christmas card, by abe

this is a card abe made for his cousin gift.  i thought it needed to be documented.  

so many things about it make me smile.

christmas card

happy holidays!!!! 

 i hope it's been lovely.

christmas dinner 2012

one of the family traditions we started in flagstaff, was a christmas eve dinner.  this year it had to be on christmas eve, eve since the 24th was to be with dave's family.

the kids insist the menu includes ham, so dave can make the leftovers into ham and potato soup (aka "christmas soup").  

this year, abe and kai were giving their friends fake mustaches for christmas.  they had a few extras that became christmas dinner attire.

"merry christmas-tache!!!"

 on our anniversary get-awaty, i found these cute plates on clearance at west elm.  i loved them so much, mainly because our kids have a penguin fetish.
dave bought them for me for our happy anniversary.

 we got the goblets for our wedding and the plates for our 16th anniversay.

abe did the honors of lighting the candles, since this is always a candle light dinner.
abe wore his mustache the whole dinner...it made his napoleon dynamite quotes so much more entertaining.

ready to eat!!!

vivian's first christmas eve dinner ever!
 i love this picture.
the one of the kids, not the roast beast:)

sixteen years

today was the day, sixteen years ago, that dave and i were married in the salt lake temple.

 it was the coldest day of the year.  i remember because while we were taking pictures, dave knelt down, took off my white satin shoe and rubbed my foot warm.  dave is celebrating our anniversary by finishing up a 30 hour shift at the hospital.  i have a mini cake buffet waiting for him when he gets home.  we will spend the evening at our eleven year old son's cello performance and helping our daughter write a debate case about why spending cuts are better than tax increases.  real life, but oh so good!  i am extremely grateful we have made a life together.  we will sneak away tomorrow night and spend a whole 24 hours together in salt lake.  it's my favorite get away.  dave is planning so it should be good.  the last year has been eventful.  pregnancy, moving, building a house, new baby, a baptism, high schooler, coaching soccer, more soccer, basketball, callings, homework, laundry, and so the list continues.  the other day, i called dave at work feeling behind and a little discouraged.  he said to me, "don't worry, we've got this."  and i know we do because we're a team.  i look at the little world we have created and i love it.  this has been an investment year for us. it's been really busy with not much down time, and we were joking around that this next year will be our "blissful" year, but really there are blissful things all around.  here's my list of sixteen blissful things i love about dave:

1-he fixes food and places it in front of me often. 

2-he scoots over and makes a spot for me next to him in church, even if the meeting has started and there are five kids in between us. 

3- he takes my call at work.

4- he waits for me to go to bed.

5- he listens to me.

6- it's important to him that we have time together.

7- he works extremely hard.

8- he lets me be in charge.

9-he makes an effort to make sure i can feel that he loves me.

10- he is genuine.

11- he gives people the benefit of the doubt, always.

12-he isn't critical to me or anyone.

13-he helps our kids with tough homework and projects.

14-he wants to make sure the kids and i have what we need. 

15- he makes our bed.

16-he is hopeful.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DAVE! 

we must be doing something right if our fourteen year old daughter listens to taylor swift's song, "stay, stay, stay" and says, "this song reminds me of you and dad."  i love it!  and you! 

eight months

 vivian is eight months old today!

 sitting up...

 crawling...

 and so

 super 

cute!!!

flash from the past

i can't believe how time flies.  

this is a photo from our christmas card a few years ago.  at the time this photo was taken, we were in the middle of trying to figure out what to do with our little family.  bear lake just blew up in our face, samoa wasn't working out, dave had dengue fever and even though we had much to be grateful for, we were living at my parents' house, jobless, and a lot of life seemed like a question mark.   

this year we have pondered the christmas star and for family night, we talked about this quote by elder maxwell (whom max is named after.  i told the kids that elder maxwell was known for being really smart and max immediately said, "and i'm super smart too!") 

"The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well."

i like the thought that we each have our own orbit and plan. 

 i can look back and see heavenly father's hand in my little family's orbit.  i'm so grateful for those experiences that taught me and gave me that knowledge!!  i also love the principle that we can illuminate our lives if we WILL.  choose light.  just like our family theme, "so it continued both day and night."  i want to help my kids realize that we can choose, with heavenly father's help, to illuminate our landscape even when things are hard.  this little family photo reminds me that things got better.  we had heaven's help for our little family.  i always tell my kids, you do what's right.  we do our part and then heavenly father can do his.  i really believe that!

and that is my soapbox for the day:)

big bro abe

vivi loves abe. 

she gets so excited to see him after school.

he is so sweet to her. 

she sits really still when she watches him play basketball and soccer.

she loves when he talks to her and especially when he lip syncs in the car...ok, really i like when he does that too.

he is an incredibly patient, loving, and kind big brother.

could time PLEASE slow down.  i want to enjoy this phase a little longer!

santa bites

the boys and i made these awesome little santa strawberries for after school snack.

they were so cute, max waited patiently while i took a picture:)

i was surprised how much they enjoyed them.  they kept telling me it was the best snack ever.

i love christmas!

christmas theme 2012

this year, i decided to have a family christmas theme.

i was driving in the car (i do that a lot) and i had a thought.  sometimes i feel like driving is my best thinking time.  anyway,  the words from the song "the first noel" came into my mind.  

