FIRST TIMES!
So today was Noah's first time passing the sacrament! He did great! I had to take Sadie out in the middle of it and got to have him bring me the water in the foyer. So that was cool. I think he enjoyed it and is looking forward to getting more comfortable with it all. So cool!! Also, Bradley got to bless the sacrament for the first time! I loved this as well!! Again, I was in the foyer for it, but I think it was really fun to hear my little boy's voice saying those words and performing such a special ordinance. Made the Sacrament that much more meaningful to me this week! So cool that they get to participate in that. Luke will get to prepare the Sacrament for the first time next week probably. We'll see. 1-12-20
WRESTLING- BRAD
Wrestling conditioning started back up on Monday! Brad's been looking forward to this! He was awesome, getting up at 5:20 to get there by 6:00! And now he's talked several other boys in the ward to join. Pretty fun stuff! I'm so impressed! 1-13-20
COOL SADIE CRYING IN THE CAR ANALOGY
I was having an especially spiritual morning on Monday- these are my best mornings for some reason- and had a lot of time to think in the morning as well as on my three trips to the schools. On the way home from one of them, it was just Sadie and I in the car and she started crying. I was quick to try to calm her by talking to her and telling her she was going to be okay, but nothing I was saying was even phasing her. Which was to be expected- she isn't usually very easy to calm down this way. She was in her carseat, all buckled in, safe, but wishing she was somewhere else. And then it hit me this is a lot like us in life. We are riding in this car called life. Heavenly Father is the driver. He's put us securely in our car seat, and knows where he wants us to go, knows how to get there, knows everything about the journey "home" and is anxious for us to return with him. But sometimes we are just so impatient! We could just sit there and enjoy the ride. Making good choices of course, but enjoying the scenery, feeling safe and secure, knowing that He is there, watching out for us, doing all in His power to get us home safely. We could sit back and relax for the most part. But instead we cry. We worry about little bumps in the road and wish we could stop and get out of the carseat. Even just for a minute. Which is sad because if we would just sit there, we would get home and be comfortable and happy! But we get so impatient. Crying out for who knows what and not even noticing that Heavenly Father is there, trying to comfort us, trying to reassure us of our position in this life. Just hit me and gave me reason to think about how I am doing right now. I was definitely needing to take inventory. Monday was a great day! I had so many awesome little miracles that day. 1-13-20
SADIE 6 MONTH WELL CHECK
Took Sadie to the doctor on Monday. She looks great! She showed off her skills and wowed the doc with her cool moves :). He was laughing about how "busy" she is. She REALLY demonstrated that well :). She needs to work on sitting up on her own a little more and laying on her tummy, but overall- doing great! Growing on schedule even! She hated her shots. And again, she is the most sensitive baby I have ever had with shots. She doesn't let you touch her legs for days! And the Tylenol is necessary for days as well. Poor little Princess!! Makes me so sad! She has a definite sad cry and even whimpers a little. Pretty hard for the rest of us. She's such a sweet little thing! She is loving trying out crackers and the few finger foods we've let her have. She HAS to be held. She does not like to be set down. Anywhere. Which isn't too bad with so many helpers around. She likes to smile and is easy to get to laugh. She is VERY busy. Wiggles and kicks her legs NONSTOP! Just like in my tummy! Kinda funny to watch. She still loves her baths and kicks and splashes a ton in there too. She loves her sibs. She could watch them all day and does sometimes. In fact, she's probably our best baby for basketball games! She just sits and watches the game for the most part! Kinda funny really. She gets a little bored towards the end, but for the most part does pretty good! She will never tire of Molly and her "Don't Be Sad" song. We all can't get enough of their relationship. It's miraculous what she will allow Molly to do with her and how much she just watches her. Molly is too! Molly never gets tired of Sadie and makes room for her in her life better than any of the other kids did with younger siblings. It's really cute! I think the only thing Molly won't do for her is throw away her diapers :). 1-13-20
BRADLEY SOPHOMORE ORIENTATION
This was anticlimactic! We filled out his schedule for next year, brought it with us. Tried to cram into the auditorium for the dumb little meeting, but didn't really hear anything. Then went into the school to maybe talk to someone and there was just no motivation from Bradley. So we turned around, turned in his schedule and walked out the door! I think he was only a few minutes late to basketball practice :). Funny stuff. I think he's anxious and nervous for High School. But I'm sure he will do great! I can see him just thriving there. Can't believe he will be going to High School though!!! 1-13-20
NOAH ORCHESTRA
Noah got his new Orchestra teacher this week! His other one got fired just before Christmas break so we were anxious to find out who the new one would be and so far he just loves him!! Mr. K? I think. I have no idea what his name is- he's never made any attempt to communicate with the parents which is really okay with me, but Noah LOVES him! So this should be fun. I'm glad he's getting a little more/better instruction. 1-14-20
ERIKA'S BACK
We've been really stumped on Erika's back pain lately. She woke up on Tuesday with unbearable pain. I let her stay home and we just couldn't shake this pain! It was awful. She did finally make it back to school, but not sure what we should do about this back pain. So far, it's been heping her to try to stay active- we will see if that can keep working. 1-14-20
UNCLE DREWS- GAME 2
Bradley did SO AWESOME in his game this week!!! He was definitely the team MVP!! Made tons of points, plenty of assists, and some really incredible blocks!!! It was so much fun to watch him play!! Made the other team's annoying crowd more bearable!! We lost, but only by a point at the VERY END!! So crazy! This will be a fun season though, if he can keep playing like that! 1-14-20
CHARITY HONOR CHOIR
Charity made it into Honor choir! She had pass offs this week. I'm so proud of her and that she does these things! She's such a cool girl! Glad she keeps using her beautiful voice. 1-15-20
FHE
We had to have FHE on Wednesday this week. There were no youth activities because they're doing the rec center thing on Friday, so it worked out with everyone for the most part. Erika was the lesson- she did a matching game for the tree of life, and we all got to talk about that some more. We've had a lot of study times on it, so we've really done a lot to get this into our heads. She did good. We had Jack's game- button button, and then Molly's treat- POPCORN! 1-15-20
NOAH TEMPLE
Noah went on that Thursday with Nate and I, then the next day with friends, and then Tuesday morning with the girls and then again this Thursday with friends!! He has really been rockin it with the temple attendance. And loving it! I'm so proud of him! I love that he wants to be there and that he chooses friends who want to be there! Very cool! He's going to be a pro in no time! 1-16-20
JACK ACTIVITY DAYS
Jack went to his first activity days activity on Thursday! This was a cool thing for him! They played in the snow and talked about their goals. I think he liked it! 1-16-20
NO SCHOOL/ SLEDDING!!!
