We May Not Have It All Together...But Together We Have It All: Holiday Happiness

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Holiday Happiness

I loved Christmas this year (I do every year, but I REALLY loved this year). The reason for my happiness...4 WHOLE days of Ira being off work...two weekends in a row. 4+4=8 (I'm terrible at math, but I think I got that equation right). We had 8 whole days in two weeks time of Ira not having work, kids not having school, and just getting to enjoy each other. We played lots, and watched lots of movies, and stayed in our p.j.'s all day.

Ira's sister-in-law, Beckie makes our family P.J.'s for Christmas, and this is a picture of us sporting our new attire. I love this tradition she has started, and I hope she keeps going with it. Then we stay in these jammies all day Christmas, and even a day or two longer for some of the kidlets who don't think it's necessary to shower or change clothes.

While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...Santa and Mrs. Clause were up till 2 am building, putting together, and wrapping. They all wanted to sleep in the same bed so they could stay up all night and talk, or catch the big man.

The traditional line up from youngest to oldest early Christmas morning, as they anxiously wait to get to go see what Santa brought them.

Traditionally, we have our extended family party the day after Christmas. This year, with my parents gone, we still had our party, but we were all kinda at a loss. We usually go to their house, and my mom has a wonderful dinner. This year, we went to our church house, and WE had to figure out dinner. What's up with that????...you mean we have to grow up and take over the job?

We set up the projector and watched a slide show of our last years family activities and viewed all the pictures of our parents on their mission.

My mom, being the organized person she is - still made sure that we all had a Christmas present from she and my dad. Even though they had a HUGE list of things to do before they could go, they didn't forget to put us on the top of that list. They had their christmas shopping done before they left. We kept telling her that she didn't need to worry about making sure we had Christmas. But I have to admit, that when Christmas rolled around, and we had that little something from them...it really did help ease the sting.

Emi, Kam & Jarin showing the new jammies they got from Grandpa & Grandma

After a week of trying and trying, we were finally able to get through on the phone to Grandpa & Grandma on Kiritimati Island. It was bitter/sweet to get to talk to them. I wanted to talk forever, but of course, that wasn't possible. It was hard to say goodbye again.

New Years Eve, we went to my sisters in Pocatello, and the dads and kids played Rock Band most of the night. We have so much "talent" in our family!

Kam gives a whole new meaning to sounding nasaly when singing.

A good game of Risk, but not for me. I don't like games that make me think!

Even my parents had a "white" Christmas (with 3 baptisms). It was a strange Christmas with them gone, and we missed them terribly, but this is really what it's all about!

Thought I'd throw these in just for fun. This is Christmas on Christmas Island!

5 comments:

Becky said...: I have been thinking about you a lot lately as my parents are in the THICK of preparing to leave soon, it is breaking my heart, but I know we can do it! Love the nose singer...what a cutie!; January 10, 2010 at 8:01 PM
Mark and Adrian said...: Love it all!!!!!!; January 11, 2010 at 10:24 AM
Ari Anna Johnson said...: Thanks so much for the blog invite! I was happy to see all the fun things you guys do! And I hope this is a better way to keep in touch! And by the way your parents look like they are having quite the time! How amazing!; January 11, 2010 at 11:07 PM
tysonandmandimoser said...: Don't you hate when it is over? Unfortunately January always rolls around. Fun post, and I just got it, the white Christmas in Christmas Island, why did it take me that long?; January 12, 2010 at 10:53 AM
shaley said...: I absolutely love your Christmas pictures, with your family all in their christmas jammies!! So cute! It looks like your holidays were a ton of fun!; January 25, 2010 at 8:07 AM

Kute Komments!

