparents and loved seeing Grandma's village, eating her traditional frozen cookies and visiting with Grandpa. It wouldn't be the holidays without seeing them and we're glad we did!

We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of meat and cheese fondue followed with a Buche de Noel (French Yule Log), which we enjoyed with some of my family. The kids had a great time opening their gifts from Grandpa and Grandma on Christmas Eve as well as the usual jammies. They also loved "acting" out the nativity story with our figures while Daddy read the scriptures (thanks Linds).

This year the girls asked for a dollhouse for Christmas and amazingly I happened to come across a free one on the side of the road one day. It needed some work, but it's well-built and should last many more years. Unfortunately, Roland and I didn't get to start really working on it until Christmas Eve and ran out of gas a little prematurely. Needless to say, it still needs a little work, but we managed to make it use-able and presentable for Christmas morning and the girls loved it! I have to admit, I was having a great time re-doing the place and can't wait to finish decorating it! :)

Eric asked for a two-wheel scooter since his three-wheeler is now a "baby scooter". We were a little sick of him riding all around the house by the end of the day, but he was thrilled with his gift.

We were so lucky not to have anywhere to go on Christmas day and really enjoyed eating our traditional crepe breakfast, playing, napping, and hanging out together!

The only thing missing from our celebrations was Roland's parents. We hope to see them soon!

Noël a été simple cette année et vraiment parfait! Le 23, les enfants ont eu une visite spéciale de Père Noel qui est venu pour aider l'évêque à livrer certains paquets pour ceux dans le besoin (merci à tous ceux qui ont contribué!). Lydie était si excitée. Alors qu’ils étaient en train de charger le camion, elle était par la porte en criant " Père Noel! Père Noel! Père Noel!" jusqu'à son retour pour le prochain chargement. Nous aimons notre Père Noel du quartier et nous sommes si reconnaissants qu'il puisse aider l'évêque chaque année. La veille de Noël, le matin nous sommes allés visiter mes grands-parents et amis et voir le village de Grand-mère, manger ses biscuits traditionnels surgelés et visiter grand-père. Il ne serait pas des vacances sans les voir et nous sommes heureux que nous ayons pu le faire! Nous avons eu notre traditionnel souper durant la veille de Noël avec de la fondue au fromage et a la viande suivie d'une Buche de Noel, avec quelques-uns des membres de ma famille. Les enfants ont eu du bon temps d'ouvrir leurs cadeaux de grand-père et grand-mère le soir de Noël, ainsi que les pyjamas habituel. Ils ont aussi aimé "agir" l’histoire de la nativité alors que Papa lisait les Écritures (merci Lindsay). Cette année, les filles ont demandées une maison de poupées pour Noël et étonnamment j'en ai trouvé une gratuite sur le côté de la route un jour. Elle avait besoin de travaille, mais elle est bien construite et devrait durer encore de nombreuses années. Malheureusement, Roland et moi n'avons pas eu vraiment de temps de commencer à travailler sur la maison jusqu'à la veille de Noël et nous avons été fatigués prématurément. Inutile de dire qu'elle a encore besoin d'un peu de travail, mais nous avons réussi à la préparer pour la présenter le matin de Noël et les filles l’ont adoré!
Eric a demandé un scooter deux-roues car son scooter à trois roues est désormais un "bébé scooter". Nous étions fatigués de le voir rouler tout au tour de la maison d'ici a la fin de la journée, mais il était très heureux de son cadeau. Nous étions si heureux de ne pas avoir à aller a quelque part le jour de Noël et avons eu beaucoup de plaisir à manger les crêpe traditionnelles au petit-déjeuner, puis lire, faire la sieste, et être ensemble!
La seule chose qui nous manquait durant la célébration était la présence des parents a Roland. Nous espérons les voir bientôt…

more traditions

My siblings and I love traditions. It's something we learned from our mother. When we were growing up we weren't what you would call "well-off" but there were two times a year that my sisters and I always got new dresses (that's not to say that we never got a dress at any other time, but we always got one these two times). Every Easter Sunday and the Sunday before Christmas we could count on a new dress (often made by my Mom). Looking back, that simple tradition helped me to realize that those Sundays were different and special. So, to make a long story longer, I have tried to follow her footsteps. I've even made the girls skirts (to save money) the past two years and it's very gratifying (this year they cost $4 each)! Thanks Mom for guarding those traditions so carefully! We love you!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

It has been snowing all day today! When it was time to go get Eric from school I decided it might be easier to walk because of the slippery roads and masses of cars at the school. I put the girls in their snow-pants and we headed out! They were soooo excited to be in the snow. When we got home Eric thought it would be nice to do some shoveling to help Daddy. We stayed out for a little while before coming in to eat soup and warm up. Hooray for snowy days!

