Visit with Mom and Jay

And new tradition! My mom and Jay and Bradley came up from Cedar to exchange gifts with us before Christmas. My mom gave the girls this beautiful blanket with a new (vintage!) tea set. What a treat. It was so nice to be together. The girls played their violins, they played a few Christmas songs on Vicki's English bells, and we even pulled out my old VHS tapes of my performances with Junior Miss (at Jay's request). And Bradley gave me socks, which made me cry (long story).

What a good day!

That evening, we packed up our van to it's maximum capacity and headed up to Kevin and Vicki's house for our Christmas vacation!

Service, blessing, and lots of dolls

Last Sunday, the 16th, David was called to meet with the Stake President. We knew that we would be getting a new bishopric in our ward soon, so we held our breath as we drove to the stake center! Pres. Richards asked to speak with me first. He told me that they would be calling my husband to a pretty hefty position and wanted to know if I was willing to give him up a little more for that. I said that I would be willing to do that, only because he was such a great husband and father when we was present that I knew he could balance things well. Then he asked me if I considered my husband worthy. What an amazing question to have to answer, as a wife. How wonderful it felt to tell our Stake President that my husband was absolutely worthy in my eyes and honored his priesthood in our home. How blessed I am.

And so he met with David for a bit and then called me back into the room. David assured me quickly that it wasn't Bishop (whew). He was called to be a counselor to our new bishop, Jared Loosli! We are thrilled that we will have the opportunity to serve in this capacity and David is so excited to work with Jared and Dave Lloyd. How exciting.

So we've been planning on going out and finding a new washer that my Grandpa graciously offered to buy us. And then on Tuesday, some men from Home Depot knocked on my door and delivered this beautiful thing! Turns out, David had already to decided to get me a new washer for Christmas when ours broke, so he and my grandpa worked out the details in secret and now I have a gorgeous new washing machine! Love love love it.

On Wednesday, David had his first meeting before the holidays ensued and I had a fun evening with the girls, preparing for our service project. When my grandmother died, we inherited 100+ dolls that she had collected for years and stored in the room I used to sleep in when I visited. We let the girls choose a few to keep and then we decided to give the rest away to a few local children's shelters. On Sunday, I helped Hazel write a little story to go with each doll and on Wednesday night, we watched Home Alone and tied the stories to the dolls.


The girls helped me wash each doll to make sure they were clean and ready to be given away.

And I had to get a shot of their faces when Kevin puts the tarantula on Marve's face in the movie...

What a treasure this is to me! She wrote it in her best handwriting and came up with almost the entire thing on her own. It's the story of a little doll named Aleah who liked to make friends. One day she went into the woods and met a witch who gave her a flower that would make her wishes come true. Aleah wished that she could have a friend that would take her home and keep her and of course, her wish came true! The story ends by saying that Aleah now belongs to whoever is reading this story and is holding this little doll. So cute.

We delivered the dolls to three different shelters on Friday afternoon as a family. Thank you dear Grandma for these lovely dolls.

All dressed up for Charlotte's Joy School Christmas party.

This time Charlotte got to be Mary.

Friday night movie night! (Kung Fu Panda Holiday)

Another activity this week: homemade ornaments. I had the girls make hand prints with paint on these glass ball ornaments and we wrote in marker about their hobbies and interests this year. I try to take advantage of any opportunity to make a copy of those cute little hands while I can.

Nativity and more December Happiness

Nine months old today! He's been outside of my body as long as he was inside of it. Strange.

I love Edison's Christmas jammies, santa hat and booties. Boys are so fun.

Monday, Dec 10th --Ellie's birthday! I took Hazel, Ellie, and Eddie to the Treehouse while Charlotte was at Joy School. It's nice to have Hazel out of school this week, especially considering the tragedy that took place in Connecticut on Friday. Here in Ogden, several people have tied pink ribbons on all of the main streets to show support for her family as they brought home her body to be buried here next to her grandfather who passed away just two months prior. I can't allow myself to think too much about what those parents must be feeling this Christmas season as they mourn the loss of their little ones. It just reminds me that every day is a gift and that the Atonement is real. I'm so grateful that we know that little children are alive in Christ and that all those little ones are with Him.

