New Year's Eve

Let the party begin!

Snacks, games, surprise bags, and a basket full of goodies for the game winners.  We're set.

The kids were happy to "Ring in the New Year" sucking on Ring Pops while
filling in their review pages for our 2014 blog binder.

A fizzy green toast to 2014

One of our bags contained 7-Up and cotton candy.  We put the cotton candy in wine glasses and poured the 7-Up over it.
Science, gross, sweet....just the way they like it.


Hyrum is the Apples to Apples Champion!




 Daymia drew eyes on Nathan's chin and explained how to make silly faces.

Hyrum requested three eyes.

Together they are a real comedy act.



I had no idea that drawing faces on their chins and covering their eyes would make them act this way!

LeRoy went out in the sub-zero temperatures right at midnight to set off a couple of fireworks and yell at the top of his lungs a cheerful "happy new year" to the neighborhood.

Farewell, 2014

FALSE ALARM

Ciera Edwards is announcing a new arrival and purchasing baby furniture? Why did this come to our address?
I immediately took pictures, made a collage and texted it to Derek and Sierra, asking if they had something they wanted to tell us.

Derek: "What the junk?! Most definitely Not!!"
Sierra: "What the!? No! Definitely not!!!! Not for me!!!!"
Once they realized I wasn't taking it seriously we had a good laugh together.



Bret and Erika went out one morning to find out they are having twins.

Unfortunately, the message was left on the wrong car.
After Erika got over wishing it was for her she reached out to find who it was intended for so they could get their congratulatory message.  



Mr. and Mrs.??

No, just really great friends and fun sweatshirts.
Gabor and Vivien make some of the best silly faces I've ever seen (I won't embarrass her by posting them because I want to continue getting them!) and have become good friends.  They went to the Christmas market in Vienna, Austria and spent New Year's Eve in Brno, Czech Republic and during a long run of sickness and IV's for Vivien they made warm soup and tried out a few new recipes.
 

BORED

A group of pictures sent via text from Derek: "I was bored."

His duct tape gloves fit quite nicely and are a great conversation starter.
Unfortunately, they aren't touch phone friendly.


CHOCOLATE

I have never met anyone more in love with chocolate than Sierra.  Dark, milk, semi, turtle, caramel, nut, fruit, mint...it's all good.

For Christmas I made a Chocolate Survival Kit to help her get through the next semester (or at least the first week).


GAME ON

Kate introduced us to Telestrations over Thanksgiving break and  we laughed so hard that it was a must have. We gave it to Daymia for Christmas and since then it has become our favorite Sunday afternoon activity. It is really helpful to have a game that entertains the young adults and still includes the elementary age boys.

Now that I see the pictures all together I realize that it's a "guess you had to be there" kind of situation.
Trust me when I say, we laugh ourselves into tears!

Christmas Highs and Lows

Smiles, belly laughs, gratitude and excitement in the giving were the true gifts that I saw from my children this Christmas.  The cost of the exchanging was kept at a modest minimum and the gifts were not at the top of any best-selling lists but they all seemed to feel the thoughtfulness that went into each item.

The main highlight of our Christmas celebration was orchestrated by Erika.  While attending a Piano Guys concert in the fall, she felt inspired to get Derek a cello for Christmas.  Knowing the cost range of such a project, she invited all family members and close friends of Derek to come together in the giving.  She then contacted Mr. Hansen at the school for information on where to get a new, high quality, low cost cello.  He replied with a link and after processing the order she was giddy.  I was a little worried as she ordered such a costly gift with her own personal funds at stake but she never doubted that it would come together.  She would frequently update me on those who had donated and I noticed that she seldom shared the amount of donation with me, just her enthusiasm and gratitude for them.  It was also fun to watch her and Bret sell things online as a way of gathering funds to make up the difference of cost vs. donations.  Their knack for finding treasures at DI for a small cost and turning it around to sell online at a profit was amazing and seeing them whittle down their collection of shoes and skateboards was a good thing.

The cello arrived a couple of days before Thanksgiving so all who came to the house for the holiday had a sneak peak because she was so excited to share it with others and it was hard for her to hide that excitement for the day that Derek was home from Logan.

