Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas! From our crazy crew to yours!

What a beautiful Christmas! The kids have been sad this year because we only had one snow fall and it almost all melted with a very warm and uncharacteristic rain. And there's been no snow in the forecast, just getting colder. In desperation McKinley wrote to Ella (our elf on the shelf) and said "Dear Ella, All I really want for Christmas is snow". Low and behold 2 days before Christmas, the very next morning after she left that note, We woke up to snow! And it snowed all day, creating a white landscape for us just in time for Christmas!

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year which was really special. I woke before everyone else and decided to take Atlas for a walk before we hit the ground running. While on my walk I received a message from a lady in the ward. She would not be coming early for choir practice because she had to take her daughter to the urgent care for a possible ear infection. On Christmas Eve! My heart went out to her. Then I realized I could do something about it. But quickly I had some thoughts of self doubt and thoughts that it would likely be a quick thing for them to take her in and get looked at. But then I remembered that this family moved all the way across the country at the end of summer and had been looking for work. I didn't know if they had found some but I couldn't get their plight out of my mind. So quickly I reached out to her to let her know I'm a PA and would be willing to take a look at her daughter, if she preferred. Little Sarah is one of my primary kids and looked so sad when she showed up on my doorstep. I did a quick exam and determined pretty quickly that she indeed needed treatment and I would call a prescription in for her. Her mother choked up and started to cry explaining to me that her husband had just started his new job last week but insurance wouldn't kick in until the new year. They were really worried about the expense but she had to take care of her little girl. I was so grateful to be able to help and relieved that I had spoken up. I'm grateful for those nudges from the Spirit encouraging me and I hope I will do better at listening to them instead of letting self doubt or justifications hold me back!

After this experience I had to scramble to wake everyone up and get to church on time! We went for one hour to hear musical worship of Christ in the form of Christmas music. The youth sang a beautiful rendition of Silent Night- which was really cool to listen to because our youth group is finally growing! Plus I have 2 kids in it so I'm biased. The primary children sang When we Seek Him and did a good job. I'm the music leader and we have worked hard on that song for a month and a half! I've been getting messages from parents about their kids practicing and even videos showing how well they know it and love it. It's been fun. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will remain the music leader with the ward boundary split that is fast approaching. We find out at a stake meeting on New Year's Eve (rude lol). It will be interesting/sad to see how it affects our quiet little ward.

Once we got back home we snapped a quick photo by the tree before anyone changed. Then we opened Christmas pajamas and most of us jumped into them, - even though it was only 11:30 in the morning... cuz why not?! You can see on Lilia's face, the pjs are always a hit. Around 4:30 we got together with a couple families- Deckers and Mosers- piled into their 11 passenger van (there were 23 of us) and went caroling to a few widows and members of the bishopric. It was so fun! And so cold! And so much like tetris getting in that van!

After caroling we came home and made dinner and then started into some fun games Chad had planned for us. He had us crawling all over the floor blowing on ping pong balls, sticking our noses in vaseline for pin the nose on the reindeer (I may have graciously forfeited my nose to a child whose nose had broken in order to not have to participate...), rolling dice and testing our luck for prizes, and running/dodging/screaming during an indoor game of dodgeball with indoor snowballs. 

The kids had a lot of fun and it was so good for me to sit back and watch them enjoying each other, being patient with antics, and I really loved the laughter!

Jaedyn got something in her eye at one point and disappeared. That was about the time the snowballs came out. So we all hid behind couches and ambushed her when she came back. So much fun and laughter.

After games we settled in for our secret sister gift exchange. The kids draw names at the beginning of the season and then spend a few weeks thinking about their secret sister and finally shopping for her. They get so excited to give their gifts, they're practically hopping by the time they get to. As you can see, they also really enjoy receiving them!

Then we took turns highlighting an item from the nativity on the Christmas Pyramid and sharing with everyone what special significance that item holds for us that year. It was touching to hear some of the responses, they really considered them this year! My kids are growing up! After sharing, they get to light a candle. This year I made them use matches instead of the lighter. It was hilarious! They all learned to light them though LOL. We sang silent night as we watched the shadows on the ceiling with the lights off. I love this family of mine!

About this time it was late and we still had to wrap gifts so we sent kids to bed and spent the next couple of hours wrapping gifts. This is not my favorite tradition. LOL Several times I questioned Chad why we didn't just throw everything into one box and wrap that! I had a roommate in college whose favorite thing during the Christmas season is to wrap gifts... and they're beautiful! I just don't get it! Maybe it's because I procrastinate ALL the wrapping until the very end? Anyway, we got it done together (which is my favorite part), and the effect was beautiful. We then headed to bed around 2 am wondering how much sleep we would actually get before the rascals were up. They surprised us and didn't stir until 7:55!

The gifts were amazing this year! The kids opened things they wanted, things they needed, and things that were a total surprise! There are a few gift highlights this year... Mostly mine, because I was so touched by them. 

Remember how we doorbell ditched posters around Halloween? Well the Deckers brought us a Christmas gift the other day that we opened to reveal said poster rolled up in a long tootsie roll tube. They were kind enough to leave the tootsie rolls. I'd say we came out ahead on that one!

Lilia, Ebony, and McKinley pooled their resources to buy this candle for me. I laughed right out loud when I read it! They are right, I have beautiful children! They also bought Chad some chocolates. I had told Chad that in lieu of gifts this year for me he should find a house cleaner and hire them to come monthly. Listening to my message, He bought me a robot vacuum! LOL Jaedyn bought this bracelet for me and I teared up over it. Such a special message- it meant so much to me! She also bought this multi-tool knife for her Dad with a sweet message. We were so touched by the thoughtfulness of the kids- we do not tell them to shop for us, we didn't even give them money for it like we do for the sister exchange. They did this 100% on their own because they wanted to and we felt the love in those gifts!

We had a big reveal when the presents were all opened. We are taking the kids on a Caribbean Cruise in February! Woot! We will be going with the Allreds and Helen which made the surprise even more fun! We will be visiting Honduras, Cozumel Mexico, and Belize. So after opening presents, I spent the next several hours helping each kid shop online for swimsuits. Which was fun, but I was SO done being sedentary and in doors by the end! So Chad and I decided to go for a walk and McKinley joined us on her bike... on icy roads. It was slow going! LOL Afterwards we headed out to the gym to get a workout in before coming in and...

Eating so so much in a fondue floor picnic!

What a beautiful family I have! This season was full of so much love! I'm grateful to this man right here who helped me start it all! It's such a beautiful season! 

We are so blessed.

Merry Christmas everyone!