Welcoming 2009

New Years Eve is always a sore spot for me. I long to be at a fabulous party, preferably formal, amidst a crowd, welcoming in the New Year. In reality, I am always at someone else’s home, or mine, watching that darn ball drop and usually I am wearing pajamas and a stylin’ hat made of paper. This year I didn’t even get the hat.

My favorite New Years was a few years back when my uncle Rodger ordered live lobsters from Maine. We had lobster, crab cakes, scallops and shrimp. Even though we were at my parent’s home, we did something unique. Dinner was followed by some illegal fireworks, so…you know, overall it was a good time.

Last year we got to my parent’s house late. We had just flown in from Seattle. We almost didn’t make it in time to celebrate. I had vowed that the next year would be better.

Getting people to commit to anything this year was like pulling teeth. We weren’t even planning to go up to my parent’s because it didn’t sound like anything was going to be going on. Finally it was decided that someone would go to Evanston and buy fireworks. I really wanted to go. I hadn’t been to Wyoming before.

The next thing I know 11 of us (My mom, dad, uncle, aunt, three cousins, my two kids, Paul and I) are heading to Wyoming. A lot of time was spent picking and buying just the right thing. Too bad Jen didn’t get to take home her Full Metal Jacket ;)

There was about $200 worth of fireworks purchased. We did not take this home.

My cousin Brandon

Have you seen anything like this before?

I swear this is for a recipe!

Above is my youngest cousin Will being cute at the restaurant.

These are some of the goods we took home.

Paul and Emma putting sparklers in the snow, it looked really pretty.
Just a few fountains

Awwww (Not really)
Emma with a Roman Candle
Check out my cousin Talon! How cool is this shot?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ice Skating

Look! I'm standing on the ice.

Emma just kept disappearing. We had to make her to stop so we could take a couple of pictures.
Hey, watch where you're going

We did it. We took the kids ice skating. I wanted to go before Christmas but this was just as good. We all had a great time.

I have no athletic prowess at all, but I did managed to go around at a decent speed and I stayed off of my butt the whole time. Of course Paul was all over the place going forward and backward and zipping all around the kids. The man has skillz.

Emma took off and did an amazing job. Thank goodness she takes after her father. You would never have known it was her first time on skates.

Andrew is less like his sister and more like Bambi. He stayed close to the wall and went at very low speeds. Once he got his cone though he was unstoppable. He pushed that sucker around and around all on his own and his speed did increase dramatically. It became a crutch though, he wouldn't even try to go without it.

We can't wait to go again.

Does this happen to you?

Paul has been off work since Dec. 22nd and doesn't go back until Jan. 2nd (in reality it will probably be the 5th).

Nothing is getting done around the house. All the Christmas stuff is still up. My routine has been thrown way off. We are doing "family things" all day long and as a result, the laundry and other household chores are getting neglected. (Let's not talk about the fact that I've been slacking anyway because of all the time I spent making his quilt)

I got up early today to do a couple of loads before we head out to go.....brace yourselves....ice skating. Keep me in your prayers. I'm a lot of woman to be up on ice skates! At least if there is an accident we will all be in clean underwear.

Christmas 2008

How do I put our Christmas into words?

It was excellent, magical, fabulous, relaxing, wonderful, peaceful and spiritual.

On December 23^rd we went up to my parent’s home and ate some delicious Chinese food from the Mandarin Palace. I love their house beef, but let’s just say it doesn’t look like any beef I have ever seen before. Just sayin’! That night we just hung out.

The next morning Paul and I ran some errands and when we came home Andrew had a bloody nose and scratches all down his face. He decided that sliding down ice was more fun since he could go faster. Everything was fine and dandy until he slid down the ice on his face.

That afternoon we made our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of ham, potatoes and rolls. I was in charge of the rolls and funeral potatoes. Dinner was just okay. We forgot to bring the stuff for my fabulous green salad and the ham was a bit dry. Hey, the rolls and potatoes were great! We were worried about getting home, the weather was suppose to get bad, so we took off shortly after we ate.

When we got home we got the kids showered and they waited, not so patiently, for the elves to bring their pajamas. This year Maggie discovered that something had been left on our porch when she brought us some cookies. We just can’t figure out how they get there every year.

After we took our pajama pictures we all went our separate ways and I was a little upset that we weren’t doing anything Christmassy. I got a little pouty about it, I’ll be honest, so Paul called us all together (even Marius) and we talked about the birth of our Savior. We used one of the nativity sets that we have as a visual. The kids blew me away with all of their knowledge. They are special little spirits.

Emma got cookies ready for Santa and I wrapped a few more gifts. It wasn’t too much later when it was time to tuck the kids into bed and much to my surprise they went to sleep rather quickly. This year Paul and I were more prepared than we have ever been. We had everything set up and ready to go well before midnight!