When the final moment arrived, she was nearly bouncing off the walls.  Derek went to pick up Sierra (who was stuck in a snowdrift because of the overnight storm) and during that 20 minutes I thought she would pace a trail in the carpet.  Derek had no idea what was coming and as he was directed to unwrap the box that stood nearly as tall as he did, his emotions were already getting the better of him.

It took quite an effort, and a heavy dose of rosin, to get that new bow ready for playing and tuning the cello for the first time required some loosening of the pegs but once it was ready to go we were entertained for nearly two hours as Derek fell in love with his new companion.  Having not played since the previous June when he turned in the rental cello, his fingers were sore but it didn't slow him down any.

This day we witnessed pure love expressed in giving and gratitude.

A bonus gift this year was having Daymia's family stay with us throughout the holidays.  They moved to Mississippi last June and this was their first trip back to Idaho. The only complication in their trip was finding a place to stay without overwhelming their extended family.  The obvious answer was in our basement.  Even with Derek home for Christmas our basement would still have two empty guest rooms...perfect for Daymia's family.

Jon and Tami, Cara, Daymia, Shane, Erica, Jordyn...and Levi

We were already good friends with the Sanders but now they feel like family.  They would wrestle with the little boys while joking around and playing games and then we'd put the little boys to bed and the rest of us would stay up late playing more games and sharing stories that only family tends to share.  They spent most of their days hanging out with extended family around Rexburg and Idaho Falls but we felt privileged having them return to us each night. 

Among the happiness and joy of family we are quite normal and have occasional lows.  This time it was between Nathan and Hyrum. 

Everyone was on Hyrum's good list except for Nathan.  

As great as the high was in the weeks leading up to Derek's cello gift, the low started for me about 2 weeks before Christmas. I had been fighting off a raging headache that would not let up.  And, it wasn't just this headache that had been wearing me down, it was a series of cluster headaches that I'd been dealing with through most of November and December.  No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, hide it, hydrate it, and medicate it, I was getting to the point that I could hardly function.  It was so frustrating to have so many plans that I could not physically carry out and had to eventually just let go of.  LeRoy was great to fill in where I was falling apart.  

At 6am on Christmas Eve morning I asked LeRoy to take me to the doctor.  I knew if I asked him he would make me go even if I talked myself out of it during the next few hours before the office opened.  I've been to doctors before but I don't seem to get much help in narrowing down the cause of the headaches, just an offer of meds to cover the headaches.  This time a cover-up was exactly what I wanted.  

However, the new doctor took a very detailed history as we sat (I was laying in fetal position) in a dark room with him asking questions in whispers. He wanted to get to the cause and this time I just wanted the pain to go away.  Due to the holiday he was happy to give me three shots and we would follow up for a cause later.  I agreed to two of the shots ("an ibuprofen type amped up and a muscle relaxer"...I was too out of it to listen to real medication names) but the third shot I turned down even though the thought of waking up "sometime tomorrow" was so enticing. I didn't want to miss all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; I just wanted the pain to clear.

Following the shots I went directly to the chiropractor because the base of my neck and my shoulders were so extremely tight.  By the time I left there I was nearly asleep.  LeRoy got me home, tucked me into bed and no one saw me for the next four hours.  I woke up long enough to read a couple of stories with the boys and get a little food and then I put on my headphones and to the sound of rain I was out for the night, eleven hours straight. LeRoy took care of Christmas Eve without me, which I was so grateful for, and Erika made sure the finer details were covered.  I felt terrible having Daymia's family here while I was hiding like a hermit in my room but they were so kind and understanding.  I was relieved to hear that they didn't tiptoe around for me; they all just had a fun, silly, happy evening together.

Christmas Day is still a blur.  I do remember Derek opening the cello and I vaguely remember Levi opening his dope money from Erika but other than that I look at the pictures that I took while remaining in one place in the room and they are just pictures, not memories.  I was awake long enough for gift opening (which didn't even start until about 10) and then I slept off the rest of the afternoon, woke for a light dinner, and slept for ten hours that night.

