Coolest Dad EVER

From sewing Halloween costumes to cake decorating Ted never ceases to amaze and shame me with his home making abilities. But he really outdid himself this week when he and the kids worked outside in below freezing temperatures for hours to build this snow fort. THEN they slept in it all night last night! I was afraid it would collapse on them when the warm winds hit but they didn't come in until right before seven this morning...and Ted had to convince Emma to come inside- she had so much fun! James and Emma will never forget this experience...

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

And it came true! This is long...so skip the reading...but I just copied it over from my journal because I didn't want to write it twice....actually three times because I spent and hour downloading pictures then our internet went out and erased this post!

I sit here to the sounds of our Winter Wonderland melting away. The Chinook started blowing last night at about 11:00 and by this morning half the snow was gone. I guess it should be a relief. My kitchen will no longer be a mud room. But I can not help but shed a few tears because it has been a wonderful two weeks. Two weeks where I had the excuse to just stay home and let my children be. Let them be children. Wake up on their own time schedule. Play on their own time schedule. Read on their own time schedule. Be with Mom on their own time schedule. It’s funny to observe how they just pop in from time to time to make sure I’m here now. It’s definitely not how it used to be. It makes my heart ache. So as the wind sweeps away our slow paced haven- replacing it with a whirlwind of activities once more I reflect upon the moments we’ve shared together this Christmas season.

Our Enrichment Night the first week of December really set a nice tone for the month. A progressive dinner where we “journeyed towards Christ” learning of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus at each house. We also had a hay ride from house to house and sang Christmas carols. It was a fantastic way to end my “journey” as enrichment leader!

Emma and I had a magical journey to the Nutcracker!--- see post below---

Adam performed in his cute little preschool program. James and Emma performed excellently in their piano recital. We made our own advent calendars and ate a piece of candy- every day for a while then I kind of “forgot” about them We also followed the friend advent calendar reading a story of Christ and adding a picture of him to our wall each day. The kids made sure we didn’t forget this one and we really enjoyed our own journey towards Christ. We decorated gingerbread houses with our good friends the Westover’s for Family Home Evening the week before Christmas.

We had neighbors who did “Secret Santa” 12 days of Christmas. It was so fun to wait and see what would be left on our doorstep each night. All were things aimed to bring us together as a family. Root beer float night, coloring books and crayons night, McDonald’s night, pie night, story night…it was so much fun! The most memorable gift they left was tickets to the Living Nativity. A Christmas Pageant at the Cathedral of Joy. I was a little anxious about what my kids might be taught, but it was beautiful! Astounding! Peaceful…and really touched our hearts. They have a real cave in the hillside- real donkeys, real camels, real horses and sheep. It was all very real to my children and really set the tone for our Christmas.

We spent all day Tuesday playing with cousins in the snow. I’m so thankful for cousins close by- especially for my girl…she needs other girls! Christmas Eve was a blur- I wasn’t feeling well at all so I was a little grumpy. Aunt Jamie spent the night to make sure Santa came! With excitement in the air my kids eventually fell asleep--- Santa came and we had a wonderful day! My family arrived at 8am and stayed until the kids were in bed. Ted had been anticipating the boys present from Santa for months- he was sure they would be getting a jeep! So he was as excited as they were to test it out! Too much snow to drive outside so we took the jeep down to the church and let them drive it around the gym! It was so much fun to just hang out and be together. My house was bursting at the seams with love and presents and food and fun!

We finished off the week with a baby shower for my sister Lisa who is due with baby Jacob in four short weeks! Long for her…Jamie made a diaper cake and Britton’s Mom hosted a fabulous brunch!

Nutcracker

I had my doubts about leaving the boys behind for 2 days--I was afraid I might come home to a bunch of xbox zombies--but Emma and I had a delightful weekend in Seattle with Jamie!
It started with an 8 hour drive to Seattle. Emma read to me from the back seat as we waited for the pass to open. We played ro-sham-bo as we were stuck in Seattle traffic. And ate lots of carrots and bagels because that's all boring Mom brought in the car. At one point I handed Emma the camera and told her to take pictures...she really wanted pictures of someone putting chains on their car.




















