Tradition Mash-Up

Uncle TJ drove out for Christmas again this year! We all LOVE having him come to visit. He hates being in pictures so of course we don't have a single picture from his trip (besides his legs in the background of the picture above). He arrived the 22nd just before the snow. This was a first snow deep enough to play in so the kids were so excited!

Crystal the snow-girl. 

This was Orson's first time really playing in the snow. He wasn't so sure at first, but then decided he loved it!

The dogs of course had fun too. Haley was so excited by this magical white stuff.

On Christmas Eve we invited our dear friends the Farrells to join us for dinner. We decided to have a mash-up of all our families traditions. It was perfect! For dinner we had:
     * Tostadas smothered in green chili (my family tradition)
     * Cheese enchiladas (TJ's pick - when they were young Michael's family did Mexican at Mi Casa)
     * Homemade pizza (Michael's pick - as they got older their tradition shifted to pizza)
     * Virgin Pina Coladas (Jon Farrell's family always has this and clam chowder)
It was SO yummy! And of course we all ate a ton.

After dinner the kids acted out the nativity which was something we always did growing up. 

It was such a perfect evening full of family, friends, traditions, and celebrations of our Savior.

Family Photos Fall 2016

This one perfectly captures their personalities and sweet relationships.

Real life - clingy, wild, bored, covered in kids. I love it!

Photo Credits - Michael and a tripod. We're becoming pretty good at do-it-yourself family photos!

Five Things for the Friday before Christmas

-1-

Daddy had a birthday! He is so incredible, and we are so lucky to have him. He also finished up another semester for his PhD! He has only one more semester of classes!!! (then his comprehensive exams and dissertation of course but the end is getting nearer!)

-2-

I ended up taking two different members of our family to the ER in one week. (Which doubled the number of ER trips we've had in the past decade). Monday Lenora complained about her tummy hurting a few times in the morning then woke up from her nap screaming in pain. After about 20 minutes it went away only to come back again a few hours later. She literally just couldn't stop crying from the pain for over an hour so I took her over to the walk-in clinic where they promptly sent us to the ER. Thankfully, she just ended up having a urinary tract infection I was so thankful that's all it was and she was quickly feeling better!

Then Saturday morning Michael work up in lots of pain. At first it seemed he had a stomach flu but again it quickly became worse until he was doubled over in pain. He had a kidney stone. Again I'm so thankful it was nothing serious and he could start feeling better. Most of all, I'm thankful this was just a bad week for illness and generally we enjoy good health.

-3-

I fixed our dishwasher!!! It has been broken for several months now but we've just put off fixing it. Thanks to You Tube I had diagnosed the problem but I was too nervous to try fixing it myself. It was an expensive enough part that if we had to pay someone else to do it would be better just to buy a new one. After several months of hand-washing all our dishes I got up the courage to give it a try. And guess what? It was super easy and took me less than an hour. Sometimes we really just need to have more confidence in our abilities to learn new skills and succeed. 

Lenora and Orson will miss hand-washing dishes. They love it!

-4-

We've had lots of fun getting ready for Christmas....

Christmas and Polar Express Day at school

Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread Train

Just an adorable little guy ready for church!

 -5-

#Lighttheworld

Easily the best part of our month has been participating in the #lighttheworld countdown to Christmas (see the details here) Each day we have focused on a characteristic of the Savior and how we can emulate it in our lives. As we've looked for ways to serve, as we've prayed to know what to do, and as we've listed to the Spirit, we have had wonderful opportunities. We haven't done anything big or remarkable, but we have felt the true Christmas spirit. Eliza had the courage to teach like the Savior by leading a family home evening lesson. Hazel ministered to children like the Savior as she took extra time to help out and play with her siblings. We tried to show love to our parents, visit the lonely, give service, be peacemakers, and the list goes on. I'm thankful for the perspective it has given us on Christmas and the reminder of why we celebrate. 

Tomorrow night is already Christmas Eve! December has flown by way too fast. For now we'll a slow Christmas weekend filled with a bit a early snow, food, friends, family, and most importantly a celebration of our Savior!