It took a couple of days before my head really cleared and I felt like me again.  I was dizzy, light headed, and had no appetite for about a week but it did knock the headache right out of me (as well as any sense of myself).  Though I mentally and even physically missed out on so much of the holiday I was grateful that everyone worked together to keep up the family traditions for each other and for the little boys.

  

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

With half of my kids gone, I had a difficult time pretending to be excited about decorating the house and tree but for the sake of the younger ones I kicked my attitude out of the pity party and we got to work. The lights, stockings, nativity and the little tree with all of the elementary school picture ornaments turned my whiny frown upside down and Happy Holidays were officially upon us.

December didn't bring any snow - which we were completely fine with - so we spent an evening making snowflakes.  This was the first year that Nathan and Hyrum were able to get a tight enough grip on the scissors to cut through all the paper layers. We were very proud of our delicate flutters hanging in the windows.


Tradition, Tradition!

At the end of November Erika asked me for the binder that we had used for several years when she was younger.  Each night from December 1st through Christmas Day had a story to read from the binder.  After a few years I realized that the kids were complaining that they knew the stories and it was boring and to be honest, I was a bit tired of trying to keep their attention and was a bit bored of the same stories as well. When Erika asked for the binder I stood in surprise at her retelling of what I thought was a forgotten family tradition.

"Remember the elephant story and the one when the boy does the milking early for his dad and what was the one about President Faust?"

I couldn't believe that out of all my children, Erika was the one with fond memories of this.  She complained the loudest, tried to pretend to be asleep and rolled her eyes when we called her for family story time.   This motivated me to revisit our tradition, adapting it to avoid the same boredom that settled in previously.

Days of searching, reading book summaries, and online ordering and I had a months worth of books ready to go.  I loved seeing them all wrapped up under the tree and even though the boys could tell they were books, they were thrilled to open a "present" and take turns reading a new story each night.

Nathan's class learned all about Jewish traditions and the differences between  Hanukkah and Christmas and parents were invited for a day of celebration.  Nathan's part was to teach us about the menorah and how to play Dreidel; explaining what each symbol meant.

Holiday Happenings

I pulled out the paints, paper and Mod Podge to make some new ornaments for the small pine tree in the entry way.

While Justin, LeRoy and I were at a stake meeting, Erika and the little boys made a gingerbread house.  Erika built the house and did the front and sides.  Nathan and Hyrum each did one side of the roof and one gingerbread man.

For Family Home Evening we went to see A Christmas Carol.  I was worried than Nathan and Hyrum would lose interest through the three hour production but they loved it!

Afterward, Nathan begged Bret to take him for pictures with the Ghost of Christmas Future (who attempted to strangle Bret) and Scrooge.


Daymia called on a Saturday to let us know that Santa was visiting Super Cuts so we headed over for some much needed trimming and a chance to visit with St. Nick.

Nathan and Santa has a 15 minute chat while Hyrum had his hair cut and styled.  They discussed favorite traditions, Magic Tree House books, teachers and yummy holiday foods.  After his haircut, he was happy to have his picture taken with Daymia the Reindeer.  Hyrum refused to look at Santa and even though he has a not-so-secret crush on Daymia, he declined a picture with her.


Another December Family Home Evening was spent at the visitor's center at the Idaho Falls Temple.
Through the wind and wet weather we caught a couple of pictures by the nativity and before the remodel starts on the Idaho Falls Temple.

Inside we viewed the Testaments movie on large screen, watched He Is The Gift, and viewed the paintings and video clips around the visitor's center.

Service With a Smile.....and doorbell ditching

Our time at the temple, and daily doses of encouraging stories of service, boosted us into our gift giving tradition.  We chose a family (single mom with two daughters, age 7 and 5) to do the 12 Days of Christmas for.  Shopping with my boys for two little girls of their approximate age was so much fun!  They were thoughtful, thrifty, and completely selfless as we filled our cart with pinks and purples and everything Frozen, hair accessories, jewelry, socks, clothes and even a baby doll for each one of them.

With the nightly gift left on their front porch we included an envelope with a thought, scripture and nativity cut out.