On Monday night we attended a little concert that the Loosli family does every year to raise money for an orphanage in Bulgaria, where Saren served her mission. Kids are invited to perform their talents and at the end, they all put on a nativity for us.

Hazel was asked to be Mary, and watching her sing up there with the baby Jesus in her arms--that was my moment for today. She was glowing.

(I like to think of this as an arranged marriage. Those Loosli twins are so cute!)

Double diaper change.

For activity time today, we made sugar cookies! Moment: watching Ellie's little pudgy hands patting down the dough with me.

On Tuesday night, David and I went to the temple with our good friends, the Cash's, and as we walked to the car, we heard Hazel knocking on the front window, waving at us. We could tell she was fighting tears because she wanted to come with us so badly. We waved back at her and I sent this picture to the babysitter to show to Hazel so she'd feel like she was a part of our date. Oh how I cherish this time of life when we are the coolest people in her life; the ones that she wants to be with the most.

My new helper. He unloads the silverware for me.

December Happiness

Monday, Dec 10th

Such good timing on Ellie's part...since my washing machine died (again) just a few days ago, she took a marker to the couch. Neither Hazel or Charlotte have ever done this. Luckily, it's washable. Just need the washing machine to wash it!

*On Saturday night, after Ellie's party, we went up to Kevin and Vicki's with six garbage bags full of laundry. I decided that I would be obedient and exercise my faith by waking up every hour Saturday night to wash and fold all those loads so that I wouldn't do any of it on Sunday. My hope was that we would witness a family miracle and our washing machine would be working by Monday. On Sunday, I felt surprisingly good despite the serious lack of sleep. I felt the spirit in all of our church meetings. When we went home on Monday, I turned on the washer and held my breath as water slowly spread across the floor. I knew that I'd be blessed for my faith and (small) sacrifice somehow, so we went on with our week, rinsing a lot of clothes out by hand. On Thursday, I got a call from my Grandpa. He told me that he and my grandma were going to buy us a washing machine so that I could function as a mother of four small children.
And that is the washing machine MIRACLE.
Sometimes our prayers are answered through loving family members.

Dec. 12th

It's been a while since I've taken the girls to the park! It felt good to get some fresh air in our lungs. I think Lottie looks like a Who from Whoville in this picture.

She always gets static hair after she goes on a slide.

I love Edison's winter hat. We put it on him as much as possible.

Once I removed that couch cushion cover to rinse by hand, the girls made a slide and became a sliding pile of giggles. That was a good moment I wanted to remember.

Oh let me count the ways this girl loves her baby brother. There's something so special when a little one loves babies so much. They probably understand more than we think about how special they are.

He has bells attached to the helmet strap. I think this was set up by some older sisters.

On Thursday, Dec 13th, Charlotte's Joy School class performed their nativity at a local rest home. I LOVE this part of Joy School and the group at this home is wonderful.

Eloise went right over to this kind woman and sat in her lap, calling her Grandma Lyn. 

Don't tell my mom.

And, whenever I dress my kids in nice clothes for a special event, I try to squeeze in a mini photo shoot and make the most of my efforts!

Oh Ellie.

This boy. Nine months old tomorrow.

A visit with Santa

This is a terrible photo, but I love that Willow came over and laid down on Edison.

Oh how we love our Sunday dinners at the Phipps home.

This is our family's ornament this year for Gram. I had to get one for my tree too. Aren't they great?

On Monday night, Ellie's birthday DAY, we went to see the lights downtown and pay a visit to Santa. It's funny to think that it was exactly two years ago (minus a day) that we came to see Santa when I was five days overdue with Eloise. After we came home from seeing the lights, I went over to my friend Paige's house and she gave me a foot massage. I went into labor that night!

And now two years later, we have our 2 year old Eloise and a nine month old Edison!

Hazel's favorite little "shop" is the one with all of the nutcrackers.

This year they had a little train that the kids got to ride! I love Ogden.

Hazel's request: a Barbie hair-styling head and a hamster with a robe.

Charlotte's request: Disney princess make-up and a unicorn snow globe.

And this little nugget went right up to Santa and sat in his lap happily. I think she knew she got a candy cane.

Poor Edison was in his huge snow suit and simply stared at Santa for a while. Baby's 1st Christmas!

It was a nice, COLD night with lots of hot chocolate and good company.