AND TO THE EARTH IT GAVE GREAT LIGHT

AND SO IT CONTINUED BOTH DAY AND NIGHT!

this phrase hit me really hard.  maybe because sadie just got her patriarchal blessing and a blessing from the bishop to be set apart as the mia maid 2nd counselor and in both blessings i felt this theme of being an example, a light.  it made me ponder the star and what an important job it had.  it shined during the day and night.  it lit up the night!  it showed people the way to find the savior.  it had to be in the right place at the right time.  all things i want for my kids to be able to feel and do.  

so...we have stars and this sign in our front room... 

this sign on each of the kids bathroom mirrors....

stars in our tree and all around the house...

 and every time my kids do something to bring light to the world, they get to put a glow-in-the-dark star in our 'star jar'.  for family night each week, we will talk about the christmas star and make some new comparison to our lives...then we will count the stars we've earned that week and decorate our garage with our glow in the dark stars.  i'm so excited to watch our night/lives/garage light up with service and the good things we do.  i am excited to watch my family choose light!!!

creating christmas

for family night we created christmas pictures.  we used tape to create a picture on a canvas, then we painted them.  the kids were super creative with their pictures and it was a lot of fun.  

 abe formed a winter scene.

 max made santa's sleigh in a snow storm.

 kai created rudolph.

sadie made an awesome tree under a starry night.

my goal is to enjoy the season this year, to make it meaningful, and magical...and to be a good receiver. 

i LOVED the talk by pres. uchtdorf in the first presidency christmas devotional.

worth watching!  

view it here.

project

i usually get really frustrated when i try to do crafts because they don't work the way i imagine in my mind....but i decided to be a beginner, and if it didn't work out, well, i would throw it away and not fret about it.  i decided to make a cake plate and i actually like it!

the kids liked it too since it meant donuts and milk for after school snack/jobs.

 easy peasy and pretty inexpensive.

fat suit

my kids make me laugh.

it's one of the joys of being a mom.

here are a some funnies from the last few days:

we were eating dinner and abe told this story. i smile every time i think about it!

"you know how i had to do that group play in my class a few weeks ago?  well, i had to wear a fat suit for the play and when i barely got the whole thing on, the fire alarm went off.  i had to go outside and wait, in the fat suit.  then, to make it even worse the librarian, who looks just like the fat suit, came and stood by me and it was awkward."

"it's difficult riding your bike with a cello on your back."-- abe when he walked through the door after school.  i had no idea he was bringing his cello, but instead of calling me, he just made do.

"i need something sugar-y."--kai wasn't feeling great and was super tired.  he broke down in tears.  i talked to him, but when i walked away, he said this quietly to himself.

midway christmas

a midway christmas tradition is the creche at the homestead.  they have nativities from all over the world displayed along with christmas music being performed.  we went last night for family night.

my favorite part was the nativity acted out by the marionette puppets.  this is a horrible photo and definitely does not do this puppet show justice.  it was intriguing.  abe said , 'this is awesome!"  and sadie leaned over and whispered, "this is creepy!"  

at the end, the audience sang silent night while the angel puppet stood out front and LED the music.  yep, the lady holding the puppet moved just the puppet's arm, while we all sang:)  it made my whole self smile!  it was good for my soul and we all loved it.

 abe took a lot of photos.  some of the nativities and some strange baby jesus'.  here are just a few:

the kids dressed up for a photo and vivian was baby jesus,  

sadie wouldn't participate due to the fact that one of the older kids from her school was running the dress-up station:)

*is that sheep flexing for baby jesus? 

we went to the nutcracker on dec. 1st, which we loved! these two events were a great way to kick off the month of december and get us in the christmas spirit. 

deal of the day

 i have been eyeing these irish mugs at crate and barrel for some time now.  they aren't that expensive, but couldn't get myself to buy them

yesterday, i found some look a likes at the dollar tree for $1.

i think they are so fun!

night shift

max adores vivian!  she, in return, squeals whenever she sees him.

max is often the first to respond when vivian needs something.

for example, max was sleeping in my bed the other night and vivian was in her cradle in my room.  it was 4am and vivs started to cry.  without hesitation, max jumped out of bed, started talking to her, gave her a binky then straightened out her blanket.  she calmed down and he climbed back into bed.  that is just how max is.

"SIDEWAYS!"