Finally!!

Michael starts finals tomorrow. He's been fretting about it for weeks (not really so much fretting as forgetting; same word, but fewer letters). But he can forget no longer. He has his first test Monday, the next on Wednesday, then Friday, and then the last on the following Monday. That's right, four tests. And three of them are 8-hour exams. The fourth is only three hours though--a veritable cake walk through a meadow of brownies and kitty cats.

Sarah started part-time temporary work on Thursday at Aegerion Pharmaceutical in Cambridge. It's nice that it's so close. She's doing quality control work so it's similar to what she did in Utah, but she won't be working in a lab, so, unfortunately, no lab coat or goggles, unless Michael can convince her to don them for fun. The job should last until around the beginning or middle of January, and it allows us to take time off to go to Minneapolis over Christmas. All in all, we're very happy she got the job.

We also had the chance to substitute teach the 10- and 11-year olds in primary today. We got to teach them about Acts 19-26. Paul almost gets killed by the Jews in Jerusalem, and is saved by a chief captain of the Roman centurions at the last second. And just about when the chief captain is going to scourge Paul to find out why he's been causing so much mischief, Paul drops a bombshell on him: "Guess what? I'm a Roman citizen, free born." It's a complete game changer because the Romans have to have solid charges before they arrest a Roman citizen. It was fun to teach. The New Testament is such a great book. It has all the excitement of a Jason Bourne adventure novel, and all the spirituality of . . . well, of the New Testament.

This last Tuesday, the Cambridge 2nd Ward Relief Society hosted a wreath-making activity and Sarah was in charge of the musical part of the program, four special musical numbers with narrations in between. Sarah had to find the musical numbers and the narrations and weave them into the theme, "Joy to the World." She worked very hard and the program was a resounding success--and we have a wreath hanging on our front door to prove it.

The last great adventure of the week was the ward Christmas party on Friday night at the Belmont chapel. Just after we walked out, Michael said to Sarah, "You know what? Mitt Romney has probably stood where we stood tonight hundreds of times." (Brother Romney called Belmont home for many years). We were in charge of the cookie decorating table at the party. Frosting and sprinkles got everywhere, but mostly on the cookies. We learned a valuable lesson: when you host a cookie-decorating activity for two- to eight-year olds, bring a smock. We hope the kids had as much fun as we did.

Thanksgiving

We're so grateful for Thanksgiving break! We were blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving this year with the Kelleys and a lot of new friends from all over the world. Our Thanksgiving had a very Bostonian international flavor, if that makes any sense at all (for those of you who live in the Boston area, it certainly will). Sarah made some delicious Thanksgiving food: sweet mashed potatoes (or mashed sweet potatoes, as Sarah calls them), green been casserole, cranberried meatballs, and several dozen delicious rolls, as pictured here:

We actually had dinner at Martin and Suzin's house. Martin is a friend of Taylor's from the public health program. It was so nice of them to extend their invitation to us as well. And we even got to talk to our family afterwards; the miracle of the internet--connecting families, from Boston to Wisconsin to New Jersey to Oregon!

Today, we went to Plimoth Plantation (the people who started the museum there spelt it that way intentionally, to distinguish it from the name of the village, and the rock). It was Kristin and Taylor's idea, and we were so happy to be able to go along with them and Lucas--a timely Thanksgiving activity. The plantation has made efforts to preserve animal species from the 17th Century.

This wild bull was looking like he was about to gore Michael, but thinking on her feet, Sarah snapped a photo, blinding him with her deft camera skillz. If you look close, you'll notice that his hair is reminiscent of a certain 2nd Robertson son.

The plantation had two small villages--a 17th Century English village full of ornery actors, portraying 17th Century ornery pilgrims, and a Wampanoag village, with current representatives from that tribe, explaining how life was back then and how it is for them now. We took this picture outside of a Wampanoag house:

The final stop on our tour of the 17th Century Plymouth Colony was the Mayflower replica, built in 1955-56 and sailed in 1957 from England to America.

From the ship, we had a beautiful view of the Atlantic (or whatever this particular part of the Atlantic is called).