Il a neigé toute la journée aujourd'hui! Quand il était temps d'aller chercher Eric a l'école, j'ai décidé qu'il serait plus facile de marcher en raison des routes glissantes et des masses des voitures à l'école. J'ai mis les filles dans leurs pantalons de neige et nous nous sommes dirigés vers l’école ! Ils étaient heureux d'être dans la neige. Quand nous sommes arrivés a la maison, Eric a pensé qu'il serait agréable d’enlever la neige près du garage pour aider papa. Nous sommes restés un peu de temps dehors avant de rentrer manger de la soupe et se réchauffer. Hourra pour les jours neigeux !

SHHH! It's a secret! C'est un secret !

The Lepore kids will find out this Christmas that they are getting a new brother or sister in July! I'm right in the middle of the feeling yucky stage and I'm sure they're wondering why I've been spending so much time on the couch. Eric has been praying for a brother for the past year so I know he'll be excited and maybe he'll even get his wish (hopefully he won't be too upset if he gets another sister!). 4 kids under the age of 6! Yikes!
Les enfants vont découvrir ce Noël, qu’ils auront un nouveau frère ou une sœur en Juillet! Je suis en plein milieu de la des moments un peu difficile en ce moment et je suis sûr qu'ils vont demander pourquoi je passe autant de temps sur le canapé. Eric a prier pour avoir un frère l'année dernière, je sais qu'il sera très heureux et il va peut-être même obtenir son souhait (espérons qu'il ne sera pas trop perturbé si il obtient une autre sœur!). 4 enfants en moins de 6 ans! En oui !

A visit from Santa! Une visite de Père Noël !

That's right! Santa himself came to our ward party tonight. The kids could not get over how much his voice sounds like Brother Perkins. "Isn't that funny mom? Santa and Brother Perkins sound the same!" Lydie was absolutely thrilled when he burst into the gym with his jingle bells and yelled "Ho, ho, ho!" She was so excited to sit on his lap she couldn't think of anything to say (which is amazing for Lydie). Eric and Emilie both had cute little discussions with him and were so excited to hear that Rudolph has not been eating his vegetables and didn't get to have a cookie! :) Yay for Santa!

C'est vrai! Le Père Noël lui-même est venu à notre fête de paroisse ce soir. Les enfants ne peuvent pas comprendre pourquoi sa voix est comme celle de Frère Perkins. « N'est-ce pas drôle maman? Père Noël et frère ont la même voix ! » Lydie a été absolument ravie quand il a fait irruption dans la salle de gym avec ses cloches et a crié: «Ho, ho, ho!» Elle était si excitée de s'asseoir sur ses genoux, qu’elle ne pouvait pas penser à quelque chose à dire (ce qui est étonnant pour Lydie). Eric et Emilie ont eu une petite discussion avec lui et étaient si heureux d'apprendre que Rudolph n’a pas manger ses légumes et n’a pas eu droit a un cookie! :)

this is Emilie's cute friend, Abbie, who wanted to stand by Emilie for a picture! :)
C'est l'amie d'Emilie, Abbie, qui voulais etre sur la photo

Grandma's baking day - La journée cuisine de grand-mère

Every year my mom has a tradition of having all the grandkids (or at least all the ones who live close by) over for a fun-filled day of christmas treats and crafts. This year we made Santa cards, applesauce-cinnamon ornaments, and gingerbread trains. Grandma also gave them a pre-Christmas gift. What a great tradition! Thanks Grandma! We love you!

Chaque année, ma mère a une tradition d'avoir tous les petits-enfants (ou au moins tous ceux qui vivent à proximité) pour une amusante journée de Noël à faire des gâteaux et de l'artisanat. Cette année, nous avons fait des cartes pour Père Noel, des ornements pommes-cannelle en pain d'épices et de trains. Grand-mère leur a donné également un pré-cadeau de Noël. Quelle belle tradition! Merci grand-mère! On t’aime!

Almost heaven...

Last night Roland and I had the opportunity to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert. It's always my most favorite event of the year (when I am blessed with tickets) and this year was definitely no exception. I could have stayed and listened to the choir, the Bells on Temple Square and invited guests, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Hermann all night and still not been tired of it! "Stokes" voice is AMAZING and add the AWESOME choir to it and WOW! And Edward Hermann's story of how the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" came to be written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was SPELL-BINDING! Roland and I were both THRILLED with every performance and truly did not want it to end. We feel so blessed to live so close to Salt Lake City and blessed that the church makes WORLD-CLASS events like this available to the masses at no cost!

