Christmas

We had a great Christmas. I'll get around to posting pictures at some point in time, but I'll go ahead and document without for now.

We didn't get to go home for Christmas this year. We decided to use whatever money was given to us to save for our future move back to AZ. This was my second year being away from AZ for Christmas, but the first year that we had no extended familia around. (The other year I was in Dumas, TX but we were with the McAvoy clan.) We missed family, but with modern technology we were able to video chat with just about everyone.

It was fun having Santa come to our own home again. He really out did himself and got the kids an indoor 7' trampoline. It has a net and everything. The kids LOVE this gift. It was seriously the best idea ever. Santa is brilliant. Now our long winter days are filled with activity. Santa also brought a giant "bongo" ball. Basically, it's a huge blow-up ball that the kids can tumble around in. Think of it as a hamster ball. The kids like this as well. Santa blew the whole thing us with his amazing lung capacity. One nameless elf contributed about 1% of the air :) Santa did the rest. Hey, that nameless elf is about 6 months pregnant and doesn't have a lot of air to spare. Fainting spells are always a possibility.

Jon Mark was sweet and bought me some really nice boots. Nicer than any shoes I have ever owned in my life, and nicer than I thought I'd ever be able to own. They're "boot"iful (haha).

The four grandparents spoiled the kids. The kids really enjoyed opening presents from them all day long. It was like Christmas lasted the entire day.

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On Christmas Eve the kids acted out the nativity in a rather noisy manner (Luke wasn't happy at all about having to dress like an angel and couldn't be consoled). We read the scripture account and sang some primary songs. Then, we each gave Jesus a gift and put it into the box to lay under the tree. Before we gave Jesus the gifts, we talked about what "gifts" make Jesus happy. And we brainstormed. Here is what the kids came up with:

Joshua: I was going to give Jesus the gift of giving away a toy I didn't really like anymore to a poor boy who didn't have any toys. But, since I like toys so much, I think I'll give a poor boy one of the books that I don't really like at all instead. And, that'll be my gift to Jesus.

Mercedes: Dance.
Me: Dance?
Mercedes: Uh huh. Dance.
Me: How about you say that your gift to Jesus will be to dance and play nicely with your brothers. Do you think that's a gift Jesus will like?
Mercedes: Yes.

Luke: (Obviously I came up with Luke's gift) The gift of learning to not bite and learning to not throw tantrums. I'll help him learn that one.

Mom: Reading my scriptures earlier in the day so that I can get more out of them.

Dad: Do home teaching more consistently. (Home teaching is harder in Ohio, trust me).

I liked this tradition and hope to do it every year. I guess it's kind of like writing a spiritually based New Year's resolution, but my hope is that by giving the gift to Jesus (by symbolically placing it under the tree with the other presents) the kids will be a little more focused on the true meaning of Christmas.

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Today there was a lot of snow on the ground. It snowed about 5 inches yesterday (it was supposed to snow 13), and it was soft and powdery. I went to shovel the driveway and front steps because the mailman won't deliver mail if it's not cleared. Before I went out, I got the kids busy doing an activity, made sure the house was safe, and then I locked the kitchen gate and shut both doors tightly. Jon Mark was upstairs so it wasn't even as if they were being left alone in the house. I thought the kids would be safe for the ten minutes it would take me. Never underestimate the children (that's what I learned).

Joshua had opened the baby gate and the mudroom door for Luke because he was crying for me. Joshua didn't know that Luke would be able to open the back door by himself, and neither did I. But, Luke must have been determined and he did. So, walking barefoot in snow that came up to his waist, Luke walked the entire length of our driveway and front sidewalk. The poor baby was freezing cold when I found him. I scooped him up and hastily went inside. I took his freezing clothes off and cuddled with him under a blanket while I massaged his hands and feet. I know he was only out there like that for a couple of minutes, but it scared me. Of course the thought crossed my mind of what if he didn't know to find me in the front of the house? What if he had gone a different direction and it took me longer to find him? I'm grateful for angels. I believe that the Lord has given His angels charge over my children on more than one scary occassion. Everyday I pray that the Lord will keep my children safe from harm, because I recognize that I can't be there by their little sides every second of every day, and I need that divine help. Needless to say, I am so thankful that the Lord looked after my little Lukey Bear and that the situation did not prove to be more dramatic.

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Aside from the scary incident earlier in the day, the other two kids, Jon Mark, and I had a lot of fun playing in the snow. The kids went sledding down the neighbor's driveway. We built a snowman (it actually looks more like a snow"ant") and we had a snowball fight. It was fun. Then, we drank hot cocoa and watched a show together.

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I think that's all I have time to write right now. I'll post more later.