Nate and I were racking our brains for something fun to do with the kids this break because we weren't able to go anywhere with the youth rec center activity, but we finally settled on SLEDDING! It was rough getting out the door with all the snow gear and grumpy-ish kids, but we did it! Everyone cheered up on the way to the old Bountiful church, and we all had a really great time! It was 32 degrees outside, so not too ideal, but it had just snowed a ton too! Nate and I juggled Sadie and I did spend a lot of time in the car, but she did surprisingly well especially for not feeling too hot. Molly was fun to watch sledding- this is fairly new to her- and she LOVES snow! Like, to eat it! She would snack on her glove snow all the way back up the hill. As well as smoothing out the cracks in the snow. She loved going down with everyone! She's so brave! We even got her to go down a few times by herself! That was cool. Jack spent a lot of time going down on his own. He is usually off in his own world, but Nate made him go down with Molly and him and Jack LOVED that. He ended up really joining the group and having fun with everyone. Went down with me a few times too! Cute boy. He was pretty happy about the bags on his feet, keeping them warm :). Erika had a blast! She was a tough little girl, doing a belly flop onto the ground, totally hurt her chest, but still got back into things. She had a lot of fun. She's fun to watch- just so brave! Noah was fun too- he liked scaring people as they came down, pretending to almost get hit. He did a flip to get out of the way of Nate, Kelly and Molly when they almost took him out. And I love the story of him jumping over Brad as he laid in front of the ramp. Luke kept pretty busy, first trying to build a ramp and then going down it. He had a lot of fun! I loved seeing him active and havin ga good time. Brad ran around pushing everyone down the hill. Going halfway down each time as he did it. He really enjoys being a facilitator. I think that's cool. He did get to go down a few times on the tubes too- he loved that. Racing Kelly. He was pretty fun the whole time. Kelly acted like she wasn't going to do anything the whole time because she doesn't like cold, but I think she warmed up and was able to really get into it! She had fun going down with Nate and Molly. It was fun to watch her gt into it. Charity was out with friends, so we missed her, but everybody was wishing she could come. Nate was a blast! He did all the hard stuff, pumping up the tubes, pushing everyone down, spinning legs :). And he was lots of fun for everyone! I loved watching him enjoying it all! Lots of fun! It's been a while since we did something like this! I was glad we made time for it and thought of it! Hot chocolate afterwards, a must! 1-17-20
REC CENTER NIGHT/PROJECTOR MOVIE FOR THE LITTLES
The big kids went to the Rec Center night- the little kids and I stayed home for a fun projector movie in mom's bed! We watched Mighty Joe Young! This was a fun evening for us! The big kids had fun too. Sounded like lots of basketball, swimming, handball, six-square, and working out! Don't know how they keep going that late at night! 1-17-20
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Week of 1-5-20
ORDINATIONS
This was a really special and memorable Sunday for me! After church we got to have all three older boys ordained! We invited Grandma and Simon so they were there, and the rest of us as well as Bridger and his parents all crammed into the Bishop's office. It was SO NEAT!! Bridger was first and then we talked about how if Bradley is ordained a Priest first, then he can stand and participate in Luke and Noah's ordinations as well! So he went next. Nate ordained him a Priest and gave him a really cool blessing. I love hearing what Heavenly Father has to say to my kids through the Priesthood blessings. That was neat. Then Luke's turn. Nate ordained him a Teacher and gave him a very special blessing as well. I love that these boys are worthy to receive the Priesthood so that I can participate in this beautiful Spirit that accompanied their ordinations. Brad of course stood in the circle- very cool. Then Noah's turn! Nate ordained Noah a Deacon and gave him the Priesthood! This was pretty special as well. His blessing was awesome too. This was pretty cool that he was able to be ordained six days BEFORE he turned 12! And Brad stood in the circle again. Just a really neat experience! Three boys at once! We got pictures outside afterwards! 1-5-20
PRIESTHOOD PREPAREDNESS
I really loved how the Priesthood Preparedness thing went. It was really simple, but really organized. I loved that they had the Deacon quorum president speak and the younger YW class president too. They did great and gave a lot of great information. Who better for these kids to hear from! Then they had a panel with Bro. Pederson, Bro. Thaxton and Sis. Richardson and I absolutely LOVED that Bro. Thaxton kept turning his questions over to the Deacons! YOUTH LEAD!!! I was happy about that. Happy that Noah has him for his leader and will get opportunities to lead. I think Noah enjoyed it and feels a little more prepared and welcome into Deacons. 1-5-20
MUSIC MAKERS MOVEMENT TIME- TRANSPORTATION
Okay, I absolutely hated movement time today! It was my turn and it went completely haywire!! I don't know why. Well, I do know why- none of the moms do anything!!! They all stand around talking while the person running things has to referee the kids. No paper airplanes next time... 1-6-20
WALMART PICKUP
So didn't have the best experience with Walmart pickup this week! They were backed up and didn't have my order ready on time, so I waited like a half hour. Then I went home, did some stuff, scheduled with them to have Nate pick up and he sat there for a good hour, before I finally just told him to cancel it! A WHOLE DAY BEHIND!!! Kinda nuts. I think they were just understaffed. It was the first day back from the long Christmas break. Anyway. I reordered with Layton Walmart the next day... all was well. 1-6-20
LUNCH WITH KRISTA
Krista and I finally got to go out. We went to Old Grist Mill- it was delicious. Molly and Sadie were awesome, minus Sadie slobbering all over Krista's coat in her high chair :). We had a nice time though. I'm pretty sure I could talk to Krista all day!! Need to do that more often. 1-6-20
UNCLE DREWS
Brad's first game with his sort of comp league was Tuesday! It was really fun to watch them play, but it didn't seem like everyone was playing their best. The team they played was beyond obnoxious, just really loud and in your face. Should have had some technicals called. It was awful. We lost by a lot. But I'm excited about this league- seems like most of the boys can play and will be some good competition. Hopefully we can get in a groove soon. 1-7-20
FHE
We had FHE on Tuesday this week because of basketball practices. Rare that we have any other day open, so we took advantage of that. Jack did the lesson- he had us act out Nephi and his brothers going back to get the brass plates! This was fun. Jack got to be Nephi, Brad and Luke were of course Laman and Lemuel. Noah was Sam. Kelly was Laban, Erika was Zoram, Molly was the brass plates- which she loved and has talked about many times since then. When Charity showed up she was the angel. Nate and I were the parents- of course. It was a lot of fun. We had apples dipped in caramel for the treat. 1-7-20
SCHOOL CHOIR
Noah and Erika started school choir this week! They BARELY made it into the choir because Mrs. Hamblin had mercy on those of us who didn't bring in papers quick enough. They are excited. 1-8-20
CHURCH BALL
We had our last games for church ball for the season on Thursday. Course I think the Priests may have made it to Regions. Kinda fun! It was a bittersweet season for me with all the juggling they did with the boys- since they move up in the middle of the season. Didn't love that. But they had a lot of fun and I loved watching them! 1-9-20
LAST BIRTHDAY TABLE WITH NOAH
We grabbed some Wendy's and headed over to the school! This was Noah's last time having birthday tables! We loved being with him and having that time together! Good stuff! 1-10-20
NOAH'S FAMILY PARTY- DARTSIDE
We had Noah's family party at Dartside this time. We had tried to get Jazz tickets for everyone and go there, but that did not pan out- mainly because Noah didn't want to have to have the family separated! Love that. So we went to Dartside. It was especially fun this time because Grandpa Hatch came! Grandma Hatch came as well, with Porter and he was able to play int he Kid City with Molly, so that was fun. The kids have lots of fun stories about trying to get Grandpa out- he was wearing a leather coat so he "couldn't feel" anything hitting him. Sounded like Nate was a major target as well. Spent a lot of time on the sit- out. But sounded like fun! I was glad Charity was able to join us even if it was cut short with a friend outing. We love having the time we get with her these days! They are few and far between. Noah seemed to be pretty happy and had a good time! We came home for some Jazz Cake and ice cream. Presents too. I think he liked his zipline and stuff from his sibs- everyone had been so thoughtful at the store- finding just the right gifts! Money from the grandparents. It was a nice 12th birthday! 1-10-20
NOAH'S BIRTHDAY