Hier soir, Roland et moi avons eu l'occasion d'assister au concert de Noël du Chœur du Tabernacle Mormon. C’est toujours mon plus favori événement de l'année (quand je suis béni avec des billets) et, cette année, a définitivement pas été une exception. J'aurais pu rester à écouter le chœur, les cloches et les invités, Brian Stokes Mitchell et Edward Hermann toute la nuit et je n’aurais pas été fatigué d'eux! "Stokes", sa voix est magnifique et ajoutée au chœur et c’était grandiose ! Edward Hermann et l'histoire de l'hymne «J'ai entendu les cloches, le jour de Noël » était incroyable! Roland et moi avons été ravis de tous les chansons et musiques et ne voulions pas que ca se termine. Nous nous sentons tellement bénis de vivre si près de Salt Lake City et bénis que l'église fait des événements de classe mondiale comme ceux-ci à la disposition des masses, sans frais!

Evening of light

"May we remember the humble dignity of his birth, his gifts and his life. May we, through our simple acts of kindness, charity and compassion, fill the world with the light of his love."
« Puissions-nous nous souvenir de l'humble dignité de sa naissance, ses dons et sa vie. Puissions-nous, par nos actes simples de bonté, de charité et de compassion, remplir le monde de la lumière de son amour. »
-Président Uchtdorf – Coin de feu de Noel 2008
-Pres. Deiter F. Uchtdorf (from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2008)













This evening as we sat in our candle-lit home we felt a special warmth from the glow of the candles and from the opportunity it gave us to talk together about our Savior and what Christmas means. We talked about light and the Light of the World. We took turns going for a drive to see the neighbors candles (thanks to all of you who participated!) and ended with homemade hot-chocolate in our jammies. I love this time of the year and I love that we have been able to make this tradition from Roland's youth such an important part of our Christmas season.
Ce soir, alors que nous nous sommes assis dans notre maison remplie de bougies nous avons ressenti la chaleur de la lueur des bougies et de l'occasion qu'elle nous a donnée de parler ensemble au sujet de notre Sauveur et ce que signifie Noël. Nous avons parlé de la lumière et la lumière du monde. Nous avons fait le tour du quartier afin de voir les bougies des voisins. Et la soirée s'est terminée a la maison avec un chocolat chaud dans nos pyjamas. J'aime cette période de l'année et j’aime le fait que nous avons été en mesure d’incorporer cette tradition de la jeunesse de Roland une partie si importante de notre saison de Noël.

Emilie's perspective

The other day as the kids and I were watching the end of Elder Wirthlin's funeral they asked me if all the people were sad. I told them they were sad because they would miss Elder Wirthlin. Emilie then asked if I was sad too. I told her I was to which she replied "well, I'm not sad beacause I know he's going to come back when Jesus comes!" We are so blessed with such sweet children who understand the basic truths of the gospel and have budding testimonies of their own!

silly Lydie Jo!

Lydie's latest favorite thing to do is sing at the top of her lungs ( and I mean TOP-it's really loud!). She doesn't sing real songs, just whatever comes into her head. The other night she was running around in circles in front of Daddy (who was trying to get some church work done on the computer) and singing "I love my Daddy! Ohhhh....I love my Daddy! I love, I love, I love my Daddy!" It was really cute and totally melted his heart. He, of course, stopped working to give her a squeeze. She has so much energy and life I hope we can keep up!

Come What May and Love It!

This morning Roland called me on his way to work to let me know about the passing of Elder Joseph B Wirthlin. I am so thankful for his life and example and the many wise and inspired sermons he gave. I hope I will be always able to follow his advice to "come what may and love it!"

tradition

As many of our neighbors are aware, we have a little tradition that we do this time of year. We take the letter below to all of our neighbors with a small tea-light candle. It's something we would like to share with all of you:

Dear Friends,
Over a century ago, in the city of Lyon, France, there was a plague threatening the town's people. Many were dying and the situation was desperate. The word went out among Christian people to pray and fast to ask for deliverance from this terrible illness. Somehow a miracle occurred in that city and the plague disappeared. On December 8th of that year, as a way of showing their gratitude, the citizens decided to place candles in their windows. Very quickly that night, the city became a “City of Light”; a name the city bears to this day. People from all over the world come to see this magical display of light throughout the city. The tradition of lining their windows with candles in brightly colored glass candle holders continues even still. It brings warmth and unity to the beautiful city of Lyon. Perhaps, even more importantly, it is a reminder that prayers are answered and that light in the midst of darkness is possible.

This tradition from Lyon, France is something we wish to share with you. Traditions are the special moments that bind us together as families and friends. Somehow, they carry something magical and bring light to our lives.

Please accept our warmest and kindest wishes for this holiday season. We wish you a merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to come.

Perhaps you will feel inclined to join us on that evening of December 8th in lighting your window with candles and enjoy the beauty of our own Neighborhood of Light. Even more importantly, perhaps this might become a symbol of unity and gratitude for our
Savior, the Light of the World.
With Love,

the Lepore family

p.s. the picture above is from last year. All of the windows in our living room, kitchen and family room look like that on December 8th! The kids love it and it's so magical.