Christmas Eve Dinner

Every year I do a fancy Christmas Eve dinner. This year I was beginning to wonder if I really should do it. I really do enjoy making it for my family but this year I'm a little more tired than in the past and since I spend most of the day in the kitchen I don't feel like I get to enjoy Christmas Eve with my family. The Sunday before Christmas Ally wanted us to draw pictures of our favorite things of Christmas. I went with the good church answer, the nativity.

(no comments on my awesome drawing skills, I've never claimed to be an artist)

Andrew drew a present. He did say that he loves giving presents so I guess that saved him. (I don't know what happened to his picture, it quickly disappeared.)

Ally started with mistletoe, which I have to say I don't know why. We have never had mistletoe at our house nor has anyone I have ever known had mistletoe. When she saw my picture she added a nativity. And then kept adding what Jim drew and whatever came to her.

And Vanessa, well she's two, you can interpret what her picture is.

Jim joined us after a bit and drew

(a ham, champagne glasses, rolls, (to represent our Christmas Eve dinner, our Christmas tree (yes it's yellow cuz of all the lights), church and Christmas music, Santa, and a pedigree chart for family)

I was so grateful Jim put things that represent our Christmas Eve dinner on his picture because he really does appreciate all the work I put into that evening. The kids kept saying how excited they were for Christmas Eve for our dinner and for 'sparkling spider' as Ally calls it. That makes it all worth it!

I had planned on making a roast using a new recipe I found, potatoes, rolls, shrimp, carrots, etc. The day before Christmas Eve I was hurrying trying to finish our neighbor gifts and do all the things I didn't want to do on Christmas Eve. Jim texted me and asked if I'd seen his change to my to-do list. I figured he'd added exercise or make brownies or something like that. I looked at my list and he'd crossed out roast and put ham with a smiley face next to it. I told him since we were having ham on Christmas at my mom's I didn't think he'd want ham Christmas Eve too. He said but it's tradition to have ham on Christmas Eve. Hmmmm...the last two years we've had beef brisket on Christmas Eve, how much does he pay attention?? He was just lucky I love him and I had to go back to the store because I bought the wrong jars for the neighbor gifts so I could buy him a ham. Just kidding, I really didn't mind changing it to make what he wanted for dinner. Plus, I found a REALLY yummy recipe for crockpot ham here so it was easy to make. This ham was soooo yummy!! If you haven't ever tried recipes from www.melskitchencafe.com do! I have tried many of her recipes and have LOVED every single one of them!!

Andrew was unfortunately sick on Christmas Eve so he didn't get to enjoy much of the dinner. It was a really yummy dinner that everyone else enjoyed. I'm really glad I decided to make it instead of going the easy way and doing pizza or something like that. The fact that my family enjoys it, is grateful for it, and actually looks forward to it makes it that much better!

My Helpers

I needed to make a graham cracker crust for a pie I was making for Christmas day and Ally and V really wanted to help.

They crushed those graham crackers much better than I would have. I love that they want to help me in the kitchen. It really does make cooking more fun (most of the time).

They crushed those graham crackers way better than I ever would have.

Our Maestro

Just one more thing V does with the drumsticks and box, besides drumming...

And yes, all of these performance times are when she SHOULD be sleeping. I promise I do get her dressed sometimes.

Festival of Lights

Another Christmas thing I wanted to do as a family this year was to go to the Festival of Lights. We ate our dinner and then all climbed in the car.

Look at those excited faces, even Dixie. Unfortunately Vanessa's happy face didn't last long. She did not like the lights.

This picture doesn't show it very well but she was tensed up the entire time we drove thru the lights. Here's how she looked by the time we were finally driving out of the lights

The poor thing! I felt so bad and was really surprised she reacted like that. She loves to see the lights and decorations on the houses as we drive around. After we went home to read 'The Christmas Oranges' and to have hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls with the Lewises. Even though we stressed poor Vanessa out it was a great night creating more memories as a family!