Noah's actual birthday was spent mostly at basketball games :). But I think he enjoys that enough that it was fun! We did get to go to dinner in the morning, Noah chose IHOP. This was one of the most uneventful trips we have had at a restaurant in a long time! Everyone stayed happy the entire time and there were no incidents! I was shocked! We were missing Kelly and Bradley which was a bummer, but they were working, so we understand. It was fun when the waitresses and waiters came out with ice cream for Noah and sang to him! Fun surprise. I think he had a good day. We let him choose dinner and he chose crepes and then we watched a projector movie in my room, on my bed, and Noah got to choose it. Unfortunately, he chose Captain America and that was a little too freaky for the little guys. But it was a fun night! Happy Birthday, Noah! 1-11-20
This was a really special and memorable Sunday for me! After church we got to have all three older boys ordained! We invited Grandma and Simon so they were there, and the rest of us as well as Bridger and his parents all crammed into the Bishop's office. It was SO NEAT!! Bridger was first and then we talked about how if Bradley is ordained a Priest first, then he can stand and participate in Luke and Noah's ordinations as well! So he went next. Nate ordained him a Priest and gave him a really cool blessing. I love hearing what Heavenly Father has to say to my kids through the Priesthood blessings. That was neat. Then Luke's turn. Nate ordained him a Teacher and gave him a very special blessing as well. I love that these boys are worthy to receive the Priesthood so that I can participate in this beautiful Spirit that accompanied their ordinations. Brad of course stood in the circle- very cool. Then Noah's turn! Nate ordained Noah a Deacon and gave him the Priesthood! This was pretty special as well. His blessing was awesome too. This was pretty cool that he was able to be ordained six days BEFORE he turned 12! And Brad stood in the circle again. Just a really neat experience! Three boys at once! We got pictures outside afterwards! 1-5-20
PRIESTHOOD PREPAREDNESS
I really loved how the Priesthood Preparedness thing went. It was really simple, but really organized. I loved that they had the Deacon quorum president speak and the younger YW class president too. They did great and gave a lot of great information. Who better for these kids to hear from! Then they had a panel with Bro. Pederson, Bro. Thaxton and Sis. Richardson and I absolutely LOVED that Bro. Thaxton kept turning his questions over to the Deacons! YOUTH LEAD!!! I was happy about that. Happy that Noah has him for his leader and will get opportunities to lead. I think Noah enjoyed it and feels a little more prepared and welcome into Deacons. 1-5-20
MUSIC MAKERS MOVEMENT TIME- TRANSPORTATION
Okay, I absolutely hated movement time today! It was my turn and it went completely haywire!! I don't know why. Well, I do know why- none of the moms do anything!!! They all stand around talking while the person running things has to referee the kids. No paper airplanes next time... 1-6-20
WALMART PICKUP
So didn't have the best experience with Walmart pickup this week! They were backed up and didn't have my order ready on time, so I waited like a half hour. Then I went home, did some stuff, scheduled with them to have Nate pick up and he sat there for a good hour, before I finally just told him to cancel it! A WHOLE DAY BEHIND!!! Kinda nuts. I think they were just understaffed. It was the first day back from the long Christmas break. Anyway. I reordered with Layton Walmart the next day... all was well. 1-6-20
LUNCH WITH KRISTA
Krista and I finally got to go out. We went to Old Grist Mill- it was delicious. Molly and Sadie were awesome, minus Sadie slobbering all over Krista's coat in her high chair :). We had a nice time though. I'm pretty sure I could talk to Krista all day!! Need to do that more often. 1-6-20
UNCLE DREWS
Brad's first game with his sort of comp league was Tuesday! It was really fun to watch them play, but it didn't seem like everyone was playing their best. The team they played was beyond obnoxious, just really loud and in your face. Should have had some technicals called. It was awful. We lost by a lot. But I'm excited about this league- seems like most of the boys can play and will be some good competition. Hopefully we can get in a groove soon. 1-7-20
FHE
We had FHE on Tuesday this week because of basketball practices. Rare that we have any other day open, so we took advantage of that. Jack did the lesson- he had us act out Nephi and his brothers going back to get the brass plates! This was fun. Jack got to be Nephi, Brad and Luke were of course Laman and Lemuel. Noah was Sam. Kelly was Laban, Erika was Zoram, Molly was the brass plates- which she loved and has talked about many times since then. When Charity showed up she was the angel. Nate and I were the parents- of course. It was a lot of fun. We had apples dipped in caramel for the treat. 1-7-20
SCHOOL CHOIR
Noah and Erika started school choir this week! They BARELY made it into the choir because Mrs. Hamblin had mercy on those of us who didn't bring in papers quick enough. They are excited. 1-8-20
CHURCH BALL
We had our last games for church ball for the season on Thursday. Course I think the Priests may have made it to Regions. Kinda fun! It was a bittersweet season for me with all the juggling they did with the boys- since they move up in the middle of the season. Didn't love that. But they had a lot of fun and I loved watching them! 1-9-20
LAST BIRTHDAY TABLE WITH NOAH
We grabbed some Wendy's and headed over to the school! This was Noah's last time having birthday tables! We loved being with him and having that time together! Good stuff! 1-10-20
NOAH'S FAMILY PARTY- DARTSIDE
We had Noah's family party at Dartside this time. We had tried to get Jazz tickets for everyone and go there, but that did not pan out- mainly because Noah didn't want to have to have the family separated! Love that. So we went to Dartside. It was especially fun this time because Grandpa Hatch came! Grandma Hatch came as well, with Porter and he was able to play int he Kid City with Molly, so that was fun. The kids have lots of fun stories about trying to get Grandpa out- he was wearing a leather coat so he "couldn't feel" anything hitting him. Sounded like Nate was a major target as well. Spent a lot of time on the sit- out. But sounded like fun! I was glad Charity was able to join us even if it was cut short with a friend outing. We love having the time we get with her these days! They are few and far between. Noah seemed to be pretty happy and had a good time! We came home for some Jazz Cake and ice cream. Presents too. I think he liked his zipline and stuff from his sibs- everyone had been so thoughtful at the store- finding just the right gifts! Money from the grandparents. It was a nice 12th birthday! 1-10-20
NOAH'S BIRTHDAY
Noah's actual birthday was spent mostly at basketball games :). But I think he enjoys that enough that it was fun! We did get to go to dinner in the morning, Noah chose IHOP. This was one of the most uneventful trips we have had at a restaurant in a long time! Everyone stayed happy the entire time and there were no incidents! I was shocked! We were missing Kelly and Bradley which was a bummer, but they were working, so we understand. It was fun when the waitresses and waiters came out with ice cream for Noah and sang to him! Fun surprise. I think he had a good day. We let him choose dinner and he chose crepes and then we watched a projector movie in my room, on my bed, and Noah got to choose it. Unfortunately, he chose Captain America and that was a little too freaky for the little guys. But it was a fun night! Happy Birthday, Noah! 1-11-20
First Week of the Year
TEMPLE
One of our goals for the new year is to go to the temple more often. And not just in the mornings, so we can accommodate those who don't do mornings. So Nate took the older kids to the temple on Friday morning. It was PACKED! They have funny descriptions of how crowded it was. I'm afraid it's going to be like this for a while since the Salt Lake Temple is closed now. But it was nice that they were able to go! 1-4-20
One of our goals for the new year is to go to the temple more often. And not just in the mornings, so we can accommodate those who don't do mornings. So Nate took the older kids to the temple on Friday morning. It was PACKED! They have funny descriptions of how crowded it was. I'm afraid it's going to be like this for a while since the Salt Lake Temple is closed now. But it was nice that they were able to go! 1-4-20
Last week of the year
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Becky put together a fun movie date with all the Maynes girls for New Year's Eve. We went down to Sandy at the old theater I used to go to when I lived in Sandy- pretty cool and nostalgic even though it's not really the same.. but anyway- we went to see Maleficent 2 and since Becky had some extra tickets, Rylee Mottishaw and Kate Maughan came with us! It was a lot of fun. We met up with Becky, Nancy, Ali and Bryn, and Meg and Sierra. Sadie did awesome during the movie! I was shocked there was room to set her carseat at my feet and she slept there for a good portion of the movie and then nursed and sat there for the rest of it! I didn't have to go out with her once. Molly needed to go out once to get a drink, but other than that, she was really good too! Erika was with Kate the whole time which was nice because there's no other girls her age. I don't even know how Charity and Kelly did- there were on a different row- they seemed to have fun. It was a good time. I'm glad we were able to go. I don't know why, but I was exhausted when we got home. I ended up taking a pretty long nap.
