Christmas and New Years

It's times like this I wish I were naturally witty.

I'm not.

So be prepared for the monotone dialogue (it sounds MUCH better on my end) and a whole bunch of photos! 

Christmas and New Years did, indeed, happen.  My lack of documentation is just a delay on my part.

My very favorite picture from the whole holiday break was this.  Guy wanted to be SURE Santa knew we wouldn't be home Christmas morning.  He hand wrote this note himself and placed it right in front of the Christmas tree:

SAN

TA-   WE

8  R  AT

GRAM

OZ

HYRUM

(Translation: Santa, we are at Grandma's.  Hyrum)

Cute boy.  He found us.

 Here's the Christmas parade circling the house before they could come open their stockings.

 

 I promise Eddie was more excited than she looks.

 I am pretty sure these pictures of Millaker don't belong in this sequence, but they were somehow added and are much too cute to be taken out.  Those darn fingers!

ALL of my siblings were in town!  I could find a picture of this whole family- so they're here in bits.

As in- all the photos of kids you don't recognize are theirs.

 Us.  In all our morning glory.

 Oops- more of the Kids Christmas Train.

 I'm not mad- I promise.  I'm not sure what that look on my face is.

 The cute newlywed couple.

 The REAL Christmas Train made by Grandpa.

 The bachelor!

 The family who traveled the farthest!

Here in the middle there should be a whole SLEW of pictures of us freezing cold on snowmobiles- that will be a whole other post in and of itself.  It deserves it!

 

 We ended the holidays with the oldest niece getting baptized!  They were able to arrange to have it here while everyone was in town.  Such a serious occasion obviously didn't merit serious pictures.  See below.

And that face of Millakers - is about how I feel right now. 

Night, folks!

Little Miracles

I keep forgetting to post this, but better late than never I suppose.
One morning in early December our "low tire pressure" light came on.  Since it was a cold morning after a long string of warm weather we thought we just needed to fill the tires up.  No big deal.
It turned out that yes, we did need to fill them up, but were we also aware that we were in need of new tires?  Hmm.  No, we weren't. Rats.
We spent a few days price-checking and then decided to bite the bullet and get new tires before the snow and ice came along.  On a Thursday morning I brought the car in and bought new tires.  When I was checking out, I was asked if I wanted to purchase the certificate that guarantees that if they can't patch a hole, they'll replace the tire.  I called King.  He said no- I said yes.  Since he knows much more about cars than I do, we were going to deffer to his opinion.  That was until the man decided to offer a terrific coupon that made it almost impossible for me to resist.  Hey- a girl knows a bargain when she sees one.  It still took a mighty hefty swallow to swipe my credit card.  Who knew tires were so stinkin' expensive!

Fast forward two days. 

Yep. TWO.


King and the oldest two had taken a free front runner ride down south while I stopped off at a bridal shower before heading down to pick them up.  Their ride took two glorious hours of standing room only... but that's another story.
Heading south at the point of the mountain, there was a nice little jolt to my car.  I hadn't seen anything in the road!  I looked in my rearview mirror just in time to see a little square of... who knows! flying away.
My initial thought: "No big deal."
Three seconds later: "Big deal!"
My car was driving funny and the pesky "low tire pressure" light was on again.  Being in the carpool lane, I pulled to the left side of the road.  Millaker, thankfully, was sleeping soundly at this point.  I climbed out of the car into the FREEZING, blustery wind and commenced checking the tires.  Front drivers side? check.  Front passenger's side? check.  Back driver's side? check. Back passenger side... completely flat.
Now I'm not sure where my brain had gone, because my first response was to climb back in the car out of the freezing wind and call King.
ME:  Hey! I blew a tire! How am I going to get home?  I don't have to call 911 just to get a tow truck do I?
Told you my brain was gone.
KING:  Uh... we have a spare.
ME: Oh yeah!  And I know how to change it! Oh, wait! Someone is pulling over to help.
My guardian angels!
A nice family of four pulled ahead of me and backed up.  I explained the problem and the dad and his fifteen year old son climbed out of their car in nice, button-down shirts (no coats!) and proceeded to change my tire on the VERY cold, very dangerous freeway side.  I tried to give them money since, REALLY they were incredibly helpful- but they refused.  They said it was good practice for their son.  Before they drove away, the cautioned me to only drive 25 mph on the spare, and good luck.
I was going to need it.
Praying awfully hard, I manuvered my car to the OTHER side of the freeway and somehow managed NOT to get hit. Miracles still do happen.  Don't ever forget it.
Then I proceeded to limp down the freeway, hugging the side-line, with my hazard lights on.  All the while, King had found me the nearest tire store.  15 miles down the road I pulled off and find the well-hidden store.  Thanks to the certificates we very nearly didn't purchase,  the new tire and the labor were all free.  They were even kind enough to not make me purchase a NEW certificate for the new tire.
The significance of this story is this.

