Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas this year! We spent most of our time with Jeremy and Rochelle and their kids. We started out on Christmas Eve at our house with our traditional meal of Navajo Tacos. They were very yummy! Even if Rochelle didn't eat the fry bread! After dinner we watched "The Nativity Story" it was a first for all of us, but we enjoyed it. The kids started getting a little restless towards the end:) I think they were really excited for Santa to come, so Jeremy and Rochelle went home and after our kids opened their jammies, they were in bed. Logan and Maika slept together in Logan's room. Logan kept telling the kids to go to bed so Santa could come. I honestly think they were asleep by 9pm! Santa got busy and was gone by 10pm:)

On Christmas morning we got up around 6:30 and the kids got busy opening their presents. Logan got Guitar Hero III and a new coat, Maika got some new jeans and a make-over Bratz doll, Nalani got the Princess babies, and Bronson got some tractors. They all got some games, cute duffel bags with their names embroidered on them, and other nice gifts from Grandparents, friends and cousins! Bronson was more excited about pushing Nalani's babies around in the stroller than playing with his new tractors, I just tried to let Kelly know that it was a sign that he will be a good daddy and ladies man someday:) But Kelly took it upon himself to get down on the floor with him and play tractors and cars and make all sorts of sound effects to go along with them.

We were treated to Breakfast a'la Jeremy...homemade hash browns, bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs, and OJ it was all yummy! After the food, Kelly and Jeremy got down to the real business of the day, playing duel Guitar Hero on the Wii.(see Rochelle's blog for other pictures!) They were really rockin'! It was fun to watch too! Especially with all the SNOW coming down outside! A couple of times Logan came in to ask if I would go tell dad that it was her turn to play...I just told her that it was his turn and that he had to go to work for the rest of the week and she could play all she wanted. She's getting very good too, and likes Talon to come up so they can play together.

After Christmas Naps, we had dinner at our house with ham, Funeral Potatoes, rolls, green beans, and apple and pumpkin pies, again, yummy! We had a slumber party at our house that night and the kids played the Wii and watched movies late into the night, I must've been tired because I didn't hear a peep out of them!

The house is back to normal, all the decorations are back in their boxes except for the lights outside, Kelly gets that detail! We have to wait a whole year for another round, but we had a great season, spent with great friends! When we live so far away from our family and other loved ones, it's so nice to have "family" around here too!

Taking a breather

I'm taking a breather right now. I've been sitting on my office floor for the last hour and a half wrapping presents and my hips and back are killing me! I needed to sit upright for a little while:) So what do I do? I check blogs.

As I'm sure most of yours have been lately, my days have been crazy! Getting the last minute shopping done, Nalani's birthday festivities, cooking, wrapping, the list goes on and on. Today at church was good. We had our Christmas program in Sacrament meeting (I missed most of it because I was out in the hall with Bronson) what I heard was good though. Then for Sunday School my friend, Candy, taught the lesson on "Mothers Who Know" (search the title in the search box). She is a great teacher. For Young Women today Lorna and I were in charge of the lesson. We read the story called "The Three Trees" and then had the girls share some favorite memories of Christmas time. They had a great time sharing and we went around the circle twice! Keep in mind, most of these girls don't like to talk during lessons, so we were thrilled! We ended the lesson with the poem called "The Nail"

It's Christmas time at our house and we are

putting up the tree,

I wish I could find one simple way to

remember Christ's gift to me.

Some little sign or symbol to show friends

stopping by,

The little babe that was born one day, but he

really came to die.

Some symbol of His nail pierced hands, the

blood He shed for you and me.

What if I hung a simple nail on my shining

Christmas tree?

A crimson bow tied round the nail as His

blood flowed down so free,

to save each person from their sin and redeem

us for all eternity.

I know it was His love for us that held him to

that tree,

But when I see this simple nail I know he died

for me.

We gave each girl a nail tied to a red bow to hang on their trees at home, to be reminded of the real reason for Christmas.I hope we can all remember Christ this Christmas and be touched by His Spirit!

I guess I better get back to my wrapping, I'm never sure when one of the kids is going to walk in on me. I threatened them that if they did, I would take all the presents back to the store though. I guess we'll find out if they think I'm serious or not:)

Nalani turns 3!

Happy birthday Nalani! I can't believe she is already three! She had to grow up pretty fast...she was a big sister by the time she was 19 months old:) We love this little girl! She is our bossy one, our couch potato, and our tempermental little girl. She loves her little brother and her big sisters. She likes to ride on our boat. She loves her blankie and her pacifier (I know, she's too old for one!). She was our early Christmas present. We love you, Nalani, and hope you have a great birthday!

Toothless

Maika's bottom teeth have been loose for about a month now. And, given that her permanent teeth have already started popping through, I told her she really needed to get the baby teeth out! Now!

