Saturday, January 25, 2014

Just a Little Bit of Ketchup

 Oh, hi! I know I promised (to myself) that I was going to catch-up my blog about two weeks ago and well, that just didn't happen. But I'm here! I'm ready! I have a minute or two!

Last time I did a catch-up, I ended somewhere after Halloween and Magnus' birthday. So, here we are, mid-November. I'm doing this for posterity sake, remember?

November was as busy as ever. I am grateful for moments like the one below where I have record that I did take a minute to slow down once in awhile. The baby boys and I enjoyed lunch with my dad one rainy afternoon. I love the fact that my dad is always up for anything. I had called him to ask him a question and he asked me what I was doing and where I was. I was at Target and he said he was nearby and offered to take us to lunch. What a guy.


 Love that dad of mine.

This was taken  while I was on my way to my very last biology lecture of the semester. I know I talk about  that class a lot, but it was truly so hard for me and I am still so proud of myself for finishing it. Many, many tears were shed over that class. After I found out that there is a national 70% fail/drop rate for this class, I felt like a champ for enduring when all I wanted to do was drop it and quit.
 My happy face :)

 My 3 kiddos entered the Reflections contest this year. The girls because they wanted to, the boy because he had to. It was required by his teacher. Daphne did musical composition, Laylah did dance choreography, and Jonah threw together some 3-D art one afternoon. He made a little soccer field out of clay along with little guys having a game. Well, the girls both took first place and moved onto region. Jonah received an honorable mention. We were pretty excited around here for all of them. Since then we found out that Laylah won in region and is moving onto the state! We are proud!

 Daphne has the best teacher. She did a huge Thanksgiving unit and they were required to learn all about how real pilgrims did it. They dressed up for part of every day in November and did things that real pilgrims did. They learned all about how much they suffered and how many of them died. Daphne loved it and I was pretty impressed with her new pilgrim knowledge. The day before break they had a huge Thanksgiving feast and all of the parents were invited to participate. it was so much fun.

 Sadly, those are the only photos I even have of anything Thanksgiving related. I told Andy to remind me to take some pictures on Thanksgiving, but that morning was when he went and played football and tore his achilles tendon (which we didn't know at the time of course) while I was preparing some of our Thanksgiving feast. He was drugged up all day and I was busy helping with preparations, so the camera was forgotten. It was a wonderful holiday though. We ate with Andy's family and everything was delicious. We later went over to my parents just to say hello and also drop off the kids with them for a sleepover. My parents took the kids to Classic Skating for the evening (where they all had a blast I heard) and Kaylie and I went to do a little black Friday shopping. I hate that it is starting earlier and earlier, but I still go... Luckily I had done a lot of my shopping online and only needed to get a few things. We were done by 11. I went home to a miserable Andy and we were able to sleep in thanks to the kids being at my parents. It was a great holiday weekend full of fun and family.

 Here's a quick photo of Jonah at pack meeting. He had a little part in the meeting but now I don't remember what it was. See, this is why I need to keep my blog updated! This old lady forgets things too quickly...

And onto.... the Christmas season! We decorated gingerbread houses at my parents at the beginning of December. The kids picked at it and ate it over the next week. Yuck.

We had some fun nights of secret service and doorbell ditching with notes and treats.

Our neighborhood does a fun tradition with a little (actually it's pretty big) get together. Everyone brings a treat to share, food to donate to the Utah food bank, and the kids get to perform singing songs, playing piano, dancing, or anything else they want to do. We do this instead of neighbor gifts because nobody needs neighbor gifts. I love it so much! It greatly reduces stress and things to do in an already busy season. Plus we are helping others which is what the whole season is about.
 Baron and his best buddy Ezra sang Christmas songs.

 Daphne, Laylah and Jonah played Christmas songs on the piano. It was a fun night.

 This is just a random photo of the kids playing one night. I love hair trains, they're just so cute.

 And this is a really terrible photo of me. Andy and I celebrated the 12th anniversary of our first date by staying in with burgers, shakes, and a movie.

 My Christmas-y house makes me happy.

 This is Daphne's soccer team. They found out they took second in region for the fall season and received medals. So exciting! Go Murray Max!

 And Laylah graduated from D.A.R.E. It is so weird to see my kids doing things that I remember doing not all that long ago. Crazy and weird that she is so old. Only one more year of elementary school is freaking me out.

 Jonah had a Christmas party for scouts and they went ice-skating and had hot chocolate and donuts. Fun night!

 I drank more cups of hot chocolate than I care to admit during the freezing cold December. Maybe that's where those few pounds came from...

 Mid-December was Andy's surgery which I already posted about. However, I didn't mention post-surgery which was hilarious because Andy is crazy on anesthesia. I posted a video of him on facebook. It is pretty funny. 

 Just another picture of Christmas. I miss Christmas. Let's go back! I don't have a picture, but Andy and I were able to go to the Mo-tab Christmas concert and it was so wonderful.

 My grandma has a Christmas party every year for as long as I can remember. It's fun to be with aunts, uncles, and my own cousins who now have kids of their own. We have dinner and a program. All of the kids perform on the piano or singing and we all carol. It is lovely :)

 Another photo of freezing December. My car was literally covered in ice. We couldn't open the doors and the windshield had a layer of ice on it that I chipped at until I cracked it and was able to see through.

 Poor Andy. He had to wear this for almost 4 weeks and couldn't bear weight on it at all. He was mostly stuck in bed or on the couch. He was bored out of his mind.

 Magnus always keeps us laughing with his shenanigans and ability to fall asleep anywhere at anytime.

 I wrapped a lot of presents.

 
 Laylah and Daphne helped me put gifts for their friends, teachers, and my visiting teaching and Andy's home teaching families. My mom and dad had come over earlier in the month to help me make toffee. They're the best. Andy's parents and my parents basically helped run my family while Andy was incapacitated and I had to go to work. And that was on top of their own families and holiday things to do. I am so thankful for families.

It was a busy season. With school and Andy's surgery we didn't get to do a lot of the traditional things that we usually do. I was upset about it at first, but after talking with Andy and the kids they helped me realize that every year won't be like this and there is always next year. The Christmas season is really about our Savior and helping others anyway, and we were definitely on the receiving end of that this year. I am so thankful for this time of year to help me realize what is most important. 

Next up.... Christmas Day!

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