Christmas Sunday 2013

One of my favorite days of the year is Christmas Sunday.  I love getting my kids dressed up all christmassy, taking pictures, listening to the amazing church program and remembering our Savior.

 

First Snow

Part of moving back to the northwest, was to give my kids the experience of  the seasons.  Well, they definitely got it this week!!

We woke up to a few inches of beautiful white SNOW.

Most of my pictures were taken in the dark because, yes, they were out there playing at 5:30 in the morning!!  There was a two hour delay to start school, so they had an extra long time to play!  And somehow, there is not one picture of Jordan in the snow:(

 Tyson has been DYING to have a snowball fight:)  He finally got his chance!

   

They built a snowman!!

Miley wasn't impressed!!

The kids thought it would be fun to push a snowball all the way to school to see how big it got.  They stopped pretty quickly because it got so heavy:)

 

Is there anything more fun than playing at school in the snow?! 

No Pictures

These past few weeks have been busy, I would even say exciting.  Yet, I have been so lame because there is not ONE picture to prove it.

The girls had their piano recital, where Kya's music fell on her lap while she was trying to turn the page in the middle of her performance, then she tripped when she was getting up from the piano--poor girl.  Jordan started with the wrong hand positioning, but recovered quickly and then her music got stuck in the piano.  Good times.  Just in case you wondered, despite the hiccups in the recital (not to mention a mean mom who couldn't stop laughing after Kya tripped), they are both amazing piano players:)

Tyson earned his Bobcat award in cub scouts.  He also got to make a box car and race around the church in a dangerous fashion with tons of wild boys!

We took a quick trip up to Canada to watch my nieces perform in The Nutcracker!!  We also endured the 16 degree weather up there, but missed the snow by ONE day....darn it!

Jordan performed in her choir Christmas concert...even though she was half and hour late because we were stuck in 1.5 hours of traffic on a 15 min. drive to the high school!!  Poor Tyson had to miss basketball practice and Kya had to miss gymnastics because of the nasty traffic...we never did find out what caused it.  But it was wonderful to hear Jordan sing...I'm so glad she loves singing again!

Tyson started on his very first ever basketball team!  Mike took him to the first practice, and he missed the second, but he just LOVES it! 

Mike and I celebrated our 14 year wedding anniversary...at the church while attending pack meeting and Young Mens.  Oh, but we did get out traditional cheesecake...but forgot to drink our sparkling cider (curse you Anniverary Inn for making out traditional anniversary food cheesecake and sparkling cider...it's a little sweet for a pregnant lady!!).

And, I got to hear my little girls' tiny heart beat!!  Is there a sweeter sound while you are pregnant?!  I think NOT!

So there you have it...some great photo ops, but no photos!!  I think it's time for an iphone:)  

Never Again...Well, Probably Never

So, we finally got our tree this weekend...I feel like we are the very last ones!!  And, let me tell you, while we were getting and setting up said tree, we decided next year, we would get a fake one.  Let me tell you why!

1.  We went to the first tree lot, picked out a tree similar to those we have bought it years past, then looked at the tag and it said $125!!!!!  Seriously?!  We live in WA, where all you see are trees?!  We left.

2.  Looking for a tree in WA is COLD!!  Much colder than L.A, go figure.

3.  This year we got a bigger tree, which meant heavier to carry, more difficult to get in the stand, and practically impossible to move!

4.  It took us 2 hours, to get the tree straight!!  TWO HOURS!!!  We ended up having to buy a bigger stand:(

5.  We had to wait until we all had time to go together to pick up the tree.  If it was artificial, I could have set it up a long time ago!

But, now that our tree is set up it looks beautiful (and smells divine)!  We ended up putting it in the front room because it looked to crowded in our family room.  This meant I had to put white lights on it, to match the rest of the stuff in that room.  So Jordan got her white lights after all:) 

Christmas Decorating

Maybe it's the new house, maybe it's the colder weather, or maybe it's that little one growing inside my belly...BUT whatever the reason, it has taken me forever to get the Christmas decorations up this year!  And I'm still not done!!  And we haven't even got the tree yet!!  Here's a little of what we've got going on.

I did the front room all red and silver with white lights, mostly for Jordan's benefit, since she is horrified that I want colored lights on the tree (It just feels more Christmassy to me with all the colors)!!