Ally's Winter Dance Performance

I am one of those parents who loves to watch my kids perform something they love. Ally loves to dance and when she's on stage it really shows. She did say that when she's nervous she smiles. I guess if you're going to have a reaction to your nervousness that's a good one to have, I just shake.

This year she is dancing at a dance studio where quite a few girls from our ward dance so it was really fun to go to her performance and see so many girls we know dance.

It was a great performance! Ally and all the girls did a great job!

Vanessa's New Best Friend

Meet Vanessa's new best friend, Santa.

She has done many things with this Santa. They have played many games together and Santa has been put in time out many, MANY times. Can you tell what she hears A LOT? This particular day I caught her singing to and entertaining Santa.

Yep, she's definitely entertaining!

Little Drummer Girl

Vanessa loves to play our Guitar Hero drums. She many times goes and opens the cabinet we store them in and just starts playing, and of course singing. One night she brought the drum sticks upstairs and created her own drums using a puzzle board and a box.

It was so funny to watch her hitting back and forth between the two and she was, of course, singing too. She is my entertainment so many times. I love this girl!

Letters to Santa

While Jim and I put up and began decorating the Christmas tree, the kids filled out their Santa Surveys for the year. Pinterest is a fantastic thing. I found a great form the kids filled out with their favorite things for the year, things they wanted for Christmas and also included things they needed. I have to say I'm impressed that Andrew and Ally both came up with things they needed and not just all the fun stuff. The kids had fun working together and even helped V come up with her list.

Andrew wants a Air Hogs Fly Crane, Hero Factory Bionicles, and Tron DVD. He needs snow pants and mechanical pencils. Ally wants a Barbie vet dog, camera and Barbie DVD. She needs snow boots and twistable crayons for school. Vanessa wants a baby doll. Hopefully they have been good this year and will get what they want for Christmas.

Salt Lake Temple Square

We decided to take the kids to Salt Lake Temple Square this year for the first time.  Yes, you read that right, the first time.  I felt bad 'cause we have never taken them up there and Andrew is almost ten.  As a kid we used to go up there every year at Christmas to see all the lights.  Even though it was always cold, I loved it so I wanted my kids to experience the beauty and Spirit that's up there this time of year too.  Unfortunately the night we picked was one of the coldest of the year but it was still a great experience.  We met our friends the Lewises up there and started in the visitor center looking at the Christus.

It was so neat to watch the kids react to seeing the Christus. We sat there for a bit and when the speaker went on with Christ's voice Ally looked at me and said, "is Christ really talking to us?" I love the innocence of my children.

We then went out to the Nativity.

Here is Andrew explaining to Vanessa what they are looking at

We then wandered around to see the rest of the lights.

The kids had fun together

(these two really could be twins, they are so much alike)

My favorite part was the floating Nativity, it is absolutely beautiful!

It was such a great night to spend as a family and really helped us to remember the true meaning of the Season!

Family Pictures

It was once again time for our annual family pictures with Jim's family. This year we were going to do them the Saturday before Thanksgiving but the weather was really cold and we didn't feel it would be best for 7 month old babies to be out in that cold. All right, who am I kidding? We (me) wimpy moms didn't want to be out in it either. The only other time we could do it was on Thanksgiving day and of course after we ate (too much cooking and preparation to try and do pictures before you eat). We all met at Jim's dad and mom's house and stuffed ourselves on delicious food and then rushed down to the Provo river to get the pics done before we lost good light. I was smart and had my kids wear different clothes and then change into their picture clothes right before we took the pictures. I was not as smart when it came to me. No, I didn't spill on myself but Vanessa chose to use my shoulder as her napkin at one point during dinner. And yes, you can see the mark on my shirt. Vanessa was once again not in the mood to have her picture taken so we unfortunately did not get the best pictures but we got some okay ones.

(gotta love when we get one with Vanessa looking somewhat ok and Ally is squishing her face)

Vanessa was done with pictures at this point so we couldn't get one of the three of them together. I really like this one of Andrew and Ally together!