NO, its not great to fork over money for new tires.
NO, its not great to blow a tire on the freeway.

HOWEVER-

Had we not had new tires, the technician thought we would have rolled or at least crashed!  Whatever I hit had punctured a whole bigger than his hand and he could put his whole fist in our tire. There was no patching that tire!
Had we not purchased the certificate, we'd be out many, many more pretty pennies.
Had I had all three kids- I can GUARANTEE the whole episode would not have gone as smoothly.  I can still picture the possible mayhem in the car as I tried to help with a tire!
Had we not had kind, wonderful, generous people stop to help, I would have been on the side of a dangerous, freezing highway for a VERY long time changing my first tire by myself.  Not an ideal scenario.
I'm grateful for the little blessings- that come about in ways we don't expect, or imagine.  I'm grateful for the kindness of strangers and the unseen help from above which I can GUARANTEE helps and protects us more than we realize.

Have you checked your tires lately?

Before I forget.

I dropped the ball.  Not just kind-of.  I dropped it.  Here I was, rolling through November listing my blessings... and then I disappeared.  Still here.  Just slacking.  Here are some posts I'd started, but never finished, and a few updates.  They should be recorded. 

I am thankful for a fenced back yard.  I love being able to send these two out back.  They have such a good time.  Eddie kicked off her shoes and was pushing them around barefoot.  Crazy girl- she's got to be freezing!

I am grateful these two are such good friends.  This was an unprompted-by-mom event.  Glad my camera was close.

I'm grateful for our annual "Thanksgiving Tree."  Guy got really into this year.  He was constantly grabbing a leaf and sounding out a word.  I wish I knew how to take better pictures.  Some of his words are:  rth: earth, thnkfl for sci (sky), ... ooh! I'm sad I didn't write more down.  Maybe you can decipher them!  

I am tremendously grateful for cellphones.  It's hard to tell, but Guy is talking to King.  Randomly throughout the day they'll announce they want to tell dad something.  I'm glad we can call him (and I'm glad he can answer even though he's at work!)  Some days this little piece of technology is my lifeline.  L.O.V.E. it.

I'm grateful for sweets (now that I am not on my "month-of-no-treats"!) and for sweet, sweet smiles.  These two can turn on the cheese in an instant.  It's great for pictures if they're cooperative.  We decided to make gingerbread cookies and frost them.  Eddie had a bit of help from King.  Guy did his own- hence the TON of candy he loaded onto that thing.  Maybe that's the REAL reason for his cheesy grin.

 Millaker was just glad to eat them.  No frosting needed.

Here's King and My masterpieces.  Thank you very much.

I'm thankful for laughter

Me:  Son, why don't you tell me the Christmas story?
Guy: Ok.  There were three guys with gold that came to baby Jesus.
Me: You're getting a bit ahead of yourself, but ok.  Do you know what we call those, "three guys?"
Guy: No, what?
Me: They're called the wisemen.
Guy: I thought the wisemen built their house on a rock?

Noteworthy.

Music.

Running a little late.

I may or may not have missed more than a few days.
Let's catch up.

1) I love Thanksgiving.  It might seem a bit silly to be grateful for Thanksgiving.... too bad, it's not your list.  I love Thanksgiving.  It's my favorite holiday.  Why? Family, food, potatoes, chiffon pumpkin pie, a day where you go around saying grateful things, more family, even more family, and more pie.  What a great day.

1.5) Even though I love a good deal, I am NOT thankful for Black Friday, and I am NOT grateful to see it creep in on Thanksgiving time.  People trampling others for the "deal of a lifetime" does not have to END someone's lifetime.  It's outrageous.  I probably made 12 more enemies.  Sorry to all you who love it... I don't.

2) I love traditions.  Today we ate pumpkin pie, played Manheim Steamroller, and set up the Christmas Tree.  Granted, I was a tad short on patience what with lights not working, King's two trips to Lowes, a messy house, toddlers running everywhere, outbursts of crying, and a one-year-old taking things OFF the tree faster than we could put things on... but still.  I love putting up the tree. Every time I turn on Manheim I feel like I'm nine, sitting on the carpet in my family's living room, filling my little body full of music and letting my imagination run wild.  Maybe I should try that as an adult, I bet my kids would love it.