The family room is where we'll put our tree, so it will be all colored lights:)  Here are the new Nutcrackers my mom gave me when I was home.

Regardless of whether my house is in order, it's super chilly and chirstmassy outside!!  All that frost, almost looks like snow:)

You May Want to Sit Down For This...

We are still a little in shock....

...yet very excited...

...to announce....

...after an EIGHT year hiatus....

...we are expecting baby #4!!

Due May 25th, 2014

Lesson Learned...Again!

Last Christmas I learned a lesson.  I thought I learned it well, I even considered blogging about it.  But this year, I got caught in the same trap.  I guess I hadn't learned my lesson.  Well, I am going to blog about it now, so I remember for next year:)

Over the past couple years, I've searched high and lo for the perfect Nativity Set.  I wanted one that was pretty big so that it would be a prominent part of my Christmas decorations....sounds like a noble desire right?  Well, it could be, but in my case, I am going to say wrong.

As I searched through all the nativity sets, even considering buying some costing over a hundred dollars, I thought to myself, "What am I doing?"  Jesus Christ was born in a lowly stable, in the humblest conditions.  He spent his first hours sleeping in a barn...with animals.  We can glorify it all we want, but it doesn't change the truth.  Should I really be spending hundreds of dollars on figurines to help me remember Him?  No.  I should be serving, giving, and loving those He loves. 

Sometimes I get so caught up in material things.  What my house looks like inside doesn't matter half as much as what it looks like inside my heart.

LESSON LEARNED!!
 

Journals

On Sunday, we had a lesson about journal writing and it got me thinking.  When I was a kid, my sisters and I all kept journals.  I remember my first journal was one of those binders covered with fabric...you know the ones that were all the rage in the 80s?:)  Well, as I thought about it, I realized that my kids don't really write in journals.  So, I decided we needed to change that. 

We sat down for Family Home Evening where we talked about the importance of keeping records.  We even pulled out our wedding journal...and I found a little gem I had forgotten about.  I found a journal entitled "Funny things the kids say."  Now unfortunately there were only about 4 pages full (and how I regret not writing more, since my kids were absolutely HILARIOUS when they were little), but we read them and the kids had a good hard laugh.  So I thought I'd share a few:

May 2004--Jordan was helping mommy sweep the floor.  She went to get the broom and dustpan and exclaimed "Mom, I have the broom and mustache!!"

June 2004--Mommy said something to Kya and Jordan said, "Mom, Kya doesn't understand.  Kya speaks Spanish"

April 2007--Kya was driving in the car with Mom.  Mom was frustrated with slow drivers and finally speeds past a car.  Kya says "Those other cars won't stop us!"

May 2007--Kya: "I have 2 sisters, Jordan and Tyson."  Moms says "Tyson's not your sister, he's a boy", Kya replies " I know Mom, he's my BOY sister."

August 2004--Daddy asked Jordan if she wanted him to blow on her belly, Jordan replied "I'm not a whistle!!"

May 2007--Grandpa was trying to get Kya to go to the store with him, but she wanted to stay home.  This was her "excuse": "I can't go, my hair is too short"

Oct. 2007--We were headed over to the Leavitt's house and Kya was saying she wanted a drink.  I said "Tina and I are going out, so you'll have to ask Uncle Ted for a drink."  After a long pause, Kya said, "I'm brave enough to talk to Ted."

Jan. 2008--Mom asked Kya what she did at her friend's birthday party.  Kya replied, "I didn't pick my nose once"

If this isn't motivation enough to start writing things down, I don't know what is!!!

A Story to Tell

I am one of those people who wants everything to run smoothly, and when it doesn't I usually have a hard time rolling with it.  My husband, on the other hand, looks forward to unanticipated kinks in our plans, for the single reason that they make life interesting.  Well, yesterday was a very important day for our family, but it didn't go quite as planned...and now we have a story to tell.

Yesterday was Tyson's Baptism day.  Just as we were headed out the door to make our way to the church, we got a phone call saying the power was out in the church building.  Great.  We were assured that there was enough natural light that we could still have the baptism, if we wanted to.  Well, we had friends and family in town and Tyson had waited long enough, so we went ahead with it.