We decided to take Dixie with us this year since we don't know how much longer she will be with us. Her tumor has returned and is growing quite rapidly. She also has quite a few other tumors so we wanted to try and get a picture with her too. If it seems hard to get three kids looking and smiling at the camera all at once, add a dog. Wow! That one was difficult.

Once again, this is the best we got.

Dixie then decided the river was just too tempting and jumped right in.

(post swim I'm in trouble with Dad picture)

And one of the entire family

The most fun for my kids (and when they were the best behaved), seeing and feeding the horse on the way out.

We always have a fun time doing pictures with Jim's family. After pics it was off to my parents' to visit for a bit and then went back to Jim's parents' house for pie. Great Thanksgiving!!

Raking Leaves

Vanessa and I went and helped Jim's parents' rake their walnut tree leaves. It was a lot of fun spending time with his parents and sister Meg. His sister Dorothy and our nephew Jay came over to help out too. This walnut tree is ginormous and produces a ton of leaves! I wish I would have taken a before picture but I didn't think about it. Their entire front yard was covered with leaves. You couldn't tell where the grass or sidewalk began and ended.  There were even leaves that had fallen and got stuck on lower branches in the tree so Jay decided to climb the tree and shake the branches to get those leaves.

We raked all the leaves into one GIANT pile.

Yep, that's a lot of leaves. We then put the kids in the pile for some pics.

Vanessa didn't like being in just the leaves so we put her in the chair and she was somewhat happier.

Then we started scooping the leaves into the garbage can. Jay was our stomper. He'd climb in the garbage can and stomp the leaves down (he only tipped it over once).

After we filled the garbage can we filled leaf bags which Dorothy then decorated.

Super cute, huh? We had a lot of fun! I'm so grateful I have such a great family to spend time with.

Answers Always Come

I was once again reminded that answers to our prayers often come in very unexpected ways. And no, they are not always the answers we want or expect. I have been struggling again (this seems to be a pattern with me, I know) and have been praying and searching my scriptures and nothing, no answers. Which, as much as I hate to admit it, makes me struggle even more. I was beginning to wonder why I can't receive the answers I seek. Am I not worthy of such answers? Am I not faithful enough? What is wrong with me? Do I not have a good relationship with my Savior? Tonight I felt drawn to read this talk (I think Jeffrey R. Holland is my favorite right now) posted by a dear friend of mine on Facebook. There was my answer! It wasn't that I am not worthy or faithful enough, it's just the same thing as always, I need to be patient. It's not my time for these answers I seek. I know that I need to continue praying, reading and seeking answers and I know that in time, when the time is right for me, these answers will come. I know this because finding this talk was in part an answer to my prayers. It was a reminder that I need patience. Prayers are always answered, even if it's not the way or when we expect.  I'm grateful for these daily reminders in life that continue to give me hope!

Blessings in the Midsts of Trials

I do have a few blog posts to catch up on but I had a learning experience last night that i would feel really ungrateful if I did not blog about it.

I decided to make chocolate chip cookies last night right about the time Andrew and Ally were going to bed. I got the first two batches cooked with no problem. I put the second batch in the oven, set my portable timer and went downstairs to spend some time with Jim. A little while later Ally came panicked downstairs. She said, "Mom I smelled something funny so I went into the kitchen to see and there's smoke coming out of the oven." I quickly looked at my timer, yep, I still had over two minutes before the cookies were to be done. I ran upstairs and sure enough my kitchen was full of smoke. The digital screen on my oven was unreadable so I quickly hit the off button. The screen then said 'clean, cool.' What?!? Clean? How did that happen? I was frantically racking my brain, could I have accidentally turned the clean on? I was absolutely sick! The oven stunk really bad and the top of the oven was quickly turning from the pretty white it was meant to be to a disgusting burnt brown. As Jim and I hurried to open windows, get a fan going, etc. we realized there was no way I could have accidentally turned on the clean cycle, the oven had to have done it itself, which can only mean one thing, the oven is dying.

