We May Not Have It All Together...But Together We Have It All

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Christmas Morning

I think every year, Ira and I have been the first to wake up at our house on Christmas morning, and we have waken the kids up. Not this year...no such luck. They were awake and ready to go way too early for me. With squeals of "Hurry mom and dad - wake up! Hurry...hurry...", our morning began.

As tradition goes from when I was a child, we have family prayer, then line the kids up from youngest to oldest and let them come into the room one at a time.

This year, they found their main gift was inside 4 bags like the one Jarin is holding. Hmmm...what could be inside?

I had purchased several small items (4 of each), mostly from the dollar store to fill these bags up. At the bottom was these Disney pillow pets, and Brayden got a Disney sweatshirt.

Any clues yet what their main gift is?...DISNEYLAND TRIP! SO excited. The last gift in the bag was a Disney gift card so they could get a souveneir at Disneyland. The kids are so excited they can hardly wait. It's the gift that just keeps giving.

I had also made scrapbooks for the kids of the last few years of their lives. They each got their own.

Santa put these cutest ever hats in their stockings.

My santa knows the way to my heart - my 4-wheeler. I got this cutest ever helmet - now I can be stylin'! And I also got a walkie talkie system that hooks to the helmets with an earpiece and microphone so we can have conversations when we're on our own bikes. I love that! We go on these great weekends away, but haven't really had much chat time - now I can talk his ear off! Not to mention - when we have our kids - he always leads and I take up the end - to make sure our kids are safe. This way I can let him know if we are having a problem. And guess what I got Ira - a helmet! ha ha, great minds think alike. And, my parents got us something for our 4-wheelers too. Boy, does my family know me or what? :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Isn't December the best?! I love all the excitement in the air. I love that people are kinder to one another. I love that total strangers smile to each other and lend a helping hand in times of need. I love that we think of our neighbors more. I love that we spend time together as families. I love the homemade gifts that come home with my kids from school. I love the sparkle in my childrens eyes as they anticipate what Santa Claus will bring. I love that the world seems to be a more peaceful place, even if it's for just a short time. I love the Christmas carols. But more than anything else, I especially love that we pause more to reflect on our Savior....the reason for the season.

Kamden helping Ira put up the star.

Brayden hugging the tree like on the "Grinch".

Jarin with his Rudolph shirt that the kindergarteners all make for their program. The cutest program ever!

The kids with Santa himself.

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight.

Another tradition - following Santa on the computer. This way we know when he's getting closer to Utah.

Another tradition is that our Sister in law, Beckie, makes us matching jammies for Christmas Eve. We always look forward to see what the new jammies will be, and every year we think they are the best ever.

After reading the account of our Saviors birth and singing a couple songs, the kids head off to bed and wait to hear Santa's bells ringing outside. And this year, like every year - they heard his bells - so they hurried to sleep!

Thanksgiving and More

It was so fabulous to have my parents home for Thanksgiving this year. Most of their kids were able to come home. But even better then them being home and us mostly all being together was that...we got to eat my mom's homemade dinner rolls. Yes...they are THAT good!! I guess I can't say they are better than being with family - but it is a close tie ;).

Jarin sporting his Indian feathers he made at school.

Kamden doing what olives were made for.

The cousins were playing hide-and-seek. I laughed when I saw Emilie hiding in this little space between Grandma's fridge and wall. That is the very same place I used to hide when I was her age.

Jarin with his favorite person ever... his Uncle Todd. Too bad he lives so far away (California), that we can't let Todd entertain Jarin more often.

My nephew Taylor opened his mission call while we were all together. We had a board that we all put our guesses on, and Derrick got it right - North Carolina. That is also where Derrick served his mission back in the day.

Not sure how I got these following pictures put in with Thanksgiving - but here they are and I'm not moving them!

Ira got to go with our wards youth (including with his son) to SLC to see the lights on temple square. He loves his calling as bishop, for the opportunity he has to spend time with these great young people.

Remodeling Project

If you've been to my house anytime in the last 3 or more years - you'd have noticed my kitchen. Cupboard doors had fallen off, and many wouldn't close anymore. Drawers had completely broke apart. And others couldn't even be opened anymore. We had tried to fix them in the past, but as soon as something got fixed, others broke, then the fixed ones would break. And our floor...well, it wasn't working either. It was NOT a thing of beauty, and it WAS a source of great frustration. We finally broke down and got it completely redone. And I L.O.V.E my new kitchen. I finally have a kitchen that really is a thing of beauty.

notice the open cupboards and the broken and open drawers - so pretty!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE: (I didn't leave those cabinets open, they just wouldn't close)

AFTER

I forgot the before picture of this bar - but it didn't have the raised bar. The plugs weren't in yet - but you get the idea.

BEFORE

AFTER

Between picking things out for this, and doing all the designing and decorating of Ira's office - I think I could get used to that. I really, really like interior design/decorating. That's not a very cheap "hobby" to have. Maybe I can just find a computer program that I can draw out my dreams and that will be enough to get this bug out of my system. Cuz we will go broke if I start remodeling everything in our house just cuz it's fun! (Not to mention...I kinda like being married - and he may not like me if I start down that road ;) ).

sledding

We haven't had too many days of winter with snow this season - but the one day that we got some good snow - we took advantage of it. Ira took the kids, and several neighbor kids sledding behind the 4-wheelers. At one time he had 3 sleds (2 kids per sled) and a snowboard he was pulling around in our yard. Our yard wasn't big enough for that, so we had to resort to a field nearby where they really got to kick up the speed and the powder...and the giggles.

Kam, Ira & Jarin

Jarin

Kamden

Emilie & Brayden

Pulling the train (minus one snowboarder), around our yard.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Another year older...

Another year...another family picture. Sometimes when we are all together, I just stop and look around and I marvel at our children. I can't believe how blessed we have been to get to have them in our family. There was a time I didn't know if we would be able to have any children in our home - and now look at us. Sometimes there is so much chaos, I have to remind myself that I cried countless tears and prayed countless hours that this blessing "of chaos" could be ours. And not a day goes by that I don't thank Heavenly Father for our "babies" - even those chaos days!

Brayden, 15 whopping years old! (it's hard to believe we have one this old).

Emilie, 11 years (I love the first picture of her, it just shows her personality).

Jarin, 6 years old

Kamden - 3 years old. This first picture just cracked me up.

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