3) I am grateful for organization and cleanliness.  I know those are choices and habits- but still.  We were trying to deep-clean (aka seriously dust) the living room today which led to me unloading half the book cases, sorting through books, re-arranging shelves etc.  It took the ENTIRE day what with the Christmas set-up, phone calls, visitors, nap-time, salesmen at the door etc, but now that it's done- it feels GREAT.  Even if the casual observer can't tell a difference, I can.  It helps to have control over one tiny detail in my surroundings.  I have been working on happy attitudes with toddlers for MONTHS with no avail, but one day with my bookshelves and they are in line!

4)  I am grateful for pumpkin chiffon pie- this is not the same as Thanksgiving.  It's just something I love. 

5) I am grateful for the internet and pictures.  I just checked facebook and blogs and feel like I just saw my sisters' homes and kids, even though it been months.  That, to me, is a miracle.  It doesn't feel the same as a real visit, a hug, and a pop-in-and-say-hello, but it is nice and somewhat comforting all the same.

Night.

Details

I'm having a hard time finding something original.  Every time I think of what I'm grateful for, the obvious come up- again and again: King, my kids, my family, great friends, my nice home, food, king, my kids, my family... you get the idea.
So lets be more specific. 

1) I'm grateful for Rembrant Canker Sore Toothpaste.  I'm allergic to the foaming agent in regular toothpastes (sodium llauryl sulfate) and after lots and lots of searching- I've found a toothpaste that a) yes, costs an arm and a leg yet 2) doesn't taste like baking soda and  3) is nice to my mouth!!  I grew up with constant, constant canker sores.  I'd almost always have one, if not two, three or even thirteen (seriously!).  I'd heard everything from, "brush more!" to, "they're cold sores," to,  "it's just you."  Thanks helpful people.  Turns out those weren't accurate assessments.  When my uncle was in dentistry school he saw my mouth complete with several canker sores and a giant one to boot- he took a picture and sent it to a professor who quickly suggested taking away normal toothpastes.  Genius.  I need to find out who that was and send him a note!!  The extra cost for toothpaste is definitely worth the mostly-pain-free mouth.  It turns out all that extra brushing all those years were just making it worse!  I still get cankers (especially when my children whack my head/mouth with their little heads when sitting on my lap!) but they are MUCH fewer and far between.  Hence, I'm grateful for different toothpaste.

2)  I am grateful for popcorn.  Salty, somewhat healthy (as in its not full of sugar), quick, and delicious.  I love you, yummy snack.

3) My cousins.  I have a TON of cousins.  On my mom's side alone there are... 47? Is that right? I might have missed some.  That does NOT include their spouses, their children, or my siblings.  If you count everyone from Grandma and Grandpa down there are over 100 of us!!  I grew up with built in friends, buddies, companions, shoulders to lean on etc.  I love, love, love my cousins! Last night I got to play games with a cousin and her husband and I LOVED it.  I'm not sure how I got to be so lucky!

Food

I love food.  Really.  Not a huge variety of it... but the stuff I like... I LOVE.  My favorites are all things Italian: pasta, noodles (uh.. pasta), LASAGNA (also a pasta), french bread, garlic bread, most Mexican food: tacos, taco salad, burritos, chimichangas, American food: steak, roast, potatoes, chicken, salads, breakfasts foods of ALL kinds, baked goods of all sorts: cookies, cinnamon rolls.  That was not a real sentence.  Far too many commas, colons and a run-on-list. Sorry.
Why am I listing food? I'm making myself hungry.
The point is, I have so much.  Besides voluntarily fasting, I have never been TRULY hungry- and I'm not even sure going 24 hours without food qualifies us as HUNGRY.  I'm grateful I have food in my fridge, my freezer and the pantry is stocked.  I'm grateful I don't have to worry where the next meal for my children will come from.  I'm grateful for healthy food that keeps us feeling great!  King and I recently ended a a month challenge: no sweets.  It about killed me.  Really.  But it made me more aware of how the food I eat affects how I feel.  I ate a bowl of ice-cream last night and thought it was terribly sweet!  I don't think that had ever happened to me before!  I can honestly say I feel better and (after two weeks) crave sugar less than I did a month ago.  I'm grateful my biggest addiction is to baked sweets and for the counsel of the Word of Wisdom.  I have a pretty sweet life.  No pun intended.

Saturdays

This is officially Guy's (and my) favorite day?  Why? 
Ask guy- he has the universal answer,
                   "Cause Daddy doesn't have to go to work!!"
We've had breakfast with grandparents, played a game together, picked up Bountiful Baskets, and we're headed to DI to find pants for a four-year old with holes in the knees!  It's going to be a great day.

Naps!

All Naps in all forms- particularly the long form:
Baby naps, toddler naps, my naps!  What could be more wonderful?
Nuf said.