I woke up about an hour before we needed to go over to the Maughan's for our party with them. We hurried to get out the door and then when we got there and they were still eating- realized- we were half hour off on our start time and basically 15 minutes early! Kind of embarrassing. But what else is new. We played a lot of games with everyone, ate lots of treats! It was a lot of fun! The only thing I didn't enjoy that evening was my back! For some reason, about 10 minutes into the party, my back started hurting. It was just a little pinch at first, but slowly became a really big problem! I could stand okay, just a little pain, and sit okay, on most places, but getting up, holding Sadie, nursing, sitting back down... all of those... felt like death! I seriously wasn't sure what I was going to do! Probably one of my biggest problems in those situations is how I start thinking about the future too much! I was really stressing about how I was going to carry on! It was awful! I was on the verge of tears for a lot of the evening, just trying not to cry and ruin all the fun. I was baby-stepping to 9:30 when we knew Nate was going to have to leave, because I knew I could go home then and get on the heating pad, and cry! Not that I wanted to go home. I didn't. I just didn't know how much longer I could go on! 9:30 came and as we were walking home, I just melted! I couldn't hold it in anymore. The kids helped me get a heating pad on my back, they took Sadie... it was a relief, but I was still in so much pain! Lots of ibuprofen that night! Ugh. It was awful! We played some more games and rang in the new year with our pots and pans, and then watched a movie! I didn't have the strength to do bedtime. Luckily my back felt much better in the morning. Still sore and hard to move around with for a few days, but nothing like that night again. Thank goodness!! It was not something I was able to work around. But anyway!! It was a fun evening for most of the kids and we all enjoyed being together and with the Maughans. Happy 2020!!!
Becky put together a fun movie date with all the Maynes girls for New Year's Eve. We went down to Sandy at the old theater I used to go to when I lived in Sandy- pretty cool and nostalgic even though it's not really the same.. but anyway- we went to see Maleficent 2 and since Becky had some extra tickets, Rylee Mottishaw and Kate Maughan came with us! It was a lot of fun. We met up with Becky, Nancy, Ali and Bryn, and Meg and Sierra. Sadie did awesome during the movie! I was shocked there was room to set her carseat at my feet and she slept there for a good portion of the movie and then nursed and sat there for the rest of it! I didn't have to go out with her once. Molly needed to go out once to get a drink, but other than that, she was really good too! Erika was with Kate the whole time which was nice because there's no other girls her age. I don't even know how Charity and Kelly did- there were on a different row- they seemed to have fun. It was a good time. I'm glad we were able to go. I don't know why, but I was exhausted when we got home. I ended up taking a pretty long nap.
I woke up about an hour before we needed to go over to the Maughan's for our party with them. We hurried to get out the door and then when we got there and they were still eating- realized- we were half hour off on our start time and basically 15 minutes early! Kind of embarrassing. But what else is new. We played a lot of games with everyone, ate lots of treats! It was a lot of fun! The only thing I didn't enjoy that evening was my back! For some reason, about 10 minutes into the party, my back started hurting. It was just a little pinch at first, but slowly became a really big problem! I could stand okay, just a little pain, and sit okay, on most places, but getting up, holding Sadie, nursing, sitting back down... all of those... felt like death! I seriously wasn't sure what I was going to do! Probably one of my biggest problems in those situations is how I start thinking about the future too much! I was really stressing about how I was going to carry on! It was awful! I was on the verge of tears for a lot of the evening, just trying not to cry and ruin all the fun. I was baby-stepping to 9:30 when we knew Nate was going to have to leave, because I knew I could go home then and get on the heating pad, and cry! Not that I wanted to go home. I didn't. I just didn't know how much longer I could go on! 9:30 came and as we were walking home, I just melted! I couldn't hold it in anymore. The kids helped me get a heating pad on my back, they took Sadie... it was a relief, but I was still in so much pain! Lots of ibuprofen that night! Ugh. It was awful! We played some more games and rang in the new year with our pots and pans, and then watched a movie! I didn't have the strength to do bedtime. Luckily my back felt much better in the morning. Still sore and hard to move around with for a few days, but nothing like that night again. Thank goodness!! It was not something I was able to work around. But anyway!! It was a fun evening for most of the kids and we all enjoyed being together and with the Maughans. Happy 2020!!!
