Christmas time! John started the month still in Turkey. A couple hosted him and his coworker/wife. They were so nice to him. They took him to a nearby amusement park where they strolled (very, very slowly) a shopping area. It was so pretty.
Hey, Smartie Pants
Another little reader in the making!
December is so busy. I am glad that John's trip was at the beginning and didn't conflict with the MCO concert. The problem is that we try to fit so many things in, but then extra things get fit in without us trying.
I love our advent. I love doing extra fun things with the kids. We try to use as many built in activities as our daily activity as possible, but I love the extra things too. Like one day I made German Pancakes with cranberry sauce after school. And when we gave the kids their chocolate advent calendars. Busyness + Daddy being gone makes for some high emotions but we made it through. Eliza was my rock through the whole thing.
Cherilee brought us dinner too, which was nice. And John did come home. Hallelujah. He is the best. The next day we watched the Christmas Devotional. I love the spirit I felt as President Nelson testified of Jesus Christ.
On a lighter note, Darcy calling our neighbor "Bucky Bundy" stills makes me smile. Also, when she told John all the things that her body wants--not to have light, to walk, and when asked if her body was ready for reading lesson, "Yes, it absolutely is!"
Daddy brought us home presents from his trip! "Holland" chocolates and Turkish delight! The hosts also sent home some little bags for the girls and coasters for me. So thoughtful!
The MCO concert was so amazing! Joy to the World, Frosty, O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, and Far Far Away blew us away! We had amazing seats and saw all three girls in the front row of the first balcony. I loved their little waves, big smiles, and beautiful faces. There is just nothing like an MCO concert. I guess that is why we keep coming back even thought it is such a hassle. Everything great comes with a price!
The evening afterwards, Eliza had her Christmas concert. It was a musical retelling of a Christmas Carol. It was so fun. Eliza and her choirs did a great job. Miriam and I read a Kasie West book together while waiting for it to start. I loved it!
The next swim meet we took the whole family to watch Eliza! It was so fun to cheer her on! Later that evening we read about prophecies of Christ and some of His teachings. I love our family scripture study--it is when I feel the Spirit most. We decided to focus on reading the scriptures this Christmas season instead of watching the Bible videos. For whatever reason, I loved it so much more.
Miriam hid notes around for us. She is such a sweetheart.
One advent activity was breakfast in bed for the kids. We made them creme brulee French toast, and they were so happy. Eliza said she felt like a noble woman being waited on. Darcy told us it looked like a cake. Months later they'll still talk about it.
Going to Thanksgiving Point was so fun. I loved seeing Darcy go down the slide one million times. I also loved playing Christmas Scattergories with John later that evening. We had so much fun that we played it again with the kids.
Holland wrote the sweetest note for her teacher.
Christmas manicures!
I love the simple advent activities maybe the most. One classic activity is doing a candy cane hunt. I love everyone's excitement about finding them. And then they want to hide them for the parents to find. Also, snowman pancakes are always fun, but never as cute as I think they will be. They always end up looking a little scary. :)
Snowman pancakes, Eliza's swim meet, and Miriam's choir concert all happened on the same night. It was crazy busy, but we made it happen. Miriam's concert was so sweet. I am glad she has so many friends in her choir and loves it.
But there are still happy normal days. Like when the kids wake me up by cuddling in bed. Darcy wanted to be all over me but didn't want my arms or anyone else's arms to touch her. Silly goose!
Miriam also had her ballroom dance showcase, which was adorable. She danced with a whole bunch of ids, but on one song didn't have a partner (the partner had gone home sick). It looked like she was dancing with air. Darcy got all teary and upset because she wanted Miriam to have someone to dance with.
Remember Arizona day with blood orange Italian sodas, fig butter, and lemon curd. I miss our AZ trees!
My ministering sister (who I have never met) dropped off a little cookie decorating kit for us. That was kind of her, but it would be nice to feel like she wanted to get to know me. Either way though, it was a fun activity. Darcy was very proud of the work she was putting into hers. She kept telling me, "I am doing such a good job Mommy!" She had to place each individual sprinkle, and when she decided it was done she just licked off the sprinkles and frosting and did not eat the cookie.
Cocoa and carols around the tree
Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year. And the Sunday before that I spoke in Sacrament Meeting. My assigned topic was about being a peacemaker, which felt like an easier topic. I was pleased with how it went, but it definitely wasn't smooth. I made some last minute adjustments that morning and tried to print it. The printer ran out of ink half way through printing the papers. I didn't have time to change the cartridge, so I grabbed the Ipad and downloaded my talk to it. I noticed it was almost out of battery, so I grabbed the battery pack and the cord. During the opening song of of the meeting, I plugged in the battery back and saw that it was at 0.05% battery life. Yikes! I was getting geared up to reading it off my phone--not what I wanted to do, when the other guy speaking offered to let me send it to him and read it off his monstrous tablet. He loaded it up and handed to it me. I literally did 0 things but somehow managed to get it to freeze up, and he had to restart it. Finally he handed it back to me after changing the screen lock settings. It was so nice of him! So after all that I was proud of how calmly I delivered my talk. I had a bunch of people ask me about our family rules afterwards. It is funny that that was the part that stood out to people. I got special permission to send out the broadcast link to a coupe of people, and I was grateful that they actually watched my talk. It felt like a little miracle that everything worked out in the end, and they actually watched.