We made it in one piece- stopped for dinner at Dick's--then headed to Jamie's cute townhouse in Seattle! We walked to this darling cupcake store and bought cupcakes. Went back to the apartment to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" while playing a couple games of Sorry- in which Emma stomped us! She really does have some freaky knack for winning that game!


















On Saturday we went up to the awesome outlet Malls- somewhere North-- then made it back to Jamie's house in time to get ready for our big night! Jamie did-up Emma's hair and as we drove to the Spaghetti Factory it started to snow! Yeah!



















Dinner was yummy...then on to the nutcracker. Jamie had talked me into wearing these really amazingly cute fancy shoes---but about 10 yards into our walk towards the theatre I ended up walking barefoot in the snow. My feet were killing me! Big flat runners feet are not made for fancy shoes! There's one picture below of Jamie twirling Emma during intermission- I love it!











Sunday we were planning on going to church with Jamie to hear her sing in her ward choir- but I was so worried after our trip over the pass that we woke up early and headed over. And we've been snowed in ever since! It was a wonderful weekend. Emma is such a good girl and I was so glad to be able to give her this experience! I hope she remembers it forever- even if she doesn't necessarily remember the Nutcracker...just being together!
This last picture is on our car trip home- which wasn't an easy drive but easier then Friday's.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

...But inside it's so delightful!

Flakes

Okay...I think these beautiful BIG WHITE FLAKES are turning me into a lazy grumpy FLAKE. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I want to eat and sit and play games with my kids and watch TV. I just played the x-box with James for goodness sake...I never do that. Actually, Adam sat next to me and basically pushed the controls for me because I was messing their game up. But I just feel like hibernating and doing nothing but...hibernate. I completely forgot about my 9:00 class this morning- which I have taught every Monday for months-- until I saw the gym's # on my caller ID. I don't want to work on stuff I know needs to get done for primary before the first of the year... I really don't want to run (so the fact that I ran 4 hard miles today should really show how dedicated I am- ha, and thanks for the tread mill Lori:)...I don't want to talk on the phone or be friendly to neighbors. What I really want to do right now is watch The Unit (thanks a lot a and a!)- but Ted would be mad if I got ahead of him. I think I must be turning into a bear or something- ready to hole up for the winter! But I am so excited that we are going to have a WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Snowmen are Bad News by James Chan

(A READER BECOMES A WRITER...I HAVE TO ADMIT I AM PROUD)

My name is Jake. I love Christmas! But I don't like snowmen at all! I've had problems with them. Big problems! Let me tell you. It all started with me building a snowman. "There," I said, putting the finishing touch to my snowman. I went inside to warm up. My Mom had made hot chocoalte. I sat down, drank my hot chocolate and went to bed.
The next morning I went out to look at my snowman. When I looked around the corner, he was gone. I looked all over for him. I found him with ten other snowmen sliding down the street! When they saw me they started sliding towards me. I noticed one of the snowmen with a lightning strike across his chest. My snowman!! All the other snowmen had lightning strikes across their chests. But not as big as my snowmans.
I ran back to my house and called my friends Zack, Jack and Annie. They were over at my house quicker then lightning. I told them what I had seen. "We have to make up a plan quickly," I said, "And we can't tell anybody- okay?" "Okay," they said. "Zack, you're the smart one, you make up the plan." Zack said, "I've alread got one."
That night they all crept out of the house. "I hope this works," I said. "It will," said Zack, "I'm sure of it." We found the snowmen in the woods behind my house. "There are even more of them then last time," I whispered. "You got the hot chocolate ready?" "Yep," whispered Zack, "Okay, on three...one, two, three, GO," I shouted. Annie jumped out from behind a tree, "Hey you big fat snowman, over here." The snowmen started sliding to where Annie was. "Now!," shouted Annie. Zack and I dumped a huge container of hot chocolate from a tree branch. "Agh!!," screamed the snowmen.
When it was over we went back inside and fell asleep. The next day Zack, Jack, and Annie went home. I went back inside and opened the hot chocolate cupboard. "Hey, where's all the hot chocolate?," I asked myself. Then I thought...It was real after all.

Office Party

Way fun!