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Week of 12-22-19
CEMETERY AND BUFFET
Grandma Ruthie invited us to the cemetery to visit Grandpa Russ and then to her house for a "Christmas Buffet". It ended up being a really nice time. I loved Meg's poem that she read at the grave and the nice spirit that was there as we sang a few Christmas songs together. This is a special family. I feel so blessed to be part of it. I got to talk with Ali and Nancy a little, that's always nice. I just wish Nate had been able to be there. 12-22-19
THE PRIESTHOOD IS SO REAL
I just experienced the coolest little miracle. Sadie has been a little sick for the past few days. Goopy eyes, cough, etc. It’s been a fairly light bug though so we’ve just done the humidifier and keeping her eyes clean. She’s been okay. But tonight, at about 1:30 she woke up just screaming. I went to get her and bring her to bed to nurse her, and she would not nurse! She was violently not eating and screaming through the whole process, so I thought maybe she’s poopy, went to change her and her diaper was not even wet which was not a good sign. Then I brought her downstairs to bounce her a little and she just screamed. Nothing was working. She rarely even slowed down her screaming. It was so sad and a little scary. I thought maybe I should give her some Tylenol, looked up the dosing online but my syringe and bottle were not even comparable to use them together. So I gave up on that. Tried taking off her jammies cuz she seemed hot and standing in the open doorway helped for a second, but that was all. So I tried a blanket. That didn’t do anything. Then I got the idea to pray. I don’t know why I hadn’t tried sooner, but I did say a little prayer in my head. I was interrupted with the thought to go up and have Nate give her a Priesthood blessing. Which I did. As I got in our room and said the words, “I think you should give her a blessing, the words from my patriarchal blessing popped in my head. Made me think this was a prompting. I didn’t hear much of what he said, Sadie screamed through the whole thing, but the coolest thing happened on the way down the stairs, I stopped in her room looking for something soft like her B from Molly, couldn’t find it, but thought to grab her toy flamingo, and rattled it a little. She stopped screaming a little so I poked it at her with some smiles and rattled it a little more and she immediately stopped crying. Even smiled a tiny bit. Then we sat down on the couch and she grabbed at it a little. I got the idea to try nursing her and sure enough she went for it! She nursed for a few minutes and then fell asleep! I don’t dare move her even to the other side, but I’ve been overwhelmed with the Spirit and thoughts about the power of the Priesthood. It is so amazing!! I had to text Nate upstairs and say a few words about our little miracle and he was feeling the same way. Pretty cool. I feel so blessed to have been able to be part of this cool miracle. Unworthy, and ashamed that it took me almost 40 minutes to think of the right solution, but oh so blessed.
Right after this all happened I wanted to share the moment with someone so I messaged Becky and I think being able to hear about it was an answer to her prayers! Which made me glad I could help. Pretty cool little miracle. The Priesthood is so real. 12-22-19
GRANDMA HATCH
So, I'm not sure what happened to it, but the party my mom had planned for the family kinda got canceled. I guess Heidi couldn't come or something. I don't know. She had wanted to frost cookies and sing songs and while we had changed it to our house for the space, we were all excited and cleaned up the house for it. So I'm not really sure what happened. But my mom gave everyone gifts and cute little fuzzy stockings full of M&Ms and money for some people :). She had already given me my cute Precious Moments Advent Nativity a week or so earlier. So we all had a nice time together, it was a good evening, just not the party we had anticipated. 12-23-19
BRADLEY
I made a note in my calendar about Bradley saying something funny about wives being the boss of the husband and I can't remember it exactly, but I wanted to make note of it anyway :). To tell his cute (I'm sure she'll be adorable if she gets my Bradley) wife :). He's a very smart boy! 12-27-19
Grandma Ruthie invited us to the cemetery to visit Grandpa Russ and then to her house for a "Christmas Buffet". It ended up being a really nice time. I loved Meg's poem that she read at the grave and the nice spirit that was there as we sang a few Christmas songs together. This is a special family. I feel so blessed to be part of it. I got to talk with Ali and Nancy a little, that's always nice. I just wish Nate had been able to be there. 12-22-19
THE PRIESTHOOD IS SO REAL
I just experienced the coolest little miracle. Sadie has been a little sick for the past few days. Goopy eyes, cough, etc. It’s been a fairly light bug though so we’ve just done the humidifier and keeping her eyes clean. She’s been okay. But tonight, at about 1:30 she woke up just screaming. I went to get her and bring her to bed to nurse her, and she would not nurse! She was violently not eating and screaming through the whole process, so I thought maybe she’s poopy, went to change her and her diaper was not even wet which was not a good sign. Then I brought her downstairs to bounce her a little and she just screamed. Nothing was working. She rarely even slowed down her screaming. It was so sad and a little scary. I thought maybe I should give her some Tylenol, looked up the dosing online but my syringe and bottle were not even comparable to use them together. So I gave up on that. Tried taking off her jammies cuz she seemed hot and standing in the open doorway helped for a second, but that was all. So I tried a blanket. That didn’t do anything. Then I got the idea to pray. I don’t know why I hadn’t tried sooner, but I did say a little prayer in my head. I was interrupted with the thought to go up and have Nate give her a Priesthood blessing. Which I did. As I got in our room and said the words, “I think you should give her a blessing, the words from my patriarchal blessing popped in my head. Made me think this was a prompting. I didn’t hear much of what he said, Sadie screamed through the whole thing, but the coolest thing happened on the way down the stairs, I stopped in her room looking for something soft like her B from Molly, couldn’t find it, but thought to grab her toy flamingo, and rattled it a little. She stopped screaming a little so I poked it at her with some smiles and rattled it a little more and she immediately stopped crying. Even smiled a tiny bit. Then we sat down on the couch and she grabbed at it a little. I got the idea to try nursing her and sure enough she went for it! She nursed for a few minutes and then fell asleep! I don’t dare move her even to the other side, but I’ve been overwhelmed with the Spirit and thoughts about the power of the Priesthood. It is so amazing!! I had to text Nate upstairs and say a few words about our little miracle and he was feeling the same way. Pretty cool. I feel so blessed to have been able to be part of this cool miracle. Unworthy, and ashamed that it took me almost 40 minutes to think of the right solution, but oh so blessed.