That same day we hosted the Pearson Christmas dinner, which I am calling a success. When I was getting out a patter for food, Darcy told me, "I like this platter; it feels my heart." :) Besides feeding Darcy's heart, we fed everyone dinner. Then we came up with a couple of games with prizes. We tried to think hard about what kinds of games would work for a crowd like that of all different ages. We did research and landed on cutting flour with a coin on top, pouring water into a cup without it going over, and doing a big ball of plastic wrap with money and candy inside. It was a lot of fun even if it cost us a little bit of money. We even had a prize platter with goodies for the winners to choose from. I am proud of how it turned out. I think everyone had a good time.
Dance party advent night.
So many random good things. I loved reading scriptures as a family during the holidays. I just hit a little different this year. I loved timing Eliza's swim meet. I loved witnessing the team spirit. I loved going to book club and starting to feel like I am really getting settled in this community. I loved how much my girls tried to help me learn the alto part of the song that we sang in church on Christmas Eve--they are so patient with me. Our next door neighbor did the violin part, which made the whole thing so much nicer. I loved getting a surprise CD that included my grandparents' 12 Days of Christmas version. We also danced to other classic Christmas songs. I loved when Darcy told John, "I had a good day because Mommy always takes care of me"
We have another butter lover.
Morning cuddles!
She loves painting.
Winter Solstice candlelight dinner with china.
Darcy worked so hard on a Christmas card for her friend Marta. She had several drafts that she deemed were not good enough.
I had such a nice relaxing beithday. We played pickleball early, made a new French toast bake, and played Settlers and Hand and Foot. We decorated gingerbread houses and Jess and Cherilee stopped by. They decorated our door and dropped off a jar of fun quotes, and a certificate saying that they paid to plant some trees in my name. It was really thoughtful of them. For dinner we made shrimp scampi (a new favorite) and chocolate fondue for dessert. I was surprised how much a missed my mom that day. I feel like my birthday is the day that connects me the most with my mom. She went through so much to give me life.
Some fun surprises for my birthday--jewelry, flowers, and tickets to a play.
Christmas Eve Sacrament Meeting
Singing in church was stressful and fun. Darcy was mildly cooperative. She was so loving with my dad and happy he came. Last minute wrapping, lasagna, china, rice pudding, nativity, reading, acting out the nativity (a little bumbling but so fun). Decorating presents for Christmas--I loved it all.
Christmas Day! Yummy parfaits before presents. Darcy's squealed and gasped at the Bingo stuffed animal. She wanted my dad to open every gift. Holland loved her new boots and all of the dragon gear. She was so protective of her new violin. Miriam loved her sweater from Ellie, the mini-speaker, and gave the best shrieks at the furniture and pop-a-shot. Ellie is a teen and loves her earbuds and boots.
Dinner at Kayla's house was nice. We did a Christmas breakfast for dinner with Deru sausage, waffles, and fruit. We did a gift exchange with my siblings' families. Kayla passed out some of my mom's and grandma's old clip on earrings that she had turned into pendants for necklaces. It was so nice of her!
This year we went a little overboard with Christmas. We got new furniture for the big girls--dressers and a new bookshelf. We also got a desk with lots of drawers for Holland as a lego desk. We got little bins for her to sort her legos in. And we got a pop a shot for the basement. It is so fun, but I think John and I have more fun with it than the kids do. The problem with getting the kids too many presents for Christmas is that the most expensive things we get them are very practical. So it doesn't feel like a silly gift. It feels like we are using normal (but expensive) purchases to be Christmas presents. And then we feel bad that we are only getting them practical things, so we want to pick up a couple of things for them that are just for fun. And then if you add it all up it feels pretty overboardish.
We really set ourselves up to fail though because we had to assemble all of that Ikea furniture after the kids were in bed every night. And it turns out they don't go to bed early anymore. Then we had to hide the furniture, which was a real challenge. We used the shed and our closet. Cherilee really bailed us out when she offered to put together one of the dressers. That saved us hours on Christmas Eve.
Sorting and trading the water bottle stickers.
She likes the Styrofoam as much as any present.
Holland loved her dragon bad and necklace from Aunt Patti.
So many beautiful necklaces from Aunt Kayla.
Kayla gave Marc and Miriam a shockingly lifelike cat as a prank gift. Darcy love, loved it. It was robotic, so it would meow and move a little bit. I wish they weren't so expensive or I would get one for Darcy sometime.