That night’s rest left something to be desired. I heard Emma up coughing, the cat got me up to let him out, and then there was the snowplow went by, loudly. At a few minutes to seven I got in the shower. I don’t ever want to make anyone wait on me so I am always the first one up on Christmas morning. By 7:30 Andrew had gotten up and Paul was in the shower. We had to make a lot of noise to get Emma out of her deep slumber. Finally we were ready.

The kids have us hang a sheet at the end of the hall so if they get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night they won’t see anything. We always torture them by making them wait behind the sheet while we start the Christmas music, turn on the tree lights and do any last minute things. (A tradition carried on from my youth) This year was a little different. We said a prayer before we went to the living room. I choked up a bit while offering the prayer. Both kids wrapped their arms around my waist and gave me a hug. It was very sweet and the Spirit was with us all day long.

We set a budget for Christmas this year and did a good job sticking to it. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to get them and that is what we shopped for. We were able to avoid all the impulse buys, you know that junk that ends up in the garage, going to DI or broken in a matter of months. I was really proud of us LOL! The kids got everything they wanted and there wasn’t any guilt about going over board.

The kids got some clothes, DS games, Wii games, movies, books and Webkinz but overall it was a Lego Christmas. There are Lego’s taking over every inch of my house! Andrew’s “big” gift was an Ipod (and we have been listening to him sing ever since) and Emma got a ticket to see Wicked with my mom, Maggie and I for this coming April.

The last gift that was opened was the quilt that I made for Paul. Years ago I had started cutting out denim squares from old jeans. Paul had visions of a quilt made from old denim that still had pockets attached and seems, just really rustic looking. We could never decide on a top fabric. The denim was a pain to work with and the idea just got tossed aside.

Right before Thanksgiving I decided that I was going to surprise him with his quilt. I bought a couple yards of denim to finish it up and sewed the back all together. I bought several different BYU fabrics but just couldn’t get them all to work together. I decided on just doing the two colors on the top. Finally I had the top finished so I talked to my quilting friend and she said that the weight of denim really messed with the quilting machines so my only option was to tie it.

My parents came down with the racks and we tied it in one afternoon. Thank goodness Paul didn’t come home for lunch that day. After it was tied I realized that because of some pockets on the edge I couldn’t do a rolled edge, I had to do binding. Ugg. I went back out, purchased more denim and sewed the binding to the front, just like you would for any old quilt. I should have sewn it on the back but didn’t realize it until it was too late. I was left hand stitching the binding through two layers of denim to the back. OUCH!

It took a while but finally, on Monday, I finished. I wrapped him gift in a gigantic box and boy did that confuse him. He was very worried when he started unwrapping it. He really hates things that are large. We were teasing him that it was the big Hello Kitty from Build a Bear. When he finally saw what it was he was stunned. He was so appreciative and excited. He loved it. I was thrilled and relieved by his reaction.

That afternoon the kids built their Lego’s and then Joi, David, Megan and Matthew came over to exchange gifts. Later my parents came and we opened more gifts. They were very generous and gave us some great things. I was able to give my mom and dad the autographed picture from Greg Olsen (he even wrote a message to them on the back). That night we had our traditional Christmas dinner of fondue.

The blankets above were made by my mom for the kids.

This year I felt so blessed by our good health, the many opportunities we had to do fun things with friends and family, and especially the fact that I wasn’t working. Last year I had quit right before the holidays, I really don’t think it had really set in yet. In years past all the activities seemed like burdens because my nights off from work were the only chances I had to shop, wrap and relax. This year it felt like a luxury to be able to do everything and more. There were so many factors, I can’t put my finger on just one thing, but this was the best Christmas that I can remember.

Tender Mercies

In early December I had a heart to heart with my bishop. We talked about a lot of things. I wasn't in a good place. He told me to let him know what he could do to help. I mentioned that once I was done with the Christmas enrichment dinner I felt like I might be ready for a change. He asked me to let him know where I wanted to serve and he even promised me a month off between callings! At that point there wasn't one calling that I felt like I wanted to do.

The next Sunday they released the Teaching for our Times instructor and I knew that was where I needed to be. That night at tithing settlement he asked how I was doing. I told him I was better and I mentioned that I could see myself teaching RS. He said he could make it happen. I said "No, don't make it happen. If Mary asks for suggestions mention me, but I don't want you to push me on her." He agreed to that. I decided to make it a matter of prayer. If that is where I was wanted I asked that Mary would feel inspired to ask for me.