Some nights get somewhat tricky trying to get in our sneaky service as we run between all of our other activities. We tried to go as a family each night but it didn't always work out that way. On a night when I was busy, Justin was great to plan ahead and take the gift to gym with him so he could do it on the way home and on two different nights it was just the little boys and I.  Though I drove him there, Nathan did the doorbell ditching all by himself and felt so big for it.  It was a great way for the boys to own the project rather than just going along with something that I had planned.


We also put together a Tithing Settlement Survival Kit for our bishop.

Lessons from Nature

Fertilizer

I have admired flower beds around town and attempted to beautify my own yard in similar ways.  Though I do enjoy the color added to my yard, I've never had much luck transforming my little seedlings into their lush potential.  I made sure the roots had sufficient soil and water and thought nature would do the rest. After weeks of watering I had minimal blossoms.

During the early weeks of summer I had a visit from my visiting teacher.  We were discussing the woes and joys of gardens and yards when she let her secret slip. Flower fertilizer.  So simple, yet it never crossed my mind.   

In a matter of weeks I witnessed the beauty that comes from the proper care and nutrition necessary for full petunia potential.  Even the Peruvian lillies next to the petunias blossomed in seeming gratitude for the minor adjustment in attention and care.

Thoughts of my own potential and that of my children crossed my mind.  Have I planted them in the life soil provided hoping for the best or do I give them the gospel nutrients and teachings that they need to grow to their full glory? Do I putter through each day barely covering have-to's and must-do's or am I caring for the most important aspects of my journey here on earth?  

The Grass is Always Greener

The first snow of the winter came in early November.  As I stepped out back to feed the cats, my eyes immediately turned to the beautiful green of the field across the way.  The beauty of the field seemed to mock me as I stood surrounded by cold snow in my own yard.

A trip to the school forced me to pass the seemingly unaffected field.  

From a distance it appeared that the field was untouched by snow but a closer look proved that no area of land can avoid the storms when they come.  Perhaps they have the ability to appear unaffected but they are dumped on nonetheless.

It reminded me of years past when I felt that every family around us was perfect; unaffected by the storms raging around our family and home.  Becoming closer to those families has shown me that we are all hit by the same storms. Some families hide it better than others. The best we can do is warm each other with love through the snowy winters of family life.

Sunrise, Sunset  

I stared out the window one cold morning fighting the gloom that seemed to be creeping into my soul.  Justin walked in the room, stood beside me, looked out the window and said, "grab your camera, mom, that's a picture worthy sunrise."

I was caught off guard by his ability to see something picture worthy on such a frosty, grey morning.

Throughout the day and weeks to come I have taken Justin's optimistic example to heart and really tried to see the remaining beauty around me as our part of the world enters the bleak winter season. I found a glimpse of the sun peeking through thick clouds.  I have stared at the naked tree in my front yard as I visualize it's beauty to come in the spring with hope and a reminder that this season is temporary. On one particular day all I could find was gratitude for the sunset and the moonlight as they closed out the day and allowed me to rest.  Most of all, I have tried to see God in his creations. I am grateful for the witness of his love as I find majestic treasures, though sometimes hidden, in all the world around me. 

The Warmth of the Sun

On a foggy, frosty morning I went out for a walk.  As I meandered my way around the block I noticed that there was a distinct difference in the landscape based on where the sun was able to spread its warmth.

The areas touched by the sun were free from the dewy frost of the previous night but those areas still in the shadows were tipped

with chilly crystals.

I want to be in the warmth of the Son.  I want the chills of anxiety, doubt, and frustration to be melted away by His warmth.

'Tis The Season

Once there was a snowman.

He looked so different the next morning.

This once adorable snowman melted his way into my heart as he awkwardly stood as witness that I need to cherish each season of life.  There have been times when I have wished away a difficult stage with a child or prayed to be released from a trial but on this day I was humbled with the reminder that all these seasons "will come together for good" and that "it shall be but a small moment." As I glance over the twenty four years of our family I wish back some of those days, even some hard ones, having not fully gleaned all that I could have from them.  I look forward to the eternity of our family and, like Mary, hope to keep "all these things and ponder them in [my] heart."