The end of the year..

It seems that every single December sneaks up on me.  Here we are, just plugging along, living life, going on adventures, experiencing the seasons and then BLAMO!  It's Christmas!

Christmas completely and utterly stresses me out.  I have panic attacks and cry.  I miss my grandma's and strive to find their presence in all that I do, just to know, that they know, I'm trying.

The actual day of Christmas is a blur.  It is never as stressful as I think it's going to be and I do manage to find joy in watching my children's overwhelming excitement for all things wrapped (and not) in flimsy holiday paper.  We rush and rush and rush and then it all just comes crashing down.

Christmas should be the end of the year.  We should wake up the next day and ring in the new year all at once.  These days between December 25 and January 1 are just a jumble of sugar and chaos and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves every single day.

Today though, is my super cool brother's birthday.  He is 21 today.  Holy cow.  To celebrate, we are all going bowling (the Bing-Bings, the parental units and my family of 5), and eating lots of french fries, which is a pretty good way to celebrate the birthday of the one we love when he isn't here.  Because, if he was here, we'd probably be doing the same thing.

I'm excited for what the new year holds, what it will bring, and the adventures we will take both near and far.  I'm excited for my children to continue to grow and learn and be the great kids that they are.  I'm excited to get out of my 13th year of marriage and move on to the 14th, because the 13th has been a little stressful, to tell you the truth.  I'm excited to take more pictures, have new experiences, and maybe even go on an actual "date" or two with my husband, sans children.  I heard those things exist, but haven't been on one in so long I'm not sure I remember what to do.

All that being said, here is a quick slide show tribute to our 2015, may it rest in peace.  It seems that every year, my boys and I adopt a song.  One that's easy on the ears and can be wildly danced to in the kitchen (or the car, or anywhere else for that matter.)  Walk the Moon's, "Shut Up and Dance" seemed to fit the bill this year - and is probably one of the first songs we will have that Uncle of ours listen to as part of his missionary de-programming in two short months.

Happy New Year.  Bring on 2016.

Merry Christmas

It was completely out of character for me, but I only took about 10 pictures yesterday.  I was tired and there was a lot going on.

But, we had a wonderful Christmas.  The boys seemed to get everything on their wish lists and then some.  We received inches and inches of snow,  We skyped with our best brother and uncle for about an hour and Jack called Quinn his husband.  It was a good day and when it was finally over we all crashed hard.

Unfortunately, Quinn's crashing somehow, mysteriously got him into my bed.  At 2:30, I had suffered enough blows and decided to try and sleep the rest of the night in his hobbit bed.

Let's get this new year started, shall we?

Twas the week of Christmas...

Only a few more days.  They, the big guy comes, the presents get opened, the mess gets cleaned up (eventually) and we have a chance to catch our breath and spend some time with each other at a less frantic pace.

We had a good weekend.

The Runnin' Utes beat Duke.  I don't know that there was ever a greater Christmas miracle.  I watched the overtime by myself, home alone, and I cheered and yelled and fist pumped.  It was glorious to see those dookies lose.  My sister said on her blog that it made up for all those losses to Kentucky.  I disagree that it was that wonderful of a victory, but it did help to start to heal old wounds.





On Saturday night, we had our second family Christmas party.  My mom wasn't in charge, but she contributed a lot, and asked me to put together a photo booth.  I obliged and I think almost everyone at the party participated.  Even Grandpa got into the act.  We got some fun, casual, no pressure family pictures out of it, so that's always good, too.











Because my parents kitchen remodel has taken longer than expected, we ended up going out for Sunday dinner last night, and as Elliott put it, it was fancy.  We went to the coffee shop at Little America.  My boys were so well behaved.  I love it when they are so good, and even say thank you to our server without being reminded.  After dinner, we found a Santa with a real beard, and walked across the street to see the holiday windows at the Grand America.  It was quite a fun night.



And now?  The week of Christmas.  There are presents to be wrapped, candies to be made, neighbor gifts to deliver.  There are meals out on the town, Jazz and Utah basketball games to be attended, cookies to be frosted and Christmas Eve traditions to uphold.  It's going to be a very busy and eventful week.  As stressed out as I often let myself get, I'm excited for what the week has in store for us.

