Merry Christmas 2010

In 10 minutes Christmas will officially be over. I just said to Chad that I always feel I've come down off of a month-long high as I unwind on Christmas night. The gifts have all been given for better or worse, goodies made and delivered, dinner served, phone calls to family made, Christmas programs attended, decorating done, and hopefully, smiles and laughter and thoughts of our Savior added into the mix of everything that we've done during the process leading up to this one day of the year.

Our family has been very blessed this year. Mike and I are grateful that we've been able to share our home with family this year, and we're especially grateful that we were able to share Christmas with Chad, Fiona, and Mia. I'm posting just a few of the pictures from this month -- sort of a continuation from the last post about Christmas tree hunting. I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas. I'm blessed beyond measure to have a terrific family and to know that our Savior was born for us.



Fiona and Mia at their Christmas program on December 14. Mia was quite dramatic as she sang her songs, while Fiona was a little more reserved. Both girls did a terrific job and were proud of their beautiful Christmas dresses.


Our tree after the girls finished decorating it. I mentioned before that trees we hunt tend to have quite a bit of personality and this year's tree was no exception. Fiona and Mia were proud of it because they got to do most of the decorating with their ornaments. They got out my ornaments and wanted to know the stories to all of them. It's great to share the magic of special things with our little ones!


During our Christmas break, Mike and Chad worked to get the last of the kitchen wiring and plumbing done so that we can move the temporary sink and dishwasher to their permanent homes. While Mike was working on the lights in the kitchen, Mia sneaked up the ladder under him and wanted to know what he was doing. He showed her how to twist the wiring into place. Mia is proud to tell anyone who will listen that she helped make the lights work.

Of course, Christmas isn't quite right without the homemade cookies. Fiona and Mia were concerned that Santa have just the right kind of cookies -- the kind that had shapes and frosting. We had flour and frosting EVERYWHERE! At one point the girls had flour all over their faces. Santa was treated to four big cookies with lots of frosting and sprinkles. The cookies were accompanied by a large cup of egg nog. The girls thought it was funny that Santa ate all of the cookies except one gingerbread-shaped cookie. That one was left on the plate with its head bitten off. They laughed and laughed over that.

Pillow pets!

The girls wearing the crowns that the gave to each other. They were each so proud of the fact that they were giving crowns to their sister. We got a kick out of their excitement because we knew the secret of each gift.

Santa's big surprise to the girls was Band Hero! Mia is quite a little singer and dancer while Fiona has mastered the drums. Chad was excited to get into the act, so he had the drums put together and everything else organized in no time. The house was really rocking today!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

It’s just barely December 20 – actually 12:08 a.m. Only one more day before the solstice and then the days will be getting longer again. I just tucked Fiona and Mia in bed after a fairly lazy day of playing Wii, watching Christmas movies, snuggling, laughing, and reading Little House in the Big Woods. It really is so great having the girls here even if I’m worn out most nights. It has been a long time since I had to be a full-time mom figure for little people. You get used to teenagers and the freedoms that come with having your children grow and up and become more independent. I wouldn’t trade any of this, it just take a readjustment.

The past few weeks have been filled with school and getting ready for Christmas. Just after Thanksgiving, the girls and I came home from school as fast as we could. We ate dinner, and then bundled up to head out into the darkness to find the perfect Christmas tree. Mike and Chad rounded up the chainsaw and the sled, and then we were off. It’s so fun to wander out onto our own property to find our Christmas tree. As in years past, our tree has it’s own personality, but that’s what you get when you get a wild Christmas tree versus a tree from a lot. Some trees are skinny with bare spots, while others might be really full and still have a bare spot. Trees can seem perfectly symmetrical when you’re checking it out for proportion, but then when you get it into the house, it’s sometimes difficult to remember which side was going to be the against-the-wall side. But, I think those are the some of the joys of hunting for your own tree to cut. Fiona and Mia were so excited to hunt for their tree in the dark. They remembered going to the Uintas with us when we lived in Utah. There, we had to drive a couple of hours to find our tree spot. Both are great experiences. Cutting a tree is a tradition that Mike and I have had since we got married. I think in our 12 years together we have only had one or two store-bought trees. Usually it has been because the weather was too bad when we were able to get everyone together to go so we bought the tree as a last resort. Anyway, we had a lot of fun tramping through the woods to find our tree. The girls rode in the sled while Papa and Chad pulled them. Besides finding our tree, the greatest thing was seeing the stars. The sky was so clear! We sang Christmas songs and laughed. Of course, I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgia and wishfulness as I thought of my children who weren’t here with us. Someday, I hope that we can all have another tree hunt together.

Fiona and Mia have been practicing for their Christmas program at school. On Tuesday, December 14, Mike and Chad met us at school where we had a spaghetti dinner sponsored by the cheerleaders, and then we were entertained by the Ninilchik School music program. Fiona and Mia were the prettiest girls in the entire elementary. Of course, I’m not biased or anything. They sang their hearts out!

The girls have made lots of new friends at school. They love going sledding at school and they enjoy spending time in my classroom after school. While they wait for me to finish up my work after school, the girls will either play on the computer or get out paper, scissors, markers, and glue and make some type of artwork. They also enjoy the attention they get from the older kids who come into my room to visit or do work. The girls are quite popular with the secondary kids. Fiona was invited to her first slumber party last week. She was so excited to get to ride the bus with her friends and then have a sleepover. Mia has a friend who lives a few miles down the road, so she has been invited over a couple of times to play. On the Friday after school was out, both girls were at friends and then were invited to go to a craft fair for kids in Ninilchik. I picked them up after school. They had a lot of fun crafting different things. If they have glue, paper, scissors, and coloring tools, they can make a lot of fun art!

At home, Fiona and Mia are learning some responsibility. They have a list of chores to do and have been able to earn stickers. So many stickers over the course of the week equals so much money. Their chores range from feeding the dogs to brushing their teeth and putting their things away. Sometimes they don’t want to get much done, but I think that seeing the money has become an incentive to continue working hard. The girls love to play outside and aren’t nervous about being outside in the dark. We have motion sensor lights around the house so there is always some light around, and they’ve also figured out where the flashlights are kept. We bout some brace bars for the sled so that it can be safely pulled behind the 4-wheeler. They love to be pulled around the property and along our road. The girls have also discovered that the chickens are laying again and race every day to see who can get the eggs first. They told me tonight that they love being able to go outside whenever they want.

With just a few more days until Christmas, we’re getting things ready around the house. We have baking to do since Christmas can’t come without just the right cookies for Santa. We have lots of wrapping to do and some small projects to finish for other grandparents and the girls’ mom – things that the girls wanted to do. Life is busy, but otherwise, everything is just grand! I miss the rest of my children and, of course, the other grandchildren. I dream of a time when we all get Christmas together again.