On our drive to the church, we passed tree branches on the roads, multiple street lights that weren't working, and a wooden fence that had been completely blown down.  I don't know if it was because we just celebrated Halloween, or the whistling wind outside, but the church felt a little like a haunted house...especially while walking down the long dark hallway to the font:)  But you know what?  It was one of the most wonderful baptisms I have ever attended.  My family was there, my friends were there, the cousins sang a beautiful song while Uncle Ted played the guitar, Uncle Jason gave a wonderful talk, and my little guy was baptized and confirmed by his dad.

I don't think anyone who was there will ever forget it.  Not only will we remember the ice cold font water, eating cheesecake in the gym while someone held a giant flashlight that oddly resembled a light saber, and Mike having to practically wrestle Tyson into the water (twice), but we will also remember that the spirit was there.  That Tyson took a step closer to his Heavenly Father. 

By around 9pm, all our visitors had left and Mike said, "This has been one of my favorite days ever," and I had to agree!!

 

My Little Wolf Cub

We survived the first pack meeting for cub scouts...barely.  Just our luck that his first pack meeting was the space derby where each boy had to build a rocket--not my area of expertise that is for sure!  Oh well, we managed to get it together with some help from some pretty great dads.  I think Tyson is really going to like cubs...and I'll like it too as long as we don't have to build anything for a while:) 

 

 

Tyson's Video

I have been working on Tyson's baptism video and have found so many adorable pictures!! 

I just had to share!!  I don't think there could be a cuter little boy.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Some things I LOVE about yesterday

 I love that my kids found a giant pile of pumpkins and sat on them saying "Mom, take my picture!"

  

 I love that Jordan was willing to stand by the measuring stick to see how tall she was.

(And, look how tall she is!!!)

I love that we got to take a hayride down to the pumpkin patch.

I love that there were hundreds of beautiful pumpkins to pick from.

I love that we got to drive down to the airport and see Mike for a few hours before his flight to China!
(I guess I should have lent him my sunglasses!!)

 I love that there are places this beautiful in the world.

AND that these four people are part of my life!!!

We are just NOT perfect

My dad took this {spontaneous} family picture this summer.  We were down by the river, checking out the fishing and I just handed Dad my camera and he snapped this shot.  I absolutely loved it, so I enlarged it on canvas and placed in on my mantel.

There's only one problem....

....can you see it?

Take another look.

That's right, Jordan is wearing miss-matched shoes.

Great.

Don't Judge

See this sweet little guy?

For almost a year, he harassed and tortured our other sweet little kitty.

So, we gave him a new home--Grandma and Grandpa's home.

I still feel totally guilty taking our kitty away from our kids (right when they were in the middle of losing all their friends), not to mention forcing him on Grandpa who vowed he would never have another cat EVER again.

But, you know what? 

Miley is happy again.

And from what I hear, Peeta is happy too.

 

AND the best part...we still get to see the crazy little guy:)

Feeling Blue...and Yellow!

My favorite colors are pink and yellow.  Those have been my favorite colors since my kids have been old enough to ask me (which is quite boring to them, since their favorites change almost daily).  So, it was kind of surprising when I had to do a little shopping to furnish my new house that just about everything I picked out was BLUE.

Here is our front room.  The room that we had absolutely no furniture to put in.  The room that sent me to ikea for four miserable hours to try to find something to put in it without spending a fortune.  So, here is what I came up with;  a blue chair and a blue couch:)  Maybe it's blue because I hate ikea so much!!  Anyways, I am still waiting for the pictures to be hung and maybe an end table or two...or maybe even a big square coffee table....hmm.

This is the bath mat I fell in love with.  I went to Target THREE times trying to find towels to match!!  Finally, the last time I went, I took the rug with me to get the color right:)

After buying bathmats, I had to get a few decorations to match...at least I had to once I saw these:)

I think that is all of my BLUE stuff...for now anyways.

Top Ten

Top ten ways to keep your kids from being sad that you are moving

#10.  Takr them out for ice cream...multiple times.

 #9.  Let them play dress up with their cousins.

 

#8.  Take them on a hike (or two) to see a waterfall (or two).

 

#7.  Take them to a sandcastle competition.

 

#6.  Take them to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 

#5.  Take them to the zoo.

 

#4.   Take them camping. 

 

#3.  Take them to the beach...or the lake...or anywhere where they can swim.

 

 #2.  Take them on their very first ferry ride.

 

 

#1. Take them to the most beautiful place in the world--Canada.