Just December

December is a whirlwind month for everyone! I always have so many plans, ideas, traditions, hopes, etc, and it is such a busy month that much of what I anticipate doesn't happen. Here is a little bit of what did occur in our month (at least what has been documented in pictures--though many of the pictures didn't turn out great!)

We had a night of Young Women in Excellence and a Court of Honor at the same time. Because Talie was presenting a part, Topher was receiving some awards, and Dad was even going to be getting an award, Mom was trying to be a part of everything, but they were all happening on top of each other. So she ran back and forth between rooms, getting a bit of each of events.

 

December for ZaJane meant shopping for presents, decorating, dressing up, playing with nativities, making treats, talking often about what day Christmas was, preschool fun and playdates, and getting three fillings to finish off her seven this year!

Vida was pleased to learn that along with moving to a new school, Mom and Dad had agreed that he would be allowed to ride on the bus that came to our house early each morning. He has been up and down and all over the place with the school adjustment, but he bounces out the door every morning to get on that bus. His bus driver and the aide on the bus are great for him too!

Talie informed us that she had qualified for the school spelling bee, though we never learned when it would be until she came home holding a trophy and said that she got first runner-up!

We celebrated the twins' birthday with Grandpa a couple of days before the actual day because he was in town, and the night of their birthday, they had a band concert. Their pieces sounded very nice, and I even snuck them some treats afterward (though they said they were for the audience)! They are great kids teens! who are fun to be around, enjoyable to have conversations with, and good examples for their younger siblings (overall). They both have excellent musical talents that continue to develop through their voices, piano, clarinet, coronet, etc. They are both very intelligent, but do not seem overconfident in their knowledge, perhaps because they are often surrounded by other gifted kids whom they are able to relate well to, but these peers also keep them humble. I am so impressed with their creative and artistic abilities that are emerging in very different ways from each other. We are so lucky to have such fantastic people in our family.

I still get to help in Rewjay's classroom and it is fun to see his happy energetic personality while he's interacting with classmates. On the last day of class, they played some fun games, created a present, and made treats. He is displaying part of his treat and the craft he made.

One of our traditions is to make treats for friends, neighbors, teachers, etc. and deliver them with Christmas carols. This picture shows some of the items we made and gave this year, along with a letter about the upcoming Temple open house which we gave to several of our friends. It always ends up being tons of work in a very short timeframe, but I think our kids are beginning to appreciate this as a tradition they value.

This is Mr. Christmas himself. Doesn't he look festive? He was teasing the kids by wearing the glasses, saying didn't you know I got glasses? (He didn't.) He made sure we got cards out when I only got a few addressed. He wrapped presents, put up lights, helped with treats, deliveries, shopping, cleaning, cooking and playing with and keeping kids in check. He's nice to have around even when the holidays are over!

As an extended family, we got to be with Mom's side of the family at various times over the Christmas break.  AJ's family was in California, and the Utah and Colorado cousins are getting ready to have new babies at their houses, but we are happy to have time with all who are able to a part of the chaos.
We had a Christmas Eve dinner program and concert with many budding talents emerging. (Don't look too closely at this pic with mostly guys--I find the similarities in what some of these guys are doing comical).

I also got to celebrate my birthday with family. I love Christmas and all of the traditions and time with family. I got a little silly on camera cuz they had already sung to me once, and I was hamming it up a bit for the family watching on facetime.

 

We went hiking on one of the days, and it was so nice to be out in the sunshine, getting some much needed activity while enjoying family interactions!

December is such a busy month, but all the preparation and events always make for a memorable time that we look forward to all year! Talie was disappointed that we didn't get to the Mesa Temple in time to see the lights and the nativities, and I wished that we had been able to deliver more goodies, especially since some of the people we had hoped to give stuff to were only gone on the times we visited. However, we really did have a great month.  I'll be posting some of the recipes, etc. on our other blog.