Right after this all happened I wanted to share the moment with someone so I messaged Becky and I think being able to hear about it was an answer to her prayers! Which made me glad I could help. Pretty cool little miracle. The Priesthood is so real. 12-22-19
GRANDMA HATCH
So, I'm not sure what happened to it, but the party my mom had planned for the family kinda got canceled. I guess Heidi couldn't come or something. I don't know. She had wanted to frost cookies and sing songs and while we had changed it to our house for the space, we were all excited and cleaned up the house for it. So I'm not really sure what happened. But my mom gave everyone gifts and cute little fuzzy stockings full of M&Ms and money for some people :). She had already given me my cute Precious Moments Advent Nativity a week or so earlier. So we all had a nice time together, it was a good evening, just not the party we had anticipated. 12-23-19
BRADLEY
I made a note in my calendar about Bradley saying something funny about wives being the boss of the husband and I can't remember it exactly, but I wanted to make note of it anyway :). To tell his cute (I'm sure she'll be adorable if she gets my Bradley) wife :). He's a very smart boy! 12-27-19
Week of 12-15-19
AGAIN
We did it again. We slept in. I woke up at 8:09! We had about 40 minutes to get ready. The crazy thing is that we did it!! We got ready in time and made it there. Pretty remarkable. Hopefully we can get our act together soon 🙄. 12-15-19
REPENTANCE
I had a lot of thoughts about repentance on Sunday. About how it is a protection. I had never really thought of it as such. We never know when it will be too late to repent. It’s wise to be on top of things. Repent right away. Pretty good reminder. 12-15-19
29TH DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
Tonight was a letter from Lacie Goddard! Pretty awesome! She’s so good to me. Funny that we hardly know each other. Also, chocolate covered S’mores candy! 12-16-19
SADIE’S STOCKING
Molly, Sadie and I Finally got the stuff for Sadie’s stocking ツ. I had some fabric leftover from when I made the first other ones, but not enough. I was so happy when I found the red with white polka dots. I bet Becky will be happy to hear that I did the polka dots ツ. I was also relieved to find plenty of Rick-rack too. Now I just need to find tome to make it! 12-16-19
HOLEY MOLY
Well, I was trying to slice off the wart on the bottom of my foot like the doc ordered and I ended up cutting off a huge chunk! It’s basically a giant hole on the bottom of my foot! It hurts so bad!!! I’m not 100% sure what to do with it. I’ve decided this is a trial I need to endure. I’m working on that. 12-17-19
30TH DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
A letter from My mom and Simon and a cute little miniature nativity with the word love. It’s adorable! 12-17-19
31ST DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
I got a latter from Hannah Maynes! So fun, she’s a sweetheart! And a gift card to Red Robin. 12-18-19
CHARITY SINGING AT COLUMBIA
We haven’t been able to go to as many of Charity’s concerts as we would have liked, so we made it a priority to go see her Mass group perform at the Elementary school! This was a lot of fun! Molly got to run around giving her sibs hugs. Charity got to pass around Sadie to all of her friends beforehand. And they put on a very fun concert!! I love that they incorporate some music facts and technique. It was really fun to watch Charity up there she seemed to feel right at home. She also did a fantastic job on her solo. She has such an amazing voice. 12-19-19
BRAD AND LUKE CONCERT
In the evening we all got to go hear Brad and Luke sing in their concert. I loved that she only had the audition choirs performing together and separated the other ones at a different time. Made it easier to find a place to sit. They did a cute/fun number- Sisters from White Christmas, and basically danced around with boas like they were a bunch of women- and this was just the boys. It was hilarious! I loved it. 12-19-19
32ND DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
I got a letter from Stacey Empey! She actually wrote it in a cute card! Pretty special. She’s so sweet! Also, a gift card to go to the ax throwing place! That will be fun! 12-19-19
TEMPLE SQUARE TO SEE THE LIGHTS AND VENDING MACHINE
We had planned our trip to salt lake on the front runner to be earlier in the day so that we weren’t getting home so late at night, but when we got to the train station we’re learned that they don’t even run til almost 5:00. It was about 3:00 so we opted for the convenient- driving ourselves down there. Not keeping up with tradition, but definitely easier and quicker. We got down there, parked in our usual spot next to the conference center and walked right over to the JSMB for the vending machines! The kids had spent the week “earning money” by doing extra chores around the house so that they could donate it in the service vending machines. This was a lot of fun last year and I feel like we made it even more special by javejng them earn the money we donated. It ended up feeling really memorable. We wandered around some more, I fed Sadie, and we saw the candy windows, the nativities around temple square, mom and dad’s spot, the north visitors center where we played with family search, then got some hot chocolate and then finally saw the lights ツ when it got dark enough for them to turn on. It was a very pleasant trip! We had Sadie in the papoose which was nice and she cooperated pretty well. It wasn’t a cold evening. We had an awesome time. We came home and had a movie night and enjoyed the fact that it was Christmas break!! 12-19-19
CLAIRE!!
Saturday was our much anticipated hang out with Claire! I was really excited to see Claire and really excited to give her the gift I had made for her. I mean, it wasn't exactly homemade, but I put a lot of thought into it and worked on it pretty long... I mean for a gift now days, it was a long time :). So anyway. She came, we had taco salad for dinner- Erika's dinner and she helped. Then Claire had us open one of the gifts from her- it was a box with a gingerbread house kit! We love gingerbread houses! So we sat and made/decorated those. That was fun. Reminded me why we do the glue on our graham cracker ones :), but it was still fun and a good time. Then we went to the kitchen for another gift from Claire- a giant piano!! The kind you can step on! SO COOL! We really loved this! Everyone took turns (really impolitely, and embarrassingly of course), but we all got to play on it and show off our foot piano playing skills. It's harder than it looks! I was surprised. For a seasoned pianist, I made a fool of myself :). But anyway. Then we gave Claire her gift! She squealed with excitement when she saw it and that made my day! It was fun to talk about all the Alaska pictures- it was a blanket with 8 pictures of Alaska when she visited and said, "Claire in the AK"- we talked about all our memories- I'm still shocked at how much she remembers of that trip! I mean, she's been on LOTS of trips! So I was slightly flattered :) We even fact checked with my blog! She and I got to talk a little after that and I always enjoy that. Takes me back to Taylorsville when we were "across the street" neighbors. I loved those days so much. Not that I don't love these ones too, they were just pretty special ones. Partly because of people like Claire! I guess it wasn't Claire that gave us the free tree that one year- she didn't remember that at all! But funny to remember the snowman in her driveway and the trees all over her front lawn!! HA! Dan Cockayne and his silly pranks. Fun stuff though. Good times. I'm so grateful for Claire and that she is still in our life. Such a great example to me. Til next time! 12-21-20
We did it again. We slept in. I woke up at 8:09! We had about 40 minutes to get ready. The crazy thing is that we did it!! We got ready in time and made it there. Pretty remarkable. Hopefully we can get our act together soon 🙄. 12-15-19
REPENTANCE
I had a lot of thoughts about repentance on Sunday. About how it is a protection. I had never really thought of it as such. We never know when it will be too late to repent. It’s wise to be on top of things. Repent right away. Pretty good reminder. 12-15-19
29TH DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
Tonight was a letter from Lacie Goddard! Pretty awesome! She’s so good to me. Funny that we hardly know each other. Also, chocolate covered S’mores candy! 12-16-19
SADIE’S STOCKING
Molly, Sadie and I Finally got the stuff for Sadie’s stocking ツ. I had some fabric leftover from when I made the first other ones, but not enough. I was so happy when I found the red with white polka dots. I bet Becky will be happy to hear that I did the polka dots ツ. I was also relieved to find plenty of Rick-rack too. Now I just need to find tome to make it! 12-16-19
HOLEY MOLY
Well, I was trying to slice off the wart on the bottom of my foot like the doc ordered and I ended up cutting off a huge chunk! It’s basically a giant hole on the bottom of my foot! It hurts so bad!!! I’m not 100% sure what to do with it. I’ve decided this is a trial I need to endure. I’m working on that. 12-17-19
30TH DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
A letter from My mom and Simon and a cute little miniature nativity with the word love. It’s adorable! 12-17-19
31ST DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
I got a latter from Hannah Maynes! So fun, she’s a sweetheart! And a gift card to Red Robin. 12-18-19
CHARITY SINGING AT COLUMBIA
We haven’t been able to go to as many of Charity’s concerts as we would have liked, so we made it a priority to go see her Mass group perform at the Elementary school! This was a lot of fun! Molly got to run around giving her sibs hugs. Charity got to pass around Sadie to all of her friends beforehand. And they put on a very fun concert!! I love that they incorporate some music facts and technique. It was really fun to watch Charity up there she seemed to feel right at home. She also did a fantastic job on her solo. She has such an amazing voice. 12-19-19
BRAD AND LUKE CONCERT
In the evening we all got to go hear Brad and Luke sing in their concert. I loved that she only had the audition choirs performing together and separated the other ones at a different time. Made it easier to find a place to sit. They did a cute/fun number- Sisters from White Christmas, and basically danced around with boas like they were a bunch of women- and this was just the boys. It was hilarious! I loved it. 12-19-19
32ND DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY
I got a letter from Stacey Empey! She actually wrote it in a cute card! Pretty special. She’s so sweet! Also, a gift card to go to the ax throwing place! That will be fun! 12-19-19
TEMPLE SQUARE TO SEE THE LIGHTS AND VENDING MACHINE
We had planned our trip to salt lake on the front runner to be earlier in the day so that we weren’t getting home so late at night, but when we got to the train station we’re learned that they don’t even run til almost 5:00. It was about 3:00 so we opted for the convenient- driving ourselves down there. Not keeping up with tradition, but definitely easier and quicker. We got down there, parked in our usual spot next to the conference center and walked right over to the JSMB for the vending machines! The kids had spent the week “earning money” by doing extra chores around the house so that they could donate it in the service vending machines. This was a lot of fun last year and I feel like we made it even more special by javejng them earn the money we donated. It ended up feeling really memorable. We wandered around some more, I fed Sadie, and we saw the candy windows, the nativities around temple square, mom and dad’s spot, the north visitors center where we played with family search, then got some hot chocolate and then finally saw the lights ツ when it got dark enough for them to turn on. It was a very pleasant trip! We had Sadie in the papoose which was nice and she cooperated pretty well. It wasn’t a cold evening. We had an awesome time. We came home and had a movie night and enjoyed the fact that it was Christmas break!! 12-19-19
CLAIRE!!