My first thought, seriously? Can the timing be any worse? I just had to replace my washer and dryer and now my oven? All before Christmas? Why? Just as quickly as these thoughts came to me, my thinking changed! I quickly realized how grateful I was that Ally was still awake and smelled that 'funny smell' and came to tell me and Jim right away. I realized that since there were still cookies on a metal cookie sheet in the oven when it switched to clean mode a fire could have started which would have been A LOT worse! Everyone in my family was safe and that's the most important thing. As I look back over the last few months I realize there were blessings in disguise that I didn't truly realize until now. Like the fact we decided to get a new barbecue grill for my birthday. And I was able to replace my crockpot when it died. And that after only using said crockpot once and breaking the bowl while cleaning it (yes I am brilliant) my next door neighbor had a bowl she was getting rid of that fit mine perfectly and she was willing to give it to me for free. Another blessing is that even though we had to replace our washer and dryer, and right before Christmas, the timing was actually good because we got a good deal with the Black Friday sales. I have learned that if you look hard enough, and yes sometimes you have to look really hard, we can find blessings in everything, including our trials. I'm so thankful we were blessed in the midst of this trial.

So for now, our oven is on the side of our house and while we are looking for a new oven (which are expensive, by the way) we will be eating a lot of cold food, crockpot meals and using my grill we were blessed to get. The good news is that even though it still stinks really bad, I still have a kitchen to prepare these meals in. I'm so thankful my Heavenly Father is watching out for me and my little family and this situation wasn't any worse than it was. I'm also grateful for lessons learned during our trials.

Proud Mom

K, I don't really like to post things like this post 'cause let's face it, every mom thinks her kids are the best, most smart, cutest kids in the world. But, I have to put this in our family journal for this year because I am so proud of these two.

We recently had parent teacher conferences at the school. I first met with Ally's teacher who only had kind things to say about Ally. Ally is doing really well with her reading and math and every other thing they are learning so far. She enjoys reading and learning so I think that makes things easier on her. The best thing for me to hear is that the teacher often relies on Ally to help out a boy in her class who struggles with Autism. Her teacher said she keeps him by Ally because she knows Ally will always help and is always kind to him. This really warmed my heart. I know how kids can be especially to someone who is different. I'm so glad my daughter is not only kind to this boy but more than willing to help him when he is struggling with assignments, etc. Of course, Ally is Ally and is not perfect. I did need to talk to her about being a little too social and talking when she is not supposed to. The good thing about Ally is that when I talk to her about something that needs to be changed, she is quick to change it. All right, she is quick to change it when it's at school, home is a different situation.

I then went and met with Andrew's teacher. I knew this one would be easy. Andrew loves to read and learn. He is really excelling in all subjects but especially math. His teacher too could only say wonderful things about Andrew. Although it didn't surprise me what he said, it was the way he said it. I could tell he enjoys having Andrew in his class and enjoys the challenge of teaching Andrew. His teacher is also his math teacher. He does timed 1-12 multiplication tables and Andrew completed his in 3 minutes 43 seconds, the fastest in the class. His teacher told me he can't wait until they try the other tables to see how fast Andrew can do them. He also said that Andrew always pulls out a book and reads when they have any down time. He said he thinks Andrew will always excel at school because of his love for reading. I have to say, I struggled with smiling too much and crying because I am so proud of this kid. But, like Ally, his academic achievements aren't what make me the proudest. On his interview sheet under greatest achievement so far he put, 'when I helped (a boy in his class who has cerebral palsy) score a touchdown in football.' This boy had never scored a touchdown and Andrew told me one night he wanted him to score a touchdown and he was going to help him accomplish it. I love that he has such a kind and caring heart too.

I am so proud of both my kids for the way they are excelling in school and also in being kind and loving beings. They make me so happy to be their mom. I love them both so much!