The tooth was so loose she could tip it sideways with her tongue! She was still so nervous to pull it, so I tried bribing her with stuff. I told her if she pulled it out, I would email the Tooth Fairy and tell her to bring $5. The thing that clinched it was, I told her I would take a picture and put it on my blog! She went in the bathroom got some toilet paper and pulled it out! So, now I'm living up to my end of the bargain. The Tooth Fairy came bearing a $5 bill and here's Maika's toothless entry on my blog:)

Good Job, Logan!

We just got back from Logan's award assembly. She received two awards this time. One from her PE teacher, and one from her Music teacher. We are so proud of her! It's always fun to hear good things about your kids and to know that some of what you are teaching them sinks in. Her teachers from Kindergarten until now have always raved about how well she treats the kids at school. She doesn't play favorites, or worry about who wears the cutest clothes, or which kids would further her social status.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I wish her teachers could see her in action at home:) But, it makes me so happy to know that she's not one of the "mean girls" in school. Her first grade teacher described her the best, I think. She said,"Logan is kind and smart, yet delightfully sassy!" And, sassy she can be! I hope Logan continues to realize the importance of an education and always does her best. Most of all, I hope she continues to realize the importance of treating others with kindness. That will get her further than anything.

When Logan was in 2nd grade, she was kind of struggling with a friend. She came home and said, "_____, just wants to walk around at recess and not say hi to anyone, and run away from people." I asked her if she did this with the girl and she said no. Then she was worried because "so and so" was mad at her because she wouldn't do this at recess. I told her about Kelly's little sisters, Nani and Nathele, and how they were the most popular girls in their high school. I then asked if she wanted to know why they were so popular? Auntie Nan, and Auntie Belle were popular not only because they were smart, and pretty, and athletic, but because they were kind to everyone. Not fake nice, but genuinely nice. I think that lesson sunk in with Logan, and I hope it will sink in with Maika, Nalani, and Bronson too. They sure have a good example to look up to in a big sister!

Giving Myself a Pat on the Back

Yeah, I'm giving myself a pat on the back. "Why?" you ask. Well, because I've pretty much finished sending out our Christmas cards. This is the first year I had to write the letter (you better be starting your draft for next year, Kelly!), and I ordered them online (if you don't know me, this is major progress), and I figured out how to print the address labels (by myself) so I didn't have to spend hours hand printing them! I had to call Kelly for some moral support during this trying time. He probably heard a few choice words he could have gone without, but was very supportive and had faith in me that I could find a way to print those suckers!

I've finally finished the in-house decorating too. I just gave up and had to remind myself that Bronson thinks that since the ornaments look like balls, therefore they must be balls. He's already broken about five of them because he rips them off the tree and takes them over to the hardwood entryway and throws them. Then he stands there with a confused look on his face like, "hey, why didn't that thing bounce?"

Kelly was in charge of the outside decorations and did a great job! Jeremy came to our door a few days before Kelly got the lights up and asked in Scrooge was here. That sure got Kelly on the ball. He was stocking-up at Walmart the next day! After he was finished he came in and said, "That will teach Jeremy Lyman to call me Scrooge!"

I've still got some shopping and some shipping to do. So when that's all done, I'll have another reason to be patting myself on the back. Maybe I'll just splurge and make myself an appointment for a massage...now that sounds rewarding!

Weekend Update (kind-of late!)

This weekend was fun! We went to the tree farm on Saturday to get our tree. It turned out the perfect day because it was actually snowing. The kids had a blast! Here is Kelly cutting down our tree. Of course, they had to turn it into some sort of competition, so Jeremy timed him. He cut it down in under 8 seconds! Maybe there's a future for him in the logging industry:)
Nalani, in her cute hat! I love it! She was freezing, but wanted to play, play, play. Look at her little red nose (hopefully I managed to wipe all the snot away before I snapped this)!

Bronson stood by this little "Charlie Brown" tree for about 15 minutes. I think this is one of the only pictures he's happy in and it's because I finally put him down and let him walk around.

Here's a family picture. And no, that's not our tree! We would have looked like Clark Griswald bringing that baby home!
I think Logan was the most excited about the snow. She had fun with the snowball fights.


And, look at that mischievous face on Maika. She's getting ready to throw that one at me:)

The morning started off watching our little basketball player. Logan loves to play and she's getting pretty darn good too! I think she made about 5 baskets. It is so funny to watch the little kids play and the different levels they are on. I, am admittedly an annoying mom in the stands, but I'm cheering and giving her advice. There are some moms that are telling there kids to get out on the "wing" and all sorts of other technical stuff that I didn't realize kids this age knew. All that matters to me at this point is that Logan is developing a love for the game and we'll work on the other stuff later:) Nalani is a good little cheerleader. She was yelling, "Logan, do good!" and "Logan, be nice!" It was cracking us up! It was a fun weekend. Now, I need to go and get all the decorating finished up!