Jarin: "I've been waiting all day for Kamden to grow up...when will he grow up like me?"
4-2010

We were driving by a farm which was being fertilized. Jarin sniffs a big sniff and says, "Mmmm...that smells like my strawberry nose" (the strawberry nose was a yummy smelling gas mask from the dentist)!
Jarin: "Is is "fat man or bat man"?
Jarin "My heart is dirty and needs to be cleaned." Then I wash his face, and he says, "My heart is clean!" (He watched me put lipstick on once, and thought my top lips looked like hearts. Now he thinks that lips are hearts). Which makes me wonder what he thinks when he says, "The Holy Ghost makes our heart feel good."
Jarin asked with a great big smile that melts my heart, "Mom, are you being grumpy with me?" (yes, I was - but that started us both laughing instead!)
We were having a family home evening helping Emilie to prepare for baptism. We talked to her about making good choices and right vs. wrong. We were trying to prompt her to give an answer when Ira asked her, "What's opposite of right, (he asked it in the context of right choices), and she answered, "Left." (you should have seen the look Ira and I gave each other - it spoke volumes!)
Same family home evening... we were talking about the Holy Ghost. Jarin (being very tired and very sensitive at the moment anyways), started going balistic on us. Not only did he say he was scared of the Holy Ghost. And not only was he crying because he was scared, but he was SOBBING, and it continued for about an hour (which is when he fell asleep still crying)!! Then first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was that he was scared of the Holy Ghost! We think we are doing the right thing by teaching our children, but really - we have taumatized Jarin! I can only imagine what was going on in his little imagination. Did I mention that FHE finished earlier than planned?
Ira was feeling the baby move at a particularly active time. He said, "Is he moving furniture around in there?" (some days it sure feels like it!)
There was a baby being blessed in church Sunday, and Jarin saw the priesthood men in a circle, and loudly proclaims "Look mom, their playing ring around the rosies!"
Emilie asked me, "Since our eyes are blue, how come everything doesn't look blue to us?" I explained how we see through the black circle in our eyes. She said, "Then the blue is just for decoration?"
Jarin walks around the house constantly saying, and singing "I am a Child of God, and He has sent me here." And when anyones voices get too loud, he sings, "Love at home... Love at home..." I'm not sure he even knows the meaning of what he's singing, but it stops the contention and usually starts a few giggles.
Ira was talking about leap year, and Emilie asked, "What is leap year? Is it when we leap to school?"
Ira asked Emilie if you put plastic wrap or foil over a pan going in the oven. She said tinfoil. Ira said "Good thinking Emilie." She responded by saying, "No, I didn't think...my teacher told me." (thank goodness for teachers, so we don't have to think!)
Jarin asked me if he could have something, and I had told him no. He responded by asking again, then answering his own question as if he were me, "Of course you can sweetheart." (it's no wonder he gets whatever he wants - how cute is that?)
In church today, a half a second before the sacrament prayer was being said, (so it was very quiet in the room), Jarin observed that his dad was sitting on the stand, and calls out in his loudest voice, "That's my daddy up there!"
Brayden said, "I've learned to never mess with a pregnant person."
Today I told Jarin he was a sweetHEART, and he said, "No, I have a beautiful HEART, and mommy is beautiful too." (a comment like that, he can have whatever he wants!)
This one was said a year or so ago, but it was one of the best we've had ever - so it bears repeating! Emilie said to mom, "Someday I am going to marry my prince, just like you married your prince."
Jarin said, "We don't say 'monkey butt' do we?"
Jarin see's a bumble bee and says, "It's a bum-bum bee".
Emilie singing, "Loose, footloose, kick off my church shoes."

Hmmmmm...

I copied this from my sisters blog, but it's just too perfectly perfect to not be reminded of as often as possible!

Hmmmm....
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today!'So she did, and she had a wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today!'So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.'So she did and she had a fun, fun day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.'YEA!' she exclaimed, 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

INSPIRATION

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." Joseph Smith

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone. The things you do for others remain as your legacy."

"Fix it up...wear it out... make due...or do without!" - Gordon B Hinckley

"In righteousness there is great simplicity" - William R. Bradford

"The most important thing parents can do for their children is to teach them to feel The Spirit and recognize when it is no longer with them."

Elder M. Russell Ballard: "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children...What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."

The adversary would keep us busily engaged in a multitude of trivial things in an effort to keep us distracted from the few vital things that make all the difference."-Ardeth G. Kapp