Doing a good deed

Quinn and I headed to the post office this morning to pick up a certified package.  We stood in a 30 minute line, very patiently waiting our turn.  The postal employee who helped us, helps us pretty regularly.  I don't know his name, but we've had some good short conversations and are on good face recognition terms.

As we approached the counter and exchanged hello's he asked me to give him just a minute.  He had a package that had been left by a customer a few people in front of me, but hadn't been paid for.  As he was standing there, trying to figure out what to do, I said "I"ll just pay for it."

He looked at me dumbfounded, like he didn't hear what I had said, so I said it again, "I'll just pay for it.  It's Christmas, I'm sure whatever is inside is important."

He still looked at me a little goofy and said, "Really?  You'll pay for someone else's package?  Are you sure?  It's ten dollars, are you sure?"

I told him yes, again, that it really wasn't that big of a deal so he rang me up.  As I was paying, he said, "That really is nice of you but that person will never know you did it." Like he thinks you should only do nice things for people if they see you.  I told him it was all the better that it was anonymous and hopefully I'll have some good karma headed my way.  It's one of those pay it forward experiences - I didn't pay for the food or coffee for the person behind me at the drive through, but the least I could do was help someone out with shipping a Christmas gift.

'Tis the season, I guess.  Hopefully whomever is the recipient of that package really enjoys it this holiday season.

Happenings...

It's just a few days before Christmas...9, if you don't count today, right?

I was talking to Ross on the phone this afternoon whining a bit.  It seems that all my time, our time, in the last couple weeks has been pulled away from us into different directions.  Church callings, basketball practice and coaching, Christmas concerts, Sub-for-Santa, traveling for work, holiday markets, frantic sewing for shows, frantic sewing of custom orders, shoveling snow and snow blowing all the neighbors driveways and sidewalks...it really feels a little overwhelming.

There are people in this world who need help.  There are members of my family who need prayers.  There are so many NEEDS in this world that it's impossible to think of them all, or to help all those that need it.  I try hard to spend as much time as I can serving others, in big ways and small.  I try to do something everyday that will benefit another person, even if on most days, I don't make it past the other four people in my home.

And guess what.

I'm really tired.

And I have a lot to do in the next nine days.

I hope I can get it all done.

I find January and February, like most people, to be pretty depressing.  It's cold and dreary, the air is bad, lots of people get sick and pass away (our stake president a few weeks ago called winter the "season of dying" and as morbid as that sounds, he's right), as a parent, it takes me a long time to recover from the excitement and let down of the holidays.

But, there are a lot of good things too.

Our neighborhood provided Christmas for 7 families who would otherwise have nothing.  My oldest son performed amazingly well on the trombone in three holiday concerts, and my niece and nephew did well in their program, too.  My boys are great basketball players and very helpful, kind, nice boys which I think that their dad and I take for granted every once in a while.  We are lucky to go on adventures, have the resources to help other people, and spend a lot of time with the people we love.  Last week, the boys were on the trampoline in hoodies and this week, they are bundled up in their warmest gear to play in the snow.

And we get to talk to our Uncle Willie next week.  You just cannot beat that.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

On Sunday night, it snowed.

On Monday, it snowed.

On Monday night, it snowed.

On Tuesday, we had a lot more snow.

Children, mine included, love the snow.  They seem to forget the fact that they are cold, have frozen snot on their faces and soaking wet pants and socks because....SNOW!

Yesterday, when the big boys got home from school, they geared up and headed outside with their little brother.  I dare say, they frolicked, they had so much fun.  When they came inside, they were laughing and having a great time.

Snow, for as much havoc as it wreaks in the lives of adults by way of commuting, shoveling and snow blowing, is truly magical for kids.  Quinn, in particular, has really loved the snow the last couple of days.  I guess this is the first year he's really old enough to play and trudge through knee high snow and last year, we didn't get any so this is pretty amazing to him.

I need to remember that magic the next time my boys are driving me crazy.

March 3, 2016

We have a return date for that tall blond elder in the picture.

March 3, 2016.

I can hardly wait.

I was talking to my mom about the Big Iggy this morning.  We both started crying.  She said, "I don't know how we got so lucky to have this kid in our family, but he is the glue that holds everything together."

Truer words were never spoken.

I'm ready for the glue to come back home.