From the other side of the ship, we had a different, but equally impressive view.

Not only is John Alden a Robertson family ancestor, but apparently he's also the subject of an epic poem by William Wadsworth Longfellow (of "You're a poet, and your feet show it; they're longfellows" fame).

Don't give up on us yet!

We're easing into this blogging thing, like an old man into a hot tub. Ha ha, that's just our lame excuse. Truth be told, we've been very busy in Ol' New England. Here're a few pictures of what we've been keeping busy with.

The old man living in this house has refused to sell, and the city's reluctant to claim eminent domain. Boston politics (exasperated sigh). In reality, this is a very important old building where many significant things took place in relation to a very exciting historical circumstance (we really can't remember what happened here).

Phillips Brooks, represented in this imposing statute, was a minister here in Boston. He's perhaps best known to you all as the author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem." He's also the originator of one of Michael's favorite quotes, "Be such a man and live such a life, that if every man were such as you and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God's paradise."

In between sessions during Conference weekend we took a walk at the Arnold Arboretum close to our house in Jamaica Plain. These flower were really pretty, but we can't remember what they're called (like most things). And the previous picture is of a bonsai tree (wax on!). There was a whole garden full of them. Like many other things in Boston, Harvard is the generous donor responsible for the Arboretum. Veritas!

A couple of weeks ago, we became one of the millions and millions to have hiked the third most hiked mountain in the world. Surely you've heard of Mount Monadnock (pronounced Mah-nadd-nok, with the accent on the second syllable). As these pictures show, we made it all the way to the top. And, as the fact that we're blogging shows, we made it all the way back down to the bottom too!

In other news, Sarah's temporarily working for BG Medicine as a lab tech.  She started working there two weeks ago and is enjoying it.

And Michael's been hitting those law school books hard (during the week, that is). Love y'all. Thanks for reading. 'Til we blog again--maybe even in less than a month.  :)

FHE Blogging

Early in our FHE career, we've decided to get in on this whole web-logging craze. We want to be one of those trendy techno-savvy couples who blogs, and surfs, and e-mails. So, please be forgiving of our novice, tender-footed (or is it "feeted"?) efforts.

So just a quick review: we were married in the Salt Lake Temple a month ago yesterday. And then, spur-of-the-moment like, we packed up all our boxes and moved across the country, with just a couple of stops along the way.

 We enjoyed a few days on the Oregon Coast. This is from our hike up Cascade Head Trail north of Lincoln City.

 Here's a favorite pic from our days (our oh-too-few days) as beach bums.

 Who do you think looks more presidential?

 Mom and Dad Robertson came to a reception in Minnesota, and we took a trip to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple.

 And Mom and Dad Skidmore came to Oregon also and couldn't resist a visit to the Portland, Oregon Temple.

 "Thou art the man!" (and woman; there's two of us). On the way to Boston, we stopped in Kirtland, one of the most important sites in the history of the LDS Church. It was here that the keys of the Priesthood were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith, in the building pictured below.

 The Kirtland Temple is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS) and they were kind enough to take us on a tour of the building.

 We got to Niagara Falls just as the sun was going down. There were tons of people there! And because the park was closed, the parking was free--something we've come to appreciate living in Boston :)

"Look Sarah, a bear!" (as I sneakily took this goofy picture)

 Our last stop before Boston was in Palmyra. If you ever go there, make sure you plan for a few hours, because there's so many wonderful historical sites there. We recommend visiting the Grandin Press. You'll love it if you're at all interested in printing (which Michael is, a lot).

Scott and Janelle (and Alan and James) were kind enough to let us spend our first week in Boston in their guest room (I hope they don't mind we let the cat out of the bag; they do in fact have a guest bedroom). We got to celebrate both Michael's and Scott's birthdays there.

We now have our own apartment in Brighton, just west of Boston. Michael's been keeping busy reading 50 pages a day in law books, and Sarah's been getting the house set up, driving Michael to school and back, looking for a job, and cooking some delicious meals.

We feel so blessed and wish the best for all our friends and family!