December 26th was a perfect winter break day. John had the day off work because the holiday was partially on a weekend. We spent time setting up the kids new bedroom furniture. It was weirdly satisfying to sort Legos with Holland. That evening there was a family party at will's house. We played a hilarious candy bar game. The food was a variety of dips, and we played a surprisingly fun game of Telestrations. I loved doing the 12 days of Christmas with everyone.
The next day John had to be back at work, but we had fun as girls at home--naps, games, nail polish, food, and cleaning up our house. We loved trying two new games and playing pop-a-shot. John and I played early morning pickleball which was much more of a workout with two players.
The following Winter break day we spent a bunch of time reworking the girls' closet. We did two playdates, and John and I met up with Matt and Julie Guinn for dinner. It was so fun to catch up with them.
Another advent activity (a favorite of the kids) Santa Shakes!
We got several new games for Christmas.
I drove the girls up to Ogden one day during winter break for a big sleepover at a hotel with Jane and Suzette. David had some points that he wanted to use and thought this would be a fun way to use them. The girls were over the moon. They went bowling and went to dinner. They played games and swam and watched Percy Jackson in the hotel. The next day when I picked them up, they raved about a crepe place that they went to. Miriam said that it looked like Hobby Lobby exploded in there.
We made a festive list everyday. I love Winter break!
We had the best New Year's Eve. After church we made a big list on the wall of all that we wanted to do for our party--our best party of the year. Pop-a-shot tournament, marble track, laser tag, boardgames, watching the Hong Kong fireworks with noise makers. It was so noisy that Darcy said, "Um let's do a more quiet activity." We decided that seeing the Hong Kong fireworks life is now on our bucket list. We also talked about the year and drew our vision for 2024. We made a bucket list for the year. I wonder how many we can get to. I love our New Year's Eve bash!
Our avocados weren't ripe enough for 7 layer dip, so we made that another day and made fancy quesadillas.
December is so busy. I am glad that John's trip was at the beginning and didn't conflict with the MCO concert. The problem is that we try to fit so many things in, but then extra things get fit in without us trying.
The next swim meet we took the whole family to watch Eliza! It was so fun to cheer her on! Later that evening we read about prophecies of Christ and some of His teachings. I love our family scripture study--it is when I feel the Spirit most. We decided to focus on reading the scriptures this Christmas season instead of watching the Bible videos. For whatever reason, I loved it so much more. 
One advent activity was breakfast in bed for the kids. We made them creme brulee French toast, and they were so happy. Eliza said she felt like a noble woman being waited on. Darcy told us it looked like a cake. Months later they'll still talk about it. 
I love the simple advent activities maybe the most. One classic activity is doing a candy cane hunt. I love everyone's excitement about finding them. And then they want to hide them for the parents to find. Also, snowman pancakes are always fun, but never as cute as I think they will be. They always end up looking a little scary. :) 
So many random good things. I loved reading scriptures as a family during the holidays. I just hit a little different this year. I loved timing Eliza's swim meet. I loved witnessing the team spirit. I loved going to book club and starting to feel like I am really getting settled in this community. I loved how much my girls tried to help me learn the alto part of the song that we sang in church on Christmas Eve--they are so patient with me. Our next door neighbor did the violin part, which made the whole thing so much nicer. I loved getting a surprise CD that included my grandparents' 12 Days of Christmas version. We also danced to other classic Christmas songs. I loved when Darcy told John, "I had a good day because Mommy always takes care of me" 
I had such a nice relaxing beithday. We played pickleball early, made a new French toast bake, and played Settlers and Hand and Foot. We decorated gingerbread houses and Jess and Cherilee stopped by. They decorated our door and dropped off a jar of fun quotes, and a certificate saying that they paid to plant some trees in my name. It was really thoughtful of them. For dinner we made shrimp scampi (a new favorite) and chocolate fondue for dessert. I was surprised how much a missed my mom that day. I feel like my birthday is the day that connects me the most with my mom. She went through so much to give me life. 
Christmas Day! Yummy parfaits before presents. Darcy's squealed and gasped at the Bingo stuffed animal. She wanted my dad to open every gift. Holland loved her new boots and all of the dragon gear. She was so protective of her new violin. Miriam loved her sweater from Ellie, the mini-speaker, and gave the best shrieks at the furniture and pop-a-shot. Ellie is a teen and loves her earbuds and boots. 
December 26th was a perfect winter break day. John had the day off work because the holiday was partially on a weekend. We spent time setting up the kids new bedroom furniture. It was weirdly satisfying to sort Legos with Holland. That evening there was a family party at will's house. We played a hilarious candy bar game. The food was a variety of dips, and we played a surprisingly fun game of Telestrations. I loved doing the 12 days of Christmas with everyone. 
No comments:
Post a Comment