Eliza's Christmas Concert

Eliza had her Kindergarten Christmas concert last week. She did such an amazing job! She sang, she danced, she smiled, and not once did we see her "shy" arms. It was incredible to see her! Here's a clip from the "Teddy Bear Twist":

Eliza has really enjoyed school, but overall it has been really easy for her. She already reads so well and knows most of the math they're doing. In fact, she had started requesting that I home school her so she could learn more. However, her teacher is incredible! I told her and the gifted and talented teacher already works with her about my concerns and they met with me to plan for ways to further challenge Eliza. I'm excited for what we have planned! Home schooling would be great for her learning, but Eliza needs all the social aspects of Kindergarten and it has been SO good for her.

I'm so thankful for this sweet little girl! She is exceptional in so many ways and keeps us on our toes for sure!

Caution Slow: Children at Play

This week I found relics of children's play all over my house. I love watching how children play and learn through play. They are so incredible! 

Hazel has been making lots of lists. First up: Safety Tips...

1. Never stand on a swivel chair.
2. Never blow your hair in the bathtub.
3. Do not go out in the rain in lightening storms.
4. Don't follow your cat up the tree.
5. Do not eat crayon (PS. your poop will be different colors)
6. Do not watch too much T.V. (PS. your brain will turn to mush).

Such great advice! Obviously she's like a sponge just soaking up everything around her. I also found this one under her bed. I'm sure this was the work of her and Rose.

Girl Club Rules: 

1. No boys allowed. 

2. Always bring a bag.

3. Come fancy.

4. Wear your club bracelet.

5. No project is perfect without glitter.

Next up there's Eliza. One freezing cold morning she made sure to tuck in Ellie by the heater before she left for school. She's such a good mommy! 

Lenora is just starting to play with her peers and it's adorable. She and her little friend at the YMCA played and played this week. They also walked around holding hands as they moved from toy to toy.

Mr. Orson is adorable. One minute he's carefully holding a baby doll and beaming with pride, and the next minute he's pretending a play spoon is a sword. Already it's amazing to me to see the difference between how boys play vs how girls play. He LOVES to wrestle with Lenora. (and she tolerates it, most of the time!)

Today in church one of the speakers spoke about the Savior's love of children and His admonition that we become as little children. He then gave the example of a child learning to walk. The child doesn't quit trying to walk because he falls down. He doesn't think he's hopeless or that he will never figure it out. He simple keeps trying and trying until he can take steps. Then he moves from toddling to walking to running and so on. Meanwhile the child's parents don't just let the child figure it out on his own.They help him stand up. They "practice" walking by holding his hands. They reach out to the child from a few steps away and catch him when he falls. They help him back up.

He compared us to the toddling child and our Heavenly Father and Christ to the parents. All we have to do is keep trying. When we struggle to master something, we shouldn't become discouraged. In the the grand scheme of things it's a blink of an eye. We should also remember that our Heavenly parents and Jesus Christ are right there - helping us, picking us up, helping us try again. They are pleased with our efforts even when we feel frustrated by our slow progress. I love that analogy! It was such a good perspective to me. I want to be more loving and patient.I want to be more devoted in scripture study, etc, etc. But to me my progress is painfully slow. But I can keep getting up. I can keep trying. I can keep taking step after toddling step!

I'm so thankful for my amazing children and all they teach me. Let's all be a bit more like a child.(It's so much more fun too!)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was quiet and lovely. An older couple in the ward, Don and Phyllis Higgs, invited us to join them, the missionaries, and a few others couples for dinner. We were in charge of just rolls and pumpkin pie which made for a wonderful, relaxing day. We watched the parade, chatted about my love of the Rockettes, cooked a bit, and Hazel dressed herself and Orson as pilgrims. 

Then we joined the Higgs and others for an AMAZING dinner. It was delicious!

I've been thinking a bit about being far from family on holidays. It is hard that we can't be with our families for every holiday. We miss them for sure and miss those big, loud gatherings. But at the same time, these is something truly special about holidays spent with friends instead. For one thing, each year is novel and exciting. There are new faces, new foods, different traditions, and new twists. You also have the opportunity to meet and get to know so many different people! I honestly can't think of a single holiday growing up that included friends, neighbors, or ward members because we always had so much family near by. But now we get to spend our holidays with tons of different people. We get to visit with them and hear their stories. We get to learn about theirs lives and enjoy their examples. It's very different, but also very wonderful!

The day after Thanksgiving we got the house all decorated for Christmas. I love this house so much at Christmas time. The charm of a 110 year old house all decorated just gets me every year. I know I will miss it dearly when the time comes for us to move. And now we're officially on to Christmas!!!