Less than two hours later Mary called me. She was so funny. She said "I have to ask you something, it is terrible, horrible, really bad.... Are you going to be around the Sunday after Christmas?" When I said yes she asked if I would teach the TFOT lesson. I started to get emotional. I asked her if she had been talking to the bishop. She said, "no, why?" I told her of our conversation and she said, "That's it. I'm going to tell him to call you and hopefully we can have you in by Sunday."

At that moment I felt the love of my Heavenly Father so strongly. I knew that I was important to Him. I had been feeling so insignificant and I knew that I was given this experience so I could feel His love and concern. He is always there to grant the righteous desires no matter how small they may seem.

I am grateful that Mary was in tune with the Spirit. I told her she works quickly. I was impressed!

I was called and put in the following Sunday. When Mary came up to me after Sacrament meeting tell me how excited she was to have me I mentioned that I didn't get my month off. She laughed and said, "no one gets that anymore!"

This week before church started Mary asked me what lesson she had asked me to teach today. I about fainted. I had been working for weeks on the wrong lesson? Oh my. Well it ended up that we both had it right.

She said "I have something to show you." It was the lesson schedule. Guess what......January is Stake Conference, I don't have to teach. February is Ward Conference, I don't have to teach. Do you know what that means? I GET TWO MONTHS OFF! Isn't our Heavenly Father the greatest? He really does know me and he wants me to be happy.

Pretend it is Dec 22nd.

I was going to post this on Dec. 22nd but something happened and I never got around to it.

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Last Friday I went to the kid’s school for their Christmas Sing. I was overwhelmed with gratitude to live in a place that still allows Christmas celebrations instead of winter parties, or worse, no parties at all. They sang a lot of the old classic Christmas songs (Jingle Bells, Here Comes Santa Claus, Jingle Bell Rock etc.) as a group and then each grade sang their own song. They even had a teacher playing piano to accompany the kids. It was nostalgic. At the end the kids were all singing a song together when the principal brought in Santa Claus.

The party and cookie decorating went well. The kids had a blast. Some trees were works of art and others were just globed with frosting. Then there was my child who didn’t use any frosting at all, go figure! (This is a friend of Andrew's that live in our neighborhood)

Saturday we spent a lot of time at the mall after seeing Santa and then we went out to do some last minute shopping. We got home with two hours before the ward party. Paul did not want to go to the party because it was happening while the BYU game and Cowboys football games were on. He threw a mini fit when the bishop started talking about he game and I told him to just go home.

We had a nice time listening to music (Emma got to play her three songs while we were there) and visiting. Santa showed up and the kids got another picture with Santa and so did Maggie and I!

Sunday I got a new calling. I am no longer Enrichment Leader. I will now be an instructor in Relief Society. I will be teaching the Teaching for our Times lessons. I am excited about the change but I little nervous too. I teach next week! The way this calling came about I am where I know I need to be so that is a comfort.

After church we took some family photos by the Christmas tree. Some came out okay, others not so much. What would family pictures be without the outtakes?

That evening Emma had her piano recital. She felt bad that she made a little mistake but we reminded her that there wasn’t one kid there who didn’t make a mistake. I think that helped.

Monday was supposed to be stormy in the afternoon. The kids and I got up early to run some errands before the snow hit, but the snow wasn’t listening to the weathermen. It came fast and furious first thing in the morning. We started out but it was pilling up too quickly. We turned around and it was good we did. It accumulated so quickly. We got over 7” here on the bench. The kids and I just stayed inside all day long and I was able to finish up my project. I did it! I’m done! I’m thrilled!

I was worried about Paul getting home okay from work. He decided to send everyone home early so they could be safe on the roads. He finished up what he had to do and then made his way up the mountain after running around to the post office, bank and some stores. We spent well over and hour shoveling out the snow so we had a place to put his car. What a pain in the arse. I just don’t get why people would ever want to live in an area with snow. I am convinced that those who think it sounds fun have never tried it.

He Cried!

It wasn't a boohoo cry, but he was so touched with his gift he shed a tear. That sparkle below his eye is a tear. This is the man who has only cried at the birth of our children. He understood the love and work behind the gift and was as happy to receive it as I was to give it. It's true, giving of yourself is the best gift. We have had a magical, Spirit filled Christmas. It was just perfect. Merry Christmas everyone!

I didn't want to do this.....

but the Christmas Card thing just isn't going to happen before Christmas. Let's be honest, it might not happen at all. I'm sorry. I had the top card printed but never got around to getting envelopes or stamps. The bottom was the one I made first, but we ended up liking the brown one better. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Santa

Today we went to the mall and the kids got to go and visit Santa. I appreciate the kids getting dressed up and doing this for me. It means a lot that they will still humor their mom even though they are getting pretty big for this type of thing.