Saturday was our much anticipated hang out with Claire! I was really excited to see Claire and really excited to give her the gift I had made for her. I mean, it wasn't exactly homemade, but I put a lot of thought into it and worked on it pretty long... I mean for a gift now days, it was a long time :). So anyway. She came, we had taco salad for dinner- Erika's dinner and she helped. Then Claire had us open one of the gifts from her- it was a box with a gingerbread house kit! We love gingerbread houses! So we sat and made/decorated those. That was fun. Reminded me why we do the glue on our graham cracker ones :), but it was still fun and a good time. Then we went to the kitchen for another gift from Claire- a giant piano!! The kind you can step on! SO COOL! We really loved this! Everyone took turns (really impolitely, and embarrassingly of course), but we all got to play on it and show off our foot piano playing skills. It's harder than it looks! I was surprised. For a seasoned pianist, I made a fool of myself :). But anyway. Then we gave Claire her gift! She squealed with excitement when she saw it and that made my day! It was fun to talk about all the Alaska pictures- it was a blanket with 8 pictures of Alaska when she visited and said, "Claire in the AK"- we talked about all our memories- I'm still shocked at how much she remembers of that trip! I mean, she's been on LOTS of trips! So I was slightly flattered :) We even fact checked with my blog! She and I got to talk a little after that and I always enjoy that. Takes me back to Taylorsville when we were "across the street" neighbors. I loved those days so much. Not that I don't love these ones too, they were just pretty special ones. Partly because of people like Claire! I guess it wasn't Claire that gave us the free tree that one year- she didn't remember that at all! But funny to remember the snowman in her driveway and the trees all over her front lawn!! HA! Dan Cockayne and his silly pranks. Fun stuff though. Good times. I'm so grateful for Claire and that she is still in our life. Such a great example to me. Til next time! 12-21-20
Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning pictures
So our Christmas Eve was great! Nothing too spectacular, but very pleasant! We were surprised with two tiny little pearly whites in sweet little Sadie's mouth and while I hate taking pictures of good babies when they're crying (it's okay to take crying pictures of babies who cry a lot- that's what they do, but good babies--- I like to pretend like they were never crying, so no pictures :). Just kidding), but this kind of demonstrates how she had been feeling for the past couple days. Possibly what was bothering her on miracle night. But either way- my sweet little five month old is cutting teeth already! Shouldn't surprise us with how much drooling this little one does, but I was still a little surprised! And bummed. Teeth means growing up and possibly more pain while nursing, so here we go :). I do think they look pretty cute though.
Got our groceries, went over to the church with the Maughans to get out some of our Christmas excitement wiggles :). Then we cleaned up the house a little, getting it "Spotless" for Santa to come. And then it was time to go talk to Santa at Nate's work! Kind of a bummer for Nate to have to spend the day there and then go back during his time off, but so fun that he makes that sacrifice for all of us so that we can go talk to Santa.
It was fun this year. We went oldest to youngest again. With Charity he talked about her great job with her schooling and scholarship and everything and her madrigals. She asked Santa to surprise her. Kelly it was lacrosse and something else? (guess I should have documented all of this sooner, sorry Kelz) She asked Santa to surprise her as well. Bradley it was his sports and cross country. I think this is when he made the joke about playing basketball with the elves... kinda funny. Bradley asked for a Jazz hoodie. Luke... I can't remember- I will have to ask him! Sorry, Luke. My memory is horrible right now with this sleep deprivation. He asked for Santa to surprise him as well. With Noah it was Peter Pan and he asked for him to surprise him as well. Erika he talked about her being a lost boy and she asked to be surprised. Jack he talked about basketball and how good he's been at taking the trash out and Jack asked for legos. And this was the first time we've been able to get Molly to talk- she talked about taking care of Sadie and asked for him to surprise her ;). It was a lot of fun. I love how much the kids love to see Nate's work too. Especially the older ones who have talked to Santa a lot and don't get as excited about that- they are genuinely interested in what Nate does.
We got done early and grandpa wasn't expecting us for another hour, so we went back home to tidy up just a little more and grab the camera.
Once at grandpa's the partying began. We had a blast at grandpa's! I must admit I was not feeling too good and was super nervous about the evening to follow. I had finished wrapping MOST of the gifts over the past week, but there was enough to do that I was, not dreading it, but anticipating a long night. Which was hard considering how I was feeling. But like I said, we had a blast! We ate tons and tons of food! But not all of it, of course, we had tons leftover too. Then after a few moments of awkward silence and then small people asking when we get to open presents- the present-opening began:
Sadie got a cute crib toy like I'd been searching for! I didn't even tell grandpa this one! Maybe he is Santa Claus!
She's looking at it- must like it!
Molly got a little mermaid baby and a Frozen 3D puzzle, which I have to laugh looking at this picture because Kelly was the one who ended up helping her with it and I use the words "helping her" lightly- they were only on it together for a short time before Molly realized it was way over her head. She kinda ditched Kelly with it and after a couple hours Kelly was able to declare the thing done, but WHEW! Not so much for little kids as we thought :). It did look super cool when she got it done. Kelly is so nice to "help".
Jack got legos! Just like he had wanted from Santa! Pretty awesome!
Erika got some Calico Critters! And a cute Treehouse for them! This was a big surprise and she LOVED them! Pretty cool.
Noah got a 7x7 rubiks cube. He got pretty far on it over the Christmas break, but I don't think he's finished it quite yet.
Luke got a really fancy set of fidget toys. It's from grandpa so you know it's the best of the best and hardest toys on the planet- I think Luke was looking up the solving video on YouTube before the night was over.
Brad got a Jazz hoodie, just like he wanted! See what I mean- I think Grandpa might be Santa!
Brad and Molly have become pretty close these days! He's SOOOO good to her! It's crazy how much patience he has and how fun he can be! Cool big brother- I hope she appreciates that some day.
He's trying not to look too disappointed since it's way too small. Grandpa asked me what size and then picked his own size :). Silly Grandpa. But it all worked out- we just gave this one to Luke and got Brad a new one!
Kelly got the note taking Book of Mormon she had had on her list :).
Charity got a Jazz blanket and a Jazz bear pillow pet! Doesn't get better than that.
I didn't even mention that Steve was there! Livening the place up of course! What would Christmas Eve be without Steve? I don't want to know! He opened our gift first- we gave him two- this one was the blanket- because he wanted one :). And then the thoughtful gift:
The toy that crawls faster the louder you yell at it! HA! So funny. Only for Steve.
And we gave Grandpa the gift we got for him- a UofU blanket! I think he likes it.
Also, some pistachios and then Kelly for the first time gave him a gift from just her! Very cool! It was a back-scratcher- I thought that was pretty sweet of her! I remember when I started giving a gift to Nana from me on Christmas Eve. Made me feel a little less like a spoiled brat when I opened her gift to me :).
After presents and some more visiting- Nate had to go to work. This was sad. I was really hoping he might surprise me with telling me he didn't have to work the mid afterall! But no. He did. I felt as bad for him as I did for myself :). But we hugged him and he was off.
After some more visiting and part of a movie (can't remember which one- maybe Frozen?) we headed out. Took a few loads of leftovers and gifts to get us all out to the car, but we made it! I was SO RELIEVED when I realized the snow had stopped and wasn't near as bad as I was anticipating watching it come down. The driveway still felt like a death-defying act, but once we got off Skyline Drive the roads were clear! So it was a nice, normal drive home, just looking for Rudolph and Santa's sleigh in the sky. It was super cloudy though, I'm not sure we saw him.
We got home and hurried and opened jammies and took our pictures! I really messed up on pajamas this year- got a few that were way too small. Bummed me out! Not sure what I was thinking. Maybe just an off year with their sizes- I don't know. Next year I will do better!
And then we prayed and hurried off to bed! Sadie and I spent the entire evening together. Wrapping, nursing, watching movies to pass the nursing time more patiently, and wrapping some more. I think I got to sleep around 3:30. That was better than past Christmases. I wish I'd been less optimistic about how much I had to wrap still... it was a lot more than I had thought. But oh well! That's part of the fun! And I enjoyed it! I love spoiling my kids a little on Christmas. They deserve it!
Christmas morning came quickly! I was awakened by Luke, patiently asking if I want to come downstairs and do stockings. To which I replied that we needed to wait for Nate to come home and then got Luke's quick reply, "He is home!" Couldn't believe it was already 7:30!!! Felt like I'd only been asleep for a few minutes! Took me quite a while to wake up! We did stockings which is fun- our kids are so cute about our traditions- I just love it! Then we made Creamed Eggs on Toast- which everyone helped with! Then ate and talked about what they love about me :). Gotta love that!
Then it was on to presents! Santa's gifts first! We always go youngest to oldest!
Jack got the I Survived books he had asked for PLUS two other really cool picture books! How did Santa know he's been way into those kinds of things lately! Such a cool surprise!
In Erika's letter to Santa she had asked for a bell from Dasher and how many elves he has- which he answered that question on the phone the night before- there are 743- but she also got one of Dasher's bells! Look at it, it's like all rusted from the wet! Pretty cool! Along with the bell was a giant box of Cheddar Pretzels! Her favorite! I think she said there were 19 bags in there! Plus a few cheddar chex mixes! Pretty awesome!
Luke got a fitbit! This was pretty exciting as you can see! Santa surprised him! I think Nate was almost just as excited- now they can compete on steps and stuff :). It has been fun to see Luke checking on his sleep score and wanting to get a better score- pretty fun. Plus I've never seen him running our stairs the way he has this week! Pretty cute.
Bradley got a new fishing bag packed with fishing stuff! Just like he wanted!
Not sure why, but I didn't get a picture of Charity opening her Jazz tickets from Santa! :( how sad!! Probably feeding Sadie-- that was kind of the theme of the day :). Super hungry ALL DAY. Sorry, Charity! But she did get Jazz tickets- as per her request.
So then we moved on to Family gifts. We did it a little differently this time, I think, we went youngest to oldest GIVING the gifts we made. So Molly gave her gift to Noah first.
She gave him a gift of her own inventing! How appropriate since she had Noah. She had found a mug with a basketball hoop attached. So you can shoot marshmallows in the hoop and into your hot cocoa... it was super cute, but ceramic, so not super doable, but we got creative and found a way to create the gift SHE WANTED TO GIVE HIM!! She loved how it turned out and I think Noah even liked it too! She gave it to him with some cereal and marshmallows for hot cocoa.
Jack had Charity. He had wanted to write her a nice letter and frame that and was going to draw the Jazz logo around the letter, but when it came time to writing it, he was no longer in the mood. But he did do an amazing job on the Jazz logo and with the nice frame will make a nice decoration in Charity's bedroom! I was proud of what he did- I just wanted to remember his thoughtfulness about the letter- maybe someday he will get around to that letter :).
Erika had Nate- she always puts so much thought into her gifts! This one took many hours of work as usual. She had found a cool little ring of tiny pages and decided to write things she loves about Nate, some funny jokes, and quotes, and then some memories and pictures on all the pages. It ended up so cute! I was so proud of her effort and hard work! I am certain this was meaningful to Nate. He loves sentimental things like this!
Noah had Kelly and had put a lot of thought and work into his gift as well! This was cool because Kelly was the one to teach him how to use her tablet so that he could draw digital pictures and put them together to make a book! And on top of that, the book was about some bears testing berries just like when Kelly and Noah tested fries at fast food places :). It was super cute! I think my favorite page was the About the Author page. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the cover. Such a cute idea! She loved it of course!
Luke had Bradley. He made him a frame with magnet around it so that he can attach his fishing lures to it! So cool! We were bummed the lures we'd bought didn't exactly stick, but with the picture of Brad and that huge fish in the frame- you can't really go wrong :).
Bradley had Luke and he found a cool idea to make him a brain game with some metal light switch plates! But he didn't just make the game, he painstakingly painted the switch plates to look really cool! I was super impressed with his artistic abilities! They looked really cool! And Luke really liked them- even though he looks funny in this picture :).
Sadie had Molly (we must have skipped Sadie because she was asleep or something :) ). She (actually I) made a cute little ABC book using mostly pictures of Molly and Sadie ;). It's called Molly's ABC's. It turned out so cute!! I love it! I need to make more of these in the future- they're way fun. And Molly of course loves it!
I had Jack and I made him a rubber band gun out of a candy cane full of hershey kisses :). It's pretty cool if I do say so myself. And I think Jack loved it!
Nate had Erika. He had spent the past few weeks working on his gift. A drawing of a beautiful bird!! She loved it!
Here's Sadie opening the gift Kelly made her. A cute wall hanging that says, "She leaves a sparkle wherever she goes" So appropriate :). Now we'll never forget her 1st name, Sparkle :).
It was a lovely Christmas Day! Couldn't have asked for more. My dad came over later with a Baskin Robins ice cream cake so Nate put the Dairy Queen one he'd gotten on hold- so polite- and